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Mormon?

When you first heard of the word 'Mormon' what is the first thing that came to your mind? As you found out more how has the meaning of the word changed or stayed the same for you?

Mormon

First time I heard the word Mormon, it came to my mind the American missionaries with tags on their shirts.  :)
Of course, the meaning of the word changed a lot because I learnt their doctrine and join the LDS Church 16 years ago

Mormon? Studies Doctrine Mormon

I think I first thought of the Amish people. I thought these were Mormons. I first heard it at about 12 when reading a teen magazine. Donny Osmond was a real teen hearthrob and just like all other girls my age, I was "in love" with him. He was interviewed and indicated he was Mormon.

Then when I heard the term just prior to my conversion as a young adult, my thoughts turned back to Donny Osmond.

Now, I have been a member for 22 years so I am not sure what my thoughts are about it now. I don't give it any thought because I am one. However, I prefer the term LDS or member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Mormon

I was in the 4th or 5th grade and heard it in a history book. I remember it was part of the 'way west' about the migration of settlers. I believe there was a picture of Brigham Young and some wagons and carts in the book. Some kid made a crack about them having a lot of wives. I didn't know what he was talking about and the teacher told him to shut up.

ANYWAY... it wasn't long after that there was a movie on TV staring Vincent Price as Joseph Smith. It was a short role because right away he was killed. The story centered on Brigham Young. I don't remember the name of it. It's a vague memory. I only remember 2 scenes from the film... When Vincent (Joseph) uttered "My lord and my God" when he was shot... and another where an old woman (actress whom I'd seen in many movies from 30's and 40's) was asked 'why they persecute you' and she said "Just because we're Mormons"

Nothing much after that until high school when we (the cast of a HS production) all ended up at a party of one of the girls who was in it. It was an all nighter with missionaries, food, drink (no booze), etc. I was a senior and this was my first real introduction to Mormons themselves. I ended up in Church the next day with a couple of others. But after that... life went on after that... etc. etc. etc.

Mormon

The first time I heard the word Mormon was when everyone in the neighbourhood would say there goes the mormon boys. Later on I associated it with the Book of Mormon and the Mormon tabernacle choir.

Mormon?

When I first heard the term Mormon, I associated it with a cult that allowed polygamy because thats what my church believed. I grew up believing that everything not protestant was a cult and they where all going to hell.

Once I grew up and began research on my own, I realized that the term `mormon` was not a term that they gave themselves, but rather was given to them by outsiders who didn't understand them and saw that they read the book of mormon. After finding out that they read other books of scripture including the Bible, I decided that the term `mormon` was not something I wanted to use. I found that they where part of the Church of Latter-day Saints and that they believed that Christ is both fully human and fully God, and I consider that to be the main tenant of being a christian. So now I associate LDS members as christians by virtue of their beliefs and LDS as their association and not their title.

Mormon

Since the part of my family on my mother's side is basically all "Mormon," I've heard that term since as far back as I can remember. I also knew that the real name of the church is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," and I knew that folks called us Mormons because of the Book of Mormon. Most of my life, even when I was not attending church, I was defending and explaining the church to people, that we were not a cult and that we are Christians, as the name of the church states plainly.

It's really interesting the misconceptions that people have, when they have never met someone from the church nor bothered to find out for themselves if something they heard is true or not.

Mormon Mormon Doctrine Studies

The term mormon for me, always had a negative connotation, because I was told as a young child to 'hide' when the mormons came walking through the neighborhood. Of course, I have learned better as I got older, and joining this forum has opened my eyes even more about mormons. In fact, I did not even know that LDS and mormons were the same! It is interesting all the things that I had misconceptions about as a child; I guess that is part of growing up.