Connie

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Everything posted by Connie

  1. I went to a YSA ward a couple times after high school graduation. I didn't really like it. I preferred the age variety of a family ward--learning from the experience of the older ladies in Relief Society as well as the bright, young testimonies of the primary-aged kids. I stayed in my family ward. No one ever pestered me about going to the YSA ward that i can recall. It didn't feel awkward to me, but I was a bit of an odd duck. I never gave much thought to what anyone else thought of my choice. I think family wards are very benefited when young single adults chose to stay. I had a calling as primary pianist. I think it just depends on what you're looking for and where you do your best learning. I have lots of family and friends who love their YSA ward and benefit greatly from meeting and serving with people their own age.
  2. "Artificial insemination of single sisters is not approved. Single sisters who deliberately refuse to follow the counsel of Church leaders in this matter are subject to Church discipline." Wow! There it is. When in doubt, check Handbook 2. Thanks, @zil.
  3. A single woman has so many options. There are so many people in this world who are in need of mothering. There are tons of career paths to take such as teaching, daycare, nursing, social work, etc., etc., etc. What is her job? There may be opportunities there to mother. If not, there are so many volunteer opportunities. She could look on justserve.org to find volunteer opportunities in her area.
  4. "Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity." --from The Family: A Proclamation to the World
  5. I would absolutely love that! And that's pretty much what i mean when i say i wish it wasn't so entrenched with the public school. Even thinking of my own experience in high school. It would have been wonderful to have early morning seminary and then get to take some more extra curricular classes. I don't know about other areas of Utah, but there is very little concession made here for alternative education styles. We are pretty much expected to gain intimate knowledge of the public school schedule, which is frankly quite asinine, and never fits in very well with the online school our kids go to. There is one early morning class across the two high schools in my area. They make it very clear to any who ask that that class is reserved for public schooled kids who need to take extra courses and cannot do released time. They do offer home study but only if you make it clear that there is no time your kid can possibly attend during one of their class periods. There is also an online class, but they don't even mention that option unless you've gone a while doing home study. The online class is awful.
  6. They did something similar back when I was in high school and they wanted things a little more aligned with what was happening in Sunday school. They had to offer a special class for the seniors so they wouldn’t miss out on the book they hadn’t done. So seniors were studying one thing while everyone else started on the new one that the seniors had already done. I have longed to see seminary less entrenched in the public school schedule, especially here in Utah. It is incredibly hard for homeschoolers and those who chose alternative education to find a good time for seminary for their kids here in my area. This seems like it may be a step in that direction. This is going to be quite the transition.
  7. I think you are right to want to get this resolved before marriage. Just based on what you’ve written here, I think the bigger issue (over finding a church you are both comfortable with) is that you are so committed to this and she, seemingly, is not. You need to sit down together and really communicate about this issue. Find out why she doesn’t seem to think this is important to figure out before marriage.
  8. I think that the baby will be fine if you use those second-hand items. My baby was born 5 weeks premature. He weighed only 5 pounds. Everything I have for him is second hand--clothes, crib, baby bathtub--everything. He has been just fine. He is 2 months old now and hasn't gotten sick once.
  9. This is how i reconcile it: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/love-and-law?lang=eng
  10. Thanks, @Sunday21. That was very informative. I just had to go find and watch all her narcissism videos as well. Very interesting stuff.
  11. I read it a couple months ago. It's fantastic!
  12. I am reminded of Moses and the Israelites. Weren’t they given the law of Moses which prescribes every little thing because they couldn’t live the higher law? In many ways it is so much easier to just be told what to do rather than trying to figure out what the Spirit is telling you. With these word of wisdom scenarios, though, I think it’s reversed, at least for me. As far as the transition from what it has been, scenarios 2 would be easier. It would just be business as normal since I have no desire to try such substances and in that scenario it doesn’t seem that I would have to. The first scenario would be harder to transition to with more common substances being restricted.
  13. Vort mentioned books on the subject and that reminded me of a book we read with our kids several years ago called Boyhood and Beyond: Practical Wisdom for Becoming a Man by Bob Schultz. It's geared toward kids and teens, so not hard reading, but it's really quite good if you're looking for more practical advice. The author is not a Latter-day Saint but is a Christian and writes in that context.
  14. This poem by Rudyard Kipling comes to mind. But I think Jesus Christ is the ultimate man. Study His life and become as much like Him as you can.
  15. Will the Church Ever Change Its Doctrine and Sanction Same-Sex Marriages? Central to God’s plan, the doctrine of marriage between a man and woman is an integral teaching of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and will not change: “As a doctrinal principle, based on the scriptures, the Church affirms that marriage between a man and a woman is essential to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. “Sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife. Any other sexual relations, including those between persons of the same gender, are sinful and undermine the divinely created institution of the family. The Church accordingly affirms defining marriage as the legal and lawful union between a man and a woman” (Handbook 2: Administering the Church, 21.4.10). Source: https://mormonandgay.lds.org/articles/frequently-asked-questions?lang=eng (it's the last question on the page, scroll down)
  16. Changed Through His Grace by Brad Wilcox. It's fantastic! Highly recommend.
  17. “When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.” – Ezra Taft Benson I find that when I am doing those little daily things—prayer, scripture study, repentance, service, etc.—that put God first in my life, then my burden is actually lighter. When we prioritize those things that matter most, the things that matter very little become of so much lesser importance. See Matthew 11:28-30.
  18. Read this article and thought of this thread: https://relevantmagazine.com/life5/you-never-marry-the-right-person/?fbclid=IwAR3ZnGVt34JE3OmhaxhKHhpC4kJFq-7IP4NyIZUrUHtUbWOCVmGi9jHrcr0
  19. I look forward to that. I remember reading The Communist Manifesto years ago. My take away was that it was very emotionally driven, not much actual logic.
  20. That's cool that you've finished it. Seems like I heard a lot of people talking about it when it first came out and saying how they are reading it. That seems to have died down in favor of President Nelson's challenge to read The Book of Mormon. Our stake president and ward Elder's Quorum president have issued that challenge to the men in our area, too. So perhaps many have set Saints aside as they plow through The Book of Mormon. I'm still plugging away at it. I'm on chapter 28.
  21. I read the first Divergent and thought it was okay, but pretty much had no desire to continue the series. Twilight holds no interest for me at all. I did read The Host. It was interesting...