The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that marriage should be a union only between a man and a woman. Although to some this belief may sound intolerant, old-fashioned, or narrow-minded, I hope that by explaining some of our other beliefs I am able to show why we believe the way we do.
We believe that through keeping God's commandments we will one day become like Him. Our Heavenly Father created each of us, He truly is our Father. We believe that someday everyone who has followed His commandments will become a God, able to create just as our Father in Heaven has. This creation of new worlds, new humans, requires both a man and a woman. Just as a baby cannot be born without a man and a woman on this earth, so it is in the heavens. We will not be able to create new worlds without a man and a woman working together to create.
Heavenly Father gave us the union of marriage to provide a way to create. He has given us marriage as a means of creating families. Marriage between a man and a woman is not only necessary, it is sacred. By redefining marriage, one is trying to redefine God's laws. Man's way is not God's way. By supporting the union of only men and women in marriage we, as members of the Church, are not trying to discriminate or punish anyone with same-sex orientation. We are trying to uphold something so sacred that it is not only part of our world, but part of the eternities.
I hope this has helped answer some questions about our view on marriage and why it is so important to keep the definition of it being between a man and a woman. I hope that my explanation helped to clear some things up and did not further complicate things for anyone. Please comment if you have any more questions or would like to say something about this or any other posts. Thank you for reading our blog. We hope that we have helped.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Life After Death
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that everyone will live on after life here on this earth. We believe that before this earth was created God put together a plan that would help us become like Him and return to live with Him again. We call this The Plan of Salvation. We believe that every person who has been or will be born on this earth will be resurrected. This means their spirit will be reunited with their perfected body. We believe that everyone will live forever.
In my opinion, one of the most beautiful doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints if that of eternal families. We believe that if a husband and wife are married in the temple under what is called the sealing power, that they will be husband and wife forever. This sealing power is talked about by Christ in Matthew 16:19 when He says, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (italics added). This binding is done through the sealing power. If a wife loses her husband on this earth she can know that through the sealing power she will not only see her husband again, but they will still be husband and wife--that marriage will never end.
Families are not meant for this life only. Families are meant to be forever. And they can be. With the sealing power families can be together forever.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
John 17:3
A great verse that I love is in the Bible, in John 17:3. It says, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." We are supposed to come to know God and Jesus Christ. I believe that it is possible to come to know them. It doesn't make sense that we cannot get to know them and have a relationship with them. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that God the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three distinct beings. We believe that God and Jesus both have separate, perfect immortal bodies. God, is our Father, and we have the wonderful blessing of communicating with Him through prayer. Prayer is a great way that people can express their feelings of gratitude and can also ask for things that they need in their lives. I believe that God always answers our prayers in the best way for us. As we see Him answering our prayers, we can come to understand His love and concern for us. We can also see His power as He answers our prayers. The scriptures are also a wonderful resource to see how God has been involved in the lives of other people throughout history. God is so willing to help us, but we have to have faith in Him. I know that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and is a God of love. I know that God is our Eternal Father and we are His children.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
About Rachel
Hello,
I'm Craig's wife, Rachel. Craig came up with the idea for this blog and I'm really excited about it. He had a great experience teaching people about the Church while serving his mission in Wisconsin. Girls in the Church are able to go on full-time missions just like the boys but they are encouraged to look for opportunities to marry first. Because of this, girls don't leave on missions until the age of 21 (two years after boys normally leaves). I had always wanted to serve a mission and talk to people about the Church. However, I met Craig and was married before I was able to serve a mission. Craig and I have decided to do what we can to talk to people about the Church and we hope to serve a mission together after he retires.
I hope that this blog can answer the questions some of you have about the Church. If you think of a question that we are not addressing, please leave a comment about it and we would be happy to answer it. Like Craig said, this is not an official church website. We will do our best to present the Church's point of view but we encourage you to visit lds.org or mormon.org if you're interested in finding out more. You may find mormon.org more helpful as it addresses many questions that people have about the church. Lds.org is more of an archive site for recent talks and speeches given by Church leaders, but it also has articles from Church magazines, and online access to the scriptures (The Old Testament, The New Testament, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants [which are revelations given mostly to Joseph Smith who restored, or brought back, the Church in the early 1800's] and The Pearl of Great Price [a more in-depth account of Moses and Abraham]).
Thank you for visiting our blog. We are excited to get this going!
I'm Craig's wife, Rachel. Craig came up with the idea for this blog and I'm really excited about it. He had a great experience teaching people about the Church while serving his mission in Wisconsin. Girls in the Church are able to go on full-time missions just like the boys but they are encouraged to look for opportunities to marry first. Because of this, girls don't leave on missions until the age of 21 (two years after boys normally leaves). I had always wanted to serve a mission and talk to people about the Church. However, I met Craig and was married before I was able to serve a mission. Craig and I have decided to do what we can to talk to people about the Church and we hope to serve a mission together after he retires.
I hope that this blog can answer the questions some of you have about the Church. If you think of a question that we are not addressing, please leave a comment about it and we would be happy to answer it. Like Craig said, this is not an official church website. We will do our best to present the Church's point of view but we encourage you to visit lds.org or mormon.org if you're interested in finding out more. You may find mormon.org more helpful as it addresses many questions that people have about the church. Lds.org is more of an archive site for recent talks and speeches given by Church leaders, but it also has articles from Church magazines, and online access to the scriptures (The Old Testament, The New Testament, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants [which are revelations given mostly to Joseph Smith who restored, or brought back, the Church in the early 1800's] and The Pearl of Great Price [a more in-depth account of Moses and Abraham]).
Thank you for visiting our blog. We are excited to get this going!
About Craig
Hello:
My name is Craig. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many people call us by a nickname called the Mormons. I am a young, married, recent college graduate. Many members of the Church serve a 2-year voluntary mission where they send in personal information to the Church headquarters and are called by a living Prophet to go to an assigned area. Some are called to serve foreign-language speaking missions. All missionaries go to a Missionary Training Center where they learn how to teach and become missionaries, as well as learn another language if necessary. I served in the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission. I was a Spanish-speaking missionary. Most of the missionaries in my mission were English-speaking and there were also Hmong-speaking missionaries. As a missionary, you are assigned to different areas that are in your mission boundaries. It varies how long a missionary is in an area. I served in 6 different areas in Wisconsin, including Waukesha, Appleton, Madison, Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Green Bay. I am grateful for the experience that I had to be a full-time missionary for the Church. It was one of the great blessings of my life.
I want to use this blog as a board to post my feelings about the Church and some of its teachings. I also want people to post questions and comments, especially those who sincerely want to know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A great blessing that Heavenly Father (God) gives us is to communicate with Him through prayer and we can ask Him if something is true or false. I know for myself that Heavenly Father is a living and loving God who wants to help and guide His children. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that only through Him can we be free from sin and are able to live again with our Heavenly Father. I know that the true church of Jesus Christ was restored, or brought back through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that we have a living Prophet today, Thomas S. Monson. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and with the Bible, we have two witnesses that God loves all mankind and guides all mankind through his servants, the prophets and apostles.
This blog is our opinions and beliefs and is not an official declaration from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I encourage you to visit lds.org and mormon.org.
I look forward to talking with many of you. I hope my wife and I can help others to find true and lasting happiness through this blog.
My name is Craig. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many people call us by a nickname called the Mormons. I am a young, married, recent college graduate. Many members of the Church serve a 2-year voluntary mission where they send in personal information to the Church headquarters and are called by a living Prophet to go to an assigned area. Some are called to serve foreign-language speaking missions. All missionaries go to a Missionary Training Center where they learn how to teach and become missionaries, as well as learn another language if necessary. I served in the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission. I was a Spanish-speaking missionary. Most of the missionaries in my mission were English-speaking and there were also Hmong-speaking missionaries. As a missionary, you are assigned to different areas that are in your mission boundaries. It varies how long a missionary is in an area. I served in 6 different areas in Wisconsin, including Waukesha, Appleton, Madison, Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Green Bay. I am grateful for the experience that I had to be a full-time missionary for the Church. It was one of the great blessings of my life.
I want to use this blog as a board to post my feelings about the Church and some of its teachings. I also want people to post questions and comments, especially those who sincerely want to know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A great blessing that Heavenly Father (God) gives us is to communicate with Him through prayer and we can ask Him if something is true or false. I know for myself that Heavenly Father is a living and loving God who wants to help and guide His children. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that only through Him can we be free from sin and are able to live again with our Heavenly Father. I know that the true church of Jesus Christ was restored, or brought back through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that we have a living Prophet today, Thomas S. Monson. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and with the Bible, we have two witnesses that God loves all mankind and guides all mankind through his servants, the prophets and apostles.
This blog is our opinions and beliefs and is not an official declaration from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I encourage you to visit lds.org and mormon.org.
I look forward to talking with many of you. I hope my wife and I can help others to find true and lasting happiness through this blog.
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