Some Facts About The Mormon Church

Here are four subjects that will help one to gain a basic understanding of our Church.

Facts

Some facts about the church include:

• First, “Mormon” is a nickname for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members are often referred to as “Mormons,” “Latter-day Saints,” or “LDS.” The term “Saint” means “member.”

• Second, the Church was restored in 1830 in the state of New York, USA with Joseph Smith as its first prophet and president. Today it is headquartered in Salt Lake City, with President Thomas S. Monson as the present prophet.

• Third, there are now over 14 million members in 176 countries and territories. Church missionary, Elder Orson Hyde, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, first entered Belgium and the Netherlands in 1841. On his way to Jerusalem, he stayed for a little more than a week preaching the gospel. It was not until twenty years later in 1861 that thefirst LDS missionaries were officially sent to the Netherlands. On October 1, 1861 near the village Broek bij Akkerwoude, Friesland, the first converts to the LDS Church in the Netherlands were baptized. (about 150 years ago) People from the Netherlands joined the LDS Church by the thousands, but most emigrated to the United States to be in Utah near Church headquarters. In more recent years Church leadership has asked members to stay in their own lands and build up the Church. The LDS Church has continued to steadily grow in Belgium and the Netherlands. There are now about 8,000 members in the Netherlands meeting in different congregations in 33 locations. There are about 6 million Church members in the United States, making it the fourth largest Christian denomination in America. As one of the fastest growing Christian faiths in the world, we complete a new chapel every working day. Members voluntarily and privately pay a tithe, which is 10 percent of their income, making this and other programs possible.

• Fourth, local congregations are led by volunteer, unpaid members. Both men and women serve in assigned leadership positions.

• And fifth, Mormons are well represented in government and the community. (In the United States, for example, there are 16 ‘Mormon’ members in Congress, from both political parties. Two of the many Republican candidates for president this year were Mormons, including front runner Mitt Romney) Members also serve in high and trusted positions throughout the world in business, medicine, law, education, media, sports, and entertainment. Donny Osmond is a member of our Church and his son Christopher was recently one of our missionaries in the Netherlands.

Faith

Our faith includes being committed Christians with strong traditional values. We emphasize that:

• We believe in the eternity of the soul, that God is the Father of our spirits, and that we can return to Him after death.

• We believe that Jesus Christ is our personal Savior, and we try to model our lives after Him and His teachings. We commemorate Christ’s atoning sacrifice in our Sunday worship services, similar to taking communion in other churches. We accept as fellow Christians all who believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and the Savior of all mankind. Many Christians do not understand that we have much common ground with them. Joseph Smith taught that Jesus Christ is the core of our belief, and everything else is an appendage to it (see Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 44). The name of the Church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints.

• We believe the original church that Jesus established was lost and has been restored again in our day. The priesthood, the authority given to man to act in the name of God, with apostles and a prophet to lead us, has been restored as have all necessary ordinances of salvation.

• We believe in and we use the Holy Bible, both the Old and New Testaments.

• And we believe in the Book of Mormon and other books of scripture which support and authenticate the Bible and testify of the ministry and divinity of Christ and of God’s ongoing revelation to man. Indeed, the Book of Mormon is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.”

Family

Our theology and our lifestyles are family-centered. Here are some simple statements about the importance we place on families:

• Mormons place particularly strong emphasis on family as the basic unit of the Church and of society. We have a deep commitment to marriage (defined as a union between one man and one woman). Polygamy, a limited practice in the early pioneer days of the Church, was discontinued in 1890, over 120 years ago.

• Families and individuals, whether members of our faith or not, can attend Sunday services in our chapels. Here we worship together, instructing one another from the scriptures.

• Latter-day Saint families are encouraged to hold family home evenings weekly, usually on Monday nights. This provides a regular and predictable time for parents to teach values to their children and to have fun together. We invite those not of our faith to adopt this practice with their own families.

• The Church has auxiliary programs for women, youth, and children as a support to the family. These programs provide such things as religious instruction, opportunities for Christian service, sports, drama, music, and Scouting.

• And there is also much focus on extended family, genealogy, and personal family history, providing young and old with a stronger sense of roots, identity, and belonging. The highest and most sacred ordinances of our faith relate to our families, both living and dead, and some of these ordinances take place in our temples. There is a Temple located in the Netherlands in Zoetermeer.

Fruits

The Savior said “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20; emphasis added). A church, or any way of life, should be judged by the fruits or the results that it generates. Here are a few examples based on United States statistics. But these would be similar throughout the world among practicing Mormons (by which we mean those who attend church and the temple regularly):

• One of the fruits is a longer life. Studies show that practicing Mormons are healthier and therefore live longer than the (US) national average. In 1833 the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith the Word of Wisdom, which is the way to live in order to enjoy a long and healthy life.

• Second, those who are married in and attend the temple regularly have a divorce rate far below the national and world average.

• Third, we achieve an educational level that is higher than the (US) national average.

• Fourth, over 70,000 members volunteer at their own expense to serve for 18 to 24 months in humanitarian efforts, Church service assignments, and full-time missionary service throughout the world. The Belgium Netherlands Mission currently has 85 young single missionaries and 8 married couples serving in Belgium and the Netherlands.

• And fifth, we place strong emphasis on self-reliance and a solid work ethic. We encourage active involvement in our communities and in providing service to others. The Church continues to donate substantial money, goods, and services to humanitarian causes around the globe, including untold hours of labor donated by members to assist in disaster cleanup and

relief. Many of these efforts are detailed at Mormon.org and LDS.org.

What is a ‘Mission President’ in the Mormon Church?

For many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sharing the Gospel is one of the most important and rewarding ways we can spend our time. Thousands of young men and women leave their homes and families for 18-24 months each year for this purpose. There are currently approximately 50,000 full-time missionaries serving all over the world.

The geographical area that a missionary is assigned to is referred to as a "mission". (Our Mission covers all of the Netherlands and the Flemish part of Belgium). The missionaries are presided over by a mission president and his wife. It is this couple's job to coordinate the efforts of the young missionaries by assigning them to “companionships” (two or three missionaries who live and work together), providing training and leadership, and making sure that the missionaries have their material needs cared for.

Mission presidents are assigned to a mission by the leadership of the LDS church and typically discover the location a few months before their departure. Mission presidents are typically men between 40 and 65 years old. They serve on an unpaid volunteer basis. A mission president must be married; typically, his wife and any minor children accompany him on his mission. Mission presidents are either retired or leave their vocations for three years to preside over their mission.

Scott and Rebecca Brubaker are serving as Mission President and companion until the end of June. Starting in July of 2012, Alden and Brenda Robinson will replace the Brubakers, who will return to their home in the United States.