What Catholics can learn from Mormons

Unless you live in Utah, Mormons are not in the majority, but they have a lot to teach others. 
Their belief in mission and their refusal to hide who they are- All four of my grandparents came from different faiths and levels of practicing their faith. When I was twelve, my parents and we five siblings became Catholic after a few years of roaming around different churches. We had never been invited to visit a Catholic church, unless you count the time that our Mexican neighbors invited us to the church spaghetti feed. A year later, we converted and there are six Catholic marriages and twenty-five or so Catholic grandchildren. Maybe that spaghetti dinner was all we needed to open the door and learn about the Church. Mormons are not so subtle, and it is to their credit. Mormons in good standing will make a two year commitment to mission. Can we take time out of our day to do some form of mission? We Catholics should be educating ourselves with knowledge of the Bible and the catechism, ready to share our faith with others.

Their respect for family- They have a designated family evening where fellow Mormons know not to call and disturb the family fun time. I've heard that Mormon teen girls are assigned families to babysit for; this encourages families to have another child because they know that the community (subsidiary) will help support them. I know of mothering groups and homeschooling groups that can be very supportive in the Catholic world with meals for a while, but after that, each family (most likely without the extended family because families are so spread out) will be on their own, paying at least ten dollars an hour for that rare date night. It usually does not happen. 
My biggest frustration with the Mormon faith besides continuing revelation (Christians believe that revelation- a newly revealed aspect of theology, not just a development or discussion- finished with the death of the apostles as the 'deposit of faith' even if private revelation can exist) is that although they believe in the benefit of large families and a strong marriage bond, contraception, surrogacy (Mitt Romney has two grandchild born from a surrogate) and abortion can be officially permissible in their faith. But however their babies came to be, the Romney family is lovely, don't you think?

Their preparedness for hard times- I think we could use them as great examples of self-reliance. Shouldn't we all be prepared for an emergency? I don't think any of the flashlights in the house have batteries that work...

Their sense of priesthood and individual ministries- As Catholics, we are all baptized into the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Some men are called to become actual ordained clergy. But we all should have a ministry in our lives whether it is church, community or family based. The Mormons take this very seriously with their mission years and their various layers of church authority and ordinations. We Catholics will not go so far as to say that every ward or parish has a bishop, but I believe that a mistake was made when the minor orders (lector, subdeacon, etc) were done away with in the Roman rite. I say, let's triple the number of deacons in the Catholic Church in the United States and begin deacon programs in other countries. Allow the deacons to wear clerical dress in public. Make it a normal part of life and let us not be afraid. Have continuing education for the deacons, have them choose a specific ministry and give them a specific Mass to attend. They will proclaim the Gospel or preach at the pastor's request. For women, a revitalization of the third orders of religious orders would be one place where women can find important ministries. Of course, in the Catholic Church some people are called to 'just' pray and be at the services, but I believe the Mormon church can be an example of getting all the people involved and invested in the faith.

Their balanced and attractive sense of modesty- Their wedding dresses have sleeves! Don't women realize that their strapless gowns will look like they are wearing towels in their portraits that don't show the entire gown? Usually Mormon women dress with shoulders and knees covered, but they always seem to look modern and not frumpy. I also appreciate that the men are always (yes, always) clean, pressed and professional. It would irk me in high school that we girls had a very strict uniform dress code while the boys just had to wear a shirt with a collar. 

Their internet presence- If you want to, you can find a lot of information on their religion on-line. Their mommy bloggers are generally vibrant, happy, beautiful and modern with well-designed blogs that give just a hint of an idea that there is something special about them. If you look, you will see a blog button that leads you to the official website of the LDS church.
Catholic bloggers (start with the blogs at National Catholic Register, In Union with Rome, the blog list at Conversion Diary, and the Catholic channel at Patheos) are doing a splendid job of conveying the Catholic Faith, but there is a lot of diversity out there. Simcha of I Have to Sit Down likes to refer to it as 'here comes everybody!' One cannot put Catholics in an easy-to-label box, and that gets confusing. And Vatican conspiracies aside, there is no one telling us Catholic bloggers to have a consistent presence. 
I'm slightly jealous of the Mormons' organizational skills. I wasted an hour, trying to make a blog button that would direct the reader to the Vatican website and the US Catholic Conference of Bishops website. Maybe a Mormon can teach me how it is done, because my button kept going to a non-existent page on my blog.

Their 'I'm a Mormon' ad campaign- About a year ago, I started to notice the sponsored videos at the top of the youtube videos choices and the different Patheos channels. It was a short video biography of a Mormon, someone with a interesting story. For a person who is searching for a church family, I am certain that this ad campaign has been very successful.  It makes their faith seem relatable, normal and a means to a successful life. 

So I decided to start my own little 'I'm a Cool Catholic" campaign right here on this wee blog. I'll be asking non-blogger Catholics (because all the Catholics on my sidebar and at In Union with Rome have blogs to demonstrate their coolness) to submit an interview/guest post right here. Email me at remnantofremnant@gmail.com if you or a friend is a cool Catholic with an interesting story who is willing to answer some questions and email me a photo. I'm thinking it will be a Monday series.

This post is written using my personal experiences. I do not wish to offend members of the LDS church. Thank you for grace!