A Day in the Life of a Mormon

Sure, Mormons are weird. I am not afraid to say that we are very different from the rest of the world. Heck, there have been several occasions in my life where I look around at what is going on in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and say to myself: “Umm, this is a little strange right now.” I am not oblivious to the fact that Mormons simply live life in a different way than what might be considered the worldly “norm.” In fact, here is kind of a day in my life as an average Mormon:

Today I woke up and said my daily prayer to the Almighty Prophet, Joseph Smith.

My four Moms made breakfast for me and my 13 siblings and we sat around the table and ate our food. One of my brothers asked if he could have a soda for breakfast; I reminded him that Mormons aren’t allowed to drink caffeine! Silly kid. We have so many rules and restrictions in this religion it can be hard to keep track of them at times. I don’t blame him. We then have our family scripture study: The Book of Mormon only. The Bible is useless.

I go to school, but first stop by the Anti-Gay people rally and put in my daily protesting.

After school, I go home and my Moms make me dinner. They stayed home all day and worked because they aren’t allowed to have jobs. They have to make dinner for my Dad (the leader of the house)! We then all eat our food, say a family prayer to Joseph Smith, and go to bed.

Sike! It doesn’t quite happen like that. In fact, quite the opposite. Yes, I am aware of at least some of the misconceptions people might have about the lives of Mormons. In my opinion, some of them are actually pretty funny (even I thought I wasn’t allowed to drink caffeine for a while)! It’s no secret that Mormons live a different lifestyle, but please allow me to just clarify some things for the general population:

• First, “Mormon” is a nickname that is politely discouraged from being used. This is because it gives a false pretense as to what we believe in, or, rather, who we believe in. The name of the Church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
• We (and when I say we, I mean active, faithful members of the Church that genuinely follow the doctrines and principles that are taught within it) do not worship Joseph Smith. We believe in Jesus Christ, and He is the center of our Church (hence the clarification of the Church’s name), making us Christians.
• We do not practice polygamy.
• We do not spit one child out after the other as a competition to see who can have the most kids.
• Members of the Church CAN drink caffeine (I don’t know how many times I have had to clarify that in my life).
• The standards and “rules” that members have are not meant to bind us down and restrict our freedom. On the contrary, it increases our freedom to choose as we are not dependent on any substance or carnal desire.
• We believe in the Book of Mormon and the Bible to go hand in hand — no one book is better than the other; they are equal.
• Speaking of equality, we do not hate Gay people. We do not hate African Americans. We aren’t all crazy conservative Republicans. We do not have prejudices against any group of people. Racism and prejudice of any kind are not tolerated in this Church.
• We do not think of women to be lesser than anyone. Women are not confined to the home in marriage. Women are allowed to have jobs and live independent lives as they choose to. Men are not superior to women in any way, especially in a marriage. We believe all humans to be created equal.
• Lastly, members of the Church of Jesus Christ are not as weird as you might think.

Ah, that felt good to get off my chest. As stated multiple times now, members of the Church live a different lifestyle than most people. I am not going to refute that. We believe in things that can be hard to grasp and believe in. Yes, it is an incredibly strange story to think that Joseph Smith was sent by an angel of God to find gold plates which he then translated into the Book of Mormon. The Church of Jesus Christ simply has aspects about it that are so out of this world that it requires a lot of faith to believe that it is, in fact, in this world.

I don’t want to sit here and preach. On the contrary, I would advocate that I still have much to learn about my religion. Although I have been raised in the Church, I still have had to deal with finding out, for myself, if this Church actually is what it claims to be. On top of that, finding out if the Book of Mormon is actually true.

If I were to sum up the Church into one sentence, this would be it: It all revolves around Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Perhaps what sets us apart from other religions the most, however, is our belief in the Book of Mormon. I said earlier that the Book of Mormon is equal to the Bible and I am staying to that. What I wish to convey next, however, is why our belief in the Book of Mormon is particularly significant to us (and to you) in the first place.

Perhaps most significantly is the fact that if the Book of Mormon is proven untrue or is false, then the entire Church crumbles with it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints claims to be the only 100% true church on this earth, that it is the same Church and gospel that Jesus Christ established and taught when He was on this Earth, and that we are the only ones with the proper authority to act in His name.

It took me a while to grasp the idea of only one church being completely true, especially considering how many incredible individuals and religions there are out there. As I have developed in life, on the other hand, so is my understanding that it is really only possible for one church to have all of the right parts (after all, Jesus Christ did establish only one church during His ministry).

I have not seen a religious text that has been more analyzed and criticized in American history, dare I say world history, than the Book of Mormon. Yet, 200 years after its organization, the Church still stands today. Why?

Well, the Book claims that the only way you can know if it is true is to, “…ponder in [your] hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true.” So the book is saying that the only way to truly know the truth is by tapping into a metaphysical Spirit and hoping to gain some kind of undeniable confirmation from it. I was raised under this thinking, yet it still took me years to comprehend this idea.

Blindly telling you that you have to read and pray about the Book of Mormon to know it’s true will most likely not motivate you to do anything — especially if you are not religious. Why would you care about this Book if you don’t subscribe to a particular religion ? Or, even more, if you don’t believe in the concept of God? Both great questions. However, I would consider both of those pretty loaded. My very brief answer/personal opinion on that subject would be that if you are interested in learning more about or getting closer to God, you might consider what Joseph Smith stated about the Book of Mormon:

“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” — Joseph Smith

I have personally read the Book of Mormon multiple times, and I can tell you that I feel my greatest when I read it. So, if you are in search for finding the true nature of God and if Joseph Smith actually is accurate, the Book of Mormon might be something you could try out.

If you don’t believe in the concept of God, that’s fine too! I understand the shifts society has taken away from the concept of a God. All spiritual stuff aside, the Book of Mormon is still one of the greatest stories/most intricate books of all time. Yes, I said of all time.

The Book of Mormon is a book that is so intricate that you could spend your entire life studying it. Every time you read it, you learn something new. Yet, it is clear enough to where millions and millions of people have fundamentally changed their lives for the better because of what the book contains.

I was raised in the Church, but I would say that I didn’t fully “commit” to this religion until I read this book to find out for myself. Once I did, I realized what all the hype was about, and I was all in.

If you are interested in various religious texts and history, I would recommend studying the Book of Mormon if you get the chance.

Also, spiritual confirmations and testimonies aside, there is a plethora of cold, hard evidence in favor of the Book of Mormon, showing that this compelling witness of Jesus Christ should not be taken lightly. Nothing can definitely prove or disprove the Book of Mormon, but there are some things to consider.

Let us assume that the “Mormons” are wrong and that Joseph Smith in fact wrote the Book of Mormon instead of translating it from a set of gold plates by the Gift and Power of God. If this is the truth, then I need someone to help me understand some things.

• Joseph Smith dictated the entire Book of Mormon, an over 500 page book. That alone is pretty remarkable.
• On top of that, Joseph Smith had an only 3rd–5th grade education.
• He also dictated this book in one draft in a matter of about 65 working days. No notes beside him, no one else to help him write, and only minor grammatical changes made after the first draft.
• The Book of Mormon is written at an eleventh-grade reading level, an astonishing achievement for a supposed first time author.
• This book is more complex than the works of Tolkien, Rowling, or Shakespeare, involving scores of characters, many intersecting storylines, and hundreds of geographical locations, all of which are kept consistent and correct throughout the entire book.
• Handwriting comparisons, writing technique comparisons, and any other related test you can think of show that not only must there have been more than one author of the Book of Mormon, but that no one in the time of Joseph Smith had the capacity to write it (including Joseph Smith).
• There are countless amounts of geological evidence that correspond with what was written in the Book of Mormon, evidence that was not even discovered until after the Book of Mormon was published.
• The Book of Mormon not only contains a profound amount of religious comprehension, but also the capacity to inspire millions to do and become better and to progress in this world.
• It has been critiqued relentlessly, analyzed from every possible angle, and yet still stands today.

Pretty impressive for a first time author.

Evidence such as this as well as (quite literally) millions of testimonies of spiritual confirmations of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon is what the Church of Jesus Christ is based upon. This includes my own testimony.

Like I said, it all rides on just this one book. It may seem like a fragile system, but hey — it works.

Yeah, my Church may seem very different and perhaps even strange, but I hope this helps you see that there is at least a method to our madness. I thought the whole Joseph Smith story seemed pretty far-fetched until I thought about the story of Jesus Christ. Believing in Jesus Christ and means that you believe in a man that died, came back to life by His own will, can leave the planet as he pleases, never will die again, and is the literal Son of God. If you believe in that (I do), who’s to say the idea of an angel giving plates to a young man is too far-fetched?

I have had to deal with a lot of questions and criticisms about my religion my entire life. It has been hard at times to stand up and say that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but the bottom line is that my life is better when I do. I am happier, healthier, more energetic, and more fulfilled in my life as a result of this religion. And I am proud to be a part of this Church.

Yeah that’s right, I had to get serious there for a second. In the end, I really just want to stress the point that the Book of Mormon is pretty awesome and it is a great way to help you learn more about this world, religious or not religious. Read it with an open mind and an open heart and I promise that you will receive answers to life’s greatest questions.

I know I did.