ZTAMich-

I'm so happy to hear your experience with a Temple was so wonderful :) I can't wait till I get to see the inside of one myself :)

The hottness of the young missionary guys I think helped my enjoyment of the Temple, in a shallow way but anyway....
I had dinner with them and at the house of the friend who invited me on Friday. It was interesting. They knew from the start that I'm not an LDS but a very happy, content Baptist gal so I hope my willingness to listen & talk about my own beliefs was met with open ears and hearts too.

I tried describing the temple to my mom and know I didn't do it justice. Such a peacefull feeling there along with this overwhelming feeling of being in such a worshipful place.

Were there some GLOs at BYU in the past? I can remember reading a list of closed chapters, and we had one closed I think at BYU. Also, there was someone disreputable who claimed to have been an XYZ at BYU. (and don't bother PMing me as to the identity of this person, or the GLO. It's not fair to either of them for me to expose them.)

I don't much about the mormon church. I have tons of friends who are mormon and a step sister who married into the church. We were not allowed to attend the wedding which i thought was very odd. She converted for him and we were not even allowed to wittness the baptism of my niece. though she converted i dont see her upholding the beliefs she drinks her full fill of caffine and drink and smoke.

i think however, this is a very insightful thread and kudos for starting it!

I think you'll find most of this has been covered in earlier posts. There is nothing wrong with your step sister drinking caffeine or alcohol or smoking (even if I do think smoking is gross :p ). None of these things make her a "bad member" or factor into her level of faith.

Question for an LDS...
 

Thanks for starting this thread.

I was watching Dr. Phil the other day and they had a family who was LDS who was going through some major problems. The wife wanted to be "sealed" to the husband, but because of their problems he did not want to. They were not sealed when they got married because she was already sealed. She is going through/has gone through the process to get "unsealed", I guess. My question: Is the unsealing like an annulment in the Catholic church where you say "We really weren't married in the sight of God."?

Another thing I never understood about LDS church... I've heard that people can be made members of the church after they die by family members who are are members of the church. How does this work?

Re: Question for an LDS...
 

Baptisms for the Dead are performed in the temple, and is a major mission of the church. It's not actually "making" dead relatives members, but it's going through a baptism in their name to allow them the opportunity in the afterlife to understand the Gospel if they never were able to hear it during their lives (refer to 1. Peter 4:6 and 1 Corinthians 15:29). Ask me for more clarification if necessary :)

For Cutiepatootie, I have no clue why you couldn't go your neice's baptism..that's not a church rule or anything, because both members or nonmembers are allowed to witness baptisms. Unless it was held in the temple, in which case you'd have to hold a Temple Recommend.

Only if you're a real one...no fake Mormons allowed!

Only if you're a good cake and say your nightly prayers to the egg and flour gods each night :)

Okay, I can't tell if that last one was a serious post or a joking one :)

No, I don't have a temple recommend - I haven't been baptised yet. I'm tenatively planning a baptism in October with my missionaries. After baptism you generally have to be a member in good standing for at least a year before you can go for a recommend.

am I not good enough for you Sheet Cake? I weep.

:D

picky picky :)

I'll get back to you in October :)

Re: Re: Question for an LDS...
 

Could you clarify what you mean by "allow them the opportunity in the afterlife to understand the Gospel..."? I'm trying to paint a picture here. ARe you saying that the baptism allows them to get another opportunity to "hear" the Gospel after they are dead and to decide then if they want to accept it or not? What if they were able to hear the Gospel during their lifetime and rejected it. Does the "member" baptism still count?

Thanks for the scripture references. My understanding of the 1 Peter scripture is that the gospel [past tense] was preached to them, as in when they were alive, before they were dead. What is your understanding?

Don't recall reading the 1 Corinthians passage before. Need to read some more before I comment.

Thanks!! Very interesting....

BTW, what about that sealing question. Can you answer that one for me?

Re: Re: Question for an LDS...
 

Thanks for starting this thread! I've always been interested in learning about different faiths. :)

OK, dumb question... You have to be a member to get a temple recommend. If you're about to be baptized, by definition you're not a member yet. So how can you be baptized in a temple? :confused:

Another dumb question: What usually happens if there's a wedding held in a temple, and a significant portion of the people you'd want to invite aren't LDS? Do you have a reception somewhere else and invite the non-LDS people to the reception only?

Yet another dumb question: I'm seeing a parallel between the temple recommend and the Catholic practice that you should not receive communion if you are conscious of having committed a mortal sin and have not yet been to confession and performed your penance. Would that be an accurate comparison?

A better question :) : Any good online resources you'd recommend? I'm certainly not looking to convert, just to learn more.

I think the difference is that you cannot go in the temple at all without a temple recommend, whereas in Catholicism you are free to attend Mass and worship, you just may not partake in the Eucharist.

I got that... maybe I wasn't clear... the parallel I was thinking of is that there's something you cannot do, that is very central to the faith, if you're conscious of a mortal sin.

Okay so I have been staying silent about everything and just reading...I have to say that I think the information that is given is wonderful. And thank you for all the info becuase I have learned so much.

Okay second thing, when it comes to the Catholic Religion...The Church says you can not take communion if you are not "Catholic" but you can take communion if you have gonna through confirmation and that whole jazz. (Father Peter from St. Elizabeth's gets that credit not me.)

Okay third thing, this has a little to do with LDS...With the whole deal on caffine, alcohol and tobbacco, is that anything similar to the christian science religion?

Hope to have helped and also hope to receive some answers.

MS

I think what you are trying to say is that non-Catholics are discouraged from taking Communion at Catholic churches because they do not have the same understanding of Communion that Catholics do. In addition, you take Communion WELL before Confirmation, as in most parishes Confirmation occures several years (like 10) after the First Eucharist.

Are you a practicing Catholic?

I made my First Holy Communion in second grade and my Confirmation in sixth grade. I attended Catholic school during that time. At some Catholic schools, they wait until eighth grade. I never heard of anyone waiting ten years to be confirmed. Is this a recent change? I never heard of it, and I attend mass weekly.

I did FHC in second grade (7) and got confirmed at the end of my junior year, just before I turned 17. It's up to the diocese to decide the age of Confirmation, but more are trending towards later so it really is an adult decision.

Wow. This is all so interesting! I'm starting to see just how lax we Southern Baptists *can be- don't flame me!!!!* when it comes to who can do what and when. But, I've noticed that many die-hard Southern Baptists are travel agents for guilt trips.

And the whole confirmation/baptism thing... I was baptised into the Baptist church at age 7. I thought you could be "confirmed" into the church at any age, but maybe that's just because I'm not too familiar with how Catholics and Mormons operate (or many other protestant faiths, either).

That's exactly what happens :) Actually, it's usually what happens even if the majority of your guests are LDS. You have the ceremony (called Sealing) in a special room in the temple, witnessed only by a very few people. Then, you leave the temple, and some people have a ring ceremony (what most non-LDS would think of as a normal ceremony) for the guests, because that's not something that is included in the temple ceremony. Then you can go whereever for your reception and party the night away.

Sure... here are a bunch that have been recommended to me. Some are actual websites by the church, some are not.
http://www.lds.org (the official site of the church, has some good FAQs but is currently under construction)
http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/frmain.htm (non-official site, but a pretty good start to answer questions)
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/98/story_9838_1.html (good site about all religions)
http://www.cc.utah.edu/~nahaj/Mormon/ (non-official site)


I don't know anything about confirmation, so I can't go there. Mormon children who are raised in the faith are generally baptized around age 8, but it's not uncommon for it to be later.

As far as some of the other questions, I don't feel qualified to answer, so I pass to my more knowledgealbe friends :)

Yes I am a practicing Catholic. When I was growing up, I didnt have my confirmation until I was 18 (just a few short years ago).
As GeekyPenguin said .

Re: Re: Re: Question for an LDS...
 

Not dumb questions at al! I should have been clearer about the baptisms and the temple thing..you're right about having to be a member to get a recommend. But for children raised in the church, they may be baptized in the temple at age 8 if they decide to do so. They already were members, so they can be baptized there. For converts, baptisms usually take place at a church (a "meetinghouse," not a temple). All of my non-member friends and family who wanted to be at mine could be since it's not the temple, which was great.

As for the comparison to the Catholic practice, I don't know too much about Catholicism but from what you described, this does sound like a parallel.

I just went to a Ring Ceremony last weekend where two of my friends exchanged rings and had a reception at a Country Club in Seattle, the evening after they got sealed in the Seattle temple. I'm pretty sure most of the people there who weren't LDS didn't even realize that another ceremony had already taken place..because the Ring Exchange sounded exactly like any civil ceremony i'd ever heard! But this way, they were able to be sealed in the morning with just a select few people in the sealing room with them, and then include all of their friends and family for the ceremony and reception later in the day. Even though people are LDS and technically "able" to go to a sealing, many couples opt to just have select few other people in the room with them so it's very much just something between the couple. It was only the father and brother of the groom who went in with my friends last weekend, even though all but 2 of the groomsmen and bridesmaids and various cousins, etc. all held recommends. It's every couple's decision for themselves I suppose!

As for sites i'd recommend..those that Ginger listed are a good start..it's amazing the amount of websites with supposed information about the LDS church, sometimes it gets hard to distinguish fact from not. I'd stick to www.mormon.org and www.lds.org if you want the true beliefs of the church (not some random member or non-member's interpretations of the beliefs). There are also some great member sites out there..feel free to PM me if you want help to locate some of those.

So like I said..I don't know a whole lot about the Catholic church..but for anyone on LiveJournal, this is a great community comparing and contrasting LDS and Catholic practices!

http://www.livejournal.com/community/thetruechurch/

and another on mormons..
http://www.livejournal.com/community/mormon/

I have a friend who's catholic that just got confirmed at the age of 21... I think it's kinda a personal decision.
Ok, I have a question there was a fairly large LDS meeting house/temple near my high school that a good number of my classmates attended and I remember them going to some sort of class or something at church super early in the morning, I asked one of my friends what it was... but I don't really recall what he said now, and honestly don't think I completely understood his answer about why he had to go to church early in the morning anyone know ? Also I see a LOT of LDS boys here doing their missions, and I have another friend who was LDS who was kinda torn about doing a mission because he really wanted to just continue his education and be done with his degree in 4 years instead of having to take time off from school to travel and do a mission, and he didn't want to leave his GF at the time either, anyway my question... why is it only men that do a mission ? Also how important is the mission ?, because as I said I know my friend was super torn about it, so I was just kinda wondering what would've happened if he had decided not to do a mission (he did end up doing it...but if he hadn't done it)

Women can do missions, too, but not until they're 21. Men only have to be 19.

I have a somewhat interesting question. My dad is a converted LDS. My parents are separated (mom's definitely not LDS) and neither me nor my sister are LDS. Will my dad be looked down upon because of 1) His divorce and 2) Having non-LDS kids? If you don't want to respond on here, please PM me.

This might be offensive (to some), but every time I see LDS I think of a disease.

-Rudey
--You have LDS? Oh no!!!

I'm Catholic and understand the basis for the seperate ceremonies for a wedding (in terms of Catholic's belief of the Eucharist being the body and blood of Christ)

This will sound STUPID- But are mormons discouraged from kissing before marriage?

Actually, according to the Holy Bible, you really aren't supposed to engage in any lustful activities before marriage, including kissing.

Should we talk about all the other things the Bible says too?

Wait, I shouldn't be able to read and I have to go back to my menstrual hut now! BYE!

I went to HS with two Mormon girls...neither of them went on a mission--cause they both got married before 21! So, when I read that, I chuckled. They both drank a lot--even though the entire school knew, their parents were clueless about it. If someone had hated them, that would have been a funny way to get back at them.

On that note, I read BYU has the highest percentage of married students in an American university. I've also heard that, because of taking time off to do missions, the 4 year graduation rate is pretty low and leads most people to believe that BYU isn't as good a school as it really is.

OH GP! I was answering a question. I don't refrain from kissing at all!!!

I *have heard* they have the highest drop out rate amongst their women students as well... but don't know if this is true or not...

Nope :) I've actually found there is a lot of encouragement for people to date around casually a bunch (rather than getting too serious too young) until you find someone ideal for you. There are so many dances and functions set up for people to meet each other and date. There's a clear law of chastity that's preached of course, but kissing isn't thought of as obscene. I would feel completely comfortable getting a smooch from my honey in front of my bishop at church..no one's going to look down on ya for it :)

Citation please.

That all depends on how you interpret the bible.

Verses against lust and fornication:

(from the King James Version)

Romans 14:14
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

I Corinthians 6:18
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that commiteth fornication sinneth against his own body.

I Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, even your sanctifiction, that ye should abstain from fornication.

HOWEVER, the previous verses are all inclusive...

Matthew 5:27-28
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

So, if you cannot separate kissing from sexual lust, then it is forbidden. I know there's a difference between a hello/goodbye kiss (and, as I said, I'm a kisser myself) and a hot and heavy, ready to rip the clothes off kiss.

ETA: As we know, it's best to avoid the appearance of evil, so not kissing at all is safest - though not the most fun!

That's somewhat different from your earlier statement, which I at least read to say that kissing prior to marriage is per se forbidden in Bible because it is listful activity.

BTW, kissing is not fornication or adultery, even in King James English -- pregnancy can't result from kissing.

Nor arguing with you on the whole "avoding immorality" thing, but it just seemed to me to be quite an overstatement to say that pre-marital kissing is forbidden by the Bible, when it is not.

I think I'll go read Song of Solomon now. ;)