Repost - Lindsey's Story

This is one of my favorite guest posts I've ever had. I love Lindsey's voice and her sense of humor! Enjoy!! ***

I am a Mormon woman, but I do not bake fresh bread each morning. My home is not always spotless. I do not always have a smile on my face or a baby in my belly. In fact, my nuclear family of only two children is not typical within my religion, but it works for me. Even though I live in Phoenix ((where the summers, I am convinced, are the exact temperature of Hell)), you will never see me wearing clothes that show 90% of my skin. In fact, you will not even see me wearing a tank top. “Modest is hottest!”

A Mormon Perspective on saying NO to more children

Last Sunday I spent 3 hours finishing off Mormonism in an LDS Church with a sweet friend I met online, Janie. She has her own blog here. She kindly met me here in North Richland Hills so we could go to the ward near my home. As I have been reading her blog, I asked her to share her unique perspective and the LDS perspective on contraception and sterilization. Here are her thoughts:

A Mormon Perspective on Pregnancy, Family Planning, and Sterilization

After During my pregnancy with my fourth child, I was SURE we were done. I told everyone my husband was getting the big snip and I reminded him frequently. I got a card for an urologist from my OB and I carried that card in my wallet. I was considering permanent measures so that I would never EVER have to experience morning sickness again. Add to that: we already had four children (a bigger family than many), my husband had recently been laid off his job, and our house was already bursting at the seams. Four was enough, we were done.

Day 3 - 21 Questions for the LDS church

Well, I had written out this post last week and Blogger chose this ONE TIME when I wrote a post in advance to go ahead and dump all my posts for the past three days. They restored 2 out of 3 parts, so I figured I would just re-write the third part.

Q: Does the Mormon Church believe Jesus appeared in North America after his crucifixion and resurrection? If so, when did this happen? And under what circumstances?
A: The appearance of Jesus in the Western Hemisphere shortly after his resurrection is described in the Book of Mormon. Mormons believe that when Christ told his disciples in the Bible He had other 'sheep' who should receive his message he was referring to those people in the Western Hemisphere.

Joni's Addition:
This is important! I can't believe they didn't go into more detail. Not only did he "appear" in North America, but he stayed around and hung out for a while, giving people instructions.

panel experiences

Last week, I headed to UNT for a panel on Women and Spirituality. When I received the notice in my inbox, I nearly peed my pants with excitement... because, what's better than my two favorite topics - women and GOD together in the same discussion!?

Join us for an exploration of gender and spirituality!


The event centerpiece is a panel of women from various faith traditions discussing their personal experiences with the intersection of faith and gender, various traditions' histories of restriction and empowerment, and gender-focused social justice work in religious contexts.


Participants include:

the LDS perspective on prayer [and revelation]

prayer
Prayer is an important aspect of living life as a Latter Day Saint. If you read my post "How to be a Muslim, Mormon or Christian for 30 Days" you have seen that prayer is important in any religion that I've studied, and no less emphasized in Mormonism.

Personal prayer: morning and night
Couple prayer (if married): morning and night
Family prayer (if applicable): morning and night
Meal prayers: at each meal

The Mormons believe that God wants to communicate with us: he loves us, he knows our needs, and he wants us to communicate with him through prayer. Although there are not prescribed prayers in Mormonism, instructions are given to them about how to pray:

How to be a Muslim, Mormon, or Christian for 30 days!!

When I interviewed Emily about Mormonism here for my blog, she also included an interesting side note. She saw that I had practiced Islam for 30 days, and added at the end of the interview what I would need to do to practice Mormonism for 30 days as well! This was such a great idea, that I am posting it here for all to see. As a refresher, I'm also posting what would need to be done as an Evangelical Christian as well as what would need to be done as a Muslim. It's interesting to see the differences! :)

Mormonism - Donna's Story: Baptist, Mormon, love, and 2 packs a day

I met Donna at a water-birth movie night. I know, it sounds horrifying, and believe me, it was only slightly less horrifying than it sounds. (Read: A lot of cloudy water involved, but with the reward of seeing a tiny scrunched up baby at the end coming out of the water all pretty and stuff.)
I assumed Donna was a doula or a midwife, and I think she may have assumed I was pregnant, and we started talking. She is so down to earth and real and authentic, I took to her right away! I asked her if she had a water birth, and I think she said something to the effect of: "Yeah, and it was the worst birth ever. Water birth is so not my thing." Which is when I asked her if she was a midwife and she laughed at me. "Are you kidding me?" she said. "I'm a childbirth educator! I don't DO births."
Donna has a refreshing, honest and sincere voice and I was so glad when she told me she would happily write up her story for my blog. Thanks Donna, for your story!


This is Donna's story.

I was raised in the Baptist church, but once I was out on my own I rarely attended church. I was 21 when I met the man that would become my husband. He was just 18 and he was a Mormon. It's a wonder he had anything to do with me! It was 1992, I was a 2-pack-a-day smoker and the biggest Madonna-wanna-be you've ever seen!

Michelle's Story - becoming who I am. Mormonism

I happened upon Michelle's blog, Becoming a Queen, a few months ago and was struck by her thoughts on becoming: "In recent months, I have been fascinated with the idea of becoming. By that, I mean the idea of changing and evolving into my full potential. Into something greater than I currently am. I have felt a need to find out what I am really doing here...I realize that just knowing something doesn’t mean I am really living up to my potential and purpose. What is it then, that must be done for me to become who and what I am meant to be? Is it more about changing myself, or is it more about remembering myself? Most likely some of both. Becoming is simply about choices. Every choice we make sends us down the path of becoming. The question is what am I becoming?...I am excited to learn and...become. ((C) Michelle Iverson, Becoming a Queen).

I hope you enjoy hearing her story and I hope you make time to check out her blog. Thank you, Michelle, for your insights and honesty!

This is Michelle's Story.

My name is Michelle Iverson, and I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  We are probably more well known as the Mormons, but that name is not the actual name of our church.

My religious story begins at birth, when I was brought into a warm and loving home.  Both of my parents were already members of the church at that time, my father being a convert at age 17, and my mother having been born into the faith as well.  From the time I was born I was taught the truth about who I am....a child of God.  I was taught of Jesus Christ and his love for me.  I was read to from the Bible, as well as The Book of Mormon, which is another volume of ancient scripture written by the ancient inhabitants of the Americas.  It is another testament of Jesus Christ and his divine role as our Savior and Redeemer.

Mormonism - I have a lot to learn

((The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have a long and complicated history in their Book of Mormon that is so completely different from any religion I have been exposed to, I fear I will not do it justice, so I definitely encourage you to do your own research, read the Book of Mormon, visit with the sweet Mormon missionaries who knock on your door, ask questions, and read other literature related to the Mormon church and Mormon history.))

Mormonism began with Joseph Smith. He was, much as Muhammed (peace and blessings be upon him), a prophet to a specific group of people: Americans. In this way, the Mormon religion is very much an American religion, although it competes with Islam for the fastest growing religion worldwide.

Intro to Mormonism - special underwear, marketing, and how they relate to Christianity

Mormonism. Or, more “correctly” put, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or LDS. It is one of the fastest growing religious groups in the world, and is it any wonder? Who among us hasn’t had a missionary stop by to tell us the gospel of Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith? Who hasn’t teared up during an LDS commercial featuring a sweet family and a touching situation?

I would have to say, of all the religions I’ve studied and continue to study, that the LDS church has, by far, the most advanced and pervasive marketing team I’ve ever seen in a religion! Heck, they even have a website, http://www.mormon.org/, where you can search for people just like you (by age, gender, ethnicity, previous religion, and continent) who are Mormon. You can read their stories and look at videos. Fascinating.