Daughter_of_Helaman2709

Thank you all for your caring replies. I am currently a nursery leader, and am finding that the quiet children love to curl up with me and hide behind my skirts (which just makes me giggle) and that I have a certain knack for calming the crying ones. Apparently, I have more of the "mom gene" than I thought, haha. ;-D Kate

Hello! I know I haven't posted in awhile, and for that, I am sorry. Many of you know that I am a convert, and I am taking steps to enter the temple next month, and to marry within the next year, also in the temple. My question is this: What is the official Church stance on birth control within marriage? I have always thought that children were not a responsibility to be taken lightly, and that starting a family should come after much prayer and preparation... but what if you never feel prepared? I, for one, am terrified that I will be an awful mother, that my children will hate me, et cetera, based mostly upon my fear and lack of experience with children. I believe, though, that it is my responsibility to bring Heavenly Father's children to this earth... as many of them as I and my husband can responsibly care for. I don't want to do anything that would compromise my baptismal covenants, or the covenants I am about to make in the temple. If my ideas are not in line with Church teaching, then I intend on praying and fasting for conversion. Please help. Kate

I like to think I'm huggable...

I will be teaching the D&C/Church History class to the 8-11 year-olds! I'm really excited! Thanks for all the helpful replies!

Hi, all! Yesterday, I was offered a new calling, which I accepted. I will be teaching a Primary class! Now, the reason that this is such a stretch for me is that when I was younger, it was very difficult to relate to children my age (I've always been very serious!) and as far as relating to kids now... well, it's still really difficult. However, I know some things that comfort me: I know that callings are foreordained and that Heavenly Father has a plan for me. I know that, judging from my past calling, I will eventually feel comfortable in this capacity as well. Also, something's gotta help prepare me for motherhood, right??? hahaha... I'm very honored to have received this calling, and I think a lot of my trepidation comes from the fact that it's a much bigger responsibility than the one I had previously... Time will tell! Blessings, Kate

Okay, so some things were cleared up for me today. Celestially speaking, I have no problem with plural marriage, but one must acknowledge that in this imperfect world, unless divinely dictated (which it is not at this time) it doesn't work all that well. Can we agree on that, at least? Kate

There is a reason that polygamy doesn't work, and I want you men to consider this: Do you REALLY want to deal with more than one wife PMS-ing and taking it out on you and each other??? Really??? I know some men like the idea of catfights, but I think that would get really old really fast. There is also the issue of jealousy. Women are jealous creatures. Again, while some men might relish the thought of two or more women fighting over them, it would get old. The sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman was established in the Garden of Eden. In Exodus, when Moses was explaining the 10 Commandments, there was no mention made of plural marriage; it had become something practiced by the heathens, with whom the Jews were not to associate... even though they did eventually. Every New Testament gospel speaks of the relationship between husbands and wives, and further outlines the Commandments, prohibiting divorce and further condemning adultery. Paul's letters further outline the marriage relationship. Again, no mention of plural marriage. In the book of Jacob, it is called a "whoredom." Granted, I also know the loophole that that same book (Jacob) presents. If the Lord reveals that polygamy is necessary for the promulgation of His Church, then okie dokie. However, Wilford Woodruff revealed in 1890 that polygamy was no longer necessary to further the efforts of the Church. And, in its earliest and purest form, men had to be called of God by the Prophet himself to participate in plural marriage. How then, can anyone say that they are called to practice plural marriage? People are excommunicated for that now.... why would anyone want to risk being cut off from the true Church and all its blessings for a lifetime of heartache having to provide physically, emotionally and spiritually for more than one woman? IF you pick the right one, guys, one is definitely enough, and probably at times, more than you can handle. ;-D Kate

Hi everyone, and thanks for your replies! I've had an absolutely atrocious week, and have been so busy that I haven't had time to sit down and respond. I agree with all of you. My bishop had lunch with me the other day and said "I would never tell you what to do, but I think you really need to be married in the temple." I get it. I'm still dealing with the guilt issue, but once I can get beyond that, consider me single. I know now not only what I want, but also what I need. I know the kind of person I want to become, and the kind of spouse who will help me in that journey. All of you are right in saying that I should leave. Thank you for your honesty. Kate

Hi, everyone! I am in the midst of a difficult situation. I am a recent convert, and my fiancee does not believe in the Church. He has agreed to marry me in the Church, but obviously we cannot be sealed. He is terminally ill with muscular dystrophy and does not want children, but is willing to try if that is what will make me happy. We were so close to breaking up last night, but that man is better at emotinal blackmail than any man I have ever met. I wish we could fix this, but I don't know if there is any way to do that. I hate leaving him because it seems as though I'm telling him that he's not good enough for me, and that's not true. He has a testimony of eternal marriage, he just does not feel as though temple ordinances are necessary. I don't know what to do anymore. I hate that I'm such a pushover, but I am so softhearted that it's a detriment. Please help. Kate

So here I am. A Latter-Day Saint. A Mormon, if you will. If you would have told me two years ago that I would someday abandon my Catholic faith and join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I would have laughed in your face, and then probably kicked you out of my house. Alas, it's true. It's all true. The Book of Mormon, the Church, Joseph Smith, the Prophet Thomas Monson... and here I am, shaking my head as I prepare another casserole for another Relief Society Enrichment meeting. Me, a modern day Molly Mormon. What??? Really???? Yes, really. The Book of Mormon has become so dear to me that I want to share it with everyone. If, however, you do not find it to be true, please don't tell me, because I will cry. You don't want to see me cry, so pray about it, please! If I have to go home for a weekend and miss Sacrament meeting, my whole week is wrecked. I treat the missionaries like sons, except for the one who was much closer to my age, with whom I managed to fall in love. (We're best friends now, much easier, since he's 2000 miles away and I'm taken already!) I hate transfers. They make me cry. I have discovered a latent desire to want to be a domestic goddess. I love to bake and can, and I'm sure I would love to sew if I could thread the dang fetching needle! Blah. I want to have at least three children, preferably six. My boyfriend, however, does not want children, so this may be difficult. However, owing to the nature of his disease (Duchenne muscular dystrophy) I can understand his reluctance. It doesn't make me any less frustrated, however, when he says he doesn't want to adopt, either. To make a long story short(er), I was baptized on the seventh of February, comfirmed on the eighth, and received my first calling a week later. I am so happy!!! I have finally found a family to whom I truly belong. Blessings, Kate

Hello! I am a 27-year-old convert from the Catholic faith. I was born and raised Catholic, and, like you, waited a very long time to be confirmed in that church. It was not so much that I didn't feel a part of it, but more that I felt guilty about every thing I did. I felt that God was sitting up in Heaven with a chalkboard, making a tick mark for every infraction that went against the Catechism. I met with the missionaries as a favor to a friend of mine. I thought for sure that I would leave them laughing. Two hours later, I knew that I had found the truth. I wasn't laughing. I was crying, scared to death to tell my fiancee that I had finally found what I had been searching for in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He didn't take it well. That was in October, and it seemed as though we fought clear up until the week before my baptism. I was baptized on February 7th, and by then, he was very happy for me, though he doesn't agree with everything I believe. Don't give up hope! Keep strengthening your testimony, and your husband will come to see that this is the place for you! Blessings, Kate