Q: I have not met with any missionaries yet, but after researching the LDS faith then praying about it, I learned it was the truth.  It was such a moving spiritual experience, and I wept with joy when it was confirmed to be to be the truth.  I was overcome with peace and joy.  I purchased a copy of the BOM and have started to read it and listen to it (on my iPod).  I know I wish to be baptized.  I understand that I need to meet with the missionaries and attend church.  I just wondered, that as I already know the truth, and wish to be baptized, how quickly this would happen.  And thank you for your very helpful website.

A: This is absolutely wonderful!  I am so happy to hear that you have experienced that unexplainable joy that a person feels when Heavenly Father answers the sincere prayer to know if The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the truth.  And how wonderful to hear that you wish to be baptized, because you know the truth.

You are correct, you do need to meet with the missionaries and attend church.  Also they will teach you a handful of lessons about the fundamental teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  They will also ask you to do a few things: commit to live the Word of Wisdom, commit to pay tithing, commit to only having sexual relations with your spouse to whom you are lawfully married (live the law of chastity), and also attend church.

To answer your question specifically, as you already have received an answer to your prayers and desire to be baptized, together you will schedule a day for your baptism as soon as you are ready and meet the requirements in the previous paragraph.  It could be in four or five days (enough time to teach you the lessons), or it could be in a few weeks.  The missionaries will help you to make this decision.

Prior to your baptism you will have an interview with one of the missionaries who will ask you some specific questions about your decision to be baptized and your acceptance of Jesus Christ as your savior and your desire to be one of his disciples. In addition, you will be asked if you are living the commandments you have been asked to live.  You may also be asked to meet with the bishop or branch president of your local congregation before your baptism.

After this interview process, your baptism will occur.  Oftentimes, baptisms are held at a local church where there is a small pool (font) specifically for baptisms.  If you are in an area where there isn’t a font available, the baptism might be held at a local pool, in the ocean, or in a river.  The specific location isn’t terribly important, just as long as there is water deep enough for you to be completely immersed in the water. You and the man who will be baptizing you will be dressed in white.  It is important to note that the man baptizing you will have God’s approval to perform this important ordinance for you and since he has God’s approval to do this, God recognizes your baptism as being legitimate. After being welcomed, there will be a song, prayer, and then a talk given on baptism.  Your baptism will then occur.  After which, there is a talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Then one of two things will happen, either everyone will go home and you will be confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the next Sunday, or this will occur directly after you are baptized.  This proceeds as follows: a handful of men who have God’s approval to do so, will put their hands on your head and confirm you a member of The Christ of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and bestow upon you the gift of the Holy Ghost.  They will stand around you as you sit on a chair.  One of the men will act as voice for the rest of the group.  I won’t repeat here the first part of this ordinance, as it should be held sacred, but the second part is a blessing that is specifically tailored for your needs and comes by revelation from God to the man acting as voice.

After receiving these two ordinances, baptism and being confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, your feet are planted solidly in the strait and narrow way that Christ spoke of that leads to eternal life.  There will be many people along your way to help you, but most importantly, you will have the gift of the Holy Ghost, who will be your constant companion as long as you are keeping Christ’s commandments the best that you can and relying upon Him in all that you do.   The Holy Ghost has many roles, but he will provide you with comfort, he will teach you, he testifies of Christ and truth, he warns you of danger, and much more.

I am so excited for you, please let us know when you are baptized.  Please let us know if you have any other questions.  May the Lord bless you!

Here are some links to other articles about baptism:

Repentance before baptism

What does baptism entail?

Baptism

What is a baptismal service like?

This is a fitting first statement of our beliefs, that we believe in God. We believe that They are each separate and distinct beings from one another but that they fulfill Their work with unity of purpose.

God is our Heavenly Father and is the Father of our spirits and in this sense, Jesus is our Elder Brother. Jesus is, however, the only Son of God in the flesh. Both God, the Father, and the Son, have physical bodies. The Holy Ghost does not have a body so that He can be present with every person on Earth. His role is to testify of Christ and of the Father and to guide and comfort us in our lives.

See also:

Do Mormons believe in the Trinity?

Why do you believe in God?

Jesus the Christ

Is Jesus the only Son of God?

We occasionally get the following question:

Is green tea against the word of wisdom?

A simple yes or no question, right? Here are a couple more in the same vein:

Do you have a statement that has been issued by the First Presidency regarding the usage of decaffeinated green tea either as a drink or in a vitamin formula.

I’m a little confused about Green Tea. Some members say they avoid it as it is breaking the Word of Wisdom. Yet others say it is totally fine, a much healthier alternative to soda. I’ve seen other members drinking those popular tall green cans, including my bishop. I’ve wanted to ask him about it, but didn’t really want to put him on the spot. I found this site and thought it a perfect opportunity to ask. What do you think?

Because this website is devoted to answering questions posed primarily by non-latter-day saints, we’ve generally kept ourselves out of debates that take place within the Church. For one thing, if it’s an unsettled issue among Mormons, that usually means there isn’t a definitive answer. We also strive to represent ourselves as “typical” Mormons, which means when we pick a side on some issue, we might be misrepresenting faithful Mormons who believe differently.

Since this is a persistent question and it pertains to the requirements for baptism, I’ll do my best to clear out some of the weeds surrounding this issue, but keep in mind that the truly “perfect opportunity” to discuss it is, in fact, in counsel with your bishop.

Hot Drinks and the Word of Wisdom

The Word of Wisdom refers to the dietary restrictions the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith in D&C 89. It includes a prohibition against tobacco, “strong drinks” (alcohol), and “hot drinks,” as well as recommendations for eating herbs, fruits, grains, and meat (sparingly).

Following this revelation, there was some dispute among Church members about what exactly was meant by “hot drinks.” Tea? Coffee? Soup? Eventually, in 1842 Joseph Smith’s brother and fellow Church leader Hyrum Smith gave a sermon and clarified the matter in this way: “And again ‘hot drinks are not for the body, or belly;’ there are many who wonder what this can mean; whether it refers to tea, or coffee, or not. I say it does refer to tea, and coffee.”

Modern Church leaders have not offered any more definitive interpretations on which kinds of tea might be permissible. The most recent handbook just says, “The only official interpretation of “hot drinks” (D&C 89:9) in the Word of Wisdom is the statement made by early Church leaders that the term “hot drinks” means tea and coffee.”

This open-endedness has led Latter-day Saints to speculate about what exactly is in tea and coffee that is harmful. Is it the caffeine? The tannic acid? The high temperature? If it is the caffeine (a common speculation), then should we also shun colas, energy drinks, and chocolate? Is decaf okay?

The First Presidency gave a statement on cola in 1973, “With reference to cola drinks, the Church has never officially taken a position on this matter, but the leaders of the Church have advised, and we do now specifically advise, against the use of any drink containing harmful habit-forming drugs under circumstances that would result in acquiring the habit. Any beverage that contains ingredients harmful to the body should be avoided.”

Why it Matters

Latter-day Saints know that typically, where there is no specific direction on a given subject, we are left to our own judgment, guided by principles instead of rigid rules. This idea can be seen in the cola policy above; it’s not about setting and enforcing unyielding boundaries, but keeping ourselves un-addicted and healthy.

This would normally be a non-issue, then. Each member has access to personal revelation through the gift of the Holy Ghost and to scriptural principles that would guide them to a self-imposed standard that may legitimately vary from person to person.

But tea is not an entirely personal decision. In preparing to be baptized or to enter the temple, a priesthood leader interviews you for worthiness. One of the questions is about your understanding of the Word of Wisdom and whether you are living by it. A wrong answer could keep you from baptism or temple worship or perhaps make a liar out of you. Additionally, depending on your location, green tea may be a huge part of your culture and a cherished tradition. Abstaining could have significant ramifications on personal and business relationships. It is a pivotal decision for some, and wondering about green tea isn’t necessarily just “straining at a gnat,” as those who dismiss the question might uncharitably assume.

Our task, then, is to discover for ourselves a personal rubric for tea-selection, which must be in line with Church guidelines (note: there maybe more than one rubric that is acceptable, there are definitely many that are unacceptable, and we are not charged with creating a rubric for all members). Developing our rubric involves getting educated: learn what makes tea tea, read this article, study other relevant materials. It also involves searching for eternal principles upon which to build your decision, which can be found in scriptures and conference talks and in personal prayer.

The Practice

In the absence of authoritative direction, I thought I would try to see what Latter-day Saints actually do and learn about their guiding motivations for their tea selections. I created a survey, and asked a sample of 86 people who ran across this site or who are my friends on Facebook to take it (we can therefore extrapolate these findings to the general population of people who frequent this site or who are my friends on Facebook).

I listed as many different kinds of tea as I could think of (with the help of Wikipedia). Here are a few of the statistics. The following were asked of latter-day saints:

The first chart shows those teas that Church members believe to be prohibited for temple worthiness, the second chart shows teas that are believed to be expressly permitted. The clear front-runners to avoid are black, green, and iced teas, while peppermint and chamomile rank pretty high on the allowed list. The lesser-known ones (white, oolong, masala chai, yerba maté, rooibos) were a mixed bag, probably just because they are less familiar. Many surveyees added the write-in candidate “herbal tea” as a permitted type, which actually includes peppermint and chamomile (I couldn’t include all herbal teas in my list because there are infinitely many).

Exactly half of the members I surveyed were returned full-time proselyting missionaries. Missionaries have the unique responsibility of ushering converts into the church and they probably deal with this question of tea-types more regularly than any bishop or stake president. I asked them which types of tea they taught their converts they needed to avoid and which were allowed:

Basically, the same trends as before, but these answers look a little more confident.

Next, I asked how much allure tea had for them:

This is the sentiment that (in my experience) most Mormons have about tea. They just don’t give it much thought. It isn’t on their radar.

I also asked the ten non-Mormons who took the quiz a few questions. The sample size isn’t large enough to draw many conclusions, but I’ll post the results here for your interest.

I also asked members what their guiding philosophy was for selecting the tea that they did. This is where the real insight came. Since this was an essay question, I extracted the basic gist of their reason and categorized them into the following groups:

One thing you might notice from this is that the first two categories (made from the tea leaf and herbal tea) essentially draw the same line in the sand. Of the teas I listed in my survey, black, green, white, oolong, and iced teas are made with the leaf of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis). All the rest are “herbal teas,” according to Wikipedia’s (somewhat limey) definition: “A herbal tea, tisane, or ptisan is a herbal or plant infusion and usually not made from the leaves of the tea bush. Typically, herbal tea is simply the combination of boiling water and dried fruits, flowers or herbs.”

I got a lot of good, thoughtful responses for this question. I’ll provide a few of them here.

Jethro: “I am not very critical about it, I guess. I generally stay away from hot teas, and ice teas unless they are prepared by a trusted (usually Mormon) lady, who usually accompanies the tea with some kind of reassuring “here, this will make you feel better”.”

Steve: “I just don’t drink tea.  I even avoid wearing tea-shirts.
“I did some searching on LDS.org for green tea and I only found one article from 1985ish.  It was a story of some missionaries in Japan looking for an apartment to rent.  Spoiler Alert:  They found one.”

Anonymous: “I was told once by someone or other that tea is only forbidden if it’s made with tea leaves; herbal teas and the like are fine. However, this came from a layperson, not from anyone in authority, and trying to pinpoint the forbidden ingredient in tea seems rather like the stance some people take that because coffee has caffeine, caffeine must be forbidden in all its forms. It’s entirely possible that this is true, of course, but the fact is that we simply don’t know. So for me, I drink herbal tea very occasionally when someone else is offering it, when it’s an innocuous-seeming variety like blueberry, and when it would be rude to refuse, but that’s all. My refusal is made easier by the fact that I do not like the taste of any tea I have tried.
“From what I have seen of other people’s tea drinking habits, I’d say a fair number also draw the line between herbal tea and tea tea. I don’t think that any type of tea has been explicitly allowed.”

Orpha: “It must be an herbal ‘tea,’ (which is not actually a tea), which means it will be caffeine-FREE, ingredients clearly listed. I drink herbal tea occasionally, sometimes in spurts, but especially to soothe a sore throat, help clear congestion, or to help me warm up after being outside in the cold.”

Nefi: “If the tea is herbal it is ok.  ’Herbal’ means if it has a cute teddy bear in pajamas and it says something like ‘sleepy time’ on the box then it is ok. If I have not heard of the name or it sounds oriental with kanji on the box and no cute pictures then it is not ok.”

Willie: “I can’t claim to know which sort of tea is acceptable or not according to the standards.  I have never read the standards.
“As for me, I just stay away from all teas and then I’m sure that I’ll be just fine.  I’ve been healthy enough this far into my life that drinking tea for any ‘health benefits’ isn’t going to sell me on it either.”

Andrew: “I try to follow the promptings of the Spirit. If the tea makes me feel uncomfortable, then I don’t drink it. When I was in Japan I drank a tea that a member said was okay to drink and it felt wrong to me. I took a look at the ingredients and one of them was Green Tea powder, so I stopped drinking it. Following the Spirit has always served me well.”

It was interesting to see the variety of opinions on this, as well as the emergent themes. None of these opinions are authoritative, and they each spoke only for the bar they set for themselves, not what they would impose on the whole Church.

I can’t draw any firm conclusions from this data on how to construct your rubric. As one respondent put it, “popular opinion does not a standard make.” Still, I think it is a good idea to take inventory of this issue once in awhile, and it would be good to use the data in drawing your own personal conclusions.

The Principles

As I mentioned earlier, in the absence of specific proscriptions, we must learn all we can about the issue and be guided by principles instead of governed by rules. Here is a short list of some principles to keep in mind when selecting which teas to avoid and which to accept:

• Avoid addiction. This isn’t just a good idea, it’s fundamental to the purpose of life. We cannot hope to overcome the tests of life if we have already sacrificed our free will to some unholy Mammon. Bear in mind also, that the addict rarely recognizes his own addiction.
• Health. This is one of the promised blessings for those who obey the Word of Wisdom, and as I quoted the First Presidency saying earlier, “Any beverage that contains ingredients harmful to the body should be avoided.”
• Covenant. Another of the blessings promised is that the “destroying angel will pass by them and not slay them” (D&C 89:21). This is a reference to the first passover in Egypt when the Israelites publicly displayed their covenant status and their faith in Jehovah by painting their door posts with lambs’ blood; then the destroyer “passed over” them (Exodus 12:23). Maybe, like painting your house with blood, certain tea restrictions don’t make intuitive sense. And maybe there is something grander at work here.
• Obedience. The Lord is more interested in seeing our willingness to follow Him than in seeing how smart we think we are (2 Nephi 9:28-29).
• Sustaining local leaders. If you are concerned about where to draw the line, talk to your bishop about it at your next temple recommend interview. He is a judge in Israel and his judgment is authoritative. Follow his counsel.
• Unity in Zion. Be careful making yourself the exception. Remember that there are thousands of Japanese converts who took a leap of faith by abandoning a cherished cultural practice (and identity) to qualify for baptism. “For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things” (D&C 78:6).
• Personal revelation. If you have been baptized and confirmed, you have the gift of the Holy Ghost who “shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance” (John 14:26). Live up to your privilege and ask for revelation!

The great thing about principles is that they are widely applicable! This means you can also use these and other principles to help you in deciding what kinds of restaurants to eat at, clothing to wear, whom to vote for, and what to do with your free time. The Lord has withheld specifying rules in many cases so that we can learn to identify and adopt principles, thus becoming our own governors — becoming free. It also helps us draw closer to Him in prayer, knowing we need His personal guidance; we can’t just flip open the code book and have every eventuality spelled out for us.

We recently got a nice comment from a woman who used to be a member of our Church, but has since becoming involved in another, more mainstream Christian Church.  She wrote about her “new eyes and strong desire to help others come unto Christ [the same way that she has].”  It was really nice to read, actually. And I’m grateful that she commented because it gave me a chance to think about what she is advocating.  As a member of a church that proclaims to be the “only true and living church on the face of the earth” (D&C 1:30) it is sometimes hard to wrap my head around the fact that someone could leave this “fully true” church for a “partly true” church.  (Don’t get all offended, I’ll explain my labels).

There are at least two parts to our church:  the human part and the inspired part.  The human part is honestly just like any other Christian Church.  There are fellowship meetings, get-togethers, sermons by people who have some pet virtue they want to beat into the parishioners heads.  Sometimes the church is amazing in this realm.  Sometimes people reach out to new people and bring them into their warm circle of friends and fellowship.  Sometimes seven different people come up to you during the first 14 minutes of church when you are visiting just to introduce themselves (thank you, Abilene Texas 3rd ward!  You guys were awesome!).  Sometimes there are incredible choral programs for Christmas and Easter.  Sometimes someone’s sermon changes your life for good.  Sometimes you find your closest friends through the Home or Visiting Teaching programs.

And sometimes, honestly, the human parts stink.  People are flawed.  And they bring those flaws to the church–especially in the LDS Church where everything is run by the members–a lay clergy, volunteers in every single role from the tiniest nursery tots all the way to the High Priests Group nodding off in the back row.  So that means that every person’s flaws and weaknesses are somehow incorporated into the functioning Church body (as well as their good qualities, but that observation belongs in the paragraph above).  And so, for people like the woman I mentioned above, visiting a warm and welcoming  congregation, perhaps with a social following the service and all sorts of ancillary programs to sign up for, may seem like a shocking difference (especially if her LDS ward was the opposite of the Abilene Texas 3rd Ward).  And it might seem like that church is more true.  More full and lively.  And it probably is more full and lively.  As far as fellowship and sociality goes, the Mormons don’t claim to have a monopoly.  Other churches are simply outstanding at uplifting and professional sermons, providing like-minded friends, urging people to lead honest and moral lives.   I don’t think any Mormon would argue otherwise; and if the human part of our church were the only part, then the answer to my post title is Yes.  It is just another Christian Church.

But there is another part to the church: the inspired part.  And this is the part that separates it from the “partly true churches” that have great human components.  God the Father and Jesus Christ really did restore the Church of Jesus Christ back to the earth through Prophets.  The Prophet really does speak to deity.  That’s an important distinction.  The organization of the church below them with Apostles, Seventies, Elders and so on is truly inspired.  It works on a small scale and it works globally.  I don’t think that Joseph Smith could have come up with that one on his own. The temples are also inspired.  Probably the most important element of the inspired part–that which makes it the true church–is the performance of saving ordinances:  Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, the Sacrament, Temple Endowment, Temple Sealing.  These things are HUGE.  It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t been to an LDS temple why they are so important, but it’s like having the map back to heaven, printed in your own language.  The temple is the point of having the Church back on the earth at all.  This is what makes the LDS Church the “only true and living church on the face of the earth.”

However, sometimes even members of the LDS Church miss this.  They see only the human parts and if they aren’t comparable to the other Christian Churches around their neighborhood  then it only makes sense to switch.  Being a member of the LDS church matters if those saving ordinances like baptism and temple ordinances are important to you.  They are important to me.  They give me security and increase my faith in Christ.  I know that He will do what He has promised to do because I’ve covenanted with Him to follow Him and He is always true to His covenants.  Those ordinances mean that I have a constant companion all the time: the Holy Ghost.  He leads me, comforts me and corrects me.  My temple marriage means the world to me because my little family means the world to me: if my road cycling husband were killed in an accident, I have God’s promise that we will be together again in the next life.  And I trust that.  I won’t even start to imagine losing one of my cherubic children because its too painful to contemplate, but we will be together for eternity too.  And when I die, because of what I have learned in the temple and covenanted to do, I have full confidence that I’ll be privileged to meet my Savior.  That is so important to me.

Way more important than how successful the ward party was and if today’s sermon wasn’t given as tactfully as I would have liked it. But that is my preference.  Everyone is entitled to their own priorities and I won’t condemn you for yours if you don’t condemn me for mine.

Then a few weeks ago, sitting in Sunday School, feeling selfish again, the spirit was strong in the meeting and it gave me a deeper insight into my prayer: I had been serving people for the past 2 weeks. I thought of at least 3 instances where I had helped people, (even getting someone a job!), and the important service that I was giving my own children. Without even thinking about serving, or making sacrifices, I had helped plenty of people. It felt so good to have the spirit open my eyes to that realization, I can’t explain it, but it solidified my testimony that the Lord will answer prayers and that He is aware of us in our circumstances. It wasn’t answered the way I thought it would be, but when are they?

Guest author Jared responds:

What a great question! My grandpa is also a christened Roman Catholic, and several years ago he was in the exact same situation as you when a few of his children (my mother included) decided to be baptized. Before I go into that, though, let me first focus on the preparation leading up to baptism, and what is to be expected concerning the baptism itself.

Preparing for Baptism

Before someone can be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (“The LDS Church” or “The Mormon Church”) there are some common events that occur:  meeting with the missionaries, praying for guidance, worshiping with the local church, and a baptismal interview.

From the time the missionaries are introduced to someone who expresses interest in the Church, the missionaries will usually meet with the person a few times per week, sharing lessons about our beliefs concerning God, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, the history and organization of the church, God’s plan for us, the commandments, and what we must do to return to our Father in Heaven after this life. During each lesson the missionaries stress the importance of prayer and continually challenge the person receiving the lessons to ask our Heavenly Father in earnest, personal prayer if the things they’re being taught are true. The person receiving the lessons will be invited to attend church on Sundays where they’ll have the opportunity to meet the local church leaders and worship with us in our Sunday services. Once someone decides to be baptized into the LDS church, they continue to meet with the missionaries to help them continue to gain knowledge, grow in their faith, repent, and prepare to become a member of the Church.

Just before a person gets baptized, they have a baptismal interview. This is a one-on-one meeting with someone who has been ordained to give these interviews (for your son it will likely be a full-time missionary other than those who taught him the lessons). This isn’t like a job interview or an interrogation looking for faults. The purpose of this interview is simply to ensure that the person is really ready to be baptized – that they have prayed and received personal confirmation from the spirit that the things taught to them by the missionaries are true, that they understand and are obeying the commandments, and that they have repented of past transgressions.

What to Expect at the Baptism Service

The baptism service will begin with a prayer. A few people may have been asked beforehand to say a few words or share their musical talents by singing a religious song or playing an instrument. Then the actual baptism will take place.

The baptism itself will be very simple. Clad entirely in white to represent the cleansing through repentance and baptism, your son and the person performing the baptism (probably one of the missionaries who taught your son, or a local church leader or friend) will enter the baptismal font (a small pool of water usually around 3 feet deep). The person who baptizes your son will take him by the wrist and raise his right hand while he says the following prayer: “<Your son’s name>, having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” Your son will then lean back and be fully submerged in the water for a moment, then brought back out of the water. This act symbolizes the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the beginning of a new life, and the washing away of past sins.

There will then be a few minutes of waiting and quiet conversation while your son changes into dry clothes before he comes back and rejoins everyone. Someone (probably a local church leader and possibly even your son) may say a few final remarks, then there will most likely be a song and prayer to close the service.

The final step of baptism is to receive a blessing by the laying on of hands (those giving the blessing put their hands on the head of the person receiving it), confirming the individual a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and commanding him/her to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This “confirmation” often takes place during Sunday worship services soon after the baptism, but it’s not uncommon for it to be performed immediately after the baptism as part of the baptism service.

The Baptism Service and You

Anyone (regardless of religious affiliation) who would come to witness and support those in their decision to be baptized are heartily welcomed! This is especially true for family and close friends of the individuals being baptized. As I mentioned, My grandfather, like yourself, is a christened Catholic and he’s attended the baptisms of several of his children and grandchildren into our faith; additionally, whenever he comes to town to visit he always attends Sunday worship services with us. He is not interested at this time in being baptized himself, but he enjoys attending church with us and always feels welcome.

I sincerely hope that if you are able to attend your son’s baptism, that you do! It would give you an opportunity to support your son in this important event in his life, to witness for yourself what he’s embarking on, and to meet his church leaders and friends. If you are able to attend, I challenge you to keep an open mind and be conscious of your feelings during the service; you may be surprised at the peace you feel as your son begins this new chapter in his life.

If you have any further questions about your son’s decision, don’t hesitate to ask. If you would prefer a more direct question and answer opportunity, feel free to contact the full-time missionaries in your area; when I served as a full-time missionary I loved the opportunity to answer questions of the family and friends of those whom I taught, and I’m confident those in your area would feel the same.

The LDS sacrament is known to other Christians as the Eucharist, Communion, or generally, the Lord’s Supper.  Two priesthood holders, usually young men, bless first the broken bread and then the water, which have been placed in trays. After the respective prayers, these trays are passed to the seated congregation.

When it comes to you, you can either take one and pass it, or just pass it.  Either way, no one will fuss.

In my personal opinion, there is no harm in taking the Sacrament without being a member. No one is going to look at you like you’ve blasphemed their faith by partaking. I, along with many other members, allow my children to take the Sacrament and they haven’t been baptized as members yet.

However, it is important to understand why we take the Sacrament: 1) It reminds us of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and His great sacrifice on our behalf.  2) It serves as a renewal of the covenants we made at our baptism.

Regarding the first, I feel that most visitors would have no problem viewing the  bread and water as symbolic of the body and blood of our Redeemer.  The second reason just doesn’t apply though. Without having been baptized, you can’t renew those covenants.

Essentially, it’s up to you. You’re certainly under no obligation to take the Sacrament. If you feel more comfortable passing the tray along, that’s perfectly acceptable. If you’d like to take it, you’re welcome to do so, though it will mean far more to you after baptism.  This weekly ordinance allows baptized and confirmed saints to maintain the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, the greatest gift we can have in life.

You’ll often hear phrases like, “I know that God lives,” and “I know Jesus died for my sins,” and “I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.”  Sometimes visitors come away from these meetings non-plussed by our uber-confident ‘knowledge’ of things.  It got me thinking.

Whenever someone says they know something, they are saying they have high confidence that their belief coincides with objective truth.  We do this all the time.  You say, “I just know the dentist is going to lecture me on flossing” because 1) he’s done it before and 2) you still haven’t been flossing.  Your previous experience and the evidence of your behavior lead you to this prediction.  There are many ways we gather knowledge; I’ll list a few here for illustration:

• Personal experience (five physical senses,  sense of balance, pain, hunger, etc.)
• Emotion and intuition (love, fear, instinct, etc.)
• Experiences of others (advice, anecdotes, biographies, etc.)
• Logical and mathematical proofs (a priori)
• Found evidence (archeology, historical documents, paleontology, forensics, etc.)
• Robust scientific experimentation that controls for all variables (physics, chemistry, etc.)
• Scientific experimentation/observation that controls for variables where possible (sociology, political science, economics, etc.)

We all tend to have some level of confidence in these methods, some more than others, depending on many factors, but each of these can lead a person to say “I know…” if the learning method is compelling enough.  Even so, many would argue that none of the methods I listed above are capable of producing reliable knowledge of things as transcendent as God.  Archeological digs might lend credence to a religious belief, but surely not firm knowledge.  These critics have a point, so I would add one more item to the list:

• Revelation from God

God speaks to His children in various ways.  He gave Joseph prophetic dreams that came true; He spoke to Moses from a burning bush (and also face-to-face).  He sent an angel to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus.  Joseph Smith saw and listened to the Father and the Son in a grove of trees.

To Joseph of Egypt, Moses, Mary, Smith and many others, those experiences were indisputable.  They had every right to declare, “I know” instead of “I believe,” and they did.

For most of us, though, the glorious visions and visitations of heavenly beings haven’t yet happened.  For us, God has promised another form of revelation: a personal witness of spiritual truths through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He is available to bear witness of the Father and the Son.  ”By the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5).  This witness may be less dramatic or conspicuous than an angelic visitor, but its convincing power may be even more sure than a vision (see Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:151; 1 Nephi 17:45-46).  Because of His subtlety, it may take many prompts for you to hear the Holy Ghost and again many more before you trust them enough to say “I know.”  But it can happen.  This is how I know God lives and that Jesus is the Christ.

You can know, too.  Like other modes of learning, it won’t necessarily come in an afternoon of mild curiosity, but it will with dedicated seeking, knocking, and asking over the course of weeks and months and years.  Begin now and you will taste the deliciousness that is the knowledge of God.

Today, I want to share with you a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland, one of the 12 apostles. His testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon is powerful. I invite all to listen to this address, “Safety for the Soul”, and ponder what is taught and then study the Book of Mormon for yourself (you can get a free copy by following this link).   If you do so with a sincere heart and pray to know, with intent to act, if the book is from God, God will tell you in your heart and mind by the Holy Ghost that it is from Him.   The validity of Joseph Smith as one of God’s prophet goes hand in hand with knowing that the Book of Mormon is from God–if the book is from God, the man by whom God brought forth the book must also be of God.  Enjoy.

(I have embedded the talk from YouTube and included a link as well if you want the video to load faster.)

Safety for the Soul, Part 1

Safety for the Soul, Part 2

Anyway, so in this particular Family Home Evening lesson we read the scripture Alma 33:11 which describes praying in faith through one’s afflictions. I asked my children if they knew what the word “affliction” meant and explained to them that it is something difficult: when something hard happens in life and we maybe don’t know what to do or how to get through that experience and I told them it is important to pray to make it through these times of difficulty. My four year old son has been playing a video game with my husband and when I talked about afflictions, he immediately drew a corollary to this game. They’d stopped playing last time at a point in which the characters were stuck on one side of a large crack in the ground and my son commented that he just didn’t know what they were going to do about it or how they would get their guys around or over this big hole in the earth. When he said the closing prayer that night, he asked Heavenly Father to help them to find a way to get around that big crack in the ground in their game.

Maybe it’s one of those “you had to be there moments”, but this touched my heart and I know my children and I were both taught that night by the Holy Ghost. My eyes got a little misty as the scripture Mosaiah 3:19 came to my mind and I marveled at the simplicity and depth of my son’s faith. I know that he believes and accepts what I’m teaching him. I know that he loves his Redeemer, Jesus Christ. My son was taking my lesson to heart and applying it to his sphere of understanding. Would that we all prayed with such faith! Would that we never doubted that our omnipotent Father in Heaven cares about us and whatever we may be experiencing. I know this to be true.  Jesus is the Christ, he suffered for your sins, died for you and was resurrected again because of that great love that our Father has for each and every one of us. Just as my son prayed for help to get through what he truly saw as a difficulty in his world, we can pray for any difficulty in our world and I know our prayers will be answered.