My profile was not edited in any way and I was permitted to place a link to my blog and Facebook page with my profile.

The Mormon.org site is meant to introduce the Church to the world. Questions are answered, accurate information is given, and the opportunity is provided to learn more. The “Our People” page introduces its readers to Mormons who tell their own stories about how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed their lives. “Our Values” highlights some of the cultural priorities of Mormons, such as strong families, service and good citizenship. Core doctrines that underpin Mormons beliefs are in the “Our Faith” section.

What do you think about having personal stories about your faith online? Do you have your profile on Mormon.org? If so, post the link so we can read your story.

Update

It turns out that there are people I know on Meet Mormons.
Marc Lee

Related posts:

1. Create a Profile on the new Mormon.org
2. What to Expect at a Mormon Church Service
3. Mormons Living in El Paso Lumber Yard

To see the chart and the accompanying data table, go the the Japan LDS page.

Related posts:

1. Japan
2. U.S., U.K. and Canadian LDS Church Membership
3. Updated LDS Church Membership Statistics

New Mormon.org screenshots

The biggest change coming to Mormon.org is the profiles of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The site’s goal is to have 1,000 profiles of Mormons by the end of May 2010. Who’s profile? Your profile.

If you are a member of the Church it is easy to do. It just takes a little bit of thought to write your story in the different sections. Here’s what the new Mormon.org has to say:

Mormons come from diverse backgrounds and experiences who all share a deep commitment to Jesus Christ and to each other. The new Mormon.org is designed for visitors to learn more about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each profile is a collection of stories and testimonies from Mormons. Participation is optional, but you must be a member of the Church to create a profile. The profiles will be made public this summer when the new site will launch.

I decided to complete a profile. I signed in with my LDS account. I uploaded my photograph and entered links to my blog, Facebook, and Twitter sites. There are a number of sections to fill out. The About Me is simple, I basically said where I was born, that I emigrated and married and what my interests are.

Next was the section called How I live my faith. I wrote about since joining the Church I have improved my life and learned how to serve. In the Why I am a Mormon section I wrote four paragraphs on how I was converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The next two sections you have to pick at least one question to answer and one story to tell. You have a lot of choices from which to choose. When you do this I wouldn’t expect that someone as gifted and intelligent as yourself would have any difficulty. That said, I had a little trouble picking the question I wanted to answer but once I got started I found it easier than I had anticipated. The question I picked to answer was, “How can I know Mormonism is true?”

For my story I chose to write about “In what ways have your prayers been answered?” Perhaps here I should show you what I wrote so that you will have some idea of what is wanted. I’m sure you can improve on my efforts when you write your story.

In 1986 I was laid off from my employment in early December. I had bought a home two months before and my wife stayed home with our three children. In early January I was still out of work. I did not have much savings so getting a job was becoming critical. Our family was eating out of our food storage to help conserve money.

After reading the Book of Mormon in just a few days I knelt down and prayed to Heavenly Father. I told Him that it was time for me to go to work. I asked Him with as much concentrated faith as I could to please help me find employment by the end of the month. I rose from my knees with the most absolute surety that I have ever had that my prayer would be answered.

A few days later a friend who was laid off at the same time as I was called me and said there were jobs for engineers with a large local employer. I applied and interviewed for the last vacancy. Two days later I was hired with my start date set at February 2nd.

I was overjoyed that my prayer was answered but wondered why I was starting work in February. In my prayer I had asked Heavenly Father if I could have work by the end of January. I did not ponder this for long as I was happy to be able to go to work again.

Three days later the personnel department of my new employer called me and asked if I would be willing to start on a Friday rather than on Monday morning. They were having some layoffs on Monday and didn’t want new hires being processed in at the same time.

Looking at the calendar I realized that my new start date was January 30th.

There you go, that’s it. I saved my profile and eventually it was approved. Hopefully you will see it in all it’s glory on Mormon.org this summer. Now if I don’t see your profile out there I am going to be mighty disappointed.

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1. Meet Mormons at the new Mormon.org
2. What to Expect at a Mormon Church Service
3. Mormon Time Magazine Covers

Salt Lake Temple viewed from the Church Office Building 1979

The 2010 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches reports total church membership of 147,384,631, up 0.49 percent over 2009. The top five churches in order of size of membership:

1. The Catholic Church, 68,115,001, up 1.49 percent.
2. Southern Baptist Convention, 16,228,438, down 0.24 percent.
3. The United Methodist Church, 7,853,987, down 0.98 percent.
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5,974,041, up 1.71 percent.
5. The Church of God in Christ, 5,499,875, no updates reported.

Churches reporting the highest membership losses:

1. Presbyterian Church (USA), down 3.28 percent to 2,941,412.
2. American Baptist Churches in the USA, down 2 percent to 1,358,351.
3. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, down 1.92 percent to 4,709,956.

How many years will it take for the LDS Church to overtake the United Methodists and occupy third place? To find out I have assumed the UMC continues with a rate of decline of .98% and the LDS with a steady 1.71% increase. The figures reported in the yearbook are for 2008.

My calculations indicate that by the end of 2019, less than ten years, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be the third largest church in the United States.

If the table formatting is scrambled, view the table here.

.
Note: The result of the percentage decline or increase is shown in the following year, hence the result of UMC’s forecast -.98% decline of 76,969 in 2009 is shown in 2010 as 7,777,018 (7,853,987 – 76,969).

Related posts:

1. Updated LDS Church Membership Statistics
2. U.S., U.K. and Canadian LDS Church Membership
3. Meet Mormons at the new Mormon.org

Three days ago I updated the World LDS Membership Statistics using the Deseret News 2010 Church Almanac.

The membership numbers are interesting in tabular form where one can make comparisons. So to the world’s LDS membership’s sortable table I have added U.S. LDS Membership, U.K. LDS Membership Statistics, and Canadian LDS Membership sortable tables. As a bonus I include the change in membership from 1 January 2008 to 1 January 2009 that is not present in the Almanac.

By sorting on the U.S. Membership “Change” column I found that only one state, South Carolina, had a decrease in membership (-173). The three biggest increases came from Utah (34,054), Texas (8,822), and Idaho (7,337).

The largest LDS populations by percentage are in Utah (68%), Idaho (27%), and Wyoming (11.5%). The states with the most members are Utah (1,857,667), California (755,747), and Idaho (406,764). The District of Columbia has the least members (2,200), followed by Rhode Island (3,661), and Vermont (4,323). The most temples are in Utah (14), California (7), and Arizona (5). There are 18 states (including the District of Columbia) without temples.

Canada is interesting in that eight provinces lost members, led by British Columbia at -572. In the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland lost five members but the Kingdom as a whole gained 1,916.

There are many more permutations to be found. How many states do not have a mission? Which state has no stake? Where are the least number of wards? Which state has no branch? Try it.

Related posts:

1. Updated LDS Church Membership Statistics
2. Mormon Church Membership in Utah
3. Updated LDS Membership Statistics

2010 LDS Church Almanac

Click on the link if you wish go straight to the World LDS Membership Statistics.

Today I purchased the Deseret News 2010 Church Almanac. I like to browse through the membership statistics country by country. Sometimes I come across a country I have never heard of like Benin (east of Nigeria), Mayotte (NW of Madagascar), Palau (east of the Philippines). They sound like Disney characters to me. I don’t look at much else in the Almanac except maybe the occasional temple trivia.

All these membership numbers are all very fine but they would be a lot more useful if they were in tabular form. It’s the comparison that is really useful — well maybe not useful but entertaining. So I put the world’s LDS membership in a sortable table. I added the change in membership from 1 January 2008 to 1 January 2009. By sorting on the “Change” column I found that 16 countries out of 166 had a decrease in membership. The three biggest increases came from the United States (100,633), Brazil (41,403), and Mexico (36,343). Canada had the biggest loss with -502.

The largest LDS populations by percentage are in Tonga (45%), Samoa (31%), and American Samoa (22.5%). The United States comes in at 13th with 2%, tied with Palau — there’s that Disney character again.

The countries with the most members are the United States (5,974,041), Mexico (1,158,236), and Brazil (1,060,556). The Falkland Islands has the least members (5) of any country that has members. The most temples are in the United States (72), Mexico (12), and Canada (7).

There are many more permutations to be found. Try it.

Related posts:

1. Updated LDS Membership Statistics
2. U.S., U.K. and Canadian LDS Church Membership
3. Mormon Church Membership in Utah

Related posts:

1. Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple
2. Jordan River Utah Temple
3. Utah Temples Tour: Jordan River, Oquirrh Mountain, Draper, Timpanogos, Provo

Read about our visit to the site of the Mountain Meadows Massacre

While visiting the Utah Shakespearean Festival, Jill and I left the drama and tragedies behind for a morning to visit a site of much greater drama and tragedy. We have never visited the site of the Mountain Meadows Massacre though we have passed by on I-15 numerous times. From the Cedar City I-15 exit it is approximately 50 miles to the monument. There is very little traffic on highway 56 as we ride to Newcastle. There are no signs here to guide the way and we don’t see one until we are one mile away from the monument. We head down Newcastle’s main street and connect with highway 18 to Enterprise. We follow 18 to reach the monument. This place is in the middle of nowhere but well worth a visit.

Mountain Meadows Association Monument

There are two monuments. We visit the Mountain Meadows Association Monument first. There were not many visitors, in fact just Jill and I. A short 220 yard walk gets us to the top of Dan Sill Hill where the monument overlooks locations of interest. On the walk up the hill are two information markers. Rather than have you read plain text I will show the photographs for you to read from. They have been vandalized a little such that “The local indians joined in the slaughter” has been partly scratched out on one marker and an offensive word has been etched on another. “Some mothers do ‘ave ‘em,” as my grandmother used to say.

Mountain Meadows Massacre Information

Information about the burial sites.

Carleton Grave Uncovered

Carleton grave plaque marking the burial vault

In the plaque above, at the end of the second paragraph, do you see where it says “…the remains recovered from that grave were re-interred in a burial vault inside the new wall.” I found a small plaque over at the second monument erected by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is easy to miss because you have to look over the left side of the wall as you come through the gate. However, there is more to see before we go to the second monument. On the top of the hill there is a fine memorial that has been constructed which lists the names of those killed and some explanatory markers.

Names Etched in Stone

Jill ponders events at the Mountain Meadows Massacre Memorial Site

In the photograph below, click on the five sections to see enlarged photographs of the names.

Mountain Meadows Views

There are two viewing aids. The one of the left is aimed at the grave site where the LDS Church built a monument. You cannot see much because a hedge is obscuring the view. The one on the right shows the massacre site. We did not go there, it appeared that one of the routes to it was a private road. There is an informational plaque in the center. Click on the plaque and the viewing aids to enlarge.

There is a map showing all the sites relative to your position at the monument. Also another informational marker. This completes the visit to the first monument.

The Old Spanish Trail and the California Road

Area site map

Grave Site Memorial

We drove to the Mountain Meadows Massacre Grave Site Memorial. I will simply show you the photographs without any commentary from me. At the end I will add a few thoughts.

Jill with the Grave Site Memorial in the background

Rick and Jill at the Memorial

Grave Site Memorial Dedication Plaque

Grave Site Memorials List

The original rock memorial

Final Thoughts

It was worth the drive to be able to see the actual memorials, take some photographs, and ponder the events that happened here a long time ago. As an adult convert to the Church I have read a little about the massacre and have made some observations over the years. A few who are disaffected with the Church would dearly love to pin the blame on Brigham Young. Clearly the Mormon settlers were looking for direction from him but word came too late. So why the eagerness to implicate Brigham Young? Because that would imply that the current prophet could give a similar order and it would be obeyed. But Brigham Young did not give the order. It was local leadership that made that decision. Even if the current prophet did give such an order it would not be obeyed. Today there are far too many members who are independent of thought and earn their livelihood from employers with no connection to the Church. In closing, remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ heals all wounds. May peace be with us all, both the living and the dead.

Related posts:

1. Oquirrh Mountain Temple Revisited
2. Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple
3. Wasatch Mountain State Park

There are more temple photographs in the gallery.

Yesterday Daniel, my youngest son, went to the Bountiful temple to receive his endowments. For my readers that are not familiar with temple endowments I will give a short overview.

The Gift of the Endowment

An endowment is a sacred ordinance. Endowments take place in a dedicated House of the Lord, or temple. Temples were centers of religious worship anciently and Mormons build temples today to administer the ancient ordinances of salvation that have been restored to the earth.

The dictionary defines an endowment as a gift given by a higher power. The temple endowment is a gift of knowledge that helps Mormons understand who they are, where they came from, and where they are going. It helps members understand what they should do to prepare to meet God, and how Jesus Christ offers salvation to each of us.

The temple endowment conveys information in a highly symbolic manner. Symbols used in the temple endowment and the meanings of those symbols are sacred to Mormons. Mormons don’t talk about the details of what goes on in the temple—it is too sacred to be discussed, except in the most holy of places.

Temple Covenants

When presenting the endowment, Church members are required to make very specific covenants with God. A covenant is a two-way promise. In religious terms, a covenant is a sacred promise made between an individual and the Lord:

The ordinances of the endowment embody certain obligations on the part of the individual, such as covenant and promise to observe the law of strict virtue and chastity, to be charitable, benevolent, tolerant and pure; to devote both talent and material means to the spread of truth and the uplifting of the race; to maintain devotion to the cause of truth; and to seek in every way to contribute to the great preparation that the earth may be made ready to receive her King, the Lord Jesus Christ. With the taking of each covenant and the assuming of each obligation a promised blessing is pronounced, contingent upon the faithful observance of the conditions. (James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord, p. 84)

A Family Gathering

All endowed extended family members met at the Bountiful temple to be with Daniel when he received his endowments. Not present were Jake who is serving a mission in Mexico and Derek who is building a school in Guatemala.

We gathered after the ceremony in the Bountiful temple grounds and took some photographs. In parenthesis is the relationship to Daniel. Left to right: Rick (father), Jill (mother), Daniel (himself), Miguel (Melissa’s fiancé), Susan (aunt), Melissa (cousin), Kent (uncle), Connie (cousin), Mark (Connie’s husband), Sarah (sister), Paul (brother), Steven (brother), and Adelaide (Steven’s wife). By now it was 8 pm and we were very hungry so we headed out to Chuck-a-Rama to eat all their food and ruin their profits for the day. For Jill and I it was a great feeling to have all five of our children endowed and active in the faith.

About the Bountiful Temple

In 1897 John Haven Barlow Sr. purchased forty acres of land from the United States government. There was little that could be done with the land until in 1947 some of the land was cleared and four hundred apricot trees were planted. Bountiful City requested the use of the soil from the site to build a dam and over two hundred thousand cubic yards of soil was removed, leaving the area an ideal spot on which the temple would later be built. The temple is the 47th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I remember well helping to direct traffic at the open house and being one of 200,000 members attending the temple dedication. Sarah and Derek were married in the Bountiful temple. Some temple details:

Announced: 28 May 1988.
Site: 11 acres.
Exterior finish: Bethel white granite.
Architect: Allen Ereckson.
Rooms: Baptistry, celestial room, four endowment rooms, eight sealing rooms.
Total floor area: 104,000 square feet.
Dimensions: 145 feet by 198 feet. 176 feet spire.
District: 30 stakes in central and south Davis county.
Groundbreaking: 2 May 1992 by President Ezra Taft Benson.
Dedication: 8-14 January 1995 by President Howard W. Hunter; 28 sessions.

Source: 2008 Church Almanac, p 518

Related posts:

1. Byron at the Bountiful Temple
2. Our Visit to the Dallas Texas Temple
3. Bountiful Utah Temple

“Which Church Is Right?“ quoted Bible verses and was methodical and logical in its presentation. It was the first time that I’d thought of a church that way, though I didn’t have any real feeling about it. The prophet’s testimony was different. A paragraph that stood out was:

It caused me serious reflection then, and often has since, how very strange it was that an obscure boy, of a little over fourteen years of age, and one, too, who was doomed to the necessity of obtaining a scanty maintenance by his daily labor, should be thought a character of sufficient importance to attract the attention of the great ones of the most popular sects of the day, and in a manner to create in them a spirit of the most bitter persecution and reviling. But strange or not, so it was, and it was often the cause of great sorrow to myself. (Joseph Smith—History 23)

I thought it strange too, and identified with Joseph.

Another paragraph:

During the space of time which intervened between the time I had the vision and the year eighteen hundred and twenty-three—having been forbidden to join any of the religious sects of the day, and being of very tender years, and persecuted by those who ought to have been my friends and to have treated me kindly, and if they supposed me to be deluded to have endeavored in a proper and affectionate manner to have reclaimed me—I was left to all kinds of temptations; and, mingling with all kinds of society, I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature; which, I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations, offensive in the sight of God. In making this confession, no one need suppose me guilty of any great or malignant sins. A disposition to commit such was never in my nature. But I was guilty of levity, and sometimes associated with jovial company, etc., not consistent with that character which ought to be maintained by one who was called of God as I had been. But this will not seem very strange to any one who recollects my youth, and is acquainted with my native cheery temperament. (Joseph Smith—History 28)

I was impressed that Joseph would admit to “foolish errors”. To me, someone telling a lie would not say this so openly.

I now know that being impressed by these two paragraphs was the Spirit acting upon me. After over thirty years the deep convincing that I felt is still with me.

I wrote to the Bishop of the Macclesfield Ward and asked him about the Church and that I wanted to know more. He replied to my letter, inviting me to travel to Macclesfield and meet with the missionaries. I did so, and recall one memory from our first meeting. I was being taught the first discussion and my mind wandered. When I was a child my mother used to say in a kindly way that “I was off wool gathering” when I didn’t pay attention. The missionaries asked me a question about what was being taught and from then on I was attentive. After the first discussion the missionaries told me that there were missionaries in Crewe and that I would be taught by them.

I was shown the Book of Mormon and started to read it, finished the rest of the discussions, was introduced to the Crewe Branch, and was baptized by Reginald Marshall Amos, a member of the Crewe Branch, at Newcastle-under-Lyme February 1974 a few days before age twenty-two. I didn’t finish reading the Book of Mormon before baptism. I didn’t need to. A witness of the truth of the prophet’s story meant that all else flowed easily. The Prophet saw Jesus Christ and the Father, therefore there is a God (Heavenly Father) and the Son. Joseph translated the Book of Mormon; therefore it is the word of God. Joseph organized a church; therefore it is the church I should be a member of.

Soon after baptism I fell ill and could not attend and then fell into inactivity. I was sickly for two years, being unemployed the whole time. I prayed that God would help me and if He did I would have the strength to return to Church. I received the help and I honored my commitment. To this day, even when I am in the midst of the most difficult struggles and my faith is a little rickety, I attend my meetings so that I will never again fall away from being with the saints.

When I returned to church I now had to be taught about and learn the gospel. I had to be taught the doctrines that are the foundation on which to build faith and understanding. I had decided to align with truth. Truth wasn’t coming to make itself fit and conform to my view of the universe. I had to move to truth and change me. It is not an easy process and that process continues today.

Some things were easy though. The admonition to store food and water I agreed readily with. I thought it just common sense to have some reserves, especially as a youth sometimes money was tight and I felt the insecurity of my family living from paycheck to paycheck. Having someone in authority too was just plain common sense. Though I wouldn’t always obey priesthood authority, I would still acknowledge it. I would shape up eventually, usually “using my own initiative”.

When I was seventeen I had seen the suffering in Biafra on the news and felt that I wanted to do something to help. I didn’t know what to do. I recall resolving that some day I would do something. When I returned to church the realization came upon me that there was something I could do that was beyond anything that I had ever hoped I could do. I could be part of building a kingdom—the Kingdom. I set to work with all the zealousness of a convert—at times over zealous—in my pursuit of making the world a better place. A better place built upon the correct principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Prophet today. A better place because of mothers that teach that there is a Father that answers prayers, even though in my case I only had a particle of faith. A better place because a grandmother knew when and what to send to a grandson she had yet to meet.

No-one need ever be alone, that is my faith.

Here are two websites that published my testimony:
Meet Mormon Missionaries
Mormons Believe

Related posts:

1. My Faith
2. Meet Mormons at the new Mormon.org
3. Missionary Paul – Part 9 of 10