The Incomplete Dip

One image of the Mormon family is picturing the parents smiling at their children. Many children! Not just three or four children, but somewhere between seven and 15 children come to mind. It is part of the Morman beliefs, a duty to have large families. If they don't have the number seen in their premortality,they are incomplete. It is the word of prophecy on how many spirits should be part of the family. The spirits of unborn children must assume the bodies they are to have, coming to live with a specific family for the time at hand and on into eternity. Those spirits will be waiting until it is right for them to join their parents and siblings. The bishop knows, the couple telling him of their plans. It is now the right time for another assumed body to come to earth. 

THE BROADWAY SHOW-Front Row Seats?

"The Book of Mormon" is not only the sacred book of LDS. Broadway has opened a show by the same name. It is "pretty blasphemous," the term Michael Otterson, head of the Mormon public relations in Salt Lake City, uses to describe the show. There will not be Mormons sitting in the front row, much less the last row of this Broadway musical.  It is R-rated. No Mormon goes to an R-rated show. Our author Mansfield can understand, as it harshly attacks the Mormon beliefs. Otterson agrees, but says it has shown an interest in picking up that Book of Mormon left in the hotel room drawers. Orders by the boxful are coming in to replace the taken ones in hotels.

A SECOND DIP, BARELY GETTING THE FEET WET

None of us want to be called by a wrong name. It sends an instant wince through the body. It is the same for a religion and its church. No, it is not called the Mormon Church, but the Church of the Latter-day Saints. What a mouthful to have to say everytime wants to refer to it! How kind it is, then, that we can refer to it as LDS, short for Latter-day Saints. You can even ask another if one is LDS without any problems. Finding out out one is LDS, Church is used in the conversation, just not the word "Mormon" in front of it. A dialogue could possibly be about the teachings of the Church, for instance.

Not to add to any confusion here, but there is also a difference between Latter-day saints and Latter day saints, without the hyphen. Those living in the times of Joseph Smith did not use the hyphen, those today add it. Take note, as I will be talking at times with the different versions of the name-no hyphen in Smith's time, a hyphen in recent times.

Our author, Stephen Mansfield, is not Mormon. He is a man interested in learning about this particular faith. Respect is given throughout his writings, though at times positions, controversies and tensions will be observed as the pages are turned. With this in mind, let's take a deeper dip into the LDS, the religion making the headline news these days!



 

My First Dip

I begin to read The Mormonizing of America by Stephen Mansfield this evening.  How fast I would get into the book I have not been too sure, as it not the genre I usually read. However, I was asked to read it, so once the commitment was made, there wasn't any backing down.

Opening its cover, I let out a small "Ah!," as I love the font and the wide space between the lines. Being nearly 60,  that type of layout is perfect for the older eyes. I am not one that skips over prologues in a book, liking background on why the author chose to place those words onto each page. In this book, there are acknowledgements before the preface is reached. Acknowledgements! Those are usually at the end of the written word, rather a duty for the author to thank the family, the editor and all those special people, making sure no one is left out. I always picture somebody showing off the said book, placed just right on the coffee table. Excitedly grabbing the book, its owner quickly flips to the last page so a friend can see how special it is to have one's name in print. Laughter is shared as accolades are given, the reader silently looking at the long list of names granted the identical honor. I forget I am reading acknowledgments from the moment I begin to read, as the section is written in the style of a story. The paragraphs of storytelling zoom by quickly for me, eight pages of them. I'm now familiar with Stephen Mansfield, our writer, his interest in faith and how he truly wants to learn about the Latter Day Saints (LDS). I see how much research he has done to get acquainted with the people belonging to this faith, getting to know them not only as sources of information, but as friends. Praising his wife through his last few sentences causes me to sigh with a smile, getting a glimpse into the marvelous and spiritual relationship they have, one that will last through eternity.