Hi, I'm Pat

I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I am not a senior citizen, but almost there! I love to do genealogy, read good books, complete puzzles, and listen to wholesome music! Animals are very dear to me. I am a wife and mother of six children that are all grown and have families of their own. I have eight grandchildren who I love.

Why I am a Mormon

When I was young my parents divorced. Later my father remarried and I would go down to visit them.
On one of my visits, my father, sister and I were out on a drive and my dad started yawning. I said to him, "why don't you stop and get a cup of coffee?"
He said, "I don't drink coffee anymore."
I said "why not?"
"I just don't." he said.
I asked, "Well why don't you at least have a cigarette?"
He said, "I don't smoke either."
Shocked, I said, "Why not??"
He didn't even answer me. He slammed his foot on the break, turned the car around, and sped back to our house. We all went back inside and he handed me a book that was written by my grandfather called "Meet Those Amazing Mormons." He asked me to read it and it was the story of Joseph Smith. I didn't get past the first paragraph before I told my dad that I want to get baptized.
He said I needed to meet with the missionaries before being able to be baptized.
I said "Then get the missionaries over here, Now!"
I took all of the lessons with the missionaries and then my father baptized me. 45 years later I am still a strong member because I know the Church is true.

How I live my faith

In my congregation, I help organize and keep organized the library/material center and my husband and I teach the 4-7 year old children how to choose the right in Primary the children's organization.

Why don’t women hold the priesthood in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? How do Mormon women lead in the Church?

Pat answered...

"The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church and he is the savior of the body." Ephesians 523
"Wives submit yourselves to your husbands, as unto the Lord." Ephesians 522
Women don't hold the Priesthood because it isn't a matriarchal order, it's a patriarchal order. That is an eternal law, just like tithing, birth, death, etc. There are laws that cannot be changed over time. Priesthood is one of them.
Women hold the priesthood through their husbands. We lead in positions such as presidencies of a women's group Relief Society and the children's organization Primary as well as teaching Sunday school classes and even those are set up up under the order of the Priesthood. This is Christ's Church and He organized it.
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Kara answered...

Women don't hold the priesthood in the church, as this is a teaching that has come from Jesus Christ. However, women have such a significant role to play in the church that personally I have never felt that this is an issue I am concerned with or even think about. My husband and I are equal partners in our family, and the church has such respect and reverence for women and their role in the world. Women in the church also belong to what is called the 'Relief Society' it is one of the largest women's organisation in the world, and fills me with such a desire to serve and do good that when we meet together wherever I am in the world I feel so proud to be apart of it.

What are Mormon church services like? Are visitors allowed at church meetings? Can I attend church?

Brian answered...

Mormon church services are unique. When I first started attending I felt three hours was too long to be in church, but I quickly grew to like it because I realised that each of the three meetings has a very practical, edifying focus. The Sacrament meeting is the principal meeting and it is where everyone (women and men, young and old) come together to have the sacrament (communion) and hear talks by their fellow church members. Since there is no paid clergy, Mormons take turns speaking to the congregation about how a particular principle or doctrine has strengthened their faith in Christ. Depending on the size of the congregation, a Mormon can speak as often as once a year to once every two or three years.

In Sunday School, the youth attend classes according to their age and the adults attend a class together. The curriculum varies from year to year, but the focus each year is on a book of scripture and how its lessons can help us develop stronger families, be better neighbours and parents, etc. For example, this year (2011) all the adults are studying the New Testament.

In the third hour we group together as men and women. The men's class looks at how the gospel of Christ can help us in our roles as men, husbands, fathers, etc., while the women study how Christ's teachings can help them be better women, wives, mothers, etc.

Visitors are welcome in all of these meetings.