Conference tecrus::mormonism

    I like callings.  I like being given challenges that you aren't ready
    for and being given what you need to fulfill them.  And, I like being of
    service to others through callings.  It kind of breaks the ice, versus
    starting out cold.  The Church is really good about helping you get out
    of your shell if you are willing.  I enjoy how serving others makes my
    problems seem pretty small.  And, I enjoy the recharge you get by
    worshipping God every day and by serving Him by serving people.
    
    Steve

    
    Personally, I like temple work.  I really enjoy doing work for those
    who have already passed on.  I wish I could I could put into words the
    joy that I feel when doing this work.  I often wish I could spend more 
    time in the temple, but with two children and the temple being 5 hours
    away, it is rather difficult.  The Spirit is so strong there, it is 
    really wonderful to be there and to commune with our Heavenly Father 
    in His Holy House.  
    
    I also like the doctrinal side of this.  Only a few percent of mankind
    that has ever lived or ever will live has heard the glorious message
    of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I think it is wonderful to know that 
    each person will be taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that they 
    will have the opportunity to accept it or reject it (assuming they 
    didn't reject it while here on this earth).  I think it is wonderful 
    that the necessary ordinances (baptism, etc) can be performed for them.  
    
    To the best of my knowledge, we are the only church which deals with
    the issue of "What happens to those who weren't fortunate enough to 
    hear His Word during their lifetime?".  We know that baptism (among 
    other ordinances) are necessary ordinances AND they can only be 
    perfomed on the earth.  To me, God is no respecter of persons.  It 
    wouldn't be fair for just some of His children to hear the Gospel 
    of Jesus Christ and others be damned for not accepting something that 
    they never heard.  God is fair and just.  All WILL get the opportunity 
    to accept or reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  But they still haven't 
    been baptized.  Baptism for the dead (by proxy) solves this problem - 
    rather beautifully, in my opinion.
    
    
    Frank
    

    In addition to the previously mentioned things, I also like the
    fellowship. The bond that comes of sharing a common culture that has a
    very open honest style of communicating as part of the basics.
    
    I have found myself in many different places on business over the years
    and found that by attending church I could feel a link, and a common
    ground. I have felt this even in situations where I didn't speak the
    language. Like the time I was in Zurich sitting in a Gospel Doctrine
    Sunday School class, and looking up the scriptures in my english text
    each time they were written on the board (the abbreviations are very
    similar), then going through in my mind what things might realate to
    those scriptures even though I was not really able to understand
    anything being said. Also singin the hymns in your own toung while
    those around you are in theirs.
    
    There seems to be a certain level of fellowship and bond that comes
    simply by knowing that the other person is a member of the church too.
    
    Your brother,
          
    Len

		From my experiences, I like the standards (including the
	word of wisdom) that the church has.  Not to say that there are
	not other churches out there that have the same or similar ones,
	but only that since I am a member of this church then I try to
	live it.  As an example, when I was on the El Paso County grand 
	jury, we listened to a lot of cases about murders, and every one
	of them contained alcohol.  We did bring back some indictments, and
	one was in a strip joint.  Then there was the gambling one.

		By keeping the word of wisdom and other "advice" from the
	prophets, there is a lot in the world that we can be protected
	from harming us.  It is so much nicer to fellowship with the saints
	then to have to rely on worldly things.  Even so, as a Utahan found
	out in New Your city, there world will intrude upon our lives, so
	we must live worthy as much as we can as we do not know when we 
	will leave this mortal life.

One of the things I like about the Church is that it brings people who have
common standards together.  There is an awfully lot of filth in the world,
and we need to be with people who respect us and strengthen us rather than
with filth.  The Church provides a pool of such people.  In addition, there
are many such people in our neighborhoods and towns who aren't in the Church.

My wife & I have a friend who attended WPI in Massachusetts.  The dorm was
so noisy that he couldn't study.  Beer dripped through the ceiling from the
apartment above.  His roommate had a live-in girlfriend, and he couldn't use
his room much.  We have another friend who attended UMASS at Amherst.  She
is a good student and took a room in the honors dorm thinking it would be
a good environment for her.  She found out that almost the whole dorm was gay.

In contrast with this, three of my four kids are enrolled at BYU this year.
My daughter Sara commented that she loves it.  She loves the positive attitudes
that the kids have there.  She loves the clean language there.  She loves her
religion classes.  She loves and respects her roommates.  She realizes that
BYU does have students who have problems and who mess around, but overall she
thinks it is a nice environment and a big contrast with the colleges in
Massachusetts.

Thanks, Church, for providing a great place for my kids to study, play,
and eventually find an eternal spouse!

Allen

In my previous reply I mentioned my kids finding an eternal spouse.  I thought
I would amplify that statement.

Many years ago, my Bishop at Utah State University, told us that if we wanted
to hunt deer we had to go where the deer are, and if we wanted to hunt 
antelope, we had to go where they are.  We won't find deer in the desert nor
antelope in the mountains.

Our children need to give serious thought about the type of spouse they
want for an eternal companion and then go to places where they will find
those types of people.  Frequently, this requires that our children leave
home and take employment or school in other parts of the country.  As parents,
we have the responsibility to help our children develop high self esteem so
they will have the confidence to leave home and seek their destiny.  If we
use the programs of the Church properly, we can help our children become
positive, self assured persons.  However, we can abuse the programs of the
Church and keep our kids tied to our apron strings.  The Church is here.  What
we do with it is up to us.

Allen

    I like the open-mindedness of the LDS.  I find in the most of the
    members an ability/desire to learn and to search, a possession of
    an inquiring mind, a willingness to study, be open to new information,
    a refreshing level of intellectualism that provides a platform for new
    ideas to be presented, a lack of fear of discovering/searching for new
    understandings of themselves, of humankind, of the Eternal.  I like the
    level of intellectualism that is not encased in snobbery, haughty
    academic pride, or narrow-minded sophistry.
    
    

    I think I'd like to change the topic title in my case to read:
    
    	What I LOVE about the Mormon Church...........There are so many
    things I could go on and on forever.  I will give just a few after I
    comment about Allen's messages.
    
    Allen,  I totally agree with what you said about BYU and allowing our
    children to mature and have desires to attend good Church schools, such
    as BYU.  I have a firm and solid testimony in my own home of that.  
    
    For two years, my daughter attended Univ. of Lowell because that was
    her choice.  I had desired for her to attend BYU, but she did not feel
    the need to do so, nor was she prepared within herself to uproot from
    home and go away on her own.  Without wanting to be a controlling
    parent, I allowed Jane her free agency.  After two years of 'suffering'
    (as she now puts it), of attending a Massachusetts state school, her
    choice finally became BYU for her future years of education.  She was
    so fed up with the hair and clothes styles, the filthy language (used
    by both male and LOTS of female), smoking and constant talking about
    booze parties and loose morals.  She'd had it after the beginning of
    her second year there and knew she would never settle for an eternal
    mate from what she saw on that campus.   Thank heavens she was in tune
    with the Spirit when it spoke to her and whispered to her that she was
    to apply to BYU.  She was accepted, and was extremely blessed for
    attending school there.  Don't get me wrong, she did not fly to Provo
    to go husband hunting.  She wanted a good education and to be around
    people with her standards, morals and values.  She found all those
    things where she was and was blessed with 5 beautiful and loving
    roomates.  Last spring, the Lord surprised her and blessed her abundantly 
    for her obedience.  She met her eternal mate!!!  When they met, they
    felt an immediate spiritual bond and both took the time to deeply pray
    about the feeling they were beginning to have for one another.  Both of
    them received revelations of their own from the Spirit that they were
    brought together by the Lord and were to be married.  They were indeed
    married in the Washington, DC Temple on August 101th.  They are now back
    at BYU completing their education, very much in love and very pleased
    that they took the law of obedience so seriously in their lives. 
    
    	What I LOVE about the Church, since I'm a convert, is that it has
    given me the opportunity to learn the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ, to
    seriously desire to obey all the Commandments, receive unending blessings
    for my obedience, change my lifestyle to be in tune with the Word of
    Wisdom, receive an enormous testimony on why the Word of Wisdom is so
    important in our lives, the association with other members who desire
    to believe and practice the gospel as I do, home teaching and visiting
    teaching, the Church being run the exact same way no matter what corner
    of the earth I find myself in, General Confernce which provides me with
    up-to-date instructions from the Lord through his Prophet and leaders,
    the TRUE Priesthood retored, fast and testimony meeting once a month,
    receiving the Sacrament every week that has been blessed and passed the
    Lord's way, the gift of the Holy Ghost, my Patriarchal Blessing,
    Priesthood blessings whenever I feel the need for one, the beautiful
    association I feel with the women in Relief Society and the enormous
    amount of instructions and learning I gain from the weekly and monthly
    meetings, Adult Sunday School, and last but not least (I've probably
    forgotten lots more things), my calling as a Primary worker in the
    Lowell Asian Branch with my beautiful Asian brothers and sisters. These 
    beautiful children of God are finally free from the pain and strife
    of their homelands are just coming to this free country and have been
    led by the hand of the Lord to become members of His TRUE Church.  If
    you ever want to witness the joy the TRUE gospel brings to children and
    adults who never even knew Christ existed, you must visit the Lowell 
    Branch.  You will walk out of there with your testimony soaring higher 
    than ever before.  
    
    The Lord is refining me into who He truly wants me to become through
    my membership in the Church.  I have undergone massive *spiritual
    surgery* by the Lord to my body and soul in the past 7 years, and I 
    am filled with more joy, and peace, and love than I have ever known 
    in my life.  I would give up all I have in life if asked to, but not 
    my membership and testimony to His true Church.   I can't begin to
    tell you the despair and spiritual darkness my life was in before the
    Lord came knocking at my door and helped me convert to the Church.  No
    other church I belonged to in the past has done for me what this Church
    has done.  
    
    Penny Sousa
    Digital, Nashua, NH
    SMURF::SOUSA
    
    

    Correction to 366.8
    
    Details, details, details.....just a correction to a typo I made
    on my daughter's wedding date (as if it really matters to any of
    you).  It was August 10, not as typed (101th)!
    
    Penny