Mormonspeak (Mormon dictionary)
Learning to talk like (and understand) a Mormon
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P
Paradise: 1) The Garden of Eden from which Adam and Eve were expelled. 2) That part of the Spirit World where the deceased righteous await the resurrection and from which righteous spirits go to preach to the deceased wicked in Spirit Prison.
Patriarch: 1) Old Testament prophets such as Abraham and Jacob. 2) The male head of a household. 3) An office in the Melchizedek Priesthood equivalent to an Evangelist in the New Testament. There is only one Patriarch per stake and his duty is to give Patriarchal Blessings.
Patriarchal Blessings: Blessings given by Patriarchs, the primary purpose of which is to reveal the recipient’s lineage within the house of Israel and to pronounce other promises and counsel as the Holy Ghost directs.
Personal Progress Award: An award given to Young Women in the Mormon Church who fulfill the requirements. These requirements include setting and reaching goals about service to others, personal spiritual growth, and education.
Personal Revelation: Everyone is entitled to receive personal revelation through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. This typically comes through thoughts and impressions which confirm or deny a person’s own thoughts. Obtaining personal revelation requires personal worthiness, prayer, and frequently fasting.
Plan of Happiness: see Plan of Salvation
Plan of Salvation: The plan God established to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). This plan includes the creation, the fall, the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the final judgment of all mankind. It also incorporates such important concepts such as agency.
Pre-earth life: Mormons believe that all mankind lived as spirits in heaven before this life. In the pre-earth life, we learned about the plan of salvation and accepted it. Those who did not became the devil and his angels. This conflict over the plan is called the War in Heaven.
Preexistence: see Pre-earth Life
Prelude: Music played before sacrament meeting and other meetings to help establish a reverential mood in the chapel.
Pre-mortal: see Pre-earth Life
Preside: To oversee or be in charge of. In Mormonism, this term is used to describe the leadership over a particular area. For example, the bishop presides over a ward.
President of the Church: The presiding authority of the Mormon Church who is the only one having all the power of the priesthood and its keys. He is often referred to simply as the Prophet. See First Presidency.
Priest: An office in the Aaronic Priesthood which has responsibility to bless and administer the sacrament and has authority to baptize as directed by the bishop. The bishop is the president of a priests’ quorum and is aided by two assistants. Mormon boys can be ordained to the office of priest at age 16.
Priesthood: The authority to act in God’s name to preside over the Mormon Church and perform ordinances.
Priesthood blessing: see blessing
Primary: The program in the Mormon Church for children ages 4 to 11. It is divided into junior and senior primary. The transition from one to the other takes place at age 8 when children are baptized.
Prophet: 1) Any person who has a testimony of Jesus Christ and speaks the truth as inspired by the Holy Ghost. As such, all Mormons are encouraged to be prophets in their own lives and in their own sphere of responsibility. 2) The Prophet is a term used in referring to the President of the Church.
Q
Quad: A shortening of quadruple combination used to refer to Mormon publication of the scriptures containing the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. (See Triple).
Quorum: A group of men holding the same office in the priesthood (i.e. priest, elder, etc).
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: One of the general governing councils of the Church comprising 12 men ordained to the apostleship. The quorum as a whole is equal in authority to the First Presidency. The senior apostle is the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and succeeds as President of the Church.
R
Relief Society: The main organization for women in the Mormon Church founded in 1842 by Joseph Smith and first presided over by his wife, Emma Smith. Today it is among the largest and oldest women’s organizations in the world with a membership of nearly 4 million. It is presided over by a General Relief Society Presidency and there is a Relief Society President in every congregation.
Repentance: The process of abandoning sin or error and turning towards God by making one’s conduct in harmony with God’s commands. The process includes recognition, abandonment of sin, confession, restitution (if possible) and seeking forgiveness.
Restoration: The term used to describe the establishment of the Church through living prophets which ended the Great Apostasy. It refers to the restoration of priesthood authority, the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the founding of the Church.
Resurrection: Mormons believe in a literal, physical resurrection in which the spirit and the body will be reunited forever in a perfect body of flesh and bone. This resurrection is universal.
Returned Missionary: A Mormon who has returned home after serving as a missionary for the Church.
Revelation: The process by which the Holy Ghost communicates with man (see also Inspiration). Revelation comes through thoughts, impressions, dreams, visions, visitations of angels, or through the confirming witness of the Holy Ghost.
RM: An abbreviation of Returned Missionary.
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