Maureen

So on Sunday, I had a big honkin' heart attack, complete with ambulance ride and stent.  I got home yesterday - 2 nights in a hospital after heart surgery is still hard to believe, but here I am.  Absolutely no prior warning that this was headed my way - none of the high risk factors applied.  Well, yay me, I'm now a statistic.  Fun things:
- Complacency can be fatal.  If you find yourself clutching your chest, don't give in to the desire to say "I must have done something to my shoulder" or "weird heart burn".  Everyone is telling me the best thing that happened that day were those 4 baby aspirin in the first 30 minutes.   Lots of stories of "that guy" who did nothing for 6 hours, or until it happened again.
- Emergency responders appreciate good-natured humor, as it gives them an understanding as to the patient's consciousness/alertness.  Everyone appreciates the opportunity to see fire fighters taking crap because they're not cops, they're not EMT's, and nobody is on fire, so why are they even here?  I did what I could to make it a fun call, and all the responders seemed to have a good time. Firemen have thick skins, it rolls off them easy.
- Few things were more comforting than my neighbor showing up and saying "ya know, there are better ways to get attention", then giving me a blessing before they hauled me off.
- Dang, medical science is cool.  Stent placement in like 5 minutes - and they had my family watching the big full color live-action monitors showing the lack of blood flow, then the stent, then everything getting better. 
- ICU experience vs regular hospital: ICU gave me like a dozen different meds at different times.  "Hmm - the patient seems to have a slightly irregular eye blinking pattern.  I proscribe Iblinketol, and if it's still happening tomorrow, we'll start a regimen of Holycrapitol XR administered via IV".  Moving to a regular room and everyone was like "Huh - they list you as a high fall risk but you look ok.  Go take a shower and grab the call rope on your way down if there's a problem lol."  The regular nurses are probably still rolling their eyes and cancelling ICU orders.  No, I don't need a nose moisturizing cream because they gave me oxygen.  
- By far, the scariest part of the whole thing, is the prospect of a no-meat diet.  But the more I read, the less that seems likely.  I can handle steamed veggies and learning to love bananas, as long as meat stays on the menu.  My fast-food double-bacon-cheeseburger days are now over.  It's not a tragedy, I'm just retiring at the top of my game after a successful and enviable eating career of all-you-can-eat pizza buffets and BBQ ribs.  Grilled fish is the new black.
- Two types of people in my situation - those who make the necessary changes, and those who don't.  I know which type I'm gonna be.
Happy to still be here!

You're really going to get upset about this?
I could care less.

https://lutheransatire.org/media/st-patricks-bad-analogies/
M.

If I could only have member friends I wouldn't have very many. It's not difficult, you find individuals with similar interests who are good people. Heck my best friend is a fundamentalist Baptist minister, he's hardcore trust me, and we get along great. As long as you mutually respect one another, and don't try to befriend people for the sole sake of conversion you'll be fine and you'll have lots of opportunities to share your beliefs. 

My wife had a friend.  One day she found out we were Mormon, and she actually ducked her head and took some steps backwards as if she expected us to attack her or something.  My wife didn't know what to make of it.  Anyway, friend also did petsitting and was taking care of our dogs.  When we got back, friend was very nervous - apparently one of our dogs had gotten out and run around the neighborhood for a few hours, before finally getting caught.  Friend was worried we'd be mad.  My wife got a very serious look on her face, and said "Well, I'm glad you caught her, because it's against our religion for you to lose our dog."  The friend looked sad and anxious for a full three seconds - then it finally dawned on her and she finally laughed and relaxed. 

I will only attend if the new president can't make it, and I have permission.  Hanging over someone else is not a good way to show that you have faith in their abilities. The Lord chooses those who are needed at a particular time for a particular reason.
  The new president will be WAYYY better than I am.  The girls run the program and are amazing.  
 
Back to Grief Society for me....... It was hard enough being in adult Sunday School after being released from primary.  My place is NOT with the adults in the ward!!!
So I plan on moving to my new ward, figuring out who the primary president is and being UBER friendly/helpful until someone gets the hint!!!  

A couple of unrelated thoughts:
1) A lot of the discussion has been about what exactly Pres. Ballard meant by this early invite. As many have noted, the official missionary publications and instructions and training have long included/expected a baptismal invitation within the first few lessons. From my time in the early '90s, an "optimal" timeline would be first contact -> schedule two lessons per week and baptismal invite is before the end of the 2nd lesson (first contact to baptism invite ~1 week) -> continue 2 lessons per week until 6 are completed and the investigator attends church at least once and so on (first contact to end of lessons ~3 weeks) -> baptism shortly after lesson 6 (first contact to baptism 3-4 weeks). I cannot say how many people I talked to were really ready for the baptismal invite after the 2nd lesson. Some that I judged were ready really weren't, and some that I judged not ready were. Is this the kind of practice Pres. Ballard is talking about in this talk, or is he talking about some of the other rumored scenarios ("come join our baseball team. If you want to join our baseball team, we have this initiation where we dunk you in a swimming pool, then you will be an official member of the team").
Perhaps Pres. Ballard is being intentionally vague, so that someone doesn't get the idea that a certain minimum time needs to pass. Pres. Ballard says that he wants the person to learn something about our faith and feel the Spirit before being extended the invite. Those kinds of things may happen very quickly (hours or days), and others need longer (cue Eeyore, "Days, Weeks, Months...who knows?"). Perhaps it is not about a calendar based time frame, but an event based time frame that we should be considering. The difficulty from the missionary's perspective is judging when those events have occurred.
2) Some have mentioned the scriptural examples where the only real requirement is a commitment to follow Jesus Christ. In many ways, I will agree that this can be the only requirement for baptism. However, Pres. Ballard specifically also mentions the idea of "retention". Reading between the lines, I think Pres. Ballard is looking for something more than just a commitment to follow the Savior. I think he is looking for a commitment to follow the Savior and actively participate in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Perhaps someone like PrisonChaplain might be better able to comment, but I see two very different commitments there. Are we content with baptizing people who are committed to the Savior but not committed to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? If we expect a commitment to the Church as well as the Savior, should we raise the bar a little bit on what happens before inviting to baptism?

I didn't want to start a new thread so I'm putting this story here.
Yesterday I was watching the Wimbledon Men's Doubles game. It was between France and Columbia. I was cheering for Columbia because one of the French players had already won 4 Grand Slams so it was the other mens' turn. Early in the game the French player Mahut got hit with the ball just above his eye. Play was stopped for about 10 minutes so he could be looked after. He was fine and play went on. In the 5th set the same player gets hit again, this time in the collarbone and then the very next play he gets hit again, but this time in the groin. I know it's not nice but I couldn't help myself I started to laugh and the first thing that came to my mind was Scott Sterling from Studio C. It was just so crazy that this same player got hit with the ball 3 times during the match.
M.

Dear Folks,
I was trying to get into the ward directory to send a chirpy thank you to a helpful sister (admit you have done this! It’s not just Canadians!). I could not get into the ward directory. Is anyone else having this proble?
But the new changes to the site are amazing!
So well laid out! The graphics! And the messages that pop up really are poignant!
Maybe I could send a chirpy ‘thank you’ to the site developers? What talent! @NeuroTypical and @zil probably work there! 
 

I agree forgiveness is a huge part. But in my opinion forgiveness is useless if neither of you are communicating. you have to be talking through the situations that could cause the need for forgiveness. Forgiveness is useless if there is no trust and trust is build on communicating. 

Church picnic tomorrow!  Hope that it does not rain!

It's not typical but it happens. On my mission we had a couple instances where we'd have that many over for a member dinner or if we needed district or zone leaders over for a baptism interview. It's possible that the local companship didn't feel safe, and had several other sets over for that reason. If that's the case they probabbly shouldn't have gone over, but hindsight is 20/20. I'm just so glad no one was hurt.

Google "Toddler activities in 'your city'". I would hope that doing a google search should give you some ideas.
Most libraries have toddler activities. Can you go to a play ground or water park?
M.

So, as @Mores has stated - your kid is not your WHOLE life.  Your kid is PART of your life - a VERY IMPORTANT part.  Your kid is not the center of your orbit that you revolve around.  Rather, you and your kid are parts of a whole revolving around The-Gospel-Centered-Home which is the center of your orbit.
So, here's an example of a Lawyer who quit law to stay home with his kids.  He is COMPLETELY FASCINATED by figuring out how his kids' minds work!  This learning is just as fascinating - if not more so - than going to school for another legal training.  But you have to stop looking at your kid as a CHORE.
 

I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying you have no interest in taking your son to places where he can do activities with other children? Are you even interested in your own son, his personality, how he's changing and learning?
M.

Why does she wear glasses?
Optics.

I think more details are warranted.
Adherence to the proscriptions of the Word of Wisdom was not made a requirement for entry into LDS Church temples until 1902. However, even then, church president Joseph F. Smith encouraged stake presidents to be liberal with old men who used tobacco and old ladies who drank tea.[40] Of those who violated the revelation, it was mainly habitual drunkards that were excluded from the temple.[40] Around the turn of the century, the proscriptions of the Word of Wisdom were not strictly adhered to by such notable church leaders. Anthon H. Lund, a First Counselor in the First Presidency, drank beer and wine; apostle Matthias F. Cowley drank beer and wine; Charles W. Penrose, who also served as a First Counselor in the First Presidency, drank wine; Relief Society general president Emmeline B. Wells drank coffee; and church president George Albert Smith drank brandy for medicinal purposes.[40] In 1921, church president Heber J. Grant made adherence to the proscriptions of the Word of Wisdom an absolute requirement for entering the temple.[40]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_Wisdom#Standards_of_adherence
Footnote 40:
After the inauguration of Heber J. Grant's administration in 1918, however, the advice became less flexible. In 1921, church leadership made adherence to the Word of Wisdom a requirement for admission to the temple. Before this stake presidents and bishops had been encouraged to in this matter, but exceptions had been made. Apparently under this new emphasis, in March, 1921, George F. Richards, both as apostle and president of the Salt Lake Temple, phoned two Salt Lake City bishops about two tobacco users who had come to the temple and told the bishops "to try to clean them up before they come here again."15
http://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V14N03_80.pdf
M.
 

So here's the last movies I watched since Endgame:
Little - This was hilarious.  It's like Big - except becoming Little instead of Big.  Several places make you go... uhm... how did the office people not see anything wrong with this picture... but, if you just don't think about it too deeply, it's good fun.
The Intruder - I don't like scary movies but my husband begged me to go see this one.  It wasn't really scary but more like creepy.  I wasn't able to watch A Dog's Journey because I couldn't get over the creepiness of Dennis Quaid's freaky smile from this movie!
The Hustle - haven't seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels so a lot of the things that my husband liked about the movie, I didn't get.  This was kinda boring to me.  Hathaway is a great actress but I think she overacted this one.
Tolkien - good movie about the life of the writer.  But this is really not about the life of Tolkien - which is kinda why I left the theater disappointed because I was expecting a biopic of Tolkien.  This movie is really about The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and how some of Tolkien's life experiences influenced the world of Middle Earth.  So, people who, in the whole scheme of things of the entirety of the life of Tolkien seems just a footnote became much bigger in this story because they have an influence on Middle Earth.  So, I guess if you go into the movie understanding that's what you're getting and not "the life of Tolkien", then you'll enjoy it much more.
Detective Pikachu - this was a bit too kiddy for me and my only exposure to Pokemon is accompanying my nephew to trade his cards and ended up paying $55 on a piece of cardboard named Charizard so I didn't enjoy it as much as the 2 young girls seated next to me who oooh'd and aaaah'd and giggled with glee when some other pokemon they know passes by on screen or does some power something that they know.  The story was good, though, with a twist in the end that I didn't expect.  Ryan Reynolds is his funny Deadpool self without the crass jokes.
John Wick 3 - I'm a die-hard John Wick fan.  John Wick can't do wrong, in my opinion.  John Wick is bloody and this 3rd chapter is no exception.  Let's see... they didn't have pencil-fu in this chapter but they had book-fu and dog-fu and horse-fu.  Halle Berry was super awesome in this movie too.  I really liked all her fu scenes and so I'm gonna back to the theater and watch this again and again just to see those scenes a few more times.
 

You seem to be taking a very hard stance on this topic, what about victims of rape or incest? What if the life of the mother is in danger? Would you ball these people up in your list of murderers and murderesses?
1 in 4 seems rather high and as pointed out in prior posts takes into account stillborns, non elective abortions etc. 

There are days that I am not sure I belive humanity is worth saving.

Molly's Game
This was a very fascinating movie.  Okay, so Idris Elba is one of my fave actors so that has a lot to do with it.  But Molly's story (at least the movie portrayal) is very fascinating.  My dad is like Molly's dad in the way he pushes his kids to excel.  I come home with a 99% mid-terms test grade, he looks at me and says, why is this not 100%?  So Molly says in the movie - "how many Olympic athletes have demanding parents?  All of them."  Molly ranked 3rd in the North American Skiing Competition and got injured while qualifying for the Olympics on a statistical anomaly of a frozen twig hitting the release button on her ski boot.  She's a high-achieving student who took calculus in sophomore year.  Yet she's the low achiever among her siblings with one sibling taking calculus at age 12 and becoming a surgeon while the other have 11 Gold Medals in the Ski World Cup and is playing with the Eagles in the NFL. 
In the movie, she equates herself to Mack Robinson, who spent his life as a janitor, and who, in the 1936 Olympics broke the Olympic track record by a wide margin only to place 2nd to Jesse Owens by 0.4 of a second.  His younger brother, Jackie Robinson, broke the racial glass ceiling and got inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  So Molly decided she's going to win.  The what and where are just details.  She ended up making millions running underground poker.
Anyway, it's a PG13 movie with bad language.  The movie is all talk talk talk and they talk super duper fast using big words so I had to turn on the closed caption. 

Full of sh*@ is what he meant, his post comes off as very angry and judgmental. not something I would have expected on a forum for latter day saints.

Gotta admit. I'm struggling to see the Friends of Scouting and Boy Scouts connection here.

If the Church gave tattoos a green light, I would get this entire thing tattooed on my forehead. (It’d have to be really small print, but... #worthit)
I also find it interesting when people assign motives to an author’s writing. I say a lot of prayers — a lot — before I write anything. I seek to know what Heavenly Father would like me to say. But no matter what I write, it makes someone mad, and that’s fine. I’ve had to learn to not let it hurt my feelings. And while I certainly make mistakes, it does disappoint me when people who say I’M looking to be offended seem to be looking to find offense themselves. They come out, guns blazing, ready to attack one piece of an article without reading the entire thing and trying to get a sense of the message it conveys.
So thanks for understanding that I was trying to bring awareness to a sensitive issue and say, “Hey, even though you’re not trying to hurt someone by asking this question, it can cause pain. Just wanted you to know because I know you’re trying to help others and this is how you can do so.” It’s not meant to be an attack on anyone; instead, it’s supposed to help us all be more sensitive to others stations in life and to live in more harmony.
Basically I’m trying to say that you are a gem, MormonGator. A scaly, green gem. 💚

TFP, I know you mean well here but... you're being extremely incentive to the very real and painful issues a couple may be going through.  When someone is hurting (or might be hurting), don't poke the wound.  And definetely don't poke the wound and then blame the hurt person for feeling pain when you do so.  People don't always want to disclose their reproductive history (and/or pain) for others.  For months I didn't remotely want to talk about all the stuff I was going through because frankly it REALLY hurt.  It was a topic that just opening up about would result in me completely breaking down-- reopening barely bandaged wounds to bleed all over again.  That's not something I owed to a random person.