Many people have called Joseph Smith a gold digger, but who knew that Mormon gold would one day be so valuable? The early history of Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”) in the Utah Territory certainly wouldn’t have led anyone to believe it.

When members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is often inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon Church”) first entered the Salt Lake Valley in Utah in 1847, they had little or no money. They had all had to leave behind homes and many of their most prized possessions, including property. The church leader at the time himself, Brigham Young, only carried $50 with him. When you think about it, what was the use of money? There was no one there, nothing to buy.

However, as time went on, the lack of a standard currency (Utah was not an official part of the United States at the time), presented unique challenges for the Mormon population. They came up with some inventive ways to meet that challenge.

Myriad Currencies Used in Mormon History

Early on, Mormon settlers interacted with many different people. On the frontier, Spanish dollars, French francs, and other foreign coins were used right alongside U.S. coins. However, it was difficult for everyone to keep any kind of exchange rates straight.

Douglas Nyholm, a currency expert, has written a book on how Mormons have created the most diverse array of currency outside of the U.S. government. The first paper money printed in the valley was called white notes or valley notes. Other notes included those from the Salt Lake City Corporation, scrip from different cooperatives, and reissued currency from a failed bank in Kirtland, Ohio, where many of the Saints had lived previous to migrating to Utah. There was even a type of note, issued by Deseret Currency Association, which was backed by livestock—the only currency in U.S. history of which that can be said.

Due to the myriad of currencies, it was difficult for these people to do business outside of Utah, where none of these currencies were recognized. The Utah Mormons needed gold, but there was an obvious lack of it. That is, until members of the Mormon Battalion, which had marched West to serve in the war with Mexico, arrived in the Utah Valley from the end of their march in California with thousands of dollars worth of gold dust.

Mormon Gold Coins

Mormon Gold Piece

Finally, the Mormons had a source to mint their own gold coins, which they did—the first coins to be minted from California gold. However, few of these coins survive. Many were melted down outside of Utah and made into other things. This rarity makes them exceedingly valuable today. Bob Campbell, a coin dealer, stated that there are rarely more than a dozen Mormon gold coins on the market at any given time. They can be worth from $10,000 to perhaps $1,000,000. Campbell owns one of two-dozen-existing $20 Mormon gold pieces, which is worth about $350,000. The most coveted Mormon gold piece is the $10, which can be worth up to $1,000,000.

Eventually, the Utah Territory was admitted to the Union and standard U.S. currency has been standard for quite some time. Learn more about Mormon history and early pioneer settlers by exploring the rest of our website.

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Women belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have always done remarkable things. Emma Smith, first president of the Latter-day Saint women’s organization, told the women working with her, “We are going to do something extraordinary” (Relief Society Minute Book, Nauvoo, Illinois, March 17, 1842, Church History Library, 12), and they haven’t stopped doing extraordinary things since their organization on March 17, 1842.

The Relief Society, which Emma Smith headed originally, is today a world-wide women’s organization—one of the world’s oldest and largest. Its female members strengthen families and homes and seek to provide relief to those in need, all while increasing personal faith and righteousness. Joseph Smith, first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ, said of the Relief Society’s organization, “The Church was never perfectly organized until the women were thus organized” (Quoted in Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, Sept 1, 1883, 51). Mormon women have always been recognized and appreciated for their unique skills and potential.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon Church”) was organized on April 6, 1830. Historically, women have not had as many freedoms as men have had, even in the United States, which prides itself on its liberated view of individual rights. Women’s rights were long-awaited and long fought-for in being made law and in becoming more accepted in society. The Church of Jesus Christ has stood out as a champion of women since its restoration in 1830 and has been at the forefront of women’s rights in all that movement’s most positive goals.

Overcoming the Oppression of Women

It is hard for us to believe now, but even as late as 1830 and beyond, married women were not recognized, at least by the law, as more than mere possessions of their husbands. The English Common Law was accepted widely and stated:

By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law; that is, the legal existence of woman is merged in that of her husband. He is her baron or lord, bound to supply her with shelter, food, clothing and medicine, and is entitled to her earnings and the use and custody of her person, which he may seize wherever he may find it (History of Woman Suffrage, Vol. 6, p.961).

Women were so bound by the law that it was very difficult for them to work to obtain personal funds. It was also very difficult for them to gain higher education and to escape from unhappy, oppressive marriages. They had few rights and freedoms if they were unmarried and seemingly even fewer if they were married. They were trapped in a society which largely viewed them as cooks and housekeepers who were able and expected to provide children as heirs and workers. For the most part, women were not seen as having the capacity for higher intellectual pursuits or for being able to contribute to society in any way outside the home.

Negative Effects of the Feminist Movement

This mindset continued well into the 20th century until the feminist movement really took hold. It wasn’t until 1920 that an amendment was signed into law giving all adult women the right to vote in America, but there was still a long way to go in the fight for women’s rights. For several more decades it was common practice for a woman to lose her job when she married and, if not then, certainly when she became pregnant.

Great strides have been made in the last 100 years liberating women from being viewed as possessions. However, somewhere along the way, the true end goal of being valued equally was lost, and many pioneers in the quest for women’s rights began to look beyond the mark. The pendulum seems to have swung to the opposite extreme, telling women they are worthless unless they are treated exactly like men with the same contributions and expectations. This attitude is just as harmful as telling women they are worth less than men. The true spirit of feminism should be that women are just as valuable as men are in their own right. They have their own strengths and talents to offer and should be valued equally for what they bring to the table as men are for what they bring to the table.

I want to be valued for who I am and what I have to offer because I am human, I am a daughter of God, and I have worth. Telling me that because I am a woman I am worthless is just as harmful and hurtful as telling me that I must not be worth the same as a man unless I act exactly like him and am treated exactly like him. We as women need to be proud of our divine qualities. The world is in need of these qualities, but the harm of modern feminism is the idea that these qualities should be dropped by everyone because they are feminine. I am proud of being a woman and realize that many feminine qualities are just what the world needs more of today.

Mormon Feminism and Mormon Doctrine

Mormon doctrine teaches, however, that “gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World”). Society is fighting against this eternal truth.

Many people have fought for women to have the freedom to choose their own futures. Free will is also considered an eternal truth by Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”), and so women choose for themselves what they want to do with their lives. However, Mormon doctrine also teaches that men and women have complementary characteristics. Both a righteous man and a righteous woman are essential to God’s plan for families.

The Church of Jesus Christ has always recognized the eternal value that women have and the vast array of talents they have to offer in building up the kingdom of God on the earth. Still, it is part of Mormon doctrine that Mormon women have the most to offer the world in raising up righteous children. This does not make women less capable in the workplace than men; it simply means there is no more valuable or meaningful work they can perform than to raise up righteous children. Many extraordinary women have managed to raise children in righteousness and to also contribute to their communities in other very meaningful ways. Men and women are seen as being of equal value, but they do not have identical abilities and strengths.

Mormon Women Doing Extraordinary Things

When the early Saints were forced to move west, they set up their own community in the desert in what was then the Utah Territory, but getting there was a long, dangerous, arduous task. Many people died; everyone who made the journey suffered. Bathsheba W. Smith, the fourth Relief Society General President, recalled what helped them through this trial:

I will not try to describe how we traveled through storms of snow, wind, and rain; how roads had to be made, bridges built, and rafts constructed; how our poor animals had to drag on day after day with scanty feed; nor how our camps suffered from poverty, sickness, and death. We were consoled … by having our public and private meetings in peace, praying and singing the songs of Zion, and rejoicing that we were leaving our persecutors far behind. We were further consoled by seeing the power of God manifested through the laying on of the hands of the elders, causing the sick to be healed, and the lame to walk. The Lord was with us and his power was made manifest daily (Autobiography of Bathsheba W. Smith, typescript, Church History Library, 13; punctuation, spelling, and capitalization standardized).

It was the faith these women had in God that got them through this trial. They supported one another; they mourned with each other when their loved ones died; they shared what little they had; and they rejoiced together when they finally arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.

When a large group of Saints were stranded on the plains in a blizzard, those who had struggled themselves to get to Salt Lake were exhorted by Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ, to help those who were in need. After President Young’s admonition, Lucy Meserve Smith recorded that women immediately took off all the warm clothing they could spare (e.g. petticoats and stockings) and piled them in wagons that left immediately to try and help the stranded people. This sense of immediacy in helping those in need has continued in the spirit of Relief Society.

Society Benefiting from Women’s Freedoms

From the earliest days in the Salt Lake Valley, Mormon women were encouraged to exercise a great deal of freedom. There was a whole city and community to build. Women were given the vote in all applicable matters. Many women gained higher education and served their communities as doctors, as teachers in universities, running hospitals, holding public office, and even publishing their own newspapers. However, before the United States would admit Utah into the Union as a state, the vote was taken away from Mormon women by the government, and they had to fight to get it back. This temporary setback did not deter women, though, and the first female Senator in the United States was Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, a Mormon woman, who won the election by more than 3,000 votes—running against her own husband!

President Brigham Young urged many of the women of the church to become doctors. Zina D. H. Young was one who followed his counsel. She completed a course in obstetrics and helped deliver countless babies. She also encouraged other women to gain these skills. Many went east to obtain degrees and then came back, teaching what they had learned to others. One such woman, Emma Andersen Liljenquist, was given a blessing from a church leader that, “if [she] lived right [she] should always know what to do in case of any difficulties.” She recorded:

That promise has been fulfilled to the very letter. Many times when one of my patients was seriously ill, I have asked my Heavenly Father for assistance, and in every case it was given to me. One in particular was a lady who had just given birth to a baby and hemorrhage set in. The husband called the doctor, but he did not realize that it was so serious. I … asked the Lord to help us. The hemorrhage ceased and I did the necessary things for her. When the doctor arrived, he said he could hardly believe what had happened, but said I had done exactly what he would have done. …

… I have brought over one thousand babies [into the world]. Once again I give thanks to my Heavenly Father for His help and the strength the Lord has given me, for without it I could not have rendered this service to my sisters or our community (Our Pioneer Heritage, comp. Kate B. Carter (1963), 6:445–46).

Many prominent women who worked in the general women’s suffrage movement, including Susan B. Anthony, sought advice from Mormon women who had experience in the field.

This kind of influence continues in the world today. In 1992, the Relief Society celebrated its 150th anniversary. Local organizations were encouraged to look to their own communities for ways to serve them.

One of our Relief Society presidents went to the city council in a California city and said, “What are the things that you feel are needed in this community that we could do?” And the men said, “You mean 20,000 groups throughout this world are going to be doing this same thing?” And she said yes. And [one of the council members] said, “You’ll change the world.” And I think we did … for the better. That was one of the unifying things. And [there was] such a variety of service. … [Sisters] made lap rugs in South Africa for those elderly in the home. … They planted flowers around [a] clock tower in Samoa. And they did so many things with homeless shelters or providing books for children or painting homes for unwed mothers, that sort of thing. We felt that throughout the world these community service projects were a great thing, both for the sisters and for the community (Elaine L. Jack, interview by Julie B. Beck, Feb. 10, 2009, transcript, Church History Library).

Mormon Women Today

Mormon women are highly valued and respected. Mormon doctrine has always taught this principle. However, the Lord has created men and women as complementary to one another to help fulfill His purpose for all of us. We need each other to be complete and to reach a full level of joy. Men and women both have important things to offer and critical roles to fill, but they need to fill the roles the Lord has created for them.

Another observation Elder Christofferson made helps me to grasp the bigger picture of how we are meant to work together, “In blurring feminine and masculine differences, we lose the distinct, complementary gifts of women and men that together produce a greater whole.”

There is a lot of discussion among the few women who don’t clearly understand how God’s Church works about allowing women to hold the priesthood. Many other Christian denominations have made changes in their structure to allow for this. It surprises me when I hear Mormon women who say they felt left out by not being allowed to hold the priesthood. I have never felt this way.

One key difference between priesthood in the Mormon Church and other Christian denominations is that our clergy is unpaid. All who serve in any capacity in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do so as volunteers. There are many, many areas in which women serve and do so very well. However, in Mormon doctrine, it is only worthy male members of the church who hold the priesthood. Men are the patriarchs of the family, and it is really on the family that the whole structure of the Church is based. Following God’s pattern,

Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.4

Thus, if we follow God’s plan, every home will have a worthy priesthood holder in it. There is no need for two to lead the home. This is not part of doctrine, this is my personal feeling. What it really boils down to is that God has declared this to be His will, but it is equally important to recognize that He has provided for all His children to have access to the blessings of the priesthood.

I understand that God loves me just as much as anyone else. I also understand that His plan is set up in His own way. Even if we may not understand everything all the time, there is a purpose for how He has decreed His gospel is to be organized on this earth. I do not feel in any way deprived of blessings because I cannot hold the priesthood. No man who holds the priesthood can use it to serve himself. I am able to receive all the blessings from the priesthood which any man may receive. My personal feeling is that I have enough responsibility on my plate as it is without worrying about priesthood responsibility on top of everything else.

I also recognize and am comforted by the fact that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is, in fact, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He is in charge. No movement in the church is going to change His eternal doctrine. The doctrine and principles of His gospel are unchanging. If He decides to make a change in practice, like allowing all worthy men to hold the priesthood,  then He will direct that change; no one can force it.

I am grateful to be a woman in The Church of Jesus Christ. I am grateful to be valued and to be shown my eternal potential. I know my Heavenly Father loves me and values me. That is enough to sustain me through others’ doubts and questions.

If you want to gain a better understanding of the Mormon doctrine regarding women, the family, and God’s plan for each of us, read, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Meet with Mormon missionaries to ask them questions and to learn more.

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Don Carlos was born March 25, 1816, in Norwich, Windsor, Vermont to Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. On June 9, 1830, the Mormons held a conference in Fayette, which was followed by a baptismal service. Don Carlos was among those baptized that day. He received the priesthood at age fourteen.

Don Carlos was six feet four inches, very powerful looking, and very kind and charitable. Many felt he was much like his more famous brother, Joseph, in personality.

Don Carlos Smith married Agnes Moulton Coolbrith on July 30,1835, at Kirtland. He became a high priest on January 15, 1836. That same year he became the president of the high priests quorum. He also oversaw the Elders’ Journal.

Mormon Missionary

In 1838, Don Carlos served a mission in Tennessee and Kentucky, although his primary goal was to raise money to buy out the mobbers who were persecuting the Mormons in Daviess County. Unfortunately, before he could return, they had driven his family out of the area. The mobs burnt down the house, leaving the family homeless in the middle of winter.

Don Carlos served a number of missions in his short life, including one with his father to the Asael Smith family in St. Lawrence County, New York, in 1830. He served several missions in Pennsylvania and New York and one in Virginia.

In 1839, he began working on plans to print the Times and Seasons in Nauvoo and the first issue was released in November of that year. He noted that since the world was flooded with literary and religious trash, it was important for the church to distribute truth.

Don Carlos Smith Community Service

When the Mormons were forced out of Missouri, Don Carlos and his family left at different times. Joseph and Hyrum were in jail indicted on spurious charges, a common practice designed to undo the church. Don Carlos led a large group of people to safety despite the dire winter storms that nearly killed them during the exodus.

The last year of his life found him serving in a range of very important positions. In January of 1841, he was again called as president of the high priests quorum and that same year was elected to the city council. He was appointed a regent of University of Nauvoo and also appointed brigadier general in Nauvoo Legion.  He had helped to administer priesthood blessings to those who were ill during an attack of malaria in the city. During this time, however, he wrote that he saw many miracles occur.

Don Carlos died August 7, 1841, at the age of 25 from a respiratory illness with symptoms similar to those of pneumonia.

Sources:

Richard Lloyd Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Brothers: Nauvoo and After, Ensign, September 1979.

Smith, Don Carlos (JS’s brother), Joseph Smith Papers

Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

Mormon Women Leading the Young Women’s Organization

From 1948-1961, Bertha served as the fifth Young Women’s president with several LDS women leaders such as Emily H. Bennett (first counselor) and LaRue C. Longden (second counselor). Bertha succeeded Lucy Grant Cannon as president, and when her second husband died in 1961, Florence S. Jacobsen took her place as the subsequent young women’s president (Bertha S. Reeder, Wikipedia.org).

During her presidency, she accomplished a lot and blessed the lives of many Mormon women. Bertha began individual awards, a series of posters titled “Be Honest with Yourself”, and an “Era of Youth” section in the Improvement Era. During the beginning of Bertha’s presidency, the young women groups were realigned as the Beehives (ages 12–13), Mia Maids (ages 14–15), Junior Gleaners (ages 16–17), and Gleaners (ages 18–24). Toward the end of her presidency, in 1959, the Gleaners class was renamed Laurels and young women classes are still known today as the Beehive class (ages 12-13), Mia Maid class (ages 14-15), and Laurel class (ages 16-17) (Bertha S. Reeder, Wikipedia.org). Bertha was humble and credited her success to others:

I can’t say enough for the counselors who worked with me and the general boards… We worked together thirteen and a half years and we never had a cross word. Never [did] any of the workers ever [feel] like they were criticized; we never felt we had to get after anybody. They all seemed to want to do everything they could do and we just loved each other.

A president never works alone, and she’s only as good as her counselors and the workers she’s with. The general president isn’t good unless she gets the support of the wards and stakes. We felt we had the support of the wards and stakes because they were allowed to work on their own and a lot of them would come and ask to initiate a program (Janet Peterson, “Lessons from the Lives of the Auxiliary Leaders-The Priciple of Presidency,” Meridian Magazine, August 14, 2008).

Biography of Mormon Woman Bertha S. Reeder

Bertha Julia Stone was born on October 28, 1892, in Ogden, Utah. She attended Weber Academy. In 1912, she married Christopher Aadnesen and bore two children. In 1934 (four years after Aadnesen died in a hunting accident), she married William Henry Reeder, Jr., whose previous wife had left him with a son. She was a church missionary for seven years in Massachusetts and her husband the president of the New England States Mission. William died in 1961, and she married I. L. (Lee) Richards, who died in 1981. Because of her several marriages, her name is unusually long: Bertha Julia Stone Aadnesen Reeder Richards. She died at the age of 90, in Pocatello, Idaho, where her daughter lived (Bertha S. Reeder, Wikipedia.org).

Bertha had a love for nature and God’s creations. She said:

Nature does indeed renew those who keep close to her. . . . If I were in my teens, I would take time to come close to nature. . . . I would realize again more fully the infinite variety in God’s creation. I would learn to feel the difference in the seasons and to love each for what it gives to me. I would know that rain and sunshine are both important in God’s plan (“If I Were in My Teens,” Improvement Era, June 1954, 470) (“Presidents of the Young Women Organization through the Years,” Ensign, June 2008, 40–45).

Mormon Women Leading Today

As a Mormon youth, I attended Young Women’s camp and learned for myself about God, His majestic creations, and my identity as a child of God. I still love escaping busy life to witness the quiet and calming peace found outdoors. A modern apostle of Christ said, “Our Heavenly Father created the universe that we might reach our potential as His sons and daughters” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “You Matter to Him,” Ensign, October 2011).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR0pd4DSTqw

Additional Resources:

Read another article about other LDS women leaders: LaRue Carr Longden

Visit the LDS website about “God’s Plan for You”

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

Mormon Women Leaders

Margaret served with various Mormon women leaders. For seven years, Margaret worked closely with other Mormon women such as her childhood friend Elmina Shepard Taylor (the young women’s president from 1880-1904) and the second counselor Martha H. Tingey (who became the subsequent president of the young women’s organization). In 1887, the LDS woman leader Maria Young Dougall took her place when Margaret’s husband died and she resigned as the first counselor. She also volunteered as the Secretary of the Salt Lake Stake Relief Society (divine organization for adult women) and a Member of the General Board of the YWMIA (Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint biographical encyclopedia, [1936], 267).

Mormon Women: Biography of Margaret Young Taylor

Margaret was born on April 24, 1837, to Ebenezer Russell Young (who established one of the first silk mills in New Jersey) and Margaret Holden Young in Westport, Connecticut. She grew up among four brothers and two sisters in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York until she moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1858. She brought a library of books with her across the plains and was known for being highly educated, sewing, and writing letters with beautiful handwriting. In Utah, she taught in her husband’s family school.

Margaret was also known among Mormon women for her homemaking skills as a mother. Margaret gave birth to three daughters and six sons (two of whom died before her death). “Children who played with hers, invariably mention her pleasant manner, and freedom from irritability. And her home was one of the most hospitable” (“Margaret Young Taylor”, The Young Woman’s Journal, 1919 volume 30, 302). One of Margaret’s sons (Frank Taylor) encouraged weekly “family home evening” (spending time as a family in prayer, scripture study, and activity), which program was later adopted church-wide in 1915 and “it has become a key to the strength of Latter-day Saint families throughout the world—in a very real sense, a legacy of the Taylor family to the rest of the Church” (Richard L. Jensen, “The John Taylor Family”, Ensign, February 1980, pages 50-51).

Margaret had a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. She joined the LDS church and was baptized at the age of 14 (Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, [1936], 267). She married the prophet John Taylor and was a Christ-like person who:

…influenced all with whom she came in contact, and impressed them with her pleasing personality. Her methods of control were by persuasion and kindness… One woman in speaking of her today said, “She had a soothing, quieting way with her. I remember meeting her once when I had lost my brother. I felt almost bitter, in my bereavement, but she comforted me and I left her a changed being.” (See “Margaret Young Taylor”, The Young Woman’s Journal, 1919 volume 30, page 302.)

When Margaret died on May 3, 1919, she was “one of the last surviving widows of the apostles chosen and ordained under the Prophet Joseph Smith. Mrs. Taylor was the wife of the late John Taylor, Third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (See “Margaret Young Taylor”, The young woman’s journal, 1919 volume 30, 301-302.)

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

Mormon Woman Leading the Young Women’s Organization

From 1948-1961, Emily served as the Young Women’s first counselor with several LDS women leaders such as the LDS women leaders Bertha S. Reeder (fifth young women’s president) and Larue C. Longden (second counselor). They worked together to help the youth gain stronger testimonies of Christ. The YWMIA presidency, wrote LaVon Ried, another Mormon woman leader, concerning her local YWMIA programs:

Dear Sister Reid:

We have just learned of your appointment as Y.W.M.I.A. of the North Davis Stake…We want you to know that we are eager to do everything we can to assist you… Do not hesitate to call on us at any time that we may be of service to you.

You have ahead of you one of the most satisfying experiences of your life, for there is no work that we know of that gives the dividends of contentment and peace of mind that this great work does. The knowledge that you are actively engaged in the promotion of the work of the Lord, that you are working among the choicest of the children of our Father in Heaven, gives you a feeling of gratitude for this opportunity to serve Him. We pray that the Lord will bless and inspire you and help you in every way (Lavon Holt, George Samuel Reid Family Roots).

Sincerely your sisters,

Bertha S. Reeder, Emily H. Bennett, LaRue C. Longden

General Presidency Y.W.M.I.A.

Emily was a humble leader and Christ-like example to everyone surrounding her. For example, Emily helped supervise Elaine Cannon’s calling to start the Era of Youth section in The Improvement Era. Elaine served on the YWMIA general board and helped Emily with the June conferences and other projects:

I am indebted to people who have given and taught me so much, people like Emily Higgs Bennett.

…After she was released from the general YWMIA presidency, she and I were called to serve with others on the youth correlation committee of the Church. I was so impressed with her ability and the humble way in which she shared her knowledge and experience.

Instead of accepting the honor and glory of the position she had well earned, she pointed out to me that we were one—the same. She insisted that I call her by her first name, Emily.

…When I served with her, I was frequently touched by her beauty, though perhaps not in the world’s point of view. She had a kind of beauty that comes from living the Christ-like way that we read about in the fifth chapter of Alma—the beauty that comes from within.

She taught by example the precious relationship between a woman and the priesthood. She loved her husband; we all knew it. She talked of her husband with respect, she spoke of counseling with him. She would say, “Let me counsel with Harold about this,” or “Let me get Harold’s point of view.”

…She let us grow; she did not impose experience, age, clout, position or anything else upon us. She was refined and gentle. Her attitude toward people and her attitude toward the Lord were marked by humble commitment.

She was such a marvelous model and teacher in humility, in faith, in serenity, in choices of the better way of life that I wanted to pursue the “Emily kind of life.” (Elaine Cannon, “My Most Influential Teacher,” Deseret News, May 27, 1978, 2).

Mormon Woman: Short Biography of Emily Higgs Bennett

Emily Higgs was born on June 27, 1896, in Utah. She married Harold Harper Bennett, who outlived her (Emily Higgs Bennett, Find A Grave.com). Emily gave birth to several children and named them John, Michael, Peter, Stephen, Ellen, and Susan (“Death: Susan B. Winters”, Deseret News, February 3, 1992). Emily attended the University of Utah and received a merit of honor award in 1972 (Emeritus Alumni Board Merit of Honor Award Recipients 1971-2010). She died at the age of 88, on March 19, 1985.

Quotes by Emily H. Bennett include:

Success, happiness, and even salvation may be a simple matter of being prepared and in the right place at the right time (Provident Living Quotes, Homemaker’s Journal Blog).

Humor–the great balanced and adjustor is indispensable. It works beautifully–you know you can’t be perfect even though you long for perfection. So you go on imperfectly seeking perfection. You know your friends can’t be perfect–so you assume they are–nearly. Humor is tolerance, understanding, a light heart, a ready laugh, a quick joke, resiliency–faith everlasting (“Quotations on Sense of Humor,” Sentence Sermons (Christian Inspiration) #58 from Improvement Era, June 1944).

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

Mormon Women Leading the Young Women’s Organization

From 1948-1961, LaRue C. Longden served as the Young Women’s second counselor to several LDS women leaders such as Bertha S. Reeder (fifth young women’s president) and Emily H. Bennett (first counselor). She helped begin individual awards, a series of posters titled “Be Honest with Yourself,” and an “Era of Youth” section in the Improvement Era (Young Women: Bertha Stone Reeder). Janet Peterson wrote:

Those who worked with Bertha Reeder responded to the love, the warmth, and the confidence she placed in them. LaRue C. Longden, who served as Bertha’s counselor during her entire thirteen-year administration, said, ‘She loved us and she knew our potential, but we didn’t until she called us to work with her. . . . She had the ability to know that God gave us talents but some of us might not have developed them if it were not for her” (“Lessons from the Lives of the Auxiliary Leaders-The Priciple of Presidency,” Meridian Magazine, August 14, 2008).

LaRue counseled the young Mormon women to live their Christian beliefs:

For almost too many years to count, it has been my beautiful privilege to tell our precious young folks and their leaders that “It is smart to be a Latter-day Saint.” As my parting shot, may I again reiterate, it is smart to be a Latter-day Saint, for to be one we are privileged to be baptized and confirmed by proper authority which brings us into our Father’s kingdom. Then, through our young men, we women share in our Father’s greatest gift to his children, his priesthood, through which our worthy men may act in his behalf. In a day of turmoil, false prophets, worry, supposed lack of security and decision, I want to say once more with a voice loud and clear, “I am humbly grateful to be a Latter-day Saint, for I know it is truly smart to be a Latter-day Saint!” (It’s Smart to Be a Latter-day Saint, [1967], p. 112) (Elder Marvin J. Ashton, “That’s Just the Way I Am,” The Measure of Our Hearts, [1991], 24-33).

Mormon Women: Biography of LaRue C. Longden

Frances LaRue Carr, was known by the name LaRue. She married John Longden and had three children. One of her daughters, Sharon, married Loren C. Dunn, a future general authority of the LDS Church. LaRue supported her husband in his own calling as a church general authority for 18 years as he served as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (1951) (“John Longden (Mormon),” Wikipedia.org).

LaRue was a Christ-like person who taught others to come unto Christ. She learned that partaking of the sacrament was a special time to renew the promises she made at baptism to remember her Savior Jesus Christ:

While very young (and I thought I knew so much) I recall telling a dear Sunday School teacher that I was not going to sacrament meeting any more because it was so boring and dry. … [The teacher] looked at me and said, “Don’t you ever let me hear you say that again! God has invited you to that meeting to partake the emblems of Jesus Christ’s suffering and of his gift to you. You are very privileged to be invited. If you take the right spirit with you to meeting, you will always bring something good away with you” (“God Has Invited You” in Leon R. Hartshorn, comp., Remarkable Stories from the Lives of Latter-day Saint Women [1973], 1:97–98) (“Lesson 17: Church Meetings,” The Latter-day Saint Woman: Basic Manual for Women, Part A, 122).

Mormon Women Leading Today

As an LDS youth, I learned Christian standards and values that have blessed my life. The gospel of Jesus Christ has brought me hope, peace, happiness, comfort and safety from the evils of the world. From a young age, I decided to not smoke, use addictive drugs, nor have premarital sex and I agree with LaRue that “it is truly smart to be a Latter-day Saint!” (It’s Smart to Be a Latter-day Saint, [1967], 112) (Elder Marvin J. Ashton, “That’s Just the Way I Am,” The Measure of Our Hearts, [1991], 24-33).

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

Deseret News
Published: Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 7:00 p.m. MST

David Letterman knows how to get a laugh.Like most comics, he riffs on the day’s news, deadpans the camera and revels in audacity.”Oh, did you hear about this?” the host of CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman asked his audience recently. “A campaign staffer on the Newt Gingrich campaign was fired because he was making negative comments about Mormons. I thought, now, wait a minute — isn’t Newt in favor of multiple wives?”
Laughter rumbled from the audience followed by applause. The polygamy punch line is a familiar one when it comes to poking fun at Mormons — as though Mormons and polygamy are synonymous in mainstream media. Ironically, the practice that’s most linked to Mormons is a practice most Mormons oppose, according to a groundbreaking new study of Mormons in America released Thursday by the Pew Research Center‘s Forum on Religion and Public Life.

According to the study, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unequivocally reject polygamy — only 2 percent said the practice is morally acceptable — evidence of a yawning gap in what Mormons believe and how they are perceived. Mormons’ opinions are overwhelmingly conservative, the study shows, but in many ways, their views are also surprising — especially when it comes to opinions on moral issues, divorce, homosexuality and polygamy.

Morality

Mormons also take a significant stance on moral issues in other areas, such as divorce, sex outside of marriage and consumption of alcohol.

Although teachings from the LDS Church emphasize the importance and eternal nature of the family, only 25 percent of Mormons surveyed said divorce is morally wrong, according to the study. That means Mormons are slightly less morally opposed to divorce than the general public.

“For Catholics, divorce does not exist. They think it is not only wrong but it is impossible,” said Matthew Bowman, member of a board of expert advisers to the Pew Research Center for the study and author of “The Mormon People,” a book on the history of the LDS Church. “That has not been true for Mormons. There is theological space for divorce within Mormonism. It is undesirable, but Mormons recognize it is sometimes necessary and sometimes the right thing to do.”

Other moral views revealed in the survey — 54 percent said drinking alcohol was morally wrong, compared with 15 percent of the general public — set Mormons apart, Bowman says. The assumption on the part of non-Mormons is that if Mormons think drinking alcohol is wrong, then they must think everyone who imbibes is morally flawed. That apprehension can make people suspicious of Mormons, and wary of an elitist attitude, he says.

Differences in moral viewpoints can create a stumbling block for Mormon acceptance — not only in high-profile arenas, such as a presidential election, but also in communities.
“What you find throughout the report is a tension,” said David Campbell, assistant professor at Notre Dame and an adviser on the study. “Mormons like to use the phrase, ‘Be in the world but not of the world.’ They are certainly living their lives in the world. They are active and involved in their communities, but they have these beliefs and practices that set them apart a little bit, and sometimes there is conflict.”

Homosexuality

Mormons have some of the most conservative opinions when it comes to homosexuality. The survey asked Mormons if homosexuality should be accepted by society or discouraged by society, with an option for neither, both or “don’t know.” The response — 26 percent said homosexuality should be accepted, 65 percent said it should be discouraged — puts Mormons as the least likely to say homosexuality should be accepted by society. But a 26 percent acceptance rate, with roughly 1 in 4 Mormons saying homosexuality should be accepted, might be surprisingly high to some.

Of particular interest is the fact that only 8 percent of Mormons surveyed identified themselves as liberal, and 66 percent said they were conservative. That means some of those who said homosexuality should be accepted also identify themselves as politically conservative, Bowman says. That distinction illustrates the complexity of Mormons’ opinion on sexuality — that it is rooted more in religious precepts than politics.
Still, it’s difficult to draw a conclusion about Mormons’ views on homosexuality based on the study, says Pew Research Center adviser Terryl Givens, professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond.

“Results need to be viewed cautiously,” Givens says. “Official LDS pronouncements insist there is a distinction between (sexual) orientation and behavior, but the survey blurs that difference, probably leaving many Mormons unsure how to answer that question. What is clear, however, is that Mormons are trending toward greater acceptance of same-sex relationships, just as society as a whole is, although by a much smaller percentage.”

Polygamy

At one point 120 years ago, some Mormons practiced plural marriage, hence the association between Mormons and polygamy. The practice was discontinued in 1890, but the cultural association persists, perhaps in part because Mormons are sometimes confused with members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, a polygamist group not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In the October-November 2011 study of a national sample of 1,019 Mormons, 86 percent said polygamy is morally wrong. That’s a number that surprises Bowman.

Were it not for the confusion surrounding Mormons and the FLDS Church practice of plural marriage, Bowman says that statistic might not be as high.

“It’s my experience that Mormons have a fraught relationship with polygamy,” Bowman said of the study results. “There is a sense that rejecting polygamy identifies a member of the LDS Church and distinguishes us from the fundamentalists. That is a cultural signifier as much as a theological statement.”

Some who responded to the survey, 11 percent, said polygamy is not a moral issue.
Email: achoate@desnews.com

Immigration is a controversial topic in the United States. The survey asked one question on this topic. They were asked which of two statements most closely matched their view, even if they didn’t completely agree. They were asked whether immigrants strengthen or burden the nation. No distinction was made between legal and illegal immigration, leaving those polled to decide for themselves what the question meant.

In the general U.S. population, 45 percent of Americans feel that immigrants strengthen the country, while 44 percent burden it. 12 percent feel that neither or both are true or they have no opinion on the subject. Mormon views closely mirror these statistics. 45 percent of Mormons also believe immigrants strengthen the nation, although a smaller number, 41 percent, consider them a burden on society. The number of Mormons who accept both or neither or who have no opinion is higher, at 14 percent.

These numbers put them at odds with evangelical Christians, one of the few political areas in which they disagree. Within the white evangelical population, 59 percent believe immigrants are a burden, and 27 percent believe they strengthen the country. Like Mormons, 14 percent answered both, neither, or no opinion.

The statistics for Mormons shows a strong divide based on age, income, and education, as well as on religious commitment. Only 36 percent of highly committed Mormons see immigrants as a burden, while 50 percent of those who are less committed see them as a burden. This largely correlates with economic status. 84 percent of Mormons who are highly committed to their religion are college graduates. (The church strongly encourages education, which may be a factor in this.) Only 50 percent of those with high school educations are strongly committed to their faith. This statistic is very unusual in the religious world. For most religions, the least educated are the most religious.

49 percent of Mormons under age 50 see immigrants as a strength. 39 percent of Mormons over 50 see it as a strength.

Beyond the study’s statistics, several other factors influence the Mormon view of immigration. Many Mormons serve missions for their church. For two years, they live wherever they are sent, learning the language and living as the people in that community live. They go into the homes, attend the churches, and do service work in addition to their missionary work. Many of those serve in Spanish countries and have a realistic view of the hardships faced by those people. They come home with a compassionate view of the world and an understanding that Americans have much easier lives than most. The love missionaries almost invariably develop for the people they served influences their views on immigration.

Finally, the church has taken very specific stands on the subject of illegal immigration in recent years. Mormons believe God has sent a prophet to lead His church, just as He has always done in ancient times, and so, Mormons are asked to sustain the prophet as the leader of the Church. Official statements from the prophet or the Church are considered to be from God.

The Church officially endorsed the basic principles of the Utah Compact, a law working to create a balanced legal approach to immigration. In November, 2011, L. Whitney Clayton gave an official statement from the church in honor of the first anniversary of the bill. The statement said in part:

The Utah Compact is consistent with three principles we believe should be carefully balanced when considering immigration:

• We follow Jesus Christ by loving our neighbors. The meaning of neighbor includes all of God’s children, in all places and in all times.
• We recognize an ever-present need to strengthen families. Families are meant to be together. Forced separation of working parents from their children weakens families and damages society.
• We acknowledge that every nation has the right to enforce its laws and secure its borders.

We continue to encourage lawmakers everywhere to consider laws that properly balance love of neighbors and the importance of keeping families together, within the framework of just and enforceable laws.” (See Utah Compact One-Year Anniversary Marked by Utah Community Leaders.)

The official Mormon position is to encourage its members to stay in their homelands or to immigrate legally, but once they are here, however they came, they are to be treated with love, dignity, and respect, and laws should not separate families.

For a more in-depth look at the issue of Mormons and immigration, read the Deseret News article: Mormons’ immigration attitudes set them apart, by Eric Schulzke, Deseret News, published: Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 8:12 p.m. MST.

This comes on the heels of earlier surveys indicating that 32 percent of non-LDS U.S. adults say the LDS Church is not a Christian religion, and an additional 17 percent are unsure of LDS Christianity. The theological and semantic reasons for this can be complex, but for the 1,019 self-identified Mormons who participated in the Pew survey, their theological position is clear: Mormons believe in Jesus Christ, and they consider themselves to be Christian.

“Certainly in Latter-day Saint theology is this idea that if you understand who you are, you understand that there’s a purpose in life, you understand your connection to God, that certainly has an impact on how you live your life and what you do, but also how you feel about your life and what you are doing,” said Michael Purdy of the LDS Church Public Affairs office.

For the vast majority of Latter-day Saints surveyed, those life choices have much to do with their religious beliefs. Eighty-two percent of survey respondents indicate that religion is “very important” to them, 83 percent say they pray every day and 77 percent say they attend church at least once a week. Beyond that, a stunning 69 percent of respondents fit all three descriptions, saying that religion is very important to them, that they pray every day and that they go to church every week.

“By this measure,” the report says, “Mormons exhibit higher levels of religious commitment than many other religious groups, including white evangelical Christians.”

Part of the explanation for these high numbers may be that the survey focused only on those who self-identified as Latter-day Saints.

“The method they used tended to identify people who are strongly committed,” said BYU sociologist Marie Cornwall , who advised the Pew Forum on the new survey. “They don’t have the people who are kind of marginal. But that’s okay; we just have to be careful with the way we interpret the findings.”

One such finding is the relationship between religious commitment and education among Mormons.

David Campbell, a University of Notre Dame associate professor and another adviser on the survey, noted that the more educated respondents were, the higher their levels of religious commitment.

“I was a little surprised by that,” said Campbell, who is LDS and who has extensively studied on the role of religion in the public square. “The more educated a Mormon is, the more likely they are to be wholehearted in their commitment to the church and its teachings.”

That is different from other churches, he said, where more education tends to lead to more religious skepticism.

Pew Research Center officials also noted “a significant gender gap in religious commitment, with more Mormon women than men exhibiting a high level of religious commitment (73 percent vs. 65 percent).”

According to the Pew report, a similar “gender gap” is seen among the general public. A 2007 survey found 36 percent of U.S. women exhibited a high level of religious commitment, compared with 24 percent of men.

One series of questions asked about what it means to be a good Mormon. According to the respondents, in order to be a good Mormon it is “essential” to believe Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ (80 percent), work to help the poor (73 percent), hold regular family home evenings (51 percent), not drink coffee and tea (49 percent) and not watch R-rated movies (32 percent).

Combining those who said “essential” with those who said “important but not essential,” the order changes a little bit: working to help the poor (97 percent), holding regular family home evenings (96 percent), believing Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ (93 percent), not drinking coffee and tea (81 percent) and not watching R-rated movies (79 percent).

“I think that result is rather interesting,” said Cornwall. “Mormons are known for not drinking coffee or tea and not watching R-rated movies. But compared to believing that Joseph Smith saw God and working for the poor, Mormons don’t seem to focus on the coffee and tea as much as people probably think.”

Other manifestations of religious commitment in the survey included:

The number of respondents (65 percent) who say they hold a current temple recommend (a certificate from local ecclesiastical leaders, issued every other year, indicating that an individual has permission from the church to enter LDS temples and participate in temple rites and sacraments)

The number (79 percent) who say they pay tithing (donating 10 percent of their income to the church)

The number (27 percent) who have served full-time missions for the church (this number includes 43 percent of men and 11 percent of women and varies significantly according to the age and education of the respondent, as well as whether or not the respondent was raised Mormon)

The number (82 percent) who keep food in storage for emergencies or disasters, as they have been counseled to do by LDS Church leaders (This number includes 23 percent who say they have three months’ worth, 35 percent who say they have more than three months’ worth and 23 percent who say they have less than three months’ worth)

The percentage who pay tithing is especially interesting to break down. According to the survey tabulations, “tithing is most common among Mormons with the highest levels of religious commitment (96 percent) … fully 91 percent of college graduates say they pay tithing … compared with 66 percent of those with a high school diploma or less education. And among those whose family income exceeds $30,000, 83 percent say they pay tithing, compared with 69 percent of those with incomes of less than $30,000.”

While previous surveys have clearly established LDS agreement with certain key Christian doctrines — 90 percent of Mormons believe in God, 91 percent believe the Bible is the word of God and 98 percent believe in life after death — the new survey explores Mormon confidence in points of doctrine that are unique to LDS theology. And in these points of doctrine, Mormons proved to be unified and believing. They believe overwhelmingly that God and Jesus Christ are separate physical beings (94 percent), that the president of the LDS Church is a prophet of God (94 percent), that families can be bound together eternally in temple ceremonies (95 percent) and that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets and translated by Joseph Smith (91 percent).

Overall, 77 percent say they believe “wholeheartedly” in all of the teachings of the LDS Church. That number increases to 82 percent among Mormons ages 18-49, and to 85 percent among Mormons who are college graduates.

“Ultimately, I suppose other Americans will judge our church — and perhaps all churches — by their relevance in how they touch and improve human lives right here on Earth as well as what they offer in the life to come,” wrote Michael Otterson, Public Affairs director for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in his “On Faith” blog in the Washington Post. “Meanwhile, we welcome the friendship and regard of all groups, even as we retain our commitment to a unique identity. In the end … Latter-day Saints will strive to be good Mormons, true believers, kind neighbors and faithful friends.

Pew Study Reflects Mormons’ Religious Commitment to Christ, Mormon Beliefs in Tithes and Temples

Mormons in America

Karen

Living out a great season of my life, thanks to Jesus Christ, and two wonderful daughters, a great life’s work. Loving this opportunity to share faith online…

I’m a single Mom, convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, second-gen Italian, from the East coast originally. Love the fine arts, dance, frozen yogurt, temples, scriptures, writing, jazz, helping others reach their potential, king salmon, ….and not in that order. God is good. I feel it deeply when people have a misconception of Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ, His Son, that lessens or cheapens Them and blinds one’s ability to feel His presence or to trust in an ultimately good eternal end to life’s circumstances.