[How do Mormons believe that they achieve salvation?]

That makes it clear. Thanks to you all for respectfully explaining that. Those are very interesting thoughts about the apostasy.

What I'm about to say is not for the purpose of arguing. I'm trying to understand clearly where Mormons stand on this. It is confusing to me. I have no intention of showing disrespect for anyone's right to believe as they do. I am simply trying to understand and see if I see the same things that some here do. It could be that once I understand, that I will.

HiJolly said, "We believe that we are saved if we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, and signify that belief by being baptized, receiving the Holy Ghost, and following what He told us we should do."

Are you saying that in order to be saved (salvation and deliverance from our sins), we must make the decision to believe in Christ, be baptized, and obey His commandments?

The reason I ask is that Protestants believe they must also do those things as followers of Christ, but Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient enough to completely cover our sins and give us salvation. What we actually do or don't do does not gain us salvation per se outside of believing that Christ is our Savior.

In other words, sadly, we are frail humans and will continue sinning and fighting sin after we are saved by Christ. He alone saves us, and it happens not by our own actions. Nothing we do can wash away our own sins. Christ is omnipotent and sovereign.

For a Protestant to think that anything he does will gain him salvation - cheapens the sacrifice Christ made on the cross. If all I have to do to gain salvation is believe, be baptized, and follow the Commandments, then why would Christ have had to die on the cross?

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."

God even gives us the faith we need.

I'm wondering if this is where some get the idea that Mormons believe in "works". I am not sure that Mormons actually believe that because you sing the great hymns written by Protestants and as such, it would appear that we think similarly, but I'm confused and trying to understand better.

Do you believe that you must be baptized and follow the Commandments in order to be saved?

We believe that Christ died on the cross so that all mankind may be resurrected and thus saved from physical death. (body reunited with spirit) The second part of His sacrifice is His atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane where Christ atoned for the sins of all mankind which saves our souls from spiritual death along with our own repentance for our sins. The resurrection of the body is a gift to all, no matter their faith or works. The Atonement, through which we may gain eternal salvation, is conditional on our works and repentance. In this way we believe that Christ satisfied the demands of justice, extending us mercy and allowing us to repent. Whether or not we repent is our own choice. The Atonement has already been performed by Christ, it is up to us whether or not we will utilize it and repent so that we may achieve salvation. In this way, we can only achieve salvation through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

As far as the grace of God is concerned,

"Grace is a gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ. The word grace, as used in the scriptures, refers primarily to enabling power and spiritual healing offered through the mercy and love of Jesus Christ.

Everyone on earth experiences physical death. Through the grace of Jesus Christ, all will be resurrected and will live forever (see 1 Corinthians 15:20–22; 2 Nephi 9:6–13).

Because of personal choices, everyone also experiences the effects of sin (see 1 John 1:8–10; Mosiah 16:4). These effects are called spiritual death. No one can return to the presence of God without divine grace. Through the Atonement, we all can be forgiven of our sins; we can become clean before God. To receive this enabling power, we must obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes having faith in Him, repenting of our sins, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and trying to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ for the rest of our lives (see Ephesians 2:8–9; James 2:17–22; 2 Nephi 25:23; 31:20)."

Sorry for the long post, but all in all, I guess to directly answer your questions.

1) yes, we are saying that in order to be saved spiritually, we must make the decision to believe in Christ, be baptized, and obey His commandments.

2) We believe that without Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice we cannot be saved, but that we are not saved by grace alone, we must repent and have good works--believing is not enough (although I would pose the question that if we truly believe in Jesus Christ, would this not motivate us to have good works?)

[patriarchal blessing? (feels like a dumb question)]

Patriarchal blessings are personal guidance and blessings from our Heavenly Father revealed through a patriarch of proper authority.