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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL WARDS - From 1A Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” They believe that the Bible, along with the Book of Mormon, is the word of God. They believe in the freedom of religion and in the necessity to be “hon est, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men.” They believe that men will be punished for their own sins, not for Adam’s trans gression, and that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved. I spoke with two Mormon missionaries from Utah who are serving in Warner Robins, Elder Alex Daily and Elder Carter Wilford. When they turn 19, Mormons can choose to go on a two-year mission to evangelize any where in the world. They are not paid for this work. They have to raise their own money to finance the mis sion. When asked if their church would be considered to be Christian, Elder Wilford said the core belief of the Church is that “God is our heavenly father and he sent his Son to Earth to die for our sins so we could return to live with Him.” “We are no different from MEDICARE From 1A coverage. (She is). “There’s a thousand dif ferent forms of confusion, but almost everyone’s con fused,” said Robert Hayes, head of the Medicare Rights Center, a consumer group. The government has tout ed its Web site, http://www. medicare.gov, where senior citizens can compare plans on spreadsheets, and it has urged people to consult their families and their doctors. Hayes said its unrealistic to expect doctors to shoul der the burden of explain ing the plans. “In an ideal world, which is long past in this economy, physicians could sit down and become experts and counsel their patients. That doesn’t hap pen today because there’s so much time pressure on every doctor,” he said. Federal and local health officials and insurance com panies have tried to provide workshops on the new pro gram. The Philadelphia Senior Center has hosted about a dozen workshops and semi nars over the past couple of months, but not many peo ple have been enrolling in the program, said executive director Tamara Moreland. She said she suspects they prefer to keep their current coverage. “I hope it isn’t that they don’t understand it,” she added. Philadelphia senior center counselor Gloria Mack said she herself was confused by the training she received sOil Lamp Restaurant^ r "Ttccu 'Zfeevi! f | We will be § f closed until ■ | January 4th. /] Thank you, & i Judy J p Courtney Hodges BLVD • Perry, GA || 478-988-2643 2 I Tmfiik ir—Hr'MThi i n ilii 1 ovntcwn Cnticians, Inc. J J 'Over 100 frames to choose from at this^ price - This includes metal or plastic frame with single vision plastic lenses. Warner Rabins 1805 International Square “Miss Winter Beauty ” Beauty Pageant Jan. 7th - Byron, GA • Boys & Girls Ages 0-19 years Compete for beautiful crowns, sashes, trophies, & cash! Visit www.missheartofga.cftm or call 770-412-6201 You may enter the day of the Pageant. any other church,” said Elder Daily. “Where they have a pope or minister, we have a Prophet.” They also assured me that, while polygamy was prac ticed in the early years of the church in order to raise their numbers, it is now con sidered to be an excommuni cable offense. The Book or Mormon came about when God command ed the Prophet Lehi in 600 B.C. to gather a small group of people and lead them to America. There they estab lished a great civilization. After Jesus was resurrected He went to America and ministered to these people. God continued to call proph ets from these people and the Book of Mormon is a collection of the writings of their prophets. The Church of Latter Day Saints cannot be considered a Protestant church since they never broke off from the Catholic Church. Its members believe that after the death of the original apostles, there happened what is called the Apostasy, or a general falling away from the truth of Christ’s teachings. God then took the priesthood authority and His Church from the earth. on the program. “Oh, my God,” Mack recalled think ing. “I’m confused, and I’m not a senior.” At the Clairemont Friendship Senior Center in San Diego, confusion ran high even after Medicare officials held a briefing there in November. Several elderly people said their private insurers automati cally signed them up for a plan, but they did not know whether they were getting the best deal. “The government should have just said, 'You pay so much and all your drugs are covered,”’ said Dorothy Morrill, 70, whose PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.’s Secure Horizons plan signed her up for coverage with a $44 monthly premium. Nearby, at Allen Pharmacy in San Diego, owner Roger Fetterly said he worries that some of his customers will find that their plan does not cover the drugs they need. “We have a group of people who either don’t open their mail or open and don’t read it,” Fetterly said. “They just don’t know anything about what’s going on.” Others say they are not good with computers or do not want to burden their chil dren by asking for advice. - Today i | Haley Brianna Crofutt| p We Love You so very much, t Enjoy your special day! (1 ® Love, Mama, Daddy, j) Dalton & Dakota (i\ We accept most insurance assignments including Spectra, Superior, and Cigna. '{SSI Macon 3131 Rio Nono Ave. 781-4310 That authority was what was given to Smith. The Church of Latter Day Saints is organized around regional temples. The near est to Warner Robins is in Atlanta. Local churches are called wards and they are grouped into stakes, which contain eight or ten wards. A stake is no different from a ward except that it is larger so it can host meetings of the nearby wards. There are two wards in Warner Robins, and one in Perry. There are also wards in Cochran, Gray and Milledgeville. Their stake is located in Macon. A temple is not an actual church where services are held. It is a consecrated holy site. Sacred ceremonies such as marriages and baptisms have to be held in a temple, or they will not be consid ered to be bound for all eter nity. Mormons are very family oriented and their genealogi cal databases are legendary. If you would like more infor mation about the Church of Latter Day Saints, you can check out the Web site at www.lds.org. Services are held Sundays at the churches in Warner Robins on Draper Street and on Houston Lake Road in Perry. Those who have done their homework are finding that the new program doesn’t always offer advantages. Mark Silverstein, 66, of Philadelphia, enrolled in one of the prescription plans because he was told his cur rent Medicaid program would no longer be offered after Jan. 1. He called Medicare, told a representative which medications he takes, and was signed up for a plan that he said would cost him sls a month. BBmUBBIB *^fcfta^t...BaKrt«rCMhrlßsb«Bdaap^ptqpfc' , si)c right here ■ Cental Geoip hr 5 fir wd bißhdht la cnatinaterfDL Bart apciwct tedwtcgy, and fleabte fawmg ptii to—telpossite fcr—wndtaWMl fru^mfcatpmaafctedna Laser v&on Comte tftan m Ife Wm 4 'i ' jrC"- 4 '" Sr Jfl LOCAL 1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression. 3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all man kind may be saved, by obedi ence to the laws and ordinanc es of the Gospel. 4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and adminis ter in the ordinances thereof. 6. We believe in the same HINCKLEY From 1A responsibilities for his church. Hinckley holds authority to convey divine guidance to church members and direct appointment of the leaders of every regional body and local congregation worldwide and all the tens of thousands of Mormon mis sionaries. This year alone, he vis ited Africa, Russia, Iceland, Korea, Taiwan, India and western Europe - the most traveled president in church history. About half of all Mormons live outside the United States. It also falls to Hinckley, a third-generation Mormon who was appointed presi dent in 1995, to respond to those who question church practices and teachings. The denomination has been criticized in recent years for the practice of posthumously baptizing thousands of deceased Jews (among them Holocaust klßSfaeaa*onderttftc|Hß...ad]Mae reason. ftapfeastßtoMttarismeeKk «f you and to Mr fteoppertaljrtohpo* RfHfIJHrRL CENTCK £** t*hur--^BWWB Mormon Articles of Faith organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apos tles, prophets, pastors, teach ers, evangelists, and so forth. 7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth. 8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. 9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. 10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed victims) and those of other faiths. Mormons believe individuals’ ability to choose a religion continues beyond the grave. Asked about the practice, Hinckley said performing the baptisms only provides the option for non-Mormons to convert, “so there’s no injury done to anybody.” The church also has tried to distance itself from its his tory of polygamy, but some fundamentalist Mormons still support the practice. Hinckley said the doctrine of polygamy “came of revela tion and was discontinued by revelation.” “We believe in honoring, obeying and sustaining the law. And so, we have very little sympathy with those who disobey the law in this manner,” he said. Hinckley defended the church’s practice of disfel lowshipping, or excommuni cating, ex-Mormons for what they have written about the mugs «rpw«liw'1 l Gnteflrlt , ilW w ’ LanrWaian C&nsdfaor. /MRitMouffl tnaritatoutqurtfirontti * inteiflrtftelllwwafi| rtnibniMt ntuirtiinmi SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2005 ♦ and receive its paradisiacal glory. 11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. 12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honor ing, and sustaining the law. 13. We believe in being hon est, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul - We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtu ous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. denomination. He said this step has been taken against “very few” people and only if they try to damage the church. “It’s only when they begin to teach what they believe to try to influence others that action is taken against them,” he said. Relations with other denominations has also been an issue. Some churches do not recognize Mormon baptism, in effect denying that Mormonism is fully Christian. The Latter-day • Saints, through their teach ings, raise similar questions about other churches. In the scriptural Doctrine and Covenants, Smith taught that the Mormon church is “the only true and liv ing church upon the whole Earth.” Hinckley said Mormons “believe in the virtue in the lives of other people in other churches,” and that all churches “do great good.” 'iM JAJ| AAAA 3A