Yesterday, I shared on Carissa’s blog all about Islamic holidays and rites of passage. Today she’s sharing here about Mormon traditions and holidays. I loved reading this post, and learned a lot! Join us, starting tomorrow on our social media channels where we’ll be doing Q&A and encourage you to join us!
Hi Amanda’s Blog Friends!
I’m back for week 2 of the #MormonMuslimMoms Project! Thanks so much for all your input and questions this past week!
I’m excited to share a little bit about Mormon Traditions. 
And I would LOVE to answer any questions you might have about all this?
Secular and Government Holidays
The 4th of July is a big deal for us and we celebrate with picnics, parades and potato salad like most US families. And of course we like lots and lots of fireworks! We also celebrate Presidents Day, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day etc. but in smaller ways. I think most LDS members follow their own Country’s traditions when it comes to Secular Holidays. I’ve only lived in the US but in case you didn’t know: more than half of the church’s membership is actually OUTSIDE the US at this point.
Religious (Christian) Holidays, According to Local Tradition
We celebrate most Christian Holidays but not holidays that are strictly one religion or another… for example we wouldn’t celebrate saint’s days or ‘feast’ days. But on St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day we happily play along, I’m sure the person sainted was genuinely a good person and the holidays are fun for kids. (NOTE: Mormons are very careful about NOT deifying people or ‘Saints’. We do not pray to saints or angels or even family members passed on.)
For Christmas of course we try to KEEP Christ in Christmas and not go overboard with the secularization of the holiday. We follow ‘St. Nick’ traditions in our home as I’m sure Mormons in the Netherlands follow their St. Nick tradition or Italian Mormons follow theirs. Food is big at Christmas time, especially sweets and all things ‘pumpkin’ dessert-y! In my family, personally, we have a fun Christmas Eve tradition and spend the evening with friends and reading the birth of the Christ Child in Luke from the Bible. And the kids get to open one present. (Mom! Not pajamas again?) Christmas day starts by opening the Santa Claus gifts and looking in our stockings to see what came for us in the night. Followed by breakfast and then sharing our family gifts with each other. (I know a few Mormon families who skip the Santa tradition, but I think most follow in some way with the Santa Myth.)
Easter is a bit different for us than most Christian Religions. We don’t have a huge Easter tradition spread out over several days or weeks. And we downplay the whole Easter Bunny portion of the holiday. The main reason for the difference is that we put a much bigger emphasis on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and less on his death. (We do not use the cross as a symbol of our religion for example.)
We definitely celebrate Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday, but we also try very strongly to remember Christ’s sacrifice all year long. In our home on EVERY Sunday we discuss the Atonement, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And on Easter it is the same. It’s what we do every week! My kids will wake up to small Easter baskets filled with a few treats and small trinkets. And most years the kids get new Easter Church outfits. (Sidenote about church dress: Girls wear dresses or skirts to church each week and boys are dressed in slacks, button up shirts and… by the time they are 12 boys wear ties. Our GoodNCrazy dad rarely ever wears anything but a suit and tie to church… SOMETIMES I can get him to wear a sweater over a dress shirt and tie.)
THANKSGIVING & Halloween
Next week is the Thanksgiving Holiday in the US. And it’s traditionally a big family holiday for people of any religion, ours too. Our meal consists of Turkey and all the trimmings: potatoes, sweet potatoes and stuffing will be on our table. And lots and lots of pies!
As a young kid my extended family was huge. I’m talking GIGANTIC. 30 or 40 cousins and all the aunts and uncles and grandparents. We sometimes used our local meeting house church building and eat our Thanksgiving meal in the cultural hall/gymnasium! We don’t all live as close by any more. Now my little family of 5 has created our own family traditions around Thanksgiving. I am one of 10 siblings in my immediate family!
We are particularly fond of Halloween in the Roger’s household. Not for any religious belief or secular or whatever, we just love participating in a holiday where the whole family can dress up wacky and have fun. You might want to flip through a few of our ‘Family GoodNCrazy Halloween Photos’ from the past… I’m warning you though! It helps that the dad in our family is wacky enough to join in!
MORMON Holidays?? Pioneer Day
Thinking about our ‘holiday traditions’ made me realize Mormons don’t have a lot to just call our own as an LDS faith. But there is one holiday I grew up celebrating in a small town in Idaho. (My town was nearly 100% LDS.)
We just call it simply the 24th of July, or ‘Pioneer Day’. And I was probably 9 or 10 before I realized the whole world does NOT celebrate the 24th with rodeos, pancake breakfasts and a big parade with TONS of salt water taffy thrown at the kids!
The 24th of July in 1847 was the day the first LDS settlers saw the Salt Lake Valley. They had walked thousands of miles across the prairies and when the Prophet Brigham Young saw the valley he said: “This is the right place”. And that was that. Those early pioneers had a rough go of the harsh high mountain desert area. But eventually became a very prosperous people.
We celebrate and remember those hard scrabble faithful people on the 24th of July every year. (In Utah it’s a State Government Holiday in fact!)
Family Celebrations & Traditions
There are several ‘big’ moments in a Mormon family. Most often each of these events would be followed by a family gathering in the home after church or after the event with friends and family invited to share a pot luck type of a meal. You’ll hear us tell everyone: there’s an Open House at the Rogers after the Baby Blessing, etc.!
Baby Blessings
Not a technical ordinance. But we give the baby a ‘name and a blessing’ around 2 to 3 weeks of age. This is a priesthood blessing usually given during the main Sacrament Meeting held on Sundays. Babies are traditionally dressed in all white but this is not required.
Baptism & Confirmation
At age 8, children are asked if they would like to be baptized which means they are both entered as members of the LDS church and the ordinance ‘washes them clean’ of any sins. They technically are not held accountable for any sins before age 8 anyway. Adults of course are also baptized (by full immersion in a large baptismal font) should they choose to join the church. The Confirmation is another Priesthood blessing conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost to be with them as long as they are worthy.
Receiving the Priesthood Ordination
Boys at the age of 12 receive the Aaronic Priesthood or the lesser priesthood. And when they turn 16 they receive the Melchizedec Priesthood or the higher priesthood. Again this is a blessing conferring the priesthood on them from someone holding it themselves. Usually the father or someone close to the boy.
Turning 16
16 is a fun year in our faith, not for only religious reasons but for cultural as well. For both boys and girls this is the age they can begin to date. And drive?! So that’s a bonus.
Going On a Mission
Boys are allowed to serve a full-time 2 year mission starting at age 18 (if they are done with high school). Girls can serve a full-time 18 month mission at age 19.
Returning From a Mission
A party-like gathering for family and friends would follow the return of a missionary after 18-24 months of not seeing them! They are allowed to email once a week but can only call home 2x per year, on Mother’s Day and Christmas.
Weddings & Funerals
Weddings are big events, but low key compared to other weddings I’ve attended of friends in different faiths. The wedding normally takes place in the early morning inside a Temple, where the bride and groom are ‘sealed’ together for eternity. (See my first post for more on this.) There is no charge to the family to use the temple, but you have to schedule sometimes far in advance.
Then we can use the church building, again costs nothing, for the reception later that day. And decorate the gymnasium. Catering is often done by family members as well as the cake, dresses and probably flowers. My mom made my wedding dress! Personally the only thing we paid a professional for was the photographer. Everyone you know would be invited to the reception. Hundreds of people in fact… but a full meal isn’t served, just light refreshments. However only a very close handful of family and friends would be invited to the actual wedding ceremony if held in a temple. And only adult worthy members of the church can enter the temple.
Funerals while not happy events of course, also aren’t the saddest event either. Remember we believe very strongly in a robust afterlife where we will live with our family members forever. So yes it’s a sad thing to see my grandma pass away, but also comforting to know I will see her again and she will be whole and happy. There is usually a service with speakers who knew the diseased person, hymns and an opening and closing prayer. Then a procession following the casket to the cemetery where the grave is dedicated by a worthy priesthood holder, likely a family member.
FOODS Peculiar to Mormons
I thought it would be fun to share some of the strange and fun foods we’re known for!
Green Jell-O with Strange Mix Ins
I never put shredded carrots in my Jell-o but it’s not unheard of. My favorite Jell-o salad is one with cottage cheese in it. Like this recipe from Six Sisters Stuff (Mormon blogging sisters).
Fry Sauce
Legend has it that Fry Sauce was invented in a Utah fast food chain. And I have to say I’m always happy when I find a restaurant that has the creamy mayo/ketchup concoction for my fries!!
‘Funeral’ Potatoes
Shredded potatoes, sour cream, cream of mushroom soup and lots and lots of cheese. Need I say more? Sprinkled with crushed corn flakes for flair.
ANY Casserole
We’re very fond of casseroles. Probably because they are fast to make and one pot wonders that serve a large crowd. And Mormon families tend to be large!
Food Storage, and ’72-hour Kits’
We’re HUGE about having a store of food for emergency preparation. I have a 50 gallon barrel of water in my garage, large cans of oats, wheat and apple slices… if there’s a hurricane come to MY house! But seriously we’ve been commanded to prepare these things. Please read more about it on LDS.org.
Fried Scones or Fried Dough (Honey Butter!)
Take uncooked bread dough, spread it out in a flattened circle and deep fry it in a Fry Daddy like a doughnut and then spread honey butter on it. AMEN.
Ice Cream
NO particular flavor, we just eat massive amounts of ice cream.
I have no idea why?
Flour Mush
The early pioneers called this ‘lumpy dick’, but my grandma called it flour mush. And it’s probably the weirdest food I know (and love). Heat up milk on the stove till just under boiling and mix in flour till the consistency of soft oatmeal or cream of wheat. Then serve on a plate with milk around the edges, butter and lots of sugar and cinnamon.
Thanks for reading this far!
I’m happy to answer any questions you might have about Mormon Traditions and Celebrations!
READ ALL OF Amanda’s Muslim Mom posts on Carissa’s GoodNCrazy.com Blog
READ ALL OF Carissa’s Mormon Mom posts on Amanda’s MorocMama.com Blog