If you ever wondered what happens at an LDS church:
Our church runs on a 3 hour block. 1st hour is called Sacrament Meeting, this is where we take Sacrament, or other faiths call it The Lord's Supper. We do that each week. Then after The Sacrament is administered, 3 church members are asked to speak on a gospel topic. It could be lots of things, The Holy Ghost, Tithing, Prayer. Things like that. And you are supposed to use the scriptures and talks from the church leaders for resources. It is pretty neat. On the first Sunday of every month we are given the opportunity to fast, prayerfully abstaining from food and drink, for 24 hours or 2 meals. Then during Sacrament Meeting, members are given the opportunity to share their testimonies of the Savior and other gospel truths.
Then, the second hour of church is where we have the traditional Sunday School. Or in our church there are a few classes you can take. One is Gospel Doctrine, and they rotate the Scriptures studied over a 4 year cycle. One year is Old Testament, next is New Testament, then The Book of Mormon, finally The Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. Usually you are doing a lot of cross referencing, seeing how all the scriptures work together, but your focus is on the Scripture set of the year.
If you are a new member, or someone who is just looking into joining the church, you are invited to attend a class called Gospel Principles. It takes basic gospel doctrines and principles and explains them further. Pretty neat.
Then, there is the class Andrew and I will attend for the first few months of this year. It is an 8 week course about Marriage and then another 6 week class on Parenting or Family Relations. This is a special class not offered at all times, but usually at least once a year. It focuses on strengthening families as they draw closer to Christ through living the principles of the gospel and studying scripture.
The children go to a class during this time too. All those 18 months and up anyway. It is called Primary. They attend a class that teaches them about the scriptures for one hour and then go to a meeting called Sharing Time, where they sing songs and learn a gospel principle. My kids love it.
Twelve year olds and up go to Sunday School during the second hour where they study the scriptures. They follow the same schedule as the Gospel Doctrine class.
Finally, the third hour is very busy. Primary is still going on, but Sunday School is out. The men go to a class called the Priesthood Meeting. Andrew teaches 2 Sundays a month in this class. The women go to a class called the Relief Society. (This organization has a really cool history I will share with you some other time. A quick preview, the motto is Charity Never Faileth). In these classes the men and women are instructed on gospel principles using the scriptures and words of modern day prophets.
The boys that are 12 and up go to a class called Young Men, and the girls go to Young Women. This is where I am serving right now. I love it! Our main goal in these classes are to prepare these young women to become the best wives and mothers and most importantly, daughters of God that they can be. We teach them that the choices they make now will have consequences (good and bad) that can last throughout their lives. We talk about gospel principles and how to apply them in our daily lives.
The youth also attend an activity each week called Mutual. It is the night we get to hang out in a more casual atmosphere, but also still keeping the focus on the Savior, and applying gospel principles in our life. These activities are planned and carried out by the youth, preparing them for leadership in the years to come. It is pretty cool.
Some other time I will tell you about the cool goal setting programs the church has for the youth. They are called Duty to God and Personal Progress. It is really a blessing.
I share this with you so that when I talk about things in the church you may have a better understanding of what I am talking about. When I say, "The Young Women's lesson I did today was really uplifting!", you will know that I am talking about the lesson I taught in the girls part of the youth program.
