Special Report: Mormonism in the Ozarks

(Springfield, MO) -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith is causing some voters to take a close at the religion.

When we say Mormons, we're talking about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or LDS).

The term "Mormon" comes from one of their holy books: the Book of Mormon.

The National Council of Churches ranks the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the fourth largest church in the U.S. and Canada, with 14 million members worldwide.

Still, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Mormons make up less than 2 percent of adults in this country.

The Crawfords live in Springfield. They go to Sunday services. They pray. And they're Mormon.

"There are misconceptions about the church and there's things people don't quite understand," says Colby Crawford.

You'll see pictures in the home of some of the religion's sacred temples.

"Our beliefs definitely focus on how to make stronger families and to draw us closer together as families"

To outsiders, the church is shrouded in mystery. Non-Mormons aren't typically allowed in these temples. Although, they can go to the more common meeting houses. The beliefs of Mormons differ from traditional Christian religions, but members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do believe, as the name implies, in Jesus.

"We are definitely a Christian organization," says Crawford. "We believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that he was who he said he was, that he was the savior of the world."

"We believe in Jesus Christ," says Terrence Thedell. "That he is the son of God."

Thedell is a stake president -- or a regional leader -- of the LDS church in the Springfield area.

"The Church is guided by the president of the church or prophet."

What separates the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from other churches dates back to the 1800s, and a man named Joseph Smith.

Mormons believe Smith was a prophet. LDS members say God told a teenage Smith not to join any existing churches.

"Joseph Smith received a vision where God the father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to him," says Thedell.

Mormons believe an angel directed Smith to an ancient record engraved on gold plates. He translated those for the Book of Mormon. It's another holy book for the church along with the Bible.

"And the LDS calls what happened with Joseph Smith, the Restoration, and they don't just mean the Restoration of what we can see in the new testament, but the restoration of what they claim to be the intent of Jesus," says David Embree, a Christian Minister and instructor at Missouri State University. "People ask me, as they do often, 'Do you regard the Latter-day Saints to be Christian group?' I say, 'Well, they're obviously Christ-centered, and their means of salvation is Jesus and so on, but they aren't traditionally Christian.'"

We asked him about critics of the religion who call it a cult. He called the term itself into question.

"It's almost become useless to designate anything objective."

Devout Mormons don't drink alcohol or use tobacco. They shy away from tea and coffee. They eat meat sparingly. They don't misuse drugs. And they don't have sex before marriage.

The church is involved in widespread missionary work. More than 50,000 LDS missionaries are working around the world. Roughly a third of those are in theU.S. and Canada, and their missions may include going door to door spreading the Mormon message.

LDS members also have a rough history in Missouri. Conflicts with early church members got to the point that former Missouri Governor Boggs issued an extermination order on the Mormons in 1838.

"The extermination order that was established by Governor Boggs was never officially rescinded until Kit Bond as governor did so in 1976," says Embree.

Members of the church returned to the state. LDS has several thousand members living in the Ozarks.

"We have family prayer and we attend church Sunday services," says Crawford.

And Mormon beliefs hold that the family relationships exist beyond this life -- in fact, into eternity.

             

Now, the question is, 'does the religion have implications from a political standpoint?'

A Pew Research survey found Mitt Romney's Mormon faith could affect his bid for the Republican nomination, but if he made it past that point, it wouldn't change much in the general election.

The study found 91 percent of white Evangelical Republican voters say they would back Romney in the general election. source:

NOWHERE in the Bible does it claim that the New Testament is G-d’s word or infallible. Fallible imperfect human beings did! Jsus himself constantly endorses this and refers readers to the TaNaCH as “the Word of G-d”.

What Does Mormonism Teach?

We will give the top ten (10)

by Matt Slick

The doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) are very interesting. Most of the 'odd' ones are not initially taught to potential converts. But they should be. Instead, "they are revealed later as one matures and gains the ability to accept them."  The LDS Church tries to make its official doctrines appear Christian but what underlies those Christian sounding terms is far from Christian in meaning.

Following are the teachings of its officials throughout the years.  Please note that these teachings are documented from Mormon writers, not anti-Mormon writers.

Finally, many Mormons respond that most of the citations below are not from official Mormonwritings, as if that disproves the doctrines they teach.  If they are not official, fine.  But, if not, then why have the Mormon apostles and high officials taught them, written them, and why are their books sold in Mormon bookstores?  The truth is, the following is what Mormons are taught.

1. Atonement
   1. "Jesus paid for all our sins when He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane," (Laurel Rohlfing, “Sharing Time: The Atonement,” Friend, Mar. 1989, p. 39.).
   2. "We accept Christ's atonement by repenting of our sins, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and obeying all of the commandments," (Gospel Principles, Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1979, p. 68.).
2. Baptism
   1. Baptism for the dead, (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. II, p. 141). This is a practice of baptizing each other in place of non-Mormons who are now dead. Their belief is that in the afterlife, the "newly baptized" person will be able to enter into a higher level of Mormon heaven.
3. Bible
   1. "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. . ." (8th Article of Faith of the Mormon Church).
   2. "Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God," (1 Nephi 13:28).
4. Book of Mormon
   1. The book of Mormon is more correct than the Bible, (History of the Church, 4:461).
5. Devil, the
   1. The Devil was born as a spirit after Jesus "in the morning of pre-existence," (Mormon Doctrine, p. 192).
   2. Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers and we were all born as siblings in heaven to them both, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163).
   3. A plan of salvation was needed for the people of earth so Jesus offered a plan to the Father and Satan offered a plan to the father but Jesus' plan was accepted. In effect the Devil wanted to be the Savior of all Mankind and to "deny men their agency and to dethrone god," (Mormon Doctrine, p. 193; Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 8).
6. God
   1. God used to be a man on another planet, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 321; Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 613-614; Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 345; Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 333).
   2. "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s..." (D&C 130:22).
   3. God is in the form of a man, (Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 3).
   4. "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!!! . . . We have imagined that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil, so that you may see," (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345).
   5. God the Father had a Father, (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 476; Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, p. 19; Milton Hunter, First Council of the Seventy, Gospel through the Ages, p. 104-105).
   6. God resides near a star called Kolob, (Pearl of Great Price, p. 34-35; Mormon Doctrine, p. 428).
   7. God had sexual relations with Mary to make the body of Jesus, (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, 1857, p. 218; vol. 8, p. 115). - This one is disputed among many Mormons and not always 'officially' taught and believed.  Nevertheless, Young, the 2nd prophet of the Mormon church taught it.
   8. "Therefore we know that both the Father and the Son are in form and stature perfect men; each of them possesses a tangible body . . . of flesh and bones." (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 38).
7. God, becoming a god
   1. After you become a good Mormon, you have the potential of becoming a god, (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345-347, 354.)
   2. "Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them," (D&C 132:20).
8. God, many gods
   1. There are many gods, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163).
   2. "And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light: and there was light," (Book of Abraham 4:3).
9. God, mother goddess
   1. There is a mother god, (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 443).
   2. God is married to his goddess wife and has spirit children, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 516).
10. God, Trinity
1. The trinity is three separate Gods: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. "That these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other, is demonstrated by the accepted records of divine dealings with man," (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 35). source: