why are Mormons so ...

I've been reading a lot of articles online lately, and in the process I came across a very interesting idea. It's called the "Mormon Glow." You may have heard of it before, and I kind of had, but not like this.

A while ago, this article on the HuffPost came out talking about different stereotypes for religions that come from Google's autocomplete suggestions. I have to admit, I was quite pleased with the results for Mormons. Below are some screenshots of the results I got when I tried it myself:

And naturally, being the curious person I am, I decided to look up some of these questions that people have about Mormons and see what came up. Some of the results were pretty funny:

But afterwards, I couldn't help wonder WHY people thought this. So I did more research. Eventually, I came across this really good article that explains multiple experiences and even a very interesting scientific study about this so-called "Mormon Glow." They cropped the faces of Mormons and non-Mormons, then showed them to random judges, asking who they thought was a Mormon. The results are crazy. I definitely recommend you check it out here.

I found out after reading more that a lot of people thought it was because the Word of Wisdom overall affecting our health, giving our skin a "brighter" look to it. However, I also read a few other theories, such as it being because of the Holy Ghost's companionship.

Multiple church authorities have stated that the gift of the Holy Ghost makes you glow. Elder L. Tom Perry once said, "It develops beauty of person, form, and features." Interesting, right? Sheri Dew said something similar; "No amount of time in front of the mirror will make you as attractive as having the Holy Ghost with you."

This glow is a spiritual attractiveness. It's from being virtuous and chaste. I love this response that a non-member said relating to this Mormon girl he met. He said, "She radiated beauty like the sun radiates light. She practically glowed. She wasn't shy. She knew her purpose." Isn't that just amazing?? Imagine being described like that. Wow. And yet, we can all be described like that. It's just a matter of letting your light shine, and coming closer to Christ. I love my friend Emma's definition of attractiveness. I agree with it all the way. Find it here.

The other day I asked Shelby from Moore Light Shine to guest post on my blog, and she accepted! I'm super excited to have her on my blog. I will also be writing a guest post for her blog, which will be a part 2 of this post on how WE can increase our light (or in other words, the "Mormon glow"). I'm really excited for that, so stay tuned! **UPDATE: Here is the post.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to follow this blog for updates!

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