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!