In response to this request wherein MixieArmadillo asked that someone start an “Ask the Mormon” thread.
Here I am.
Qualifications:
[ul]
[li]Raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aka LDS aka Mormons[/li][li]Actively involved in all types of LDS Church* activities from a very young age.[/li][li]Attended Church meetings and activities several times a week for most of my life.[/li][li]Attended Early Morning Seminary.[/li][li]Attended Brigham Young University - graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree[/li][li]Have attended countless Continuing Ed. courses in LDS Doctrine.[/li][li]Graduated from the LDS Institute of Religion.[/li][li]Took out my endowments from the Los Angeles LDS Temple in 1977.[/li][/ul]
- Hence forth, Church will be used to refer to the religion we are discussing.
Possibly pertinent background information:
[ul]
[li]Born in Los Angeles, California in 1957.[/li][li]Lived in the same house until I graduated from High School.[/li][li]My mother’s side of the family have been Church members since the early beginnings of the Church.[/li][li]My father’s side of the family (for the most part) has no use for the LDS Church to the extent that my own sister was ashamed to tell anyone her little sister was attending BYU.[/li][li]My mother was born/raised in Utah, however she was not an active member of the Church until I was 12.[/li][li]My father was raised Methodist but was not involved in any way with organized religion during my life.[/li][li]Church services I attended frequently until the age of 10 were: LDS, Methodist, Lutheran, and Catholic.[/li][li]At the age of 10, my Church attendance changed to solely LDS.[/li][li]I was married in the LDS temple at the age of 19/divorced (civilly) 22 months later when I understood that the gun facing me was loaded and one of those times, the trigger would be pulled.[/li][li]My current husband was an active member, raised in the church from childhood, however, when I married him, I was fully aware that he has no interest whatsoever in attending the Church again and I have no intentions of trying to “change” him.[/li][li]I have only been married these 2 times, meaning I was a divorced, active member of the LDS Church for 22 years, living in Utah during the majority of that time.[/ul][/li]
Disclaimers:
[ul]
[li]This thread MUST remain an “Ask the” thread. If there is any hint whatsoever of it turning into a Great Debate or attack of any kind, I will stop responding and ask that it be locked. I am NOT a debater, never have been, never want to be! Let me make that perfectly clear.[/li][li]I am not a blind sheep member of the Church.[/li][li]I am brutally honest.[/li][li]If I know (and am certain I am correct of ) the answer, I will give it to you. If not, and I cannot find the answer from a source that can be referenced, I will let you know. But, let me assure you, I will make every attempt to answer any and all questions you have.[/li][li]If anyone brings any cites from Anti-Mormon sites into this thread, I will request it be closed.[/li][li]I am not right winged or left winged. I’m very much a moderate in my Religious beliefs, consequently, my responses will reflect that and will cause some dissention from some members of this board. When that happens, please take it to the pit instead of bringing it into this factual thread.[/li][li]This will come up! There will be questions regarding the Temple and what happens inside that are considered sacred by members of the church, consequently, we have taken covenants (made promises to God) not to discuss these outside of the temple so that these principles will not be defiled by misunderstanding or taken out of context. There is nothing secret as the entire contents can be located in the Library of Congress and I have heard on the internet, but I’m not personally familiar with those sites so I can’t speak to the accuracy of them. I will answer these questions in general terms, no specifics will be given and you must be willing to accept that before you ask the question.[/li][/ul]
I searched through MPSIMS and IMHO to see if anyone else had started this thread when I began mine. I didn’t find one, however if one has opened during the time I have been composing this, I will defer to them as that seems like the only fair thing for me to do.
I realize that due to circumstances of the past week, this is a potentionally difficult time to open a thread like this, but I am willing to give you honest answers if you are willing to treat me with respect.
With this said, let the games begin… 