Why Mormons Don’t Wear Masks for Halloween

Hopefully, wearing a mask won’t make you look and act like this guy.

*Disclaimer: As always on this blog, the views written here are not officially from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  These were my own impressions after reading an article.*

Halloween is fast approaching, and if you have any friendly Mormon neighbors, they may invite you to a “Fall Festival” at their local church building.  Every ward or branch I’ve been in has had one where the people get together and play games, eat food and lots o’ candy, and even have a Trunk or Treat.  If you’re planning on going, though, you’ll probably be told not to wear a mask with your costume.  When I’ve invited friends and told them the rule, they’ve asked why, and I’ve always been like, “Uh, I don’t know.  Because they’re scary?”  Seriously, I didn’t know.  It was just one of those things that we did, and I didn’t really question it.

Now, here I am, nearly 30 years old, and I finally found a possible answer in this month’s issue of the Ensign–a magazine put out by our church. There was an article by Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Twelve Apostles called “Act Well Your Part.”  It’s a really good article about being the best version of yourself and setting goals.  But what does this have to do with Halloween and why we don’t wear masks?

Creed Haymond Story Of The Word Of Wisdom, In His Own Words

Creed Haymond Story Of The Word Of Wisdom, In His Own Words

I’ve heard this story throughout my life many times in Sunday School, youth classes, General Conference, and sacrament meeting talks.  Bryce Haymond at the Temple Study blog has recently posted an original account of famed runner Creed Haymond, and his own personal account of how The Word of Wisdom helped him to win several races during a track event while in school in Pennsylvania.  What makes this story more unique is that Creed is one of Bryce’s ancestors.

Creed remained firm on a promise to live the Word of Wisdom which allowed him to be blessed to “run and not be weary”, as the scriptures promise.  At 8 years old, his mother told him, “Will you promise me that you will never taste tea or coffee, or liquor or tobacco, as long as you live?”  Creed promised, “Yes, Momma, I will.”

Check out what happened later on in his life when he decided to stay true to his promise over on Temple Study.

Your Friendly Mormon Neighbor,

Joshua B. Pettus

Mormon Q&A: Saturday or Sunday? Which Day to Worship

Mormon Q&A: Saturday or Sunday? Which Day to Worship

The other day, I received a nice comment on Facebook inquiring about my personal beliefs toward Saturday worship instead of the traditional Christian Sunday worship.  Luckily, I’ve done a bit of studying on the subject, and I wanted to share some of my findings from the scriptures.  I was asked by this kind individual to look into the paganistic worship of the sun for an explanation of why Christianity made the change from Saturday to Sunday.  Rather than go into things that I know nothing about, I directed my study toward something that I do know a little about…the words of the prophets and the apostles found in the Holy Scriptures.

First, let it be clear. I don’t write this to be antagonistic, but simply to share information I’ve found in my personal studies on this topic.  I don’t like to pick fights, nor will I be party to one.  If you’re looking for an argument, you’re probably better off going elsewhere.

With that said, let’s begin…

Just For Fun – LDS Girls’ Camp Song – The 2013 Version

Last year, I posted how I attended our local church’s girls’ camp.  I didn’t attend this year, but I did help the girls come up with a song/skit for it.  For those of you reading who are unfamiliar with how an LDS girls’ camp works, one day or night during the week, the girls are asked to perform a skit or a song that they’ve been working on that displays something spiritual.  These usually end up being really silly and fun, but they have a good message, too.

The Original Girl on Fire

Our theme for camp this year was Girl on Fire.  I thought that was a pretty neat theme because of…

1.  The Hunger Games reference
2. The new Alicia Keys song
3. The Young Women’s Logo

The young women and some of the leaders got together for a few mutual nights and decided that we wanted to sing the Alicia Keys song, but we needed to tweak the lyrics.  The original lyrics are pretty great on their own, but we wanted something a little more personal and spiritual.

We eventually came up with our own version.  I wanted to post it here because I thought they did a great job. I take zero credit for this.  It was all our girls and leaders working together to make this happen.

LDS General Conference: A Quick Introduction

First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has just begun the 183rd Annual General Conference.  In fact, as I write this, we’re in the middle of the first session.  What is General Conference?  Why is it even important to Mormons?  Is there anything there for you if you aren’t a Mormon?

The Feeling’s Mutual: Treasure Hunt

Arrr be me mateys.

This is what the scribblings of an insane person planning a mutual activity look like.

One day a few weeks ago, I was laying on the couch with my daughter watching Backyardigans or something similar.  Whatever it was, they were pretending to be pirates and going on a treasure hunt.  Suddenly, I sat up off the couch in one of those “Aha!” moments, and my brain wouldn’t stop thinking until I got a piece of paper and wrote down all my ideas.

After much thought and bugging my husband with my ideas, I finally put together a treasure hunt at our church building for the youth.  I decided I would share it on my blog in case anyone else wanted to try something similar, but I should warn you now that it takes time and energy to plan, so if you’re looking for something quick and easy to do, this ain’t it.  :)

THEME: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” 3 Nephi 13:20 or Matthew 6:20

The Vision of the South – Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone

As a boy, I remember going through my dad’s binder.  He kept a Franklin Day Planner stocked full of notes, old talks, information from meetings, details from work and church.  He also kept inside nuggets of interesting Mormon quotes, scriptures, and anything else he might easily want to quote if he found himself in a teaching moment, and wanted to move a crowd.

Somehow, I snagged the following jewel from his collection.  He probably doesn’t know that I have it.  I should probably return it to him one day.  This is a letter written by Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone on April 6, 1983 to the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 21st Century after the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  I have seen this partially quoted on the internet on many sites, but I’ve never seen the full letter posted in its entirety before.  It’s interesting because the most quoted parts are amazing, but there are some pretty prophetic things they often leave out that warrant a fresh look by those who live in the South, are from the South, or wish you could visit.  As you read it, think of all that of these things we’ve already witness happen, and which ones have not happened yet.