4. UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF FAMILY
So you've done a ton of research (see, we told you it was important) and you keep coming across all these proclamations about family. Mormons are focused on family. It's that simple. The roles of the family are clearly defined to new members:
- Men are the spiritual head of the household and are responsible for financially providing for the family.
- Women are considered the moral backbone of the family and are expected to care for the children. No small feat since many Mormon families form their own baseball teams.
Now before the feminists readers get ticked off, the Church makes it clear that a husband and wife are equal partners. The Church also instructs Mormon families to spend at least one evening a week together for what is creatively called "Family Home Evening." While these evenings are not structured by the Church, most families use this time to play games, listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and do genealogy (a very popular Mormon pastime). It's very Beaver Cleaver-esque, but Mormons believe it helps keep a family bonded.
Another way the family is emphasized is through practices that can only occur at a Mormon temple. Mormon families believe that by going to the temple, they can make and keep sacred covenants which will allow a family to be sealed together. This means that even in death a family will remain together. It is very difficult to get a sealing reversed so even if a husband and wife ultimately divorce, there is no guarantee that the Church will break the seal. Sealing is a very serious practice in the Mormon Church and, like baptism, should never be undertaken as a whim.
