Growing Up in a Mormon Family

If you are born and raised in Utah, there is approximately a sixty percent chance that at least one of your parents is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly referred to as the Mormon Church. Since the LDS Church encourages its members to lead a lifestyle very different from what is commonly accepted in today's world, people outside of the Church often wonder how children, teens, and young adults can possibly be expected to live up to the expectations placed upon them by a strict religious upbringing.

I am one of those Utahns born and raised in a home where both of my parents are active Latter-day Saints. As part of my upbringing, we attended Sunday church meetings for three hours every week; we held Family Home Evening (a time dedicated to family togetherness, including songs, prayer, gospel study, a family activity, and, of course, refreshments) one night a week; we participated in daily scripture study and family prayer; we were taught to pray individual every morning and night, and to offer prayers of thanks before every meal; during our teenage years we attended mid-week activities that ranged from hiking and swimming in the summer to learning homemaking or self-reliance skills or attending a local concert or theatrical performance.

In addition to all of the meetings and activities that we were expected to attend, there were other daily rules and guidelines we were expected to adhere to. Church leaders have asked that we avoid R-rated movies and other forms of entertainment that include pervasive sexuality, nudity, drug use, profanity, and violence. We are commanded to abstain from drugs and alcoholic drinks, cigarettes and other forms of tobacco, coffee, tea, and it is recommended that we avoid other caffeinated beverages. We are also commanded to avoid pre-marital sexual relations of any sort, including viewing pornography.