Most asked Questions and MY Personal Answers.

Not too long ago, I was asked many questions about my faith and what I believed. I was asked many questions about the LDS church. These are some of the most common questions I have been asked, and these are my own personal responses to them. 


If you have any other questions at all please ask. It is better to at least have an understanding of what each other believe rather than having misunderstandings. 


Karin


What is the difference between "Mormon" and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints?


Mormons and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are one in the same. Many people know us as "Mormons" because of the fact we use the Book of Mormon regularly as scripture.


Does your church practice polygamy?


No. Polygamy has not been practiced in nearly 120 years or so. In 1831 Joseph Smith was called to practice polygamy. It wasn't practiced or discussed openly until 1835 reaching its peak in the 1850's. When  polygamy was not needed in the church anymore, it was abandoned. 


How did you decide to become a Mormon?


This question takes a little bit more to answer. I was interested in my husband at school. I learned he was a Latter-Day Saint and wasn't sure what that met. I wanted to marry a Christian man that had the same beliefs and ideals that I did. We discussed all kinds of things about theology from our own faiths to others. Many questions I had about my own faith he was able to answer. He set up meetings for me to meet with the missionaries so I could ask more questions. They were able to answer them and they just made sense! I read the Book of Mormon a lot and prayed to know if it was the true word of God or not. I prayed that God would make it clear to me, and he did. Three months later I was baptized. 


What is the main difference between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Christianity?


The organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a Christian faith. It may not be mainstream, but it is a Christian faith with many of the same Christian theologies as many protestant faiths. 


These are the Articles of Faith that state what we believe. This is taken from lds.org. 

1We ^abelieve in ^bGod, the Eternal Father, and in His ^cSon, Jesus Christ, and in the ^dHoly Ghost.

 2We believe that men will be ^apunished for their ^bown sins, and not for Adam’s ^ctransgression.

 3We believe that through the ^aAtonement of Christ, all^bmankind may be ^csaved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

 4We believe that the first principles and ^aordinances of the Gospel are: first, ^bFaith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second,^cRepentance; third, ^dBaptism by ^eimmersion for the ^fremission of sins; fourth, Laying on of ^ghands for the ^hgift of the Holy Ghost.

 5We believe that a man must be ^acalled of God, by ^bprophecy, and by the laying on of ^chands by those who are in ^dauthority, to^epreach the Gospel and administer in the ^fordinances thereof.

 6We believe in the same ^aorganization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, ^bprophets, ^cpastors,^dteachers, ^eevangelists, and so forth.

 7We believe in the ^agift of ^btongues, ^cprophecy, ^drevelation,^evisions, ^fhealing, ^ginterpretation of tongues, and so forth.

 8We believe the ^aBible to be the ^bword of God as far as it is translated ^ccorrectly; we also believe the ^dBook of Mormon to be the word of God.

 9We believe all that God has ^arevealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet ^breveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

 10We believe in the literal ^agathering of Israel and in the restoration of the ^bTen Tribes; that ^cZion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will ^dreignpersonally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be ^erenewedand receive its ^fparadisiacal ^gglory.

 11We claim the ^aprivilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the ^bdictates of our own ^cconscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them ^dworship how, where, or what they may.

 12We believe in being ^asubject to ^bkings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in ^cobeying, honoring, and sustaining the ^dlaw.

 13^aWe believe in being ^bhonest, true, ^cchaste, ^dbenevolent, virtuous, and in doing ^egood to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we ^fhopeall things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to^gendure all things. If there is anything ^hvirtuous, ⁱlovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

We are extremely strong believers in Christ's resurrection. Christ's atonement and what he did for us is usually the main points of discussion.


Do you believe you have to be baptized to be saved?

Yes. Being baptized for the remission of sins is a large part of the salvation process. That ideal is mostly based off of the the scripture in John 3:5 "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." Most baptisms if you are raised in the church happen around the age of eight years old when the child is able to tell the difference between right and wrong, and make their own choice if they want to join the church or not.

Also, Christ was baptized and taught baptism. We believe we need to follow his example.

Why can't people who are not members of the church enter the temples?

We consider temples to be very sacred places. All people need to be spiritually worthy to enter the temple for it is the house of the Lord. 

Who makes the decision on who can enter the temple?

The Bishop and Stake President have the authority to decide who can and who cannot enter the temple. They interview everyone who wants to enter with the exact same interview questions. Depending on how those questions are answered it is decided if you are worthy to enter. If you are not worthy, they will work with you of repenting of those sins that are keeping you from entering so you can eventually enter the temple in the future. 

If you can't enter the temple does that mean you are not worthy of God's love?

Everyone is worthy of God's love. He loves all of us and wants us all to receive his many wonderful blessings. But not everyone is worthy of entering his sacred house. It is kind of like if you committed murder and haven't repented of that. You will not be worthy to enter the temple.

What if you stumble and are not worthy to go in?

That is what the interview process is for. If you are stumbling in your spiritual journey (which we all do) the Bishop works with you until you are able to enter the temple.

Why do you have to be a member of the church to enter the temple?

To enter the temple, because it is such a spiritual and sacred place, you have to go through steps to enter. It is kind of similar to taking a test. You don't just hop in and take the test. You have to study and prepare before you can take it. Even as members of the church we have to go through certain steps to enter the temple. Baptism by the proper authority is one of them. I had to take a temple preparation class to help me prepare to enter. You have to have the right education before you can enter. 

Why didn't you have your husband join your church instead of joining his?

I did not join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to marry my husband or for anyone else. I joined on my own accord. I prayed and sought out the truth. I joined because I truly believe the fullness of the gospel that this church teaches. It is true. No question.

I thought that faith and Christianity was about your relationship with God, not about religion.

Your relationship with your Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are VERY important. The thing is, that Jesus taught more than just about relationships. He also taught about how to maintain those relationships and what you need to do to get closer with our Heavenly Father. Jesus taught behaviors and actions and to build a relationship, like any relationship, you have to do some of those things. 

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"Count Your Many Blessings. Name Them One By One."

This past weekend Marcus and I have been trying really hard to count our blessings. Saturday night I finally broke. I couldn't stay positive anymore. We were heading back to Mom and Dad's and I didn't want too. I wanted to go on a date and just not worry, but how are we supposed to do that without money? I wanted to have fun with my husband without having to worry like we have the past three months.

Financially we are still struggling. But we have remained faithful and have paid a full tithe. For a while I thought to myself whats the point? That money could be going to things like bills and other things we financially we need to take care of.

Tithing though, along with financial support from our family, is what is keeping us going. Because we keep paying it we are seeing blessings. One, we are being prompted by the Holy Ghost on things we don't need. We have sold a cell phone, a computer, and working on selling another cell phone for extra income. Ebay is wonderful.  In the past weeks I have gotten a job that allowed me to work 51 hours that week. I was tired but I was able to bring in extra income. Then I get phone calls from Marcus' school to sub as a para. Money making opportunities are appearing. Hopefully they will keep coming and we will be able to get caught up on all of our bills. Including health bills.

From the ER visits last summer, we were 13,000 in debt just from medical bills alone. In the past year we have gone from 13,000 to 300. And our church decided to take care of the rest BECAUSE we were full tithe payers and doing everything we can to make good financial decisions.  Yay! ALL THE MEDICAL BILLS ARE GONE!!!!
One for sure though, along trying to count the blessings of tithing, is counting our blessings period. Especially when we are both so broken down that it is hard to stay positive through this extremely challenging time. It seems that since we have moved out here, that things just got more challenging. I couldn't tell you why. Financially I swear we didn't struggle this much. But maybe we did and we just avoided the problems. I am not sure but counting blessings help. Here are some of my blessings I have seen.

*Learning even more how my family loves me and how much they are willing to do to help us.
*Friends who show their loving support through all of our trials
*Blessings from Tithing: Two new jobs, help from the church.
*A Lawn Mower.
*A wonderful little miracle growing inside me. I am now in my 29th week of pregnancy and Lydia is healthy and moving. Especially around my bladder :P
*My dog, Charly and cat, Nanners.
*My extremely supportive, loving, compassionate, self-less, hard working, patient, musical, talented, and encouraging husband, Marcus.
*My testimony in the church
*The temple and knowing that families can be together forever, even ones who haven't been born.
*A house
*Even though being far away from home, we moved into a very loving community.
*And the education I have already received and hopefully the education I will receive in the future.

Those are just some of the blessings I know I have received just within the past few weeks. I just need to keep my chin up and keep trucking. Marcus and I have learned a lot in our first 2 1/2 years of marriage. Especially in the last year with just finances. I know we will keep learning and we will push through all challenging times.
Thank you to everyone for your love and support.

Karin Marie

What A Week!!

What a week!!

So, I recently was just hired at the Country Store here in town as a clerk. For all ya'll who are worried about me getting a new job and my pregnancy, don't be. This is one of the least stressful jobs I have ever worked and I love it! So, please. Stop worrying now.

All this week I have been in training so I could be on my own this past weekend. Well, this past weekend was Graduation weekend for Franklin. HOLY COW! Also, with it being graduation weekend, it was my first weekend closing completely on my own. The Stress kicked in.

Saturday (graduation day) was a zoo. We were super busy and I couldn't keep up with stocking the cooler. Marcus was wonderful and came helped. A LOT! At one point I had a lot of customers and the beer was gone. So three people just went into the back and just helped themselves. I felt bad. Marcus said he watched them and they were locals so no biggie. But, later that night when my wonderful husband was helping me stock the cooler (as in I was up front and he was stocking it) he said in the hour and a half he was back there (super long time to be stocking that thing. we were low!) he had to refill the beer three times. He said that every time he turned around he had to restock it. I guess it was frustrating. :)

Also, because of being in a hurry with so many customers i hit some wrong buttons and totally threw off my drawer. I told my boss, Terri, and she came in at 10:30 to help me with the paper work and fix my mistakes. She is a life saver.

So many different adventures happened that day including a pit bull running around in my store. Someone told me to call the cops because there was a pit bull loose in the city. He had tags, but he did need to be picked up. Anyway, someone came into the store and the dog followed. HE RAN EVERYWHERE AND WE COULD NOT CATCH HIM! In the mean time I was on the phone with the dispatcher and I am pretty sure I heard her giggling. Well, I did give her something to giggle about.

Finally 10:30 came and we were finally slowing down. Terri came in to help with paper work. We are supposed to be out no later than 11:30 and we left right at midnight. Anyway, she said she was impressed and that I did really well. I was 1.97 over in my drawer. Which I guess isn't bad for your first day by yourself.

One of the many things you have to do is fill the ice in the fountain machine. Duh.. go figure. I take multiple trips so I won't be lifting anything to heavy. Anyway, I climbed on the stool to dump in the ice on top and the ice kept emptying out. IT WOULD NOT STAY IN THE MACHINE!! I couldn't figure it out. I look down and I see my wonderfully HUGE baby bump was pressing the ice dispenser button. I had to laugh at myself for that one. I got ice everywhere. Thank you Lydia. I told Terri what happened. Down the road I told her I might not be able to do that anymore because eventually I'll get to big and won't be about to reach the top without hitting the button. She thought it was pretty hilarious. I did as well. :)

As you saw from my last blog post our finances are pretty tight. I was really excited from this week of training I gained 13 hours of overtime. YAY! That will help us out a lot! I didn't realize I had worked that much this week. I knew I worked a lot compared to my normal life schedule, but today I slept. A LOT! I was out cold from midnight last night (right after I got home) to about 1 in the afternoon today. So much for being productive today. :)

Anyway, I love this new job. Besides this past weekend it isn't that stressful. I closed again by myself last night and it went so much better. I was a little off but Terri said it wasn't hard to fix and that I did well. I love that this job gets me out of the house. Marcus has even noticed a change in my attitude. It makes time go by so much faster and I can't believe that this weekend I am seeing my family again. The last two weeks flew by!

This job is such a huge blessing. For our finances AND just for my mentality. I still get to be home a little and take care of the kiddos (pets) and work part-time. Thank you God for this wonderful blessing of a good job, with a great boss, and great fellow employees to work with.

I can't wait for the many other adventures that will come with it. :)

Karin Marie

"He is Risen", My Family, My Husband, and the Future. I thank God for these Blessings.

What an amazing weekend. I want to go back. Marcus and I stayed with my parents Thursday night through Monday afternoon. We saw family, friends, celebrated the fact that Jesus has risen, and also got to spend some quality time with my husband. Which is very much needed.

Life has been stressful since we have moved out here. Marcus does love his new job, but we both figured we would have made more friends and be standing on sturdier ground by now. Turns out that it is not that way. We knew the first little while would be hard, but we figured things would start to get easier by now. I guess not.

I am having a really hard time with the move out here. First off, I am finding myself with this pregnancy to be really emotional. Which isn't helping. I have never been more than a half hour drive away from my friends and family, where now it is around 3 to 3 1/2 hours to see them. It was hard to leave Mom and Dad's on Monday. Mostly because we are not exactly sure when we are going to be able to get out there again, let alone afford the gas for the drive.

Also, finances have been really hard. We are excited because Marcus is now on salary with his school, and we have HEALTH INSURANCE!!! YAY!!!!! Big blessing right there. But, what we budgeted out in the very beginning was way off, (not sure how that happened) and now we are really trying hard to make ends meet. In the mean time, companies are charging us double on our bills because we had to open new accounts, or installation fees, or what ever. So, we are getting a lot of expenses were weren't expecting. It is hitting us hard. Even though Marcus is making more than he has ever had, we are still struggling. I THOUGHT YOU GET RICHER WHEN YOU GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE. NOT POORER THAN YOU WERE BEFORE! ...guess we were wrong...

But, there is good news. Things will hopefully be looking up. Besides dealing with Dish, and phones that don't work, and of course the rising gas prices and being able to afford the gas to drive an hour to get to prenatal appointments, I did end up getting a job. I haven't started yet, but I will be working for the COOP in town. Yay! Hopefully that will make our budget a little more "user friendly" as I have been saying a lot today. Also, I found out that I can be a local substitute for the school and be a HEAD START bus monitor. Hopefully I can get those things started up soon as well.  So, things will look up. Just have to give it a few weeks first.

Along with the blessing of me being able to actually help out around here with finances, I have so many other blessings that I keep reminding myself with. I have a wonderful family. Both my family and the family I married into. They have shown so much support with this move. Whether it is emotional support because we are lonely or financial support because we needed a little extra help. My parents are also being super wonderful by being a storage facility for us. Storing things like a bassinet, changing table, baby clothes, and so forth because we didn't have room in our car to bring it home. The support Marcus and I's families have shown us have been such a huge blessing.

Another blessing is the constant moving around I feel in my belly now. I am now 26 weeks pregnant and really healthy. I am doing great with weight gain (only have gained 2 pounds in the past two months, and 7 pounds total), Lydia is healthy, and I don't have gestational diabetes. Just the last appointment itself is a blessing. I am always feeling Lydia move. She kicks, punches, and even takes adventures up into my rib cage (which isn't always the most comfortable.) But it is a HUGE blessing to know that she is healthy. Especially after loosing two babies. She is our little miracle and she hasn't even arrived yet.  She makes me excited for the future. :)

My husband is a huge blessing. He shows me so much love and support. He is much more independent than I am. I am very dependent on my family, and even though it doesn't make sense financially, he is willing to take a random trip (2 weeks ago) to go out and see my family just so I can gain a sense of sanity again. I am emotional and moody and he can read it. He knows when I need cuddles or when I just need time to myself. I can go on forever about how huge of a blessing my husband is. Including for being such a hard worker, but I'll spare you that.

The biggest blessing of all though is the fact of "He is Risen." Jesus did rise from the dead and he is alive! The sacrifice he did so we can all be with Heavenly Father again is a giant miracle. In Christ alone, my hope is found. Even when we don't know anyone, when we are facing changes and challenges left and right, and when we are far from the ones we love, the fullness of the gospel that I know and believe will never change. And that brings a lot of comfort to me.

Life is hard. I don't even feel that I can even really explain how hard life is for Marcus and I right now and have you be able to understand. But, even though life is hard, I still have all of these blessings of Family, My Husband, Our Future, and of course the Fullness of the Gospel which can be found in Jesus Christ.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13 NKJ


Love Always,
Karin Marie

Some Pictures from Easter weekend. :)

Me and my wonderful mom, Janet

Marcus and I. Just think what Lydia is going to be like. Based off of this picture I don't want to know. :P

Finally a good one.

Charly. :) 

My family. Mom, Kaylin, and Dad in the background. Not pictured my my wonderful sister Jenni.

I hope you all had a blessed Easter. :) God Bless