Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is frequently misnamed the “Mormon Church”) are one of the important elements in God’s Plan of Salvation. They are so important that there are forms of sacred worship that can only done in the temple. Temples are considered the most holy place on earth, and only the home can be compared to them in sanctity. Temples are a holy sanctuary where the Spirit of the Lord can be strongly felt—for they are literally the House of the Lord.

There are many examples in the scriptures that describe temples’ significance. For example, during their wanderings and travels in the wilderness, the Israelites, under the leadership of Moses and under the direction of God, built a portable temple known as the Tabernacle. God Himself gave them details on what standards His holy sanctuary should meet, including its materials and design. “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it” (Exodus 25:8–9). After its construction, the Tabernacle became the dwelling place of the Lord, where He gave His people, the Israelites, instructions and where sacred ordinances were performed in which ordinances were intended to bless the Israelites in their tribulations.

The New Testament also tells us of the significance of the temple. In the Gospel of Matthew, the record shows Jesus being brought to the temple as a baby and being presented to the people as the Savior of the world. “And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34–35).

The Savior often taught in the holy temple and He has been the greatest example of how people should view the importance of the temple in their lives. “And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him” (Luke 19:45–48). The members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”) view the temple as the place of most sacred worship and follow the commandments of the Lord regarding it.

In the latter days, God commanded His children to once again commence the building of holy temples as part of the restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The first Mormon temple was dedicated to the Lord on March 27, 1836, and is known as the Kirtland Temple. Today there are around 135 temples currently in operations to bless the lives of the children of God.

Mormon beliefs focus on the power and righteous influence of the temple and the knowledge that temples bring Latter-day Saints closer to Christ. That is why there are many Mormon temples built all over the world. The temple helps the members of the Church to understand the purpose of earthly existence as a mere fraction of the Plan of Salvation (God’s plan for His children) which provides hope that all the unfairness and trials of life are just temporal. The temple also provides many blessings and rich experiences for qualified Latter-day Saints, as they often testify of. In the temple, Mormons learn more about Jesus Christ and His infinite love for all people, and that salvation can only come through Him. “And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:17).

Additional Resources:

Jesus Christ in Mormonism

Mormon Temples

Mormon Beliefs

Roy Patrick is currently working as a Call Center Agent in the Philippines. He served a full-time mission in San Francisco, CA. His family is one of the pioneers of the LDS Church in Panay Island, Philippines.

The Gospel is Eternal

The gospel of Jesus Christ imbued with power and authority from God has always existed.  As in God’s words to Jeremiah, that He knew Jeremiah and chose him before he was in the womb, we all existed for a long while before we were born on earth into mortality.  In pre-mortality, we lived with God as His spirit-children and agreed to His plan of salvation.  We knew that Adam would fall, that we would all sin during our mortal lives, and that we needed a Savior to redeem us.  We all sustained and supported Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, as He was also the Creator of it.  This idea of a pre-existence was fully extant in the early church, commonly understood and commonly taught.  That this knowledge has been lost does not make it weird, and that it is referred to in many places in the Bible indicates that it is truth.  (See Deut. 32:8; Jer. 1:5; Acts 17:26, 29; Rom. 8:28–30; Eph. 1:3–4; 1 Pet. 1:19–20 (Rev. 13:8); Job 38:4–7; Eccl. 12:7; Heb. 12:9; Jude 1:6;  Rev. 12:4, 7–9; also MormonWiki.com.)

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Jesus Christ has a Father

Mormons believe in the Bible and the biblical account that Jesus did the will and work of His Father, prayed to His Father, pleaded with His Father on the Cross, and in Gethsemane.  They are now and ever were two separate beings.  A belief in the corrupt concept of a trinity does not qualify a person as a Christian, and yet that is the criterion to which Mormons are held.  Mormons not only believe in Christ, they believe Christ when He says He came to do the will of the Father:

Jesus said,

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?   If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not (John 10:36-37).

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him (Luke 11:13)?

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father (John 14:12).

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:13).

For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother (Matthew 12:50).

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him (John 14:23).

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever (John 14:16).

Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done (Luke 22:42).

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me (Mark 15:34)??

And elsewhere in the Bible:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ  (Ephesians 1:3).

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17).

Jesus Christ was Resurrected and is Still Resurrected

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have (Luke 24:39).

Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:11).

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd (John 10:16).

And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them….And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:   Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world (Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 11).

Every Person Will Have an Opportunity to Hear the Gospel

In an exquisite revelation received by Joseph F. Smith, God revealed how His work goes forth in the spirit world where we go to await resurrection after we die.

While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful;   And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance.

And as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quickened, and I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wickedand the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them;  But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.

Baptism must be Available to All of God’s Children

Paul speaks of baptism for the dead as if it were common practice in his time:

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29)?

Indeed, baptism for the dead was commonly practiced and understood by the Saints led by the original apostles.  Baptism for the dead only ceased in 397 A.D. in the orthodox church.

The Central Belief in Mormonism is that Christ is our Savior and Redeemer

Said Joseph Smith, the first prophet of this last dispensation of time before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ:

“What are the fundamental principles of your religion? …the fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and the Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it …” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 121).

Jesus Christ bore witness of Himself in the many revelations given to prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Mormon prophets have seen Him on many occasions:

We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. —The Living Christ

And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father–That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.~Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-24.

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

Jesus Christ in Mormonism

The Bible in Mormonism

The Book of Mormon

“Mormon” has become a buzz-word in the media, and will likely remain under discussion and debate for some time. There have been people on both sides of the issue of whether being a Mormon is likely to play a large role in Mitt Romney’s success or failure in his run for election in the presidential race.

The New York Times published a piece by Josh Kron on April 13, 2012, taking a deeper look into what Mormon missionaries‘ lives are really like in Uganda (the setting of The Book of Mormon [musical]). (Read full article here.) Kron discovered a much more meaningful existence than is portrayed in the play (which should really come as a surprise to no one, since the creators of the play are comedians and more often went for punch lines than doctrine.

First of all, it is important to clarify what the Book of Mormon is. Many Christians unfamiliar with Mormonism believe that it is the Mormon Bible and that Latter-day Saints (as “Mormons” prefer to be called) do not believe in the Bible. This is false. In fact, Latter-day Saints do believe the Bible to be the word of God, and it is included in their canon. However, Mormon doctrine states that many plain and precious truths were lost from the Bible. Some things were lost due to the wickedness of men, others were simply lost in translation and in the transmission of the text. The Book of Mormon is considered by Latter-day Saints to be another testament of Jesus Christ. It is a sacred and ancient record of some of the inhabitants of the ancient Americas, and records Jesus Christ’s dealings with them. Thus, the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is meant to be a complementary book of scripture to the Bible, not a replacement for it.

Mormon missionaries serve all over the world. Young men between the ages of 19 and 25 may choose to serve for a period of two years; single women may serve from the age of 21 and older for a period of 18 months; senior couples may choose to serve for a variety of lengths of time. Missionaries usually finance their own missions. It is a huge sacrifice of time and money, and missionaries dedicated their entire lives, for this period of time, to serving the Lord. They can be called to serve anywhere in the world. They may be required to learn a new language, and they serve the people in the areas where they work.

Kron spent a good deal of time with Mormon missionaries in Uganda, trying to capture an accurate picture of what their lives are like there and how they interact with Ugandans. It was not long before Kron discovered how serious the missionaries there were about their calling. They gave up girlfriends or boyfriends, school, possibly careers, marriage, etc., putting everything off while they chose to serve the Lord.

A church spokesman, Eric Hawkins, explained to Kron that a mission is “something we hope all Mormon young men will want to do—a time of meaningful personal sacrifice, service, testing and growth.”

Kron learned for himself what a sacrifice a mission truly is. Missionaries are expected to adhere to an “intensive airtight and sometimes lonely schedule of prayer, Scripture study and door-to-door proselytizing six days a week, 52 weeks a year. They are to abstain from virtually every earthly pleasure — not just the usual temptations prohibited under Mormonism, like premarital sex, alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea, but also magazines, television and music not sanctioned by the church. They can call home two days a year, on Christmas and Mother’s Day.” Depending on the mission, some missionaries are permitted to email, but only one day a week. Amazingly, the vast majority of all missionaries who serve follow these strict rules quite willingly, taking very seriously their commitment to serve the Lord wholeheartedly.

Due to the ages at which most missionaries depart on their missions, many leave in middle of their schooling. Some colleges will allow them to pick back up right where they left off, but not all colleges are so lenient. Even when colleges are lenient, it can be difficult to get back into such a different schedule and way of life. On the bright side, many missionaries who are required to learn a foreign language can take proficiency tests upon their return to gain significant college credit for the skills they have picked up.

Mormon missionaries learn much more than a foreign language, if they serve with their whole hearts. “Their personal values sharpen, and they begin to understand whom they want to be when they return to college,” says Kron. Some of the missionaries he met with had decided to focus on special-needs social work because of experiences he had had with a family he taught who was headed by an alcoholic father struggling to overcome his addiction. Another missionary, who had planned on pursuing international business as a career, has now starting thinking about a different career that will allow him to spend more time with his family.

Elder Lee (all male missionaries carry the title “Elder”) said of his missionary experiences, “I have learned more about myself in the last 20 months than I could if I was back home. You begin to understand what really matters in your life.”

Missionaries shared with Kron some of their struggles. “Between six months and 18 months everyone forgets you,” Elder Lee says. “All your friends back home, they stop writing you. That’s when the umbilical cord is cut, that’s when you start realizing a lot of different things.”

Missionaries try to impress on the people they teach that they have no wish to take away one’s current faith, only to share what they believe and invite others to accept more truth. “We don’t expect anyone just to take our word for it; we ask them to pray for it, to ask God if it’s true or not,” Elder Lee says. “Everyone knows that God is not a God of lies. We’re not trying to convert you to us; we’re trying to convert you.”

Missionaries are expected to serve the people in their communities. They never ask for money and they are not pushy. They often volunteer to help local citizens digging ditches, hauling bricks, or whatever else they may need help with.

Says one Ugandan convert, Mr. Kagodo, “I found what I wanted. It is the way of life. I’ve met many other Christians who would be very comfortable just saying they are born-again or what, but their character does not depict it. . . . For me, the fact that nobody pushes you, but asks you, and read the Scriptures, and just keep the gospel, that matters a lot.”

Kron noticed that Mormon missionaries also spend some time correcting people’s misperceptions about the religion. Polygamy is no longer practiced, for one, and has not been since 1890. The Bible is accepted as scripture, not replaced by the Book of Mormon. Most importantly, Latter-day Saints worship Jesus Christ as their Savior, something many people still do not realize.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had nearly 400,000 new members join in 2010. Nearly 70 percent of these new members were converted by college-age missionaries like Elder Lee.

Additional Resources:

Mormon News: Mormon Missionaries

Jesus Christ in Mormonism

Mormon Beliefs

Ongoing Events on Temple Square

Sundays, 9:30 to 10:00 a.m.
Mormon Tabernacle Choir Broadcasts of Music and the Spoken Word

Tabernacle (please be seated by 9:15).

Thursdays, 8:00 p.m.
Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsals

Tabernacle

Weekdays and Saturdays at noon and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
Organ Recitals

Tabernacle

Weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Weekends from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Church History Museum

The museum is located across from Temple Square on West Temple Street.
Admission is free.

Daily 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Exhibits focusing on the life of Jesus Christ, ancient and modern prophets, the construction of the Salt Lake Temple, and the importance of families.

North and South Visitors’ Centers

May Events on Temple Square

May 4, Friday
An Evening of Brahms and Mahler

Assembly Hall, 7:30 p.m.
Featuring Lawrence Gee, piano; Christopher Holmes, baritone; Karl Christensen, tenor; and Paul Otterstrom, baritone.

May 5, Saturday
International Children’s Choir

Assembly Hall, 7:30 p.m.
Children from around the world singing songs in many languages and performing in authentic, colorful costumes.
Kathy Sorensen, director.

May 11, Friday
Temple Square Choral Festival

Tabernacle, 6:30 p.m.
We Also Sing, women’s chorus.
Merrilee Webb, director.

Tabernacle, 8:00 p.m.
Because We Sing, men’s chorus.
Merrilee Webb, director.

May 12, Saturday
Temple Square Choral Festival

Tabernacle, 5:00 p.m.
Sterling Singers.
Kelly DeHaan, director.

Tabernacle, 6:30 p.m.
Heralders Children’s Choir.
Deborah Smith, director.

Tabernacle, 8:00 p.m.
Utah Voices.
Michael Huff, director.

May 18, Friday
The Zion String Quartet

Assembly Hall, 7:30 p.m.
Featuring Alice Ashton and Asheley Madsen Watabe on violin, Rebecca Fawson Suelzle on viola, and Kelly McConkie Stewart on cello.

May 19, Saturday
Intermountain Children Strings

Assembly Hall, 7:30 p.m.
Variety of classical, religious, and traditional tunes by a children’s strings group founded in 1996.
Melanie Hogan and Melissa Thatcher, directors.

May 25, Friday
Utah Premiere Brass

Assembly Hall, 7:30 p.m.
A British-style brass band with 30 musicians showcases a breadth of musical styles including sacred works, patriotic songs, and more.
Kirt Saville, director.

May 26, Saturday
Brett Zumsteg, organ and harpsichord

Assembly Hall, 7:30 p.m.
An evening of music arranged for the organ or harpsichord, including works by Bach and Brahms.

Fasting is a familiar term among Christians. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is sometimes mistakenly called the “Mormon Church”) make it a regular practice to participate in a twenty-four hour fast on the first Sunday of every month. Not only is this fast beneficial to us as individuals because it helps us draw closer to the Spirit and cleanse our bodies, but also we find that fasting with a purpose can work like a prayer in seeking out particular blessings for those in need. We help further that purpose by paying a fast offering each month.

Churches are run on donations, and in most denominations a collection plate is passed around for people to place their donations. Latter-day Saint members are encouraged to pay a tithe of 10 percent of their income to The Church of Jesus Christ, but this is not collected publicly during meetings. Those who wish to pay tithing can pick up envelopes with tithing slips from our bishop’s office and hand our offerings to a member of the bishopric.

The fast offering is a special offering seperate from our tithing, and there is a spot on the tithing slip to specify the amount we are paying for a fast offering. We are adviced to have the amount of the offering be the amount of money we saved on food by participating in the monthly twenty-four hour fast, making it roughly the cost of two meals. Those with the means are encouraged to be generous and pay more, but the actual amount members pay for a fast offering is entirely up to the individual.

Because Latter-day Saints have a lay leadership (which means they volunteer their time rather than being compensated monetarily), all our payments and offerings are used to further the four-fold mission of the church: to “proclaim the gospel, perfect the saints, redeem the dead, and care for the poor and afflicted.” Fast offerings, specifically, are used for this last purpose—the care of the poor and afflicted. Fast offerings help stock what is known as the Bishop’s Storehouse with foodstuffs and basic necessities. Members in need can speak to their bishop about receiving church welfare which can include visits to this storehouse.

I have personally been blessed by the fast offerings of members when I went through a period of about a year where all the food and basic needs for my family was provided by the Bishop’s Storehouse. It was a difficult and humbling time that has heightened my own dedication to the payment of fast offerings and volunteering at the storehouse.

Fast-offering funds are also used to provide relief in troubled areas after natural disasters, in third-world countries, and other places in dire need. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is typically one of the first responders after disasters, and we have several locations for the preparing of basic food provisions that go to third-world countries. It is a blessing to know that my offerings go straight to such a good cause, and that I can help in providing relief to those who are suffering by paying my offerings and volunteering my time to aid in this great work.

Alison’s thoughts on fast offerings:

Once a month members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fast for two meals. They then donate the money those meals would have cost to the church. Fast-offering funds are used at the bishop’s discretion to help the poor and needy. The funds are used first at the local level. If there isn’t a need within the ward, then the money goes to the Stake. If there are funds left after the needs are met in the Stake, the money then goes to the Presiding Bishop of the church. From there, the funds are used wherever in the world they are needed.

From a personal perspective, I’m grateful for the opportunity to pay a fast offering. I know that 100 percent of the money goes to help people in need. The blessings of giving a generous fast offering are wonderful. Being able to help people I don’t know about is a great feeling.

Alison

This comes on the heels of earlier surveys indicating that 32 percent of non-LDS U.S. adults say the LDS Church is not a Christian religion, and an additional 17 percent are unsure of LDS Christianity. The theological and semantic reasons for this can be complex, but for the 1,019 self-identified Mormons who participated in the Pew survey, their theological position is clear: Mormons believe in Jesus Christ, and they consider themselves to be Christian.

“Certainly in Latter-day Saint theology is this idea that if you understand who you are, you understand that there’s a purpose in life, you understand your connection to God, that certainly has an impact on how you live your life and what you do, but also how you feel about your life and what you are doing,” said Michael Purdy of the LDS Church Public Affairs office.

For the vast majority of Latter-day Saints surveyed, those life choices have much to do with their religious beliefs. Eighty-two percent of survey respondents indicate that religion is “very important” to them, 83 percent say they pray every day and 77 percent say they attend church at least once a week. Beyond that, a stunning 69 percent of respondents fit all three descriptions, saying that religion is very important to them, that they pray every day and that they go to church every week.

“By this measure,” the report says, “Mormons exhibit higher levels of religious commitment than many other religious groups, including white evangelical Christians.”

Part of the explanation for these high numbers may be that the survey focused only on those who self-identified as Latter-day Saints.

“The method they used tended to identify people who are strongly committed,” said BYU sociologist Marie Cornwall, who advised the Pew Forum on the new survey. “They don’t have the people who are kind of marginal. But that’s okay; we just have to be careful with the way we interpret the findings.”

One such finding is the relationship between religious commitment and education among Mormons.

David Campbell, a University of Notre Dame associate professor and another adviser on the survey, noted that the more educated respondents were, the higher their levels of religious commitment.

“I was a little surprised by that,” said Campbell, who is LDS and who has extensively studied on the role of religion in the public square. “The more educated a Mormon is, the more likely they are to be wholehearted in their commitment to the church and its teachings.”

That is different from other churches, he said, where more education tends to lead to more religious skepticism.

Pew Research Center officials also noted “a significant gender gap in religious commitment, with more Mormon women than men exhibiting a high level of religious commitment (73 percent vs. 65 percent).”

According to the Pew report, a similar “gender gap” is seen among the general public. A 2007 survey found 36 percent of U.S. women exhibited a high level of religious commitment, compared with 24 percent of men.

One series of questions asked about what it means to be a good Mormon. According to the respondents, in order to be a good Mormon it is “essential” to believe Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ (80 percent), work to help the poor (73 percent), hold regular family home evenings (51 percent), not drink coffee and tea (49 percent) and not watch R-rated movies (32 percent).

Combining those who said “essential” with those who said “important but not essential,” the order changes a little bit: working to help the poor (97 percent), holding regular family home evenings (96 percent), believing Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ (93 percent), not drinking coffee and tea (81 percent) and not watching R-rated movies (79 percent).

“I think that result is rather interesting,” said Cornwall. “Mormons are known for not drinking coffee or tea and not watching R-rated movies. But compared to believing that Joseph Smith saw God and working for the poor, Mormons don’t seem to focus on the coffee and tea as much as people probably think.”

Other manifestations of religious commitment in the survey included:

The number of respondents (65 percent) who say they hold a current temple recommend (a certificate from local ecclesiastical leaders, issued every other year, indicating that an individual has permission from the church to enter LDS temples and participate in temple rites and sacraments)

The number (79 percent) who say they pay tithing (donating 10 percent of their income to the church)

The number (27 percent) who have served full-time missions for the church (this number includes 43 percent of men and 11 percent of women and varies significantly according to the age and education of the respondent, as well as whether or not the respondent was raised Mormon)

The number (82 percent) who keep food in storage for emergencies or disasters, as they have been counseled to do by LDS Church leaders (This number includes 23 percent who say they have three months’ worth, 35 percent who say they have more than three months’ worth and 23 percent who say they have less than three months’ worth)

The percentage who pay tithing is especially interesting to break down. According to the survey tabulations, “tithing is most common among Mormons with the highest levels of religious commitment (96 percent) … fully 91 percent of college graduates say they pay tithing … compared with 66 percent of those with a high school diploma or less education. And among those whose family income exceeds $30,000, 83 percent say they pay tithing, compared with 69 percent of those with incomes of less than $30,000.”

While previous surveys have clearly established LDS agreement with certain key Christian doctrines — 90 percent of Mormons believe in God, 91 percent believe the Bible is the word of God and 98 percent believe in life after death — the new survey explores Mormon confidence in points of doctrine that are unique to LDS theology. And in these points of doctrine, Mormons proved to be unified and believing. They believe overwhelmingly that God and Jesus Christ are separate physical beings (94 percent), that the president of the LDS Church is a prophet of God (94 percent), that families can be bound together eternally in temple ceremonies (95 percent) and that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets and translated by Joseph Smith (91 percent).

Overall, 77 percent say they believe “wholeheartedly” in all of the teachings of the LDS Church. That number increases to 82 percent among Mormons ages 18-49, and to 85 percent among Mormons who are college graduates.

“Ultimately, I suppose other Americans will judge our church — and perhaps all churches — by their relevance in how they touch and improve human lives right here on Earth as well as what they offer in the life to come,” wrote Michael Otterson, Public Affairs director for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in his “On Faith” blog in the Washington Post. “Meanwhile, we welcome the friendship and regard of all groups, even as we retain our commitment to a unique identity. In the end … Latter-day Saints will strive to be good Mormons, true believers, kind neighbors and faithful friends.”

Pew Study Reflects Mormons’ Religious Commitment to Christ, Mormon Beliefs in Tithes and Temples

Mormons in America

Deseret News
Published: Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 7:00 p.m. MST

David Letterman knows how to get a laugh.Like most comics, he riffs on the day’s news, deadpans the camera and revels in audacity.”Oh, did you hear about this?” the host of CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman asked his audience recently. “A campaign staffer on the Newt Gingrich campaign was fired because he was making negative comments about Mormons. I thought, now, wait a minute — isn’t Newt in favor of multiple wives?”
Laughter rumbled from the audience followed by applause. The polygamy punch line is a familiar one when it comes to poking fun at Mormons — as though Mormons and polygamy are synonymous in mainstream media. Ironically, the practice that’s most linked to Mormons is a practice most Mormons oppose, according to a groundbreaking new study of Mormons in America released Thursday by the Pew Research Center‘s Forum on Religion and Public Life.

According to the study, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unequivocally reject polygamy — only 2 percent said the practice is morally acceptable — evidence of a yawning gap in what Mormons believe and how they are perceived. Mormons’ opinions are overwhelmingly conservative, the study shows, but in many ways, their views are also surprising — especially when it comes to opinions on moral issues, divorce, homosexuality and polygamy.

Morality

Mormons also take a significant stance on moral issues in other areas, such as divorce, sex outside of marriage and consumption of alcohol.

Although teachings from the LDS Church emphasize the importance and eternal nature of the family, only 25 percent of Mormons surveyed said divorce is morally wrong, according to the study. That means Mormons are slightly less morally opposed to divorce than the general public.

“For Catholics, divorce does not exist. They think it is not only wrong but it is impossible,” said Matthew Bowman, member of a board of expert advisers to the Pew Research Center for the study and author of “The Mormon People,” a book on the history of the LDS Church. “That has not been true for Mormons. There is theological space for divorce within Mormonism. It is undesirable, but Mormons recognize it is sometimes necessary and sometimes the right thing to do.”

Other moral views revealed in the survey — 54 percent said drinking alcohol was morally wrong, compared with 15 percent of the general public — set Mormons apart, Bowman says. The assumption on the part of non-Mormons is that if Mormons think drinking alcohol is wrong, then they must think everyone who imbibes is morally flawed. That apprehension can make people suspicious of Mormons, and wary of an elitist attitude, he says.

Differences in moral viewpoints can create a stumbling block for Mormon acceptance — not only in high-profile arenas, such as a presidential election, but also in communities.
“What you find throughout the report is a tension,” said David Campbell, assistant professor at Notre Dame and an adviser on the study. “Mormons like to use the phrase, ‘Be in the world but not of the world.’ They are certainly living their lives in the world. They are active and involved in their communities, but they have these beliefs and practices that set them apart a little bit, and sometimes there is conflict.”

Homosexuality

Mormons have some of the most conservative opinions when it comes to homosexuality. The survey asked Mormons if homosexuality should be accepted by society or discouraged by society, with an option for neither, both or “don’t know.” The response — 26 percent said homosexuality should be accepted, 65 percent said it should be discouraged — puts Mormons as the least likely to say homosexuality should be accepted by society. But a 26 percent acceptance rate, with roughly 1 in 4 Mormons saying homosexuality should be accepted, might be surprisingly high to some.

Of particular interest is the fact that only 8 percent of Mormons surveyed identified themselves as liberal, and 66 percent said they were conservative. That means some of those who said homosexuality should be accepted also identify themselves as politically conservative, Bowman says. That distinction illustrates the complexity of Mormons’ opinion on sexuality — that it is rooted more in religious precepts than politics.
Still, it’s difficult to draw a conclusion about Mormons‘ views on homosexuality based on the study, says Pew Research Center adviser Terryl Givens, professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond.

“Results need to be viewed cautiously,” Givens says. “Official LDS pronouncements insist there is a distinction between (sexual) orientation and behavior, but the survey blurs that difference, probably leaving many Mormons unsure how to answer that question. What is clear, however, is that Mormons are trending toward greater acceptance of same-sex relationships, just as society as a whole is, although by a much smaller percentage.”

Polygamy

At one point 120 years ago, some Mormons practiced plural marriage, hence the association between Mormons and polygamy. The practice was discontinued in 1890, but the cultural association persists, perhaps in part because Mormons are sometimes confused with members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, a polygamist group not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In the October-November 2011 study of a national sample of 1,019 Mormons, 86 percent said polygamy is morally wrong. That’s a number that surprises Bowman.

Were it not for the confusion surrounding Mormons and the FLDS Church practice of plural marriage, Bowman says that statistic might not be as high.

“It’s my experience that Mormons have a fraught relationship with polygamy,” Bowman said of the study results. “There is a sense that rejecting polygamy identifies a member of the LDS Church and distinguishes us from the fundamentalists. That is a cultural signifier as much as a theological statement.”

Some who responded to the survey, 11 percent, said polygamy is not a moral issue.
Email: achoate@desnews.com

Immigration is a controversial topic in the United States. The survey asked one question on this topic. They were asked which of two statements most closely matched their view, even if they didn’t completely agree. They were asked whether immigrants strengthen or burden the nation. No distinction was made between legal and illegal immigration, leaving those polled to decide for themselves what the question meant.

In the general U.S. population, 45 percent of Americans feel that immigrants strengthen the country, while 44 percent burden it. 12 percent feel that neither or both are true or they have no opinion on the subject. Mormon views closely mirror these statistics. 45 percent of Mormons also believe immigrants strengthen the nation, although a smaller number, 41 percent, consider them a burden on society. The number of Mormons who accept both or neither or who have no opinion is higher, at 14 percent.

These numbers put them at odds with evangelical Christians, one of the few political areas in which they disagree. Within the white evangelical population, 59 percent believe immigrants are a burden, and 27 percent believe they strengthen the country. Like Mormons, 14 percent answered both, neither, or no opinion.

The statistics for Mormons shows a strong divide based on age, income, and education, as well as on religious commitment. Only 36 percent of highly committed Mormons see immigrants as a burden, while 50 percent of those who are less committed see them as a burden. This largely correlates with economic status. 84 percent of Mormons who are highly committed to their religion are college graduates. (The church strongly encourages education, which may be a factor in this.) Only 50 percent of those with high school educations are strongly committed to their faith. This statistic is very unusual in the religious world. For most religions, the least educated are the most religious.

49 percent of Mormons under age 50 see immigrants as a strength. 39 percent of Mormons over 50 see it as a strength.

Beyond the study’s statistics, several other factors influence the Mormon view of immigration. Many Mormons serve missions for their church. For two years, they live wherever they are sent, learning the language and living as the people in that community live. They go into the homes, attend the churches, and do service work in addition to their missionary work. Many of those serve in Spanish countries and have a realistic view of the hardships faced by those people. They come home with a compassionate view of the world and an understanding that Americans have much easier lives than most. The love missionaries almost invariably develop for the people they served influences their views on immigration.

Finally, the church has taken very specific stands on the subject of illegal immigration in recent years. Mormons believe God has sent a prophet to lead His church, just as He has always done in ancient times, and so, Mormons are asked to sustain the prophet as the leader of the Church. Official statements from the prophet or the Church are considered to be from God.

The Church officially endorsed the basic principles of the Utah Compact, a law working to create a balanced legal approach to immigration. In November, 2011, L. Whitney Clayton gave an official statement from the church in honor of the first anniversary of the bill. The statement said in part:

The Utah Compact is consistent with three principles we believe should be carefully balanced when considering immigration:

• We follow Jesus Christ by loving our neighbors. The meaning of neighbor includes all of God’s children, in all places and in all times.
• We recognize an ever-present need to strengthen families. Families are meant to be together. Forced separation of working parents from their children weakens families and damages society.
• We acknowledge that every nation has the right to enforce its laws and secure its borders.

We continue to encourage lawmakers everywhere to consider laws that properly balance love of neighbors and the importance of keeping families together, within the framework of just and enforceable laws.” (See Utah Compact One-Year Anniversary Marked by Utah Community Leaders.)

The official Mormon position is to encourage its members to stay in their homelands or to immigrate legally, but once they are here, however they came, they are to be treated with love, dignity, and respect, and laws should not separate families.

For a more in-depth look at the issue of Mormons and immigration, read the Deseret News article: Mormons’ immigration attitudes set them apart, by Eric Schulzke, Deseret News, published: Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 8:12 p.m. MST.

Being parents is just what they always wanted. And they love it.

“Of course we have our crazy moments,” Thompson says, “but for the most part we just try to find the good things in the day and remember that they’re only going to be little for so long.”

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Thompsons believe that maintaining a strong marriage and raising and teaching children are essential keys to happiness and their most important responsibilities on earth.

In fact, 81 percent of Mormons say being a good parent is “one of the most important things in life,” according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life — the first survey of Mormons about Mormons, by a non-LDS research organization.

The survey of more than 1,000 self-identified Latter-day Saints from across the country asked how accepted Mormons feel in American culture, as well as their thoughts on religious practices, political issues and family roles.

The survey showed that Mormons are more likely to be married than the general population, 67 percent of the sample size compared to 52 percent of the general public.

And 85 percent of married Mormons married other Mormons. Protestants marry other Protestants 81 percent of the time and Catholics marry each other 78 percent of the time.

With an emphasis on marriage, it should come as no surprise that the Mormons surveyed also had, on average, more children (2.6) than the general U.S. population (1.8).

Thompson grew up wanting to have a large family and be a good mother, but she and her husband have struggled with infertility for nearly nine years — a trial punctuated by the joys of two different adoptions, Ellie, then the twins.

“We said when we finally get to be parents, we’re going to actually sit down and take a little more time to focus on our kids,” Thompson said, who lives in northern Utah. “I’m not saying that other people don’t do that — the perspective we have is just a little different.”

Other Latter-day Saints share the Thompson’s enthusiasm to put family first.

“Family is at the core of our faith,” says Jane Clayson Johnson, a Latter-day Saint and former anchor of CBS’s “The Early Show” who prefers the title of mom to two young children and stepmom to three older ones. “There are so many distractions today that all force us outward, away from core relationships. What our faith does is turn us back toward deep, rich, meaningful relationships in families.”

“It teaches us that families are where we find meaning,” continued Clayson from her home in Boston. “The work I do in my family is the most important work that I’ll ever do.”

Among the general public, 50 percent list being a good parent as “one of the most important things in life,” with 44 percent listing it as “very important but not most important.”

That shouldn’t be taken to mean that the average American doesn’t value marriage or family, just that they don’t “go to church every week and get told that’s what they’re supposed to do,” says Marie Cornwall, a professor of sociology at Brigham Young University. Cornwall advised the Pew Center for this survey.

“There’s nothing to suggest that family life is less valued in the United States over time,” she said, “but there’s more that suggests that people are feeling like it’s not possible for them to attain that.”

The pressure comes when a “successful” marriage is defined as having a good job, a hefty retirement account and a lovely home with a white picket fence, Cornwall said. So when people can’t achieve that in today’s tough economy, many feel like they’ve failed.

“For Mormons, there’s a spiritual aspect brought to that (definition of success),” she said, “an effort, in terms of sermons, to try and downplay the material and place more emphasis on the relationships.”

When the survey asked Mormons about working arrangements in families, nearly six out of 10 Mormons indicated they would prefer a marriage where the man works and the woman stays home to care for the home and the children.

LDS college graduates liked this marital structure more than any other subgroup, with 71 percent of them preferring the man to work and the woman to stay home.

In the general population, only 30 percent of Americans would prefer a marriage where the husband works and the wife stays home. Among religiously unaffiliated Americans, it drops to 15 percent who would pick such a scenario.

Almost four-in-10 Mormons would prefer that both parents work and both parents help with child rearing and housework.

For American Fork mom Ruth Ann Dupaix, 37, it’s not a black-or-white decision. Throughout her marriage she has both worked and stayed at home.

“The way we look at it, we try to make it a partnership,” Dupaix says. “It’s more who’s able at the time to do it best. It’s working together, a give and take.”

When she and her husband, Geoff, were first married, her job helped pay for his school. When he finished, she kept working because her employer would pay for her to complete her degree, and education was important to both of them.

Dupaix stopped working when her sixth child was born but has recently gone back to work at a local grocery store three nights a week to help fulfill a family goal to reduce their debt load.

It’s a big pay cut from the job she used to have at a bank, but it’s a more family friendly schedule.

“As part of a family you make sacrifices,” she said. “I’m gone when the kids are asleep, but I’m still here during the day when they need me.”

Additional Resources:

For original source Deseret News article: Mormon family marriage focus Pew.

Entitled “Mormons in America: Certain in Their Beliefs, Uncertain of Their Place in Society,” the survey was conducted between Oct. 25 and Nov. 16, 2011 among a national sample of 1,019 respondents who identified themselves as Mormons. The results validate a number of long-held stereotypes (most American Mormons are white, well-educated, politically conservative and religiously observant) while providing a few interesting surprises (care for the poor and needy is high on the list of LDS priorities, while drinking coffee and watching R-rated movies aren’t as taboo among the rank and file as you might think).

“While this survey comes amid a contentious election campaign, it is not solely or even chiefly about politics,” said Luis Lugo, Pew Research Center director, in the published survey’s preface. “Rather, we hope that it will contribute to a broader public understanding of Mormons and Mormonism at a time of great interest in both.”

For example, in one very interesting section of the new survey, respondents were asked several questions about what is essential to being a good Mormon. According to the survey, 80 percent said “believing Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ” is essential to being a good Mormon, 73 percent said “working to help the poor,” 51 percent said “regular Family Home Evenings,” 49 percent said “not drinking coffee and tea” and 32 percent said “not watching R-rated movies.

“To be honest, I found the strong sentiment that ‘working to help the poor’ is essential to being a good Mormon refreshing and a little surprising,” said David Campbell, an LDS Church member who is an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame and who consulted with the Pew Research Center on the new survey. “As a Mormon, I would hope it would be that way, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s good to see the church’s genuine compassion for the poor and needy reflected in these numbers.”

People outside the church may or may not be aware of the LDS propensity for compassionate service and other . According to the survey, 62 percent of Mormons think that Americans are generally uninformed about Mormonism, and 68 percent feel that they are not viewed as part of mainstream American society. But they remain optimistic, with 63 percent expressing the belief that Mormonism will eventually become part of mainstream society and 56 percent saying that the American people are ready for a Mormon president.

In fact, optimism is one of the themes to emerge from the survey relative to Latter-day Saints. Some 87 percent say they are satisfied with the way things are going in their own life, and 92 percent say their respective communities are excellent (52 percent) or good (40 percent) places to live (this is especially true among Mormons in Utah, of whom 71 percent say their communities are excellent).

But evidently, optimism only goes so far with Mormons.

“I think it is interesting that the respondents are overwhelmingly positive about their communities. They love their communities and everything’s fine there,” said Marie Cornwall, professor of sociology at Brigham Young University and another advisor to the Pew Research Center on this study. “But when you ask them about the way things are going in the country today, they are overwhelmingly (75 percent) dissatisfied. You would think that their satisfaction with their personal lives would factor into their feelings about how things are going in the country, but there seems to be a total disconnect there.”

It should be noted that the Mormon view of how things are going in the country today closely resembles the view of the American public as a whole, among whom 78 percent said they were dissatisfied in an October 2011 Pew Research Center survey.

Generally speaking, the new survey looks at Mormons and their perspectives in four key areas: politics and ideology, religious beliefs and practices, cultural and moral issues and family life.

Politically, there are few surprises. Most Mormons (66 percent) describe themselves as politically conservative, and 74 percent of Mormon voters identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. Philosophically, 75 percent of respondents said they prefer a smaller government providing fewer services to a bigger government providing more services.

Among a number of politicians currently in the spotlight, Mitt Romney is a favorite, being viewed favorably by 86 percent of all Mormons and 94 percent of Mormon Republicans. Even among Mormon Democrats, 62 percent rate Romney favorably.

The other Mormon running for president, Jon Huntsman, is viewed favorably by 50 percent of Mormon voters, while President Barack Obama is viewed favorably by 25 percent — slightly ahead of the rating Mormons bestowed upon another one of their own: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (22 percent).

Interestingly, Latter-day Saints seem to be somewhat divided on the issue of immigration. They are fairly evenly split on whether immigrants strengthen the U.S. because of their hard work and talents (45 percent) or burden the U.S. by taking American jobs, housing and health care (41 percent).

Campbell, who is an expert in the field of religion, politics and civic engagement, said he wasn’t surprised by that result.

“Although Mormons are caricatured as being really right wing, on the issue of immigration they are not,” he said. “The church itself has been quite a voice of moderation on this issue, and that has resulted in Mormons being more positive toward immigrants than other conservative religious groups tend to be.”

Campbell suggests that the LDS Church’s missionary program has something to do with that, with Latter-day Saints tending to develop a broader worldview as a result of their missionary service around the world. In any event, he said, “this result really does cut against the stereotype.”

In terms of religious beliefs and practices, the survey makes it clear that Mormons are highly religious — again, not a big surprise. Eighty-two percent say that religion is very important in their lives, and 77 percent say they believe wholeheartedly in all of the church’s teachings. Fully 83 percent say they pray every day, 79 percent say they donate 10 percent of their earnings to the church in tithing and 77 percent say they attend church at least once a week. According to Pew, “Mormons exhibit higher levels of religious commitment than many other religious groups, including white evangelical Protestants.”

Looking at basic, core religious beliefs, 98 percent say they believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 94 percent believe the president of the LDS Church is a prophet of God, 95 percent believe that families can be bound together eternally in temple ceremonies, 94 percent believe that God the Father and Jesus Christ are separate, physical beings and 91 percent believe that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets.

Clearly, Mormons are believers.

But are they Christian? Ninety-seven percent of Mormons think so. And when asked to volunteer the one word that best describes Mormons, the most common responses were “Christian” and “Christ-centered.” By way of contrast, a November Pew Research Center survey found that nearly half (49 percent) of non-Mormon U.S. adults say that Mormonism is NOT Christian or that they are unsure whether or not it is Christian. In that same survey, when respondents were asked for one word that best describes the LDS Church, the most commonly offered response was “cult.”

Culturally, Mormon conservatism extends to a wide variety of moral issues. Polygamy (86 percent), sex between unmarried adults (79 percent), abortion (74 percent) and drinking alcohol (54 percent) are viewed as morally wrong. Divorce, on the other hand, is largely considered “not a moral issue” by respondents (46 percent).

Similarly, 65 percent of respondents said that homosexuality should be discouraged by society, compared with 58 percent of the general public who say homosexuality should be accepted by society.

“Mormons like to use the phrase, ‘Be in the world but not of the world,’” Campbell noted. “They are active and involved in their communities, but they have these beliefs and practices that set them apart a little bit, and sometimes that creates conflict or tension. [Homosexuality] is one of those issues where, rightly or wrongly, Mormons just have a different position than most of the rest of America.”

The survey also illustrates how important family life is to most members of the LDS Church. Among life’s priorities, being a good parent (81 percent) and having a successful marriage (73 percent) place higher than career concerns, having free time or even living a religious life. Some 67 percent of Mormon adults are married (compared with 52 percent of the general public), and 85 percent of them are married to another Mormon.

“As the Church and its members are increasingly the focus of media attention, we’re eager to participate in conversations that help the public get to know us better,” said LDS Church spokesman Michael Purdy. “Even though the recent Pew study did not survey any of the Church’s eight million members who live outside the U.S., it highlights some important aspects regarding who we are and what we believe.

“For example,” Purdy continued, “the study found that Church members subscribe to traditional Christian beliefs, have high moral standards, are overwhelmingly satisfied with their lives and communities, are active in serving others and have a profound dedication to family. These results reflect the Church’s message that a deep commitment to the teachings of Jesus Christ brings lasting happiness.”

Speaking for the Pew Research Center, Lugo said the idea for the survey was born last summer, “around the time that a Newsweek cover story and a New York Times article declared that the United States was experiencing a ‘Mormon moment.’”

“That got us thinking,” Lugo said in the survey’s preface.

Over the years, numerous polls have gauged public attitudes toward Mormons, who make up about 2 percent of all U.S. adults. But what do Mormons think about their place in American life? With the rising prominence of members of the LDS Church in politics, popular culture and the media, do Mormons feel more secure and accepted in American society? What do they think about other religions? What do they believe, how do they practice their faith and what do they see as essential to being a good Mormon and to leading a good life?

An advisory panel was recruited to help the Pew Forum staff create the survey. The panel featured a number of Latter-day Saints who have professional experience in Mormon studies and research, including Campbell, Cornwall, Matthew Bowman of Hampden-Sydney College, Terryl Givens of the University of Richmond and Allison Pond of the Deseret News.

“We helped them to formulate the questions, and to frame them in the kind of language that Mormons use,” Campbell said.

After a period of testing, the survey was conducted among respondents who identified themselves as Mormons (it also included qualifying questions that made it clear that respondents were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as opposed to other churches whose members may refer to themselves as Mormons).

“Since Mormons represent about 2 percent of the population, you’d have to call 98 people before you’d get a Mormon, and that would be very expensive,” said Cornwall, who is also editor of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. “But they had a fancy way of finding Mormons, including going back to Mormons they had found in the course of doing previous surveys, so they were able to get their sample in a cost-effective way.”

Care was also taken to make sure the survey included those who had land lines as well as those who have only cell phones — a growing area of concern among those who conduct public opinion research today.

Among other interesting findings of the Pew Forum’s survey of Mormons:

• 71 percent of respondents reside in the American West, including 53 percent who live in the Mountain states and 34 percent who live in Utah;

• 88 percent are white, 7 percent Hispanic, 1 percent black and 4 percent other racial and ethnic backgrounds;

• 50 percent say that evangelical Christians are generally unfriendly to Mormons;

• 54 percent say that the way their religion is portrayed on television and in movies hurts society’s image of Mormons;

• 57 percent of Mormons said that most or all of their close friends are other Mormons (this number was significantly higher in Utah, where the number climbed to 73 percent);

• 65 percent of respondents say they hold a current temple recommend;

• 27 percent say they believe in yoga not just as exercise but as a spiritual practice;

• 11 percent say they believe in reincarnation;

• 74 percent were raised in the LDS Church;

• 59 percent of converts cite the church’s beliefs as the main reason they joined the church;

• 59 percent of converts joined the church between the ages of 18 and 35;

• 27 percent have served a full-time mission, including 43 percent of men and 11 percent of women;

• 82 percent say they have a supply of food in storage, and 58 percent keep at least a three-month supply.

The margin of error for the survey is =/- 4.5 percentage points.

“I think this survey is a really good summary of the hyper-committed Mormon community that shows up at church every week,” Cornwall said. “I’m not sure it captures Mormons on the margins very well, but that’s OK — hopefully we can do that the next time. Meanwhile, this is a pretty good picture — and an interesting picture — of Mormons.

By Joseph Walker, Deseret News

Additional Resources:

Full original source Deseret News article: Pew Study on Mormons in America.

Learn more about the results of this survey of Mormons in America.

See infographic from the Deseret News article.

Pew Mormon Study Highlights Christianity.