Q: Who is Joseph Smith?
A: Joseph Smith is the founding prophet of our church. He was only 14 when he was asking God which church was the true church. At the time in New York, in 1820, there was a huge religious revival and every church he looked into claimed to be "true." But they were all teaching different things, or different interpretations of doctrine, so he knew they couldn't all be right. He wanted the pure Truth of Christ, the gospel as Jesus Christ himself taught it when he came to the earth. In answer to his prayer, God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph and told him that none of the churches in that day had the full gospel truth, they only had parts of the truth. He was told that if he was faithful to God, he would be called and prepared to restore the full and complete gospel of Jesus Christ in this modern day.
We believe the church he established is not a new church. It is a restoration of the church and the truth that Jesus Christ brought to the earth while he was here. It is the same truth that was given to ancient prophets like Adam, Moses, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Isaiah, and others. God's Truth never changes. We believe the fullness of Christ's truth is found in this restored church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
More about Joseph Smith: https://www.lds.org/topics/joseph-smith?lang=eng
Q: The missionaries asked what I thought of the Ward. Ward? Is that a crazy house?
A: Haha, the "ward" is the congregation. I don't know why it's called that, but all of our congregations are called "wards." The wards are determined by geographic boundaries, kind of like a school district. That way you go to church at the same time and place as your immediate neighbors, and you can serve and form friendships with people in your area. We also have a higher level of organization called a "stake". Every stake is made up of several wards. We have leadership on a ward level (Bishop, bishops counselors, etc) and we have leadership on the stake level (Stake President, etc).
Q: Why is almost everyone so happy? It seemed like a snapshot from the movie Pleasantville.
That's a great question. If you spend some time with the members, you will come to know their individual stories about how the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed their lives for good, and made them happy, even in the midst of challenging circumstances. I would say that's going to be where you will find the most compelling answers.
But to sum it up here, I would say that Christ is the reason. The closer we come to him, the more power he has to heal us, and to enable us to feel joy every day. It sounds like that is just a theory, but it actually comes into play on a daily basis for most members of our church. I would say that is the greatest reason for their happiness.
I wouldn't say that I feel some level of fake happiness every day. My life and my days have ups and downs, just like everybody else. But I would say that my happiness runs deep, my peace runs deep, and my understanding runs deep. It's a result of the things I have learned through my years of study and learning through my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My life has not been sheltered, I've gone through the paces of life-- I'm only 33, and it's been a long road already. But my peace comes from the things I know, and the relationship I have with Jesus Christ. There is peace and power in truth. The more truth you have, the more peace and power you have. The more truth you live, the more peace and power you have. It's a simple equation when you think about it. If you want more peace and happiness and power in your life, seek more truth, live more truth.
In our church, we learn lessons every week that help us to live Christ's truth. Religion for us is not just a thing we do on Sunday. It's part of every day of our lives. The happiness you see comes from the quantity and purity of the truth we have in our church, and from the healing and enabling power of Jesus Christ. Anyone can have that if they want it. That's actually the reason we send out so many missionaries. We know how great it feels to be that happy in the face of life's challenges, and we want everyone to have that!
A: Joseph Smith is the founding prophet of our church. He was only 14 when he was asking God which church was the true church. At the time in New York, in 1820, there was a huge religious revival and every church he looked into claimed to be "true." But they were all teaching different things, or different interpretations of doctrine, so he knew they couldn't all be right. He wanted the pure Truth of Christ, the gospel as Jesus Christ himself taught it when he came to the earth. In answer to his prayer, God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph and told him that none of the churches in that day had the full gospel truth, they only had parts of the truth. He was told that if he was faithful to God, he would be called and prepared to restore the full and complete gospel of Jesus Christ in this modern day.
We believe the church he established is not a new church. It is a restoration of the church and the truth that Jesus Christ brought to the earth while he was here. It is the same truth that was given to ancient prophets like Adam, Moses, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Isaiah, and others. God's Truth never changes. We believe the fullness of Christ's truth is found in this restored church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
More about Joseph Smith: https://www.lds.org/topics/joseph-smith?lang=eng
Q: The missionaries asked what I thought of the Ward. Ward? Is that a crazy house?
A: Haha, the "ward" is the congregation. I don't know why it's called that, but all of our congregations are called "wards." The wards are determined by geographic boundaries, kind of like a school district. That way you go to church at the same time and place as your immediate neighbors, and you can serve and form friendships with people in your area. We also have a higher level of organization called a "stake". Every stake is made up of several wards. We have leadership on a ward level (Bishop, bishops counselors, etc) and we have leadership on the stake level (Stake President, etc).
Q: Why is almost everyone so happy? It seemed like a snapshot from the movie Pleasantville.
That's a great question. If you spend some time with the members, you will come to know their individual stories about how the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed their lives for good, and made them happy, even in the midst of challenging circumstances. I would say that's going to be where you will find the most compelling answers.
But to sum it up here, I would say that Christ is the reason. The closer we come to him, the more power he has to heal us, and to enable us to feel joy every day. It sounds like that is just a theory, but it actually comes into play on a daily basis for most members of our church. I would say that is the greatest reason for their happiness.
I wouldn't say that I feel some level of fake happiness every day. My life and my days have ups and downs, just like everybody else. But I would say that my happiness runs deep, my peace runs deep, and my understanding runs deep. It's a result of the things I have learned through my years of study and learning through my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My life has not been sheltered, I've gone through the paces of life-- I'm only 33, and it's been a long road already. But my peace comes from the things I know, and the relationship I have with Jesus Christ. There is peace and power in truth. The more truth you have, the more peace and power you have. The more truth you live, the more peace and power you have. It's a simple equation when you think about it. If you want more peace and happiness and power in your life, seek more truth, live more truth.
In our church, we learn lessons every week that help us to live Christ's truth. Religion for us is not just a thing we do on Sunday. It's part of every day of our lives. The happiness you see comes from the quantity and purity of the truth we have in our church, and from the healing and enabling power of Jesus Christ. Anyone can have that if they want it. That's actually the reason we send out so many missionaries. We know how great it feels to be that happy in the face of life's challenges, and we want everyone to have that!
