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Outright apostasy of members will lead to a church disciplinary council, which may result in disfellowshipment or excommunication. However, members who ask for their names to be removed from church records or who have joined another church are not subject to a disciplinary council.
The LDS Church today teaches that tithing is ten percent of one's annual income. It is left to each member to determine what constitutes "income".
The tithe is God's law for His children, yet the payment is entirely voluntary. In this respect it does not differ from the law of the Sabbath or from any other of His laws. We may refuse to obey any or all of them. Our obedience is voluntary, but our refusal to pay does not abrogate or repeal the law.
While temples worldwide are open only to members of the Church who are fully engaged in their faith, anyone can enter a chapel to visit or worship with their Latter-day Saint neighbors.
There are sites that provide instructions for Mormons to submit their own letters — many former Mormons in r/exmormon have had success doing so — and Church spokesman Daniel Woodruff says the simplest way for a person to remove their name from Church records is to write to their bishop with their request to leave.
No matter why someone decides to leave the church, the process can be fairly grueling. In order to no longer be considered a member, you must submit a letter that announces your official resignation, according to Mormon No More, an organization that is meant to help people leave Mormonism.
Alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee and drugs
These are all specifically banned in the Word of Wisdom, except for drugs. The prophets have made it clear that drugs, other than for medical use, are also banned. Mormons are also strongly discouraged from drinking soft drinks containing caffeine.
A characteristic commonly attributed to Latter-day Saints is that they take care of their own. Though generally accepted as a compliment, this tells only half the story. Mormons look outward as well. The practice of cooperation among the Mormon people is being extended to larger communities and faith groups.
The Book of Mormon establishes clearly that “Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself to all nations” (Book of Mormon title page; 2 Nephi 26:12). At the heart of the doctrine restored through Joseph Smith is the doctrine of the Christ.
Similarities. Mormonism and Islam each believe in a life after death: belief in the Last Judgment and an Afterlife is one of the Six Articles of Belief of Islam; it also forms an essential element of the Mormon belief system.
Not anyone can actually marry in the temple, but only men and women who are faithful members of the Church. Marrying a non-member is allowed, however, the marriage ceremony cannot be done in the temple.
When the new price kicks in, the overall cost for a man to serve a two-year mission will be $12,000, while women, who serve 18 months, will pay $9,000.
While an estimated 40 percent of returned missionaries become inactive sometime after completing their mission, only 2 percent become apostates, meaning that they request to have their names removed from church rolls, or are formally excommunicated.
Roughly one-quarter of converts to Mormonism (23%) cite issues of personal spirituality as reasons for their conversion, including 17% who say they felt called by God or “gained a testimony.” About one-in-five converts to Mormonism (21%) cite either the influence of Mormons they interacted with before they converted or ...
Excommunication or disfellowshiping is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other.
The Process of Conversion
You become converted as a result of your righteous efforts to follow the Savior. These efforts include exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting of sin, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end in faith.
Mormons have a strict law of chastity, requiring abstention from sexual relations outside opposite-sex marriage and strict fidelity within marriage. All sexual activity (heterosexual and homosexual) outside marriage is considered a grave sin, with marriage recognized as only between a man and a woman.
An authorized priesthood leader announces the release in the same setting where the person was sustained. The leader may use words like the following: “[Name] has been released as [position]. Those who would like to express thanks for [his or her] service may show it by the uplifted hand.”
Both men and women have dress standards they generally adhere to when attending church. Men wear sports jackets, white shirts, ties, dress pants, and dress shoes. Women wear dresses or skirts, blouses or nice sweaters, and dress shoes. Clothing is modest and not revealing.
For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Christmas season is a special time to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. Every year, Latter-day Saints gather with family and friends and recall the tender scene of “the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).
Mormons do not believe that they are the only people inspired by God and so have a tolerant attitude to other faiths. Although Mormons are certain that their Church teaches the true doctrines of salvation, they don't see it as the only teacher of truth.