***“Talks” are randomly assigned topics given by the Bishop. Not the same thing.***
I went to an “Eminent Gleaners” banquet at an LDS church many years ago. Food, entertainment, LDS officials then asked the young people there to give their testimony as to why they joined the LDS church. The response was...
Friendship, comradeship, good social programs, ect. NOT ONE of those young people said they joined the LDS because they were lost in sin and needed Salvation through Jesus Christ. Not one. They considered the LDS to be more of a social club than anything else. I went to their church services in two different parts of the country. They were exactly the same. First, prayers, songs, bread and water communion, NO PREACHING or expounding on the Scriptures. Then we broke up and went to the classes. Expounding on Mormon doctrine. in one it was a study in their welfare organization. In the other it was how they would all go back to Jackson County Missouri when Jesus returned.!
Yep that sounds about right. I joined Mormonism as a teenager, but not really for social reasons (although that was a bonus). I really believed it. I didn’t see myself as a sinner, and Mormonism doesn’t teach it. They instead see the Fall as a GOOD THING and re-define sin to be ‘missing the mark’ not living up to potential instead of rebellion against sin.
And yeah, LDS services always focus on ‘the Church’ or Smith or something, never really Christ.