While most students are still sound asleep in their beds at 6 in the morning, senior Karmyn Long is
already well into her day as she attends her daily morning seminary class in Grand Blanc. While most students are finishing homework or attending sports practices on a Wednesday night, Long is performing service projects through her youth group. Born into the religion, Long was immersed in Mormonism all of her life. Close family raised Long into the religion and her involvement blossomed from there.

“I’ve been Mormon since I was born but I didn’t become active until I was six years old,” Long said. “I got baptized when I was eight because all Mormons are baptized at that age. My dad isn’t Mormon anymore as of four years ago, but the majority of my close and distant family are.”

Long has recognized numerous misconceptions about Mormonism throughout her faith. While some of the misconceptions ridiculed the Mormon religion, Long did not let them stop her from standing firm in her faith.

“Some of the major misconceptions about Mormons are that we all perform polygamy, that we’re a cult and that we wear magic underwear,” Long said. “My mom has been asked where her horns are because people think that Mormons are part of a cult that they get horns implanted in their heads. We also get garments when we get our endowments through the temple. I don’t fully understand the process yet because we’re not allowed to know until we’ve reached a certain age. Usually there are missionaries in the temple and they get their endowments which results in them getting garments. Garments are underwear that are pure white and blessed that go down to the knees and cover the shoulders like shorts and a shirt. People call them the magic underwear and don’t understand what they truly represent.”

Politically correct or official name for Mormonism is Latter Day Saints.
Mormonism is a form of Christianity.
Their book of worship is the Bible with an addition called The Book of Mormon.

Other misconceptions and ridicules Mormons receive stem from a misunderstanding of the religion itself. Mormons hold a variety of beliefs that set them apart from other religions.

“We are Christian,” Long said. “One thing that sets us apart from other Christians is our additional testament to Christ which is the Book of Mormon. We also have the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants which is mainly just Joseph Smith’s life and what he found to be truths in the translation of the Book of Mormon. We solely believe in the New and Old Testament and we’re able to translate it through the Book of Mormon to better understand and enhance the Bible.”

While the words ward, branch, stake and bishop may be unfamiliar vocabulary to most, they are key terms in Mormonism. These forms of organization are what create the foundation for the Mormon religion to build off of.

“Wards are general areas,” Long said. “I’m a part of the Grand Blanc ward which includes Fenton, Holly, Lake Fenton, Grand Blanc and Goodrich. There’s also Flint, Blue Water, Lake Orion and Clarkston wards. About five or six wards are usually put together and make up a stake and in our stake, Grand Blanc is in the middle. All of the wards meet at the Grand Blanc building for stake conferences which are twice a year. There are also branches which are areas that aren’t big enough to be a ward. Holly and Fenton used to be branches but then they combined with other areas to make up the Grand Blanc ward.”

“I’m very conservative because of it. Mormonism has caused me to be closed minded and have tunnel vision at times, but since I’ve been through high school I’ve been able to become more open minded and accepting.”

As Long and the other members of her ward enter the Sunday meeting, the bishop and the presiding presidency stand at the front of the congregation, ready to begin the morning services. In Mormonism, there are four main people who conduct and preside over the Sunday services.

“Bishops are like pastors except they don’t teach us, they conduct,” Long said. They have a presiding presidency which includes two counselors and a secretary who preside over everyone and the separate classes and organizations. The different groups that they preside over are the relief society, the young women group, the young men group and the sun beams who are 3 and 4 year olds.”

Within the groups that the presiding presidency preside over, Long is Youth Representative, Seminary President and Young Women President in three of them. Long is immensely involved in church related activities and never misses a chance to combine her love for leadership with her love for her religion.

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“In addition to a normal Sunday service we also have mutuals on Wednesday nights which is usually separated by our class then our gender,” Long said. “We usually do a service project as well. On Saturdays we have activities, service projects and dances. With being a leader in so many of the programs at our ward I am very involved in all of the activities.”

While Sunday’s focus is spirituality, Wednesday and Saturday youth programs focus moreso on personal reflection, service and interactive activities. These days have a fun atmosphere and groups focus on building character and a variety of skills.

“We have a thing called personal progress in the youth program where we work on values, faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity and virtue,” Long said. “We work on all of those values from ages 12 to 18 and we strive to finish a book that I’ve finished twice by age 15. The book is full of experiences and scriptural studies. We’re given a lesson, we make food, and we learn skills for homemakers. Each month either the guys or the girls will pick a service project to do which depends on who’s month it is.”

After 17 years of active involvement with her religion, Long reflects back on how she has developed as a person in result of being a part of Mormonism.

“I’m very conservative because of it,” Long said. “Mormonism has caused me to be closed minded and have tunnel vision at times, but since I’ve been through high school I’ve been able to become more open minded and accepting toward certain things.”

Making plans for her future, Long plans to study at a Christian college that holds the same standards as she has set due to being Mormon. Long said that being Mormon has shaped her into the person she is, and she is thankful for how she has developed in result of it.