SarahMaree

I'm glad you decided to go check out the meetinghouse! A few pieces of advice that I would give is to try to call over to confirm the meeting times- sometimes wards share buildings so the times are different. Dress "conservative Sunday best", so no tank tops or short skirts, or flip-flops! Guys usually wear slacks, a collared shirt, and a tie. Women usually wear dresses or long skirts. Babies aren't a problem in meetings, if they cry, you just take them out to the lobby until they calm down. If you're nervous about that just sit near a door or at the end of a row so you don't have to climb over your new friends to leave if you need to. If you plan to stay for all the meetings, introduce yourself to the bishop (he should be sitting up at the front if the meetinghouse is like mine) and ask him to point you in the right direction for the next meeting, or you can ask someone around you. One last piece of advice that seems to be helpful to first-timers- you don't applaud after anything, even if it's a musical performance. It's not rude, it's just keeping the reverence and the Spirit. I learned to give this advice after we brought a friend to church and she clapped one single clap before realizing nobody else was doing it, and she was mortified! If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask, and good luck! Let us know how it goes!

I used to think that it was totally fine to do that, but I work as an RA and we're actually not allowed to show a movie as a program without getting written permission from whoever owns the license for the movie, and usually we have to pay some kind of fee (it's cheaper for older movies). This is even for a free program! So who knows! And just to clarify about my earlier comment- I do believe that downloading music is wrong and I don't do it, but I wanted to throw those other concerns in there as well!

Shanstress- thanks for the site tip! I've bought several songs now this afternoon (instead of studying, oops) that I've been wanting for a while! At college I know the music downloading is pretty rampant, especially because we're behind the university's firewall, and because all the on-campus housing has high-speed internet. The campus computer office does monitor large file transfers though, and my roommate has gotten a couple of phone calls about specific songs that they've seen go through! A lot of people here aren't too concerned about getting sued by the record industry- the big concern here is getting viruses and spyware from the free music download sites...that alone was enough for me to avoid those sites- I have way too much valuable stuff on my computer to risk losing my hard drive for the sake of a couple of free songs! People are a little more hesitant I think about downloading movies off the internet- I know of some people that do it, but I think people assume it's a lot easier to get caught downloading a whole movie vs. one song!

I think for my knowledge one we went to a local pottery place and they taught us how to use the potter's wheel, and we were eventually able to make a bowl. Anything you can do to learn a new skill- it doesn't always take a whole long time but it's always fun to learn!

I think that as long as it isn't the person's intention to show other teachers up, this should never be a worry. Why should people always use the standard lessons and ideas just to avoid making other people feel mediocre, when in truth they are (which may not always be a bad thing)? I admit that sometimes I get jealous or feel like I'm slacking when other people come up with awesome ideas, but I know that I can use their standards as an opportunity to push my creativity and ability to "think outside of the box". Doing so doesn't necessarily mean spending more time and money, it's just a matter of coming up with fresh ideas and trying new things. Plus, people are much more likely to participate in and remember a lesson that they haven't experienced several times before.

What were your experiences there?

Hey Y'all...I just found out that my brother will be going to Iraq in September, and that got me wondering what y'all think of the war. Do you support it? Do you think we're making a difference? Any other thoughts? Thanks for your opinions!

I'd like to thank Heather for addressing this ... Setheus I know you think it's harmless flirting, but you have no idea how disheartening it is as a woman to try to be involved and make friends, only to have your first PM on the site being someone hitting on you and making comments about your body. ESPECIALLY on a site like this, where you come to try to further your spiritual growth.

Snow, the intention of your post may have been to bring up the fact that there are several splintered sect of the LDS church but my post in making the list from wikipedia was to show SarahMaree that not only are there the Strangites but a host of other groups who claim to be affiliated with some type of Latter Day Saint theology or idea. SarahMaree was quite surprised that the Strangites existed, I'm sure she would be even surprised to see the other sects. The one sect I find quite interesting is the Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. For me, melding Pentecostal influences with LDS influences is bewildering. Both sects have such different styles that to put them both together is very strange, IMO. M. ← Maureen- I appreciate the information. I wasn't surprised that they existed- I've always known that there were different sects, just like with many other churches. I was just surprised I had never heard of him, which is probably due to my deficiency in church history knowledge

Hey y'all- I started reading this book called "The King of Beaver Island" and it's about this guy James Strang. He claimed to be the next prophet following Joseph Smith's assassination, and he had this whole competition going with Brigham Young. He formed a new "Zion" on some island in Wisconsin and had a whole bunch of followers while everyone else was heading west, and he basically formed like a royalty system where he was king. Has anyone ever heard of him before? My friend said that we never talk about false prophets, but he just seemed like he was such a big deal that I'm surprised I've never heard of him before. I think that it's beneficial to study people like this in church history, because you can see just how they influence people to follow them. Do y'all think that it's better to just never mention them?

I just hope that I never have her doctors for anything- they sure seem scalpel-happy!!