Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive

LDS Lives

Item Set

Items

• Church at Home

  I am part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In my local area (near Seattle, WA) our leaders have held a devotional over Zoom every Sunday morning. The devotional includes prayers, 2 or 3 short talks or sermons, and sometimes music. But what the Zoom calls do not include is access to receiving the Sacrament. Our local leadership has been careful to make sure everyone has proper access to this important Sacrament. Many households contain someone who is ordained to administer this rite, but mine does not. So after the Zoom call I travel a short distance to another family's home to take the Sacrament.

• The Tender Mercies of COVID-19

  I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, formerly known as the Mormon church. Members of my church often reflect on the "tender mercies of the Lord," or personal and timely blessing from God. My church's meetinghouses and temples are closed worldwide. However, my husband and I have used this occurrence as an opportunity to marvel in God's timely developments in modern religion. Our church's prophet put into a place a home-study program called "Come Follow Me" just over a year ago. Through this program, scripture study is home-focused as opposed to purely learning in church on Sundays. I believe God brought this program to us at the perfect time, knowing worship would be forced to shift into the home by the pandemic. The "Come Follow Me" program is a tender mercy. In a biannual worldwide broadcast called General Conference, our prophet called for a worldwide fast. He prompted us to not eat for 24 hours on April 10 while we pray for the pandemic to be controlled, caregivers to be protected, the economy to be strengthened, and life to be normalized. I witnessed everyone in my church devote themselves to this fast and inviting others to do the same. I joined a Facebook group full of people of all religions around the world sharing their experiences pertaining to fast. Mormons, Catholics, Muslims, you name it; the world was united in faith to quell the virus. Data shows that April 10 yielded the peak of COVID-19 cases in the US, and cases began to plummet after April 10. The sense of hope and community gained from the worldwide fast was a tender mercy. When my now-husband and I first decided to get married in early fall, we were tasked with choosing a date. Since I am a college student, we thought June may be a good time, but we did not want to wait that long. I suggested June 13, but we felt prompted to turn to prayer to receive spiritual confirmation of a wedding date. The date "March 14" popped into my husband's head during prayer. To our amazement, we saw that March 14 happened to fall on the Saturday before my spring break at college, giving us a week's break to go on a honeymoon. Come March, the pandemic was slowing spreading into America. The week before our wedding became increasingly stressful as we weren't certain if we'd be able to hold a wedding. March 14 was a magical day. We were married in the Dallas Mormon Temple and held a reception of about 100 people. Just days later, the prophet announced that all temples would close until further notice and government officials ordered that large gatherings be canceled. If we had waited until June, we surely wouldn't have been blessed with our perfect wedding and temple ceremony. March 14 was a tender mercy. During the pandemic, I have observed that God's plan is perfect. Don't get me wrong; I do not believe that COVID-19 is a blessing. I work in a hospital as a phlebotomist and come in contact with dozens of patients a day. I have seen the structural and individual stress the virus has placed on the healthcare system. However, I know that God gives us tender mercies in this trying time to show his love and bless us for our diligence and faith. Modern technology and social media have made social distancing tolerable for us, and through its wonders, we can continue to worship God and study His scripture in the era of COVID-19.

• Latter Day Saints, Religion, and COVID

  I was raised and am currently a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. COVID-19 has drastically changed the way that I as an individual worship. Before the pandemic, I attended church services or activities at least three times a week. Monday night was family home evening night. As a ward (congregation) we came together, shared a spiritual thought, had a prayer, and played some games, learned a new skill, watched a movie, or did a service activity. Wednesday night was institute night or bible study. For an hour and a half, I would sit with my friends, and we would learn more about the key figures in the Bible or Book of Mormon. This past semester I have been learning about the women in the scriptures. Sundays, we came together for service. Where we partook of the sacrament, sang songs, listened to speakers, and held Sunday school. I haven’t had sacrament in over two months. The sacrament is a sacred ritual that we are encouraged to partake in weekly. It feels strange not to be able to take the bread and water. I no longer have those couple of quiet minutes sitting in my church building to reflect on my week and see what I could do better in the eyes of God. I miss having Bible studies every week. It is hard to be motivated to do it personally by myself and without in-person classes. But not everything has changed. Every six months, there is a broadcast of our general authorities or the head leaders of the church, giving us guidance and instructions for our lives. This broadcast still happened in April; there was just not a live audience. Over the last two years, our church leaders have emphasized the need to study at home and to take an active role in our personal learning with the gospel. They made a previously three-hour church to two hours to give us an extra hour at home to increase our own study. They have made guides with what scriptures we should read weekly, and questions/prompts to help guide our studies. This preparation for something like a pandemic has been beneficial. Already having something in place has made it easier to find ways to feel spiritually fulfilled.