Three key things you should know about Mormons

I was thinking what to post next and I was forwarded an article that came from a friend of mine about "The Mormon Moment".  It dealt alot with the press that Mitt Romney and John Huntsman (both are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) are getting due to them being potential United States Presidential canidates. 

The following is directly from Michael Otterson blog...so I give him all the credit, but the ideas I share with him 100 percent.  He offers three key things you should know about Mormons.

1. Mormons follow Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God and at the center of our belief and – to the best of our ability – our behavior. Some people like to define “Christian” in very precise and narrow terms. To me, it’s quite simple. We try to reflect Jesus Christ’s teachings in our lives and rely on his love and mercy when we make mistakes.

2. Mormons are friends of the family. Many of those who know Latter-day Saints realize how important the family is to us. Ideally, that means a mother, father, and their children. Today’s reality, though, means that sometimes we have broken families, remarriages, and single parents. And a large proportion of our church membership is single adults. Still, the nuclear family lies deep at the core of our belief about the purpose of life and the nature of God. It is, we believe, the fundamental unit of our society and of the eternities. While the traditional family is increasingly under threat, Mormons continue to sustain it as part of the divine order and the ballast of society.

3.Mormons are big on incorporating their religious beliefs into their day-to-day actions. Service is a hugely important principle, whether serving in the church or out of it. For some, that means partnering with others to help the people of Haiti or Japan. For others, it’s cooking a meal for a sick neighbor. At whatever level, service is as much a part of our religious culture as going to church on Sunday.

Where to start...

First of all in the sake of transparency, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (yes, I am a Mormon if you want to use that nickname) and what you are about to read are just some of my thoughts as over the next couple of years the temple is built in Carmel, Indiana.

The other day I was on  a flight back home to Indiana and the discussion of Carmel (the place we now call home) and religion came up with the person next to me.  This discussion then moved toward the announcement of the Indianapolis Indiana Temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

It was a great opportunity to talk about the temple and what it would mean to my family to have one so close to our home.  It was also clear that the person I was talking to had some concerns, mainly because they did not know what a temple is about to member of the church and what it can do for the community.   So, with that still lingering in my head and in my heart, I thought I would do this blog, so maybe someone, somewhere may see this and come to see what a great thing it is have a temple here in our area.

Again, this is just my personal thoughts and not an official Church site.  If you would like to go to the official church site, please go to www.indianapolismormontemple.org.

More to come...Mike