Visit from Mormon missionaries - any experiences?

[BodyUnknown]

I have recently been away for a hen weekend with a group of around 15 women, one of whom was Mormon. She fascinated me, and I found myself dying to know more about why she chooses to live her life the way she does. I devoured her stories about her missionary work in Utah, and as soon as I got home from the hen do, with a raging hangover, I went to bed with my laptop and logged on to mormon.org. There is a facility there to chat with a missionary (which this girl recommended that I do if I were curious about the church).

I read the website for a while before plucking up the courage to speak to someone, and when I did, I was there for over an hour asking questions which this missionary patiently answered. I came away from the conversation with a really really good feeling - I can't describe it better than that - and I haven't been able to stop thinking about everything I've read and learned and everything the missionary said. I'd told him I sometimes felt silly praying, like I was doing it wrong, and that I always felt self-conscious and that God would think me a fraud. He said, 'if I tell you how we pray, it might make you feel less silly?' and he did, and last night I prayed for the first time in years.

I lay in bed for hours last night, I couldn't sleep, I felt so excited.

Sorry this is so long...

Anyway, of course I have heard all the stories about the Mormon church, and have always thought of it as some kind of strange cult, with living prophets, miracles, tithing, baptisms for the dead and all kinds of things that I've never understood and never tried to. But the things I've read feel right to me now, I feel inspired to live my life in a better way - I literally cannot take my mind off this.

So, on mormon.org you can request that missionaries visit you and deliver the Bible and Book of Mormon. I decided to do that, and yesterday evening I had an email from missionaries wanting to confirm the visit.

I wrote back to say it was me who made the request and that I would like a visit (I suppose they get a lot of timewasters). And now I'm feeling a bit nervous - and wondering, have any of you any experience of the Mormon church? Have you spoken with missionaries, have you attended a service? Have you read any of their literature?

I'll add that I am a drinking, sometimes smoking, generally non-religious person (went to church years ago then decided God wasn't really there for me) and if you'd asked me a week ago if I'd consider reading the Book of Mormon I would have laughed my head off.

I always find if you have to argue or defend your religion then you lose the central message of your faith and once it gets contentious then you do not have the Spirit with you and it is only through the Spirit that you can testify of what is true or recieve a testimony of what is true. Is it not better to share what you believe and seek to have others understand where you are coming from. I consider myself a Christian because Christ is at the centre of my Church. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I follow all Christs teachings. My Church considers itself to be Christian and my ds stood up in class and told his teacher and peers why be was a Christian when he was taught in class that he wasn't. I believe in the Old Testament, the new Testament in so far as it is correctly translated but I also believe the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ and enhances and further explains what has been revealed in the earlier scriptures.

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Your beliefs are not Christian.

Yikes. I'm the OP. Had no idea this had turned into a bit of a fight.

I am not at all convinced that you have to believe in the Trinity doctrine to be a Christian, and I am not convinced that an overzealous attitude about that is helpful. As far as I am aware, it is mainly the Catholic church that refuses to accept Mormons as Christians, and hiddenhome, aren't you a recent convert to RC? Defending your religion to the point of offending others about theirs is a bit uncharitable.

Someone upthread suggested I investigate RC myself first before committing to the LDS church. I will say little more than that I just know RC is not for me. It feels all wrong, it really really does. Veneration of saints, can't do it (I would say it's idolatry but I know Catholics do not feel that way). Children born with the sin of Adam, I don't believe it. Repetitions for penance when you've done wrong, it just doesn't sit right with me.

I would never in a thousand years have thought I would consider the LDS church, but it feels more right than anything. I feel thankful for every minute the missionaries spend teaching me, and I really do believe the things they say.

I am not a convert to RC. I was baptised RC when a child.

LDS hold false beliefs about Christ and are not Christians. They also deny the Trinity which is central to Christian belief.

The Nicene Creed

They also believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers

Hiddenhome, the LDS church is a restoration of Christ's church... before the Nicene creed was even written! That is really not an adequate way to show that they are not Christians.

From an LDS source regarding the Trinity:

"It is not our purpose to demean any person's belief nor the doctrine of any religion. We extend to all the same respect for their doctrine that we are asking for ours. (That, too, is an article of our faith.) But if one says we are not Christians because we do not hold a fourth- or fifth-century view of the Godhead, then what of those first Christian Saints, many of whom were eyewitnesses of the living Christ, who did not hold such a view either?

We declare it is self-evident from the scriptures that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are separate persons, three divine beings, noting such unequivocal illustrations as the Savior's great Intercessory Prayer just mentioned, His baptism at the hands of John, the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, and the martyrdom of Stephen-to name just four."

Bodyunknown, the trinity is central and essential to being a believer and a follower of christ,the son of God who is also the Holy Spirit in one.
I don't need a degree in theology,(although I have one) to tell you that the christian church does NOT accept that the trinity is three seperate beings which is what the Mormon church believes. Why call it the 'trinity' (3 in 1) when you can just call three different people by different names?
It not an easy concept to understand but it is possible.
It isn't just the RC church that does not recognise mormons as christians, it is the whole of the christian church who recognise the father,son and Holy Spirit as one,The Gospel "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!" and the resurrection of christ.
To deny the physical resurrection is to deny that Jesus' work was a satisfactory offering to God the Father. It would mean that Jesus was corrupt and needed to stay in the grave. But, he did not stay because his sacrifice was perfect.

'Mormon theology teaches that God is only one of countless gods, that he used to be a man on another planet, that he became a god by following the laws and ordinances of that god on that world'
And christianity is a monotheistic religion. We believe in One God like the Jews and the Muslims.

Hiddenhome - I had to smile when you mentioned the Catholic Church and the saints. A friend of mine feels similar about that. She feels at home in a very low key, no frills protestant church (CofS). No bells, no smells and a pretty calvinist attitude to life at times. Would you consider exploring another no frills protestant church? It is clear that the CotLDS does attract a lot of bad press in a way that other churches don't. That would make me want to explore all of the options available before deciding on anything. Good luck.

well as a child my mother was baptised into the LDS church and I have fond memories of family home evening it's true but she and quite a few other ex members have told me in hindsight that it was the charisma and charm, that welcome feeling they got at first that led to them rushing into baptism. What led them back out was tithing, inconsistencies in the teachings and the restrictions on their personal choices. What concerns me (apart from truly not believing the doctrine) is how women are viewed.

Whatever religion you choose (or don't) do your research and remember that you are allowed to change your mind and you are allowed to disagree. I say this as a non practising spiritualist (yup, weird thing to not practice eh? )

So are Mormons just uncommonly charismatic then, Shuckleberry? :)

I have no problem with the tithing.

I think most LDS would attribute the inconsistencies you mention to the process of ongoing revelation. I think they would also say that whatever restrictions you may feel are placed on you, you do always have agency and can always choose to do differently. The consequences, as they might see them, are between you and God. The missionaries taught me to see certain restrictions not as a prohibition but as an opportunity (to receive the blessings they believe come through adherence).

I expected to have a problem with the way women are viewed, but that hasn't turned out to be the case. It is not the only church in which women cannot hold the priesthood, and there is nothing wrong, in my eyes, in acknowledging that women have a different role from men, generally, in the life of the family. The church does seem to acknowledge that not all families can function in the traditional model.

In my experience, they are well-trained in sucking people in.

I don't know about the uncommonly charismatic part, for one I was a child as I've said. I know I want nothing to do with any religion that considers me unequal to my husband. The missionaries I have met since have certainly been earnest though I believe they do receive some training. As for ongoing revelation well that's a concept and a half in any religion. That's where I always struggle.

Sorry, I addressed my post to Hiddenhome. It should have been BodyUnknown. That's what I get for posting before I'm awake.

I'm a former mormon - a born in the faith one. I know how the mishies work, as I've been one. You do know that they have been through a training school to learn how to sell mormonism to you, don't you? To learn how to give you that Warm Fuzzy Feeling? And that they have to pay the mormon church for the opportunity to go? And that if you don't pay tithing, you can't be a proper temple mormon? It's called Milk before the Meat, it's the soft sell, and is all about the money I'm afraid.

I'm glad that you've found something that's made you feel this way, but I'm so sad that it's a cult that you've fallen for.

BTW Hiddenhome - it doesn't really matter what they call themselves - (mormons are currently on their 3rd church name) as they can and do call themselves what they want, and frequently contradict themselves

In my vast (40yrs+) experience of mormonism, the members are generally lovely (but unaware of the real history of their beliefs); it's the church organisation itself that is bent; that hides its true history, activities and businesses. Take, for example, the multiple versions of Joseph Smiths 'first vision'. Or that he plagarised the book of mormon (pub 1830) from Ethan Smith's work - 'View of the Hebrews' (Pub 1823), that he was a convicted fraudster; or that contrary to how the mormons will show you, Joseph Smith translated the book of mormon by sticking his face into his hat and reading what he saw in a 'magic stone'.

I found out everything I needed to know about mormonism by using mormon sources, I even used their own geneology library when I had questions about Joseph Smiths 14yr old wives. There's a lot of information in your ward library

Please be careful OP, this is a dangerous religion you are getting involved in. It is wonderful that you are seeking spiritual guidance but mormonism is not the answer. I hope you can instead find a church in London with strong biblical teaching, and I hope someone will come on here and recommend one to you, as I don't know London myself.

I joined the LDS chuch in my teens. I was actively encouraged to lie to my parents with regard to my whereabouts when going to church activities because my parents didn't want me to go there. Once I left I was hounded by the church until I eventually had to threaten legal action to have them stay away. I am not the only ex member I know who was treated in this way.

I'm always facinated by the "belief in the New testimant in so far as it is correctly translated" bit. No one was ever able to tell me exactly which bits they felt were translated incorrectly, or why the living prophet was not retranslating the incorrect pieces and publishing them to the world. Anyway, op, I wish you the best in your search for spirituality, but I would be very wary of this group.

what is thithing? (not sure if i spelt it right) I saw it mentioned but now cant find it to get right spelling?

Lisad123 Tithing is paying a certain amount of money to whatever religious organisation you belong to. In mormonism, it is a minimum of 10% of your gross income, and must be paid before you pay ANY other bills. Mormons also pay money towards a Missionary fund, education fund, a fasting sunday fund, and more.

Each mormon church has to send it all to the mormon HQ in Salt Lake City, and then receive a percentage of it back per active member. In the UK, the financial stats have to be published, as per charity commision rules, and it makes for eye opening reading, but they refuse to publish any other information for any other part of the organisation.

Well, I haven't read everyone's posts but I can give you my experience. I am a Mormon; you will even find me on mormon.org (and yes, the first reply was right, 'Mormon' is a nickname and the full name is 'member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'. That's a bit of a mouthful though!).

I am definitely a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. I don't think anything is achieved by slagging off someone else's religion, even if you don't agree with them. Christ taught 'by their fruits, ye shall know them'. If someone says they are a Christian and they do their best to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, that makes them a Christian IMO, whether they are LDS, RC, CofE, JW, Baptist... If you want to know what the Church says about it, see this article.

I just picked up one thing that concerned me in your posts OP: you say that you're not supposed to question the church leaders. That really would be scary! In fact, it is my duty as a member of the Church to question everything I'm taught, to think it over, to try it, to pray about it. My faith and what I believe is between me and God and if I want to know if something's true, I'll go right to the source. It's only by building a personal relationship with God and by finding things out for myself that I develop spiritually.

I am a convert to the Church. I was raised RC but converted six years ago. My DH is a member. My parents and brother were initially very against me joining the Church but have since mellowed as they've seen that it has made me a much nicer person. They like attending the social activities and have made friends with some of the other members of my Ward (like a CofE parish) but don't want to get involved any further. That's fine by me. I have never preached at them or felt any pressure to try to convert them either. Most members I've met are, if anything, a bit shy about sharing their beliefs unless someone asks about them. I have lots of friends from outside Church and am happy to answer questions or to invite people to socials but am not the least offended if they don't want to come.

My DH was a full-time missionary for two years. He, like every other FT missionary, paid his own costs (there are no paid ministry positions in the Church) and yes, he went to a training centre for two weeks to learn how to teach. The guide FT missionaries are taught to use is called Preach My Gospel and is available online here for anyone to see. My best friend in the Church before I got married didn't serve a mission. He still married in the temple and has full privileges as a member of the Church.

I got married in the temple. There are certain requirements I have to meet to be able to enter the temple and I have made covenants not to discuss the details of what happens inside, but I can say that nothing dodgy, evil or shocking happens there. It is a place of pure goodness. Pictures of the inside of the various temples and descriptions of what happens there and what they mean can be found here.

This is not a Sunday religion. It will take over your life because you will try to do as Jesus would. There are responsibilities to be taken on but is very heavily emphasised that your duty to your family comes first, your job second and your calling (or assignment) third. I've held various callings. My current calling is as Young Women's President. It is one of the more time-consuming callings but I have held it twice and don't find it overly onerous. More important is how I live my faith: how I treat my family, how trustworthy I am in my job. My life is far from perfect but it has focus and direction. You will meet lovely, wonderful members. You will meet members who are right old so-and-sos. You will meet people you don't really like. We're all just people. The only perfect person who has ever lived on this earth is Jesus Christ.

You can find a lot of people who will say bad things about the Church. They tend either not to be members or to be ex-members who are bitter either because they did something that led to excommunication and they hold a grudge or because they had a run-in with another member and flounced. Other people have had bad experiences with bad leaders. It happens unfortunately, though happily not often. The overwhelming majority of members of the Church are happy and fulfilled people. You will get very different stories from each side. The only way to be sure one way or the other is to read, to observe and ultimately, to ask God. The missionaries will show you a scripture in the Book of Mormon, right at the back, and ask you to put it into practice:

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions :)

Ah thanks for that. My fil said that we had to pay a certain amount of wages to our religion when he found out!! I wondered where he got it from, now I know
As it is, in our hall there are boxes at back of hall, so no one knows how much anyone puts in.

AKMD - ever heard of circular reasoning? Oh and the 11th article of faith should be clear enough to understand; I had it quoted to me as a mishie by non members who are savvy enough to use google to find out the stuff that the leadership won't teach the members.

As for no paid ministry, everyone above the Stake level gets paid - where on earth do you think your money goes? It's not just used to buy the hunting reserves and built the mega mall in SLC. Every single bloke at Area Presidency level and above is paid.

With regards to questioning the leaders, you're not even allowed to write to them - letters from the church presidency have been read in sacrament meeting chastising members who do so.

For anyone interested in fringe religions like this, I highly recommend this page - freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/responsibility/questions/

It is a list of characteristics displayed by religions that operate under 'cult' like conditions.

That link should read freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/responsibility/questions/