Author: Eric Johnson
-
Mortality (Defined)
Mortality. From birth to death, physical life on this earth. This is the time for humankind to perpare to meet God in the next life.
-
Moroni’s Promise (Defined)
Moroni’s Promise. Moroni 10:4 in the Book of Mormon reads, “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith if Christ,…
-
Moroni (Defined)
Moroni. The son of Mormon who supposedly buried the Gold Plates containing the record of the Nephite people. In 1823 Moroni is said to have appeared to Joseph Smith and revealed to him the location of the buried plates.
-
Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Defined)
Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The “music missionaries”” of the Mormon Church. Made up of 360 volunteers, ages 25-60. According to its web site, “the Choir has appeared at 13 world’s fairs and expositions, performed at the inaugurations of five U.S.
-
Mormonism (Defined)
Mormonism. The religion of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since 2018, church members have been discouraged from using this term to refer to this religion. Return to dictionary here.
-
Mormon (Defined)
Mormon. Claimed by Latter-day Saints to be an ancient Nephite prophet who abridged and compiled the records of his people known today as The Book of Mormon. In addition, the term “Mormon” was a derogatory term given to followers of Joseph Smith. Today it is a non-offensive nickname commonly used to describe either The Church of…
-
Molly Mormon (Defined)
Molly Mormon. A Mormon female who aspires to be everything the Mormon Church expects a woman to be.Return to dictionary here.
-
Missionary Training Center (Defined)
Missionary Training Center. Also known as the MTC. It is here the Mormon missionary learns doctrine and procedure that will be used during his/her missionary service. Time spent at the MTC varies from 3-13 weeks. The LDS Church operates 11 total centers around the world: in Brazil, Congo, England, Ghana, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the…
-
Missionary (Defined)
Missionary. Young men (ages 18 to 25) serve for two years, young women (minimum age 19) serve for eighteen months, and retired couples serve from six months to three years. Locations assigned by leaders. Before October 2012, the ages were 19 for boys and 21 for girls, but this was lowered in an annoucement at…
-
Missionary Lessons (Defined)
Missionary Lessons. A series of lessons taught by LDS missionaries to potential converts, the basis of which is found in the missionary manual Preach My Gospel. Return to dictionary here.
-
Mission President (Defined)
Mission President. Head of missionaries in a particular area who works with local bishops and meets regularly with stake presidents to coordinate missionary efforts. While he is not officially paid or pays taxes on his expenses, we estimated in 2013 that the total worth of his package begins at $100,000 per year, tax- and tithe-free.…
-
Ministering Servants (Defined)
Ministering Servants. Those spirits who did not qualify for the highest level within the celestial kingdom and will become angels to live out eternity taking needs of others who reached the highest plateau. Twelfth President Spencer Kimball explained that those who “reach the lower realms in the celestial kingdom, but there we will be ministering…
-
Mercy (Defined)
Mercy. God gives a reprieve for justice to only those sinners who earn this right by keeping their end of the agreement and doing good works. As thirteenth President Ezra Taft Benson explained, “We go to our chapels each week to worship the Lord and renew our covenants by partaking of the sacrament. We thereby…
-
Melchizedek Priesthood (Defined)
Melchizedek Priesthood. A special authority given to Mormon men eighteen years and older, designed to enable them to gain exaltation in the highest heaven. It is taught that this priesthood was restored sometime between May 15, 1829 and April 6, 1830, although there is no written documentation for such an event prior to late 1834.…
-
Meetinghouse (Defined)
Meetinghouse.
-
Marriage Definition (Defined)
Marriage. A requirement for a couple to go to become exalted. As one church manual put it, “Consider this fact: Your marriage is a laboratory for godhood” (Achieving a Celestial Marriage, 1976, p. 65). According to Joseph Smith, “Except a man and his wife enter into an everlasting covenant and be married for eternity, while in…
-
Manifesto (Defined)
Manfiesto. A declaration signed by fourth LDS President Wilford Woodruff in 1890, officially promising the abolition of the practice of polygamy. This was in response to allegations that Mormon leaders were still teaching and encouraging the practice of plural marriage even though it was illegal.
-
Man (Defined)
Man. All mankind was “in the beginning with God” (D&C 93:29). Joseph Smith taught “the mind or intelligence which man possesses is co-equal with God himself…. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal with our Father in heaven” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 353). When editing this sermon, Church historian B. H. Roberts…
-
Lucifer (Defined)
Lucifer. One of the literal sons of Elohim and Heavenly Mother, the spirit brother of all mankind, including Jesus (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 34). “On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some—especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations.
-
Loyalty (Defined)
Loyalty. Remaining faithful to LDS leaders is emphasized in general conference addresses and in curriculum produced by the church. According to fifteenth President Gordon B. Hinckley, “Loyalty to leadership is a cardinal requirement of all who serve in the army of the Lord. A house divided against itself cannot stand. (See Mark 3:25.) Unity is…