| Response |
Let me first answer the part of your letter concerning Elders. The name Elder is different from the word "elder."
The world "elder" does connote someone older than we and, perhaps, wiser. However, in the Church, just as in Christ's day,
the name Elder is a priesthood office to which men are called. They are given certain responsibilities to administer in
the affairs of the Church.
As to the second part, I am startled to learn that you were denied permission to attend the
funeral. There is nothing secret about these funerals at all. When
members of my extended family passed away, many people attended their funerals, including those who were not of the LDS
faith. I cannot imagine what those two missionaries thought they were doing, since the family and the
Bishop had already given permission for you to attend. Something is not right with what you have told me, Jackie, and I
cannot figure this one out. It is not usual nor typical at all that anyone would be denied access to a funeral unless they
were being disruptive or were not welcome by the family. Based on what you've said, you were completely welcomed by the
family. In the future, if there is a Mormon funeral, and you want to attend and the family is in agreement, you certainly
should go to it. No one should even ask you if you are a member of the Church. That isn't part of what happens.
You also asked if Mormons were allowed to eat coffee cake, cappuccino muffins and chocolate with coffee cream centers or
chocolate mocha, and also whether Mormons can drink decaffeinated tea or coffee.
My answer to this is that members of the church who are living all of the principles of the gospel, should try to avoid any
kind of food that contains caffeine. Even decaffeinated tea and coffee still have about 3% caffeine and, therefore, not
totally decaffeinated. As a matter of fact, I've been told that the chemicals used to remove the caffeine from certain
drinks are more harmful than the caffeine itself.
I believe that our health and lives will be blessed as we follow the dietary council found in the "Word of Wisdom.". Now,
having said that, there may be medical reasons prescribed by a doctor to ingest something with caffeine in it. For
instance, my Grandmother Osmond had a condition wherein the doctor prescribed coffee once in a while. I'm not a doctor so I
can't tell you if this is a sound medical advice or not. It may have been for the time back then.
Sometimes it is difficult to avoid a complete abstinence because caffeine may be found in so many different foods. We have
been given the ability from God to reason. We must be wise in all things, even down to the food we eat. Our Father in
Heaven has asked us to stay away from caffeine or any addictive stimulant. I try to follow this commandment.
Sincerely,
Donny Osmond
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