This is such a neat and enlighting thread. Is alcohol forbidden also? I imagine Utah university GLO would have a lot of Mormons. Kinda like the South has Baptists.

I never knew there was a Moron temple in Apex. Thats 15 minutes from me.

There is a LDS student center near NCSU. I believe its LDS. I will check next time.

Alcohol is definitely forbidden along w/ tobacco and caffeine. They are considered unhealthy.
BTW, my dad is LDS. I am not tho.

Just a little clarification for everybody....caffeine isn't actually "forbidden" (well neither is the other stuff..it's up to each individual :) )...I drink a heck of a lot of Diet Coke. It's really more of a social thing to tell you the truth..like I wouldn't go to an LDS function with a bunch of Red Bull or anything! The deal is, we have something referred to as the Word of Wisdom that gives us an outline of sorts of things that are healthy and unhealthy for humans. Listed in it are of course alcohol and tobacco as unhealthy, as well as quite a few other things. Nowhere does it say specifically "caffeine," but rather every individual can decide for him or herself whether or not we think it is healthy for us. I'm not saying the church encourages soda drinking..not at all...but it's not by any means "forbidden."

you may read it for yourself, here It's from the official site of the Church

What do they mean by hot drinks?

Does that mean coffee, tea, hot chocolate? And is that because of the caffine, because it's not healthy?

What about caffine free teas, or hot milk?

I'm a little confused. Can someone explain it to me better?

Partially because it's unhealthy, and also because it's addictive. We are advised to avoid anything that is addictive.

I drink Caffeine-free soda, and that's fine. I sometimes drink regular soda, too, and I don't feel bad about it. Like Rxy said, no one is going to come and kick you out of the church for having a Pepsi or even an occasional drink (guilty as charged). It's more a matter of moderation.

A good way of thinking of the Word of Wisdom is explaining things to the lowest common denominator. Most people can handle having a soda, or a beer from time to time without becoming addicted or letting it control their bodies/lives. But some people can't, or don't realize that they shouldn't, so the Words of Wisdom advises against it. It's kind of like making saying "Stoves are hot, don't touch them". 99% of the population can operate a stove without burning themselves, but you've got to lay it out for the 1% who don't get it.

Does that make better sense?

Thanks for clarifying! I think my dad swore off everything but Sprite, but I never got details.

I think you're talking about the white house-looking building on Enterprise behind Sadlacks. I'm pretty sure that is a LDS building and it actually used to be the old Chi Omega house before we built our current house. It looks really pretty, but I've never seen the inside.

I feel pretty lucky to have one of these 'student centers', actually called an Institute of Religion, right across from my campus at Western Washington. It's a place to go between classes to hang out, a place to socialize, and also a wonderful place for knowledge. Last quarter I took a class there once a week on the biblical book of Isaiah. It's also where I attend church services on Sundays, with other University and Community College students from town. I'm not sure how many campuses have Institutes, but i'm glad i'm at one that does!

Manhattan Temple Tour
 

Last night I went and had a tour of the Manhattan Temple. Oh my it was AMAZING. I don't think I could really describe anything I saw and give it justice, I was so taken aback in the beauty of it all. The workmanship, attention to details everything was beautiful. So much white and beautiful gold and silver accents. The Sealing & Celestial Rooms....wow.

Hearing more about LDS itself made a lot more connections for me and the family members we have that are LDS as well. Why my dad's cousin is so interested in geneology, etc etc.

Outside the temple there was an anti-mormom group handing out literature and I was really surprised to see how calm those from the Temple were. It would definetly be difficult to put on a happy face when someone is using a bullhorn to spit out venom at your beliefs.

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.