Where to start - Questioning if this is for me.


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So recently I've had some LDS members, current and inactive both, come into my life. I was raised Baptist myself but I'm beginning to feel that the Heavenly Father maybe leading me to investigate the LDS church. I did go to a service last Sunday and I'm curious how to go about discovering if this is the Path the Heavenly Father would have me take. I ended up going to the wrong ward for where I will be living in February and I have no idea where to start. Please help.

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14 hours ago, Jsmith85 said:

So recently I've had some LDS members, current and inactive both, come into my life. I was raised Baptist myself but I'm beginning to feel that the Heavenly Father maybe leading me to investigate the LDS church. I did go to a service last Sunday and I'm curious how to go about discovering if this is the Path the Heavenly Father would have me take. I ended up going to the wrong ward for where I will be living in February and I have no idea where to start. Please help.

Enter your address in the search bar at this link.

https://www.lds.org/maps/meetinghouses/?lang=eng

That will tell you what ward to attend and the address of the meetinghouse and time the block begins.  It will also provide you the bishop's name and contact info.

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Welcome, Jsmith85!  (Great name you got there. :) )

15 hours ago, Jsmith85 said:

So recently I've had some LDS members, current and inactive both, come into my life. I was raised Baptist myself but I'm beginning to feel that the Heavenly Father maybe leading me to investigate the LDS church. I did go to a service last Sunday and I'm curious how to go about discovering if this is the Path the Heavenly Father would have me take. I ended up going to the wrong ward for where I will be living in February and I have no idea where to start. Please help.

In addition to where to start geographically, I recommend considering the following options to see what's right for you:

  • Ask questions of these Mormons who have come into your life
  • Ask us questions :)
  • Read the Book of Mormon (you can get a free one - see next)
    • Or you can get the app - just make sure it's the one published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - I know they have it for Android and Apple, not sure if it's in the Windows app store or not.  I recommend the one called "The Book of Mormon" (the Gospel Library app has tons of other stuff and might be a little overwhelming - you just want the Book of Mormon).
  • Visit https://www.mormon.org/ - where you can read, watch videos, chat with a missionary, and ask for a copy of the Book of Mormon
  • Visit with the missionaries (see above).  It's OK to be up front about your level of interest and how you would like your conversations with them to go.
  • Poke around on http://www.lds.org/

What I would not recommend is going to sites which are opposed to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Such sites are usually referred to as "anti-Mormon".  Those sites may include facts, but they'll also include lies and deceptions.  If I want to know what Baptists believe, I don't go to those who hate Baptists, but to a Baptist, and ask him or her directly about their beliefs.  I recommend you do the same - ask the believers what they believe, and don't bother with the haters.

And, of course, to know what our Heavenly Father wants you to do, just ask Him - see James 1:5. :)

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10 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Enter your address in the search bar at this link.

https://www.lds.org/maps/meetinghouses/?lang=eng

That will tell you what ward to attend and the address of the meetinghouse and time the block begins.  It will also provide you the bishop's name and contact info.

Thank you, I did do that for last Sunday. The meetinghouse has three different wards meeting there and they rotate the times and it wasn't updated since they just rotated times. Thank you though as I did miss seeing the bishop's name

 

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9 hours ago, zil said:

Welcome, Jsmith85!  (Great name you got there. :) )

In addition to where to start geographically, I recommend considering the following options to see what's right for you:

  • Ask questions of these Mormons who have come into your life
  • Ask us questions :)
  • Read the Book of Mormon (you can get a free one - see next)
    • Or you can get the app - just make sure it's the one published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - I know they have it for Android and Apple, not sure if it's in the Windows app store or not.  I recommend the one called "The Book of Mormon" (the Gospel Library app has tons of other stuff and might be a little overwhelming - you just want the Book of Mormon).
  • Visit https://www.mormon.org/ - where you can read, watch videos, chat with a missionary, and ask for a copy of the Book of Mormon
  • Visit with the missionaries (see above).  It's OK to be up front about your level of interest and how you would like your conversations with them to go.
  • Poke around on http://www.lds.org/

What I would not recommend is going to sites which are opposed to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Such sites are usually referred to as "anti-Mormon".  Those sites may include facts, but they'll also include lies and deceptions.  If I want to know what Baptists believe, I don't go to those who hate Baptists, but to a Baptist, and ask him or her directly about their beliefs.  I recommend you do the same - ask the believers what they believe, and don't bother with the haters.

And, of course, to know what our Heavenly Father wants you to do, just ask Him - see James 1:5. :)

You know I just realized how my username could be taken - It's actually my first initial and last name, year of birth.  I've been asking some questions enough to know I need to seriously pursue what the Heavenly Father would have me do. I actually have the missionary's coming tomorrow to speak with me.  

Thank you so much

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42 minutes ago, Jsmith85 said:

You know I just realized how my username could be taken - It's actually my first initial and last name, year of birth.

:) J Smith is a pretty common combination for both men and women.  I assumed nothing more than an amusing coincidence.

43 minutes ago, Jsmith85 said:

  I've been asking some questions enough to know I need to seriously pursue what the Heavenly Father would have me do. I actually have the missionary's coming tomorrow to speak with me. 

Good for you!  I love reading about people who follow promptings from the Holy Ghost.  They have the most interesting experiences.

I hope we can be of help as you have questions.

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2 hours ago, Jsmith85 said:

You know I just realized how my username could be taken - It's actually my first initial and last name, year of birth. 

We often hear of investigators who are named Joseph and Emma Smith who have never heard the story.  I wonder if these are urban legends or not.  I myself came across a mailbox that said "Benson" (one of our previous Prophets was named Ezra Taft Benson).  We knocked.  The homeowner was not named "Ezra".  Imagine that.

Edited by Guest
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30 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

We often hear of investigators who are named Joseph and Emma Smith who have never heard the story.  I wonder if these are urban legends or not.  

Well Smith is a pretty common last name. Joseph and Emma are common first names so I'm thinking it's a good chance that it's not an urban lesson.

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On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 5:57 PM, zil said:

I hope we can be of help as you have questions.

So another question came to mind. The missionaries came today and gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon. I would like to begin reading it but was wondering if it's best to read front to back or if there is a certain order that will help give me a better understanding?

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Front to back is good. If you have trouble understanding Isaiah, I've heard suggestions to either skip the quoting Isaiah chapters the first time through or read the chapters after where he is quoted before reading the chapters actually quoting him, as they frequently explain what he was saying.

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9 minutes ago, Jsmith85 said:

So another question came to mind. The missionaries came today and gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon. I would like to begin reading it but was wondering if it's best to read front to back or if there is a certain order that will help give me a better understanding?

You of course can read it front to back :).  Or feel free to jump to the climax (when Christ arrives), that's in 3 Nephi chapter 11.

One thing that would help you is having a timeline of events, since the book of Mormon does have a storyline.  To make things complicated the book doesn't always go in chronological order, so it can get confusing.  Here is basic timeline showing the different groups of people and linking it up to different books--

http://emp.byui.edu/marrottr/121-122ChronologyCES.jpg

Here is another one which is more complicated, discussing actual events.  (https://seminary.lds.org/bc/content/seminary/materials/english/student-resources/book-of-mormon-times-at-a-glance-charteng.pdf).  

@Sunday21 has some nice resources too, so I'll ping her for you.

Edited by Jane_Doe
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4 minutes ago, SilentOne said:

Front to back is good. If you have trouble understanding Isaiah, I've heard suggestions to either skip the quoting Isaiah chapters the first time through or read the chapters after where he is quoted before reading the chapters actually quoting him, as they frequently explain what he was saying.

Thank you! :)

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2 minutes ago, Jsmith85 said:

So another question came to mind. The missionaries came today and gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon. I would like to begin reading it but was wondering if it's best to read front to back or if there is a certain order that will help give me a better understanding?

The Book of Mormon is the story of Lehi and his descendants who left Jerusalem around 600 BC and traveled to the Americas.  Therefore, it's in story format (not unlike the Old Testament).  In that sense, reading from start to finish makes sense.

However, there's an index, and if you want to see what the Book of Mormon has to say on a particular topic, you could use the index to do that.

Finally, I recommend reading the Title Page, Introduction, and "A Brief Explanation About The Book of Mormon" (at the very least) so that you have an explanation of how the book is arranged - it will make more sense that way.  After reading those, you may want to read the very last chapter, Moroni 10, where Moroni testifies of the book, and exhorts the reader to pray about its truthfulness.  That way, you start out with the end in mind, and can consider it as you read.

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Just now, Jane_Doe said:

You of course can read it front to back :).  Or feel free to jump to the climax (when Christ arrives), that's in 3 Nephi chapter 11.

One thing that would help you is having a timeline of events, since the book of Mormon does have a storyline.  To make things complicated the book doesn't always go in chronological order, so it can get confusing.  Here is basic timeline showing the different groups of people and linking it up to different books--

http://emp.byui.edu/marrottr/121-122ChronologyCES.jpg

Here is another one which is more complicated, discussing actual events.  (https://seminary.lds.org/bc/content/seminary/materials/english/student-resources/book-of-mormon-times-at-a-glance-charteng.pdf).  

@Sunday21 has some nice resources too, so I'll ping her for you.

Thanks :) the chronological order thing was part of the reason why I asked.

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Guest MormonGator
12 minutes ago, Jsmith85 said:

Thanks :) the chronological order thing was part of the reason why I asked.

It's actually a really good question. The BoM can be very confusing to a non member reading it the first time, for sure. 

 

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16 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

The BoM can be very confusing to a non member reading it the first time, for sure.

Yes.  That's why I recommended reading those intro pages that most of us skip over in every book we read. :)  They're not always interesting, but they do help the rest make sense.

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Guest MormonGator
6 minutes ago, zil said:

Yes.  That's why I recommended reading those intro pages that most of us skip over in every book we read. :)  They're not always interesting, but they do help the rest make sense.

I remember saying that verbatim (that the Book of Mormon was confusing to read for the first time for non members) and some wet behind the ears missionary looked appalled that I would say something so blasphemous! 

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2 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

I remember saying that verbatim (that the Book of Mormon was confusing to read for the first time for non members) and some wet behind the ears missionary looked appalled that I would say something so blasphemous! 

Poor children (the missionaries).  I took the sisters out to dinner some night last summer, and all I could think was, "Holy cow, they're young."  (Apparently I got old at some point.)

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3 minutes ago, zil said:

I took the sisters out to dinner some night last summer, and all I could think was, "Holy cow, they're young."  (Apparently I got old at some point.)

You're just now feeling that, eh?

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Guest MormonGator
11 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

You're just now feeling that, eh?

You'll have to forgive him @zil, @Carborendum has been feeling old for five decades now. After all, when he was a young man the first edition of the Book of Mormon was hot off the printing press! 

Edited by MormonGator
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