Melissa569

I believe they can follow you too. Of course, lots of people seem to think they are confined to a certain place... I don't think that's true. I do however think they might prefer a certain place most of the time, just like we humans do (home, our favorite hang-out, etc.). Maybe they might have lived there, died there, spent a lot of time there... Or the people there are easy to manipulate so a spirit feels more powerful there. I've also heard that there are certain places that can serve as sort of a gateway, and are high in spiritual traffice, so to speak...

Yeah, that's what I was asking about, the training. It says on one of those pages/links I posted, that they can help you get the training, if its needed.

Ahh, thank you :)

mirancs8-- Sounds like you do have a lot of experience! Of course, if I knew then what I know now, I never would have touched that thing. My grandmother's house does have some history. So does her city-- its kind of an old town for Califirnia (Benicia, founded in 1847). It was once the capitol of California, but later that was changed to Sacramento. Its also right where the infamous Zodiac killer committed some of his crimes, near a Benicia water pumping station on Lake Herman Road (I drive down that road at least once a week, lol)... Another serial killer also prowled the area. One day, he walked into the Benicia police department, and laid part of a woman's chest on the receptionists desk, turning himself in. It just seems that town can't get out from under these things... Other accounts include the Mills College campus, known as the "Young Ladies Seminary". Young women there were in preperation to lead lives of religious service, but it was closed down after the bodies of a few dozen human infants were discovered burried on the grounds (nobody knows why, some say a secret cult, some say it was a descreet place for unwed mothers to sit out their pregnancy and....). A Safeway shopping center now sits there. There are also several century + old mansions around Benicia, and its quite a tourist attraction. Several of these mansions had to have exorcisms performed on them (hauntings are extremely common in that town). My grandma's house was the first house built on her street. She bought it 40 years ago, but it was there long before that. The people she bought it from had a daughter (a 5 year old girl). They were selling the house because their little girl was playing on the stairs... She fell, broke her neck and died. According to them, their daughter would constantly play on the stairs "talking to someone who wasn't there". They couldn't stand the memories, so they sold it and grandma got a very low price on it. But even today, there are still some of that little girl's toys up in the attic; the door to it is just a little square cut out of the ceiling in the closet of the back bedroom, upstairs. No way to get up in there really, and most adults have a hard time fitting in that space, or even getting up to it without a latter. As kids, we would use a kitchen chair and give each other a boost to climb up there and crawl around with flash lights. Just dark, with cobwebs and a few old toys laying around (REALLY old...). My grandma's never been up there, niether have any maintanance men. Not even any adults at all, I don't think. I know that the parents of the little girl weren't the first owners either... I don't know what the history was before them. The stairs were those windy stairs with the spaces in between, and the metal rail. I remember them, they were still that way until I was 6. But since then, she has torn those down, and re-built the stair case, like regular ones. They go up half a flight, turn left and go the rest of the way. She's done tons of renovations, installed a pool and hot tub out back, built extra bedroom off the side of the house, etc. I've heard that can arouse things, but there were still problems long before that.

Uh oh! Those big shirts/tight pants combos, crazy unmatching prints, poofy-pant body suits, tight leather mini skirts... The worst of the late 80's and early 90's are back! lol

Well, if I were not capable of feeling guilt, I might say, "Hey, she cared more about herself than she did about you, and its still the same to this day. So why should you care about her? If the money is tempting, the news channels, tabloids, etc. are probably willing to pay more than your mother is for this story... As a world-wide information source, they are probably wealthier than just one actress, and these days, everyone is desperate for a juicy scoop." But then the holy spirit tells me, "Ok, 1--Two wrongs don't make a right. 2--The love of money is the root of all evil. 3--You don't get anywhere with God by stooping to low levels." And as for taking the money to stay quiet... I don't know if its imoral, because regardless, you're not going to have a relationship with her. And its not like you would be hurting her if you did it. But the thing that would bother me more than any amount of money, or moral issues, is that I might feel very insulted by it all... She will pay me not to tell anyone I'm her kid?? You're not the one with the morality problem, dear. SHE is. You're being offered this money in the first place, because somewhere along the line, she gave her body to someone she wasn't married to, and instead of comming clean about it and raising/loving you herself, she gave you up under the table and is now rejecting you. Another option is, you could just refuse to sign the contract, AND refuse the money. Let her sweat it out for several years, wondering if you're ever gonna say anything. Another thing to consider is, what if (heaven forbid) she ever passes away? Don't you think you have a right to inherit something from your biological mother? Contest the will? Don't you and your wife and kids deserve that after everything you have been through in life? Now, again, that's the angry side of me talking. But still, many of these things are worth considering. The religious side of me says "Just walk away". Don't sign the paper (the money will run out eventually, and you may regret doing it later), don't take the money, and don't do anything out of vindictiveness. Just let all the stones of life drop where they may, naturally, without any help from you. That way, you will never have anything to feel confused or guilty about. You can't feel guilty about not signing the paper or destroying her reputation, if you never say anything to anyone. And if you can't stay quiet without the money, you won't be able to stay quiet with it either (because again, it will run out some day). Either way, in the end, you're going to end up having to be quiet, without any money. Why mess with your sense of self respect?

Wow, I didn't even know all this was a possibility. Can't wait until next sunday, so I can ask about it all :) Question: Stake? What's that? Been out of swing for several years, lol

Hmmm, I will have to do that! Having recently returned, I didn't know we had those :)

Ok, so my situation is that I am currently unemployed, and I really think I need to get into office work as soon as possible. I was wondering if there was any way the church might be able to help. I have a really fussy gallbladder (but I fall between the cracks on insurance, so can’t get it removed). It causes back pain on the right side when it acts up. But not constantly, usually after standing too long, and/or a while of physical strain. I also have scoliosis (a sort of lop-sided spine), you can’t tell by looking at me, but X-rays show a slightly abnormal lean to the side. Both of these have kept me from being able to work the labor jobs (like food service, and jobs where I’m doing heavy lifting, or not allowed to sit down for several hours). I've done them for a short time, but I would eventually have to quit, because the pain was slowing me down significantly, and my bosses would get angry. Basically, after about 20 minutes of standing, lifting, etc., it REALLY starts to hurt. So bad, I frequently have to sneak off to the bathroom, and lay on the floor, and I often cry when it gets really bad. I’ve tried pain killers, they don’t work. But I’m really good on the computer, so working with one, and running a few errands here and there wouldnt be a problem. So that’s why I really want to get into office work, because I don’t want to stay unemployed, or depend on someone else (I hate that). I also don't want to just stay home and collect dissability (for one, they don't pay enough to live on, and two, its almost impossible to get, especially when you're young). I’m not sure if I can go to the local community college for training, because we don’t really have extra tuition money, and I don’t qualify for the grants. Problem is, most office jobs (especially in this bad economy) require either experience, training, or both. And I don't have any. I was looking on the LDS main website, and I found the following pages: Career Rehab: Individualized Vocational Assessment Process Career Training: Who Does Deseret Industries Help? So I was wondering, has anyone ever gone through these routes to get career training? Can the church help you get training, if you can’t afford it? I’m just looking for a way out of this impossible rut, lol.

The truth is, there are all different kinds of people in just about every faith. Teens and pre-teens will find a way to be exactly what the are, no matter what religion it is. They behave a little better in church usually, but they're just like everyone else at home and in school, I find. I'll be the first to admit that educating teens and young adults about what happens when you are careless is smart. But I don't think there is a way to stop them from comming together and discovering certain realities about the other gender. You just have to hope you raised them right, and trust them I've heard talk about LDS people being really strict about interacting with the oposite gender, but really, I think that's just some families, in some areas. Because its been my experience that most of us not only talk about sex much like everyone else, but we get close and even physical with the other gender, even if its just goofing around. Doesn't mean we have sex before marriage (although I know many LDS members who do), but most of us do at least discuss it, especially with someone we are dating or engaged to. As an example of how we have our crazy moments too-- when I was a little kid, there was a boy in our LDS ward who would run up to the girls, kiss them, and run away. He'd pretty much gotten all of us at some point. We called him "smoochie". We'd see him comming, and cover our mouthes. Then when I was 12, on a wednesday, we had a scouts/beehives (young men's, young womens) activity night at the church. They made the boys clean the kitchen, while the girls made plaster casts of each other's faces, to paint later. It was casual dress. At one point, some of the boys started chasing us, snapping us in personal areas with kitchen rags. Then 2 boys trapped me in one of those "london bridge is falling down"- type holds while a third boy tried to ring a rag out over my head, but the other girls came and pulled me free. Another time, I was visiting my aunt and uncle, hanging out with my cousins (also members) and the son of the most active family in the ward (the same boy who tried to wring the rag out on my head) was sleeping over. We were all joking around, clowning each other. Suddenly, that boy stepped in front of me and "showed it all"! Then said something pretty crude. Later on, he sat on me, so I pinched him in the ribs, pushed him off. When he landed on the floor, I sat on him as payback (more like got a running start and crash-landed on him). Of course, we were only 12 and he later became a missionary, so I'm sure he did a lot of growing up (or at least I hope, lol). I wasn't active after 12, but I'm sure if I had been, I'd have plenty of other stories like that. Point is, we can be just as wacky as the next person. As males and females, we rough-house, goof off and interact with each other too. And again, the subject of sex does come up.

That's possible, but if that's the case, I do believe in evil spirits and I'm also inclined to think that such a spirit might take advantage of someone in that state of sleep, and try to scare them or something.

FunkyTown-- He sees another driver cut in front of an elderly pedestrian at an intersection, so he tails them and rear-ends them at the next stop. Then in court, he's placed in contempt for arguing with the judge, in defense of his actions. Strikes me as good guy, even if it costs him :)

yeah, I've heard that too about being able to chase the spirits off ourselves. Never tried it on a household level, only on a personal one, and it worked. I don't know if you've experiences this, but my father and I have, and I've heard many, many other people describe the same exact thing, so it must be legit-- Ever been laying in your bed at night, and it feels like something dark and heavy is hovering over you? Like it pins you down to the bed, you can't move, you can't breathe, you can't scream... And it feels like its trying to get inside you or something? My dad and I call that a "demon attack". I had my first one when I was 6. We had just moved to germany (U.S. military family). We had to live one year in a German house/neighborhood. During the time in that house, there were a lot of problems with demon attacks (just me and my dad, for some odd reason). Again, as I said in the above story, my dad is very religious and went to bible college. I was a Daddy's girl, so he and I were very close. I of course wasn't baptized yet. One night, I had a demon attack-- I looked up and saw it, it came over to me and sat at the foot of my bed. At first I was able to move, so I tried to recoil. Then it grabbed my ankle, and glared at me-- when it touched me, I was practically mute and paralyzed. It was a dark figure, and the face was pale with black and red eyes (black around the outside, red where the color should be). There was nothing good in those eyes, they were pure evil, it seemed. It just starred me down, and very slowly leaned over me, inching its way closer to my face. I was terrified! I shut my eyes tight, for a second, then opened them-- it was still there, and even closer! So I closed them, and didn't open them for several minutes. When I looked again, it was gone. I could finally move and talk. So I jumped out of bed and ran into my parents room. I woke my dad up and told him what happened. He explained what it was. Then he took me downstairs to the livingroom, turned on the lights and sat up with me for a while.. He said "I know its scary when that happens, but you can't let them have power over you. You have to be brave, even if you don't really feel brave. They have no right to be there, if you don't want them there. You can tell them to go away. Close your eyes if it makes you less afraid, but say over and over "In the name of Jesus Christ, I comand you to leave". If you can't say it, then think it. Or you can say "thank you god, thank you Jesus" over again in your mind, for allowing you to see that spirits and the afterlife are real. Because if there are demons, there are angels and god too. But a demon doesn't want to stay around, if you are praying." So next time it happened, I did what my dad said, and it worked!! I felt more powerful. Unfortunatly, it started happening all the time, like they were trying to mess with me. After I got baptized, it stopped for a long, long time. And when ever it did happen, it was much easier, for some reason, to tell them to leave. I woudl only have to say it once, instead of repeating it. My dad said it happens often to religious people, because the devil is trying to make them feel weak with fear.

Yeah I guess I can see the logic in money donations, they might suddenly need a certain supply that they would have to purchase, or things they couldn't predict before.

Pam-- ditto! I couldn't be more proud of this church I was lucky eough to be baptized into. When I think of our missionaries who devote 2 years of their life, unpaid (in fact they spend their own money on their duties), and all the work they do each day, all the challenges and dangers they face-- I feel so proud. I feel even more proud when I hear about the donations, the aid efforts, not just to our own people but to many may others, and not jsut during times of distress, but any time-- again I am so proud. This church is so big, with amazing numbers, and therefore the power to reach most corners of the world with its goodness. Its so amazing to me! This church must be true, no false church could make it so far. and wow, you mean you can donate actual supplies?? That's cool! I remember a long time ago, there was a massive fire up in the coutnryside where we used to live. My mother and her friends tried to donate to the overworked firemen. They helped set up the portable showers, tents, cooking grills, and tables at the camp. Then they brought in some first aid supplies, eye drops for the firefighter's irritated eyes, water bottles, etc. The people taking donations said, "No we don't take supplies, we take money". So my mom just snuck the supplies up to the camp herself (my uncle Phillip was a fire fighter, so we gave it to him to share with the guys).

HAHAHA! :) That cracks me up! But so true. OP-- Some people just have no class at all, I swear. But I know how you feel. My first job was working at a pizza place. In the men's bathroom there, we had a thing that was refered to as "the booger wall". Basically a wall in the last stall of the men's bathroom that somehow daily ended up with "greenies" wiped all over it by the dozens (had to be a worker in my opinion, because we didn't have any customers who were that regular. Ick!). If you were caught standing around talking, or not really busy working, they would make you clean that wall. Luckily I never had to, but I saw the wall once when another worker had to clean it, and I heard other people's gross accounts of it. Needles to say, I quit that job too! :)

I’m just curious what Mormon religious leaders (bishops and the like) and/or missionaries think about bad spirits, or maybe even ghosts? I’m not 100% sure weather “ghosts” exist (although I have experienced some VERY creepy things). But I KNOW there are evil spirits. So if a home is having trouble with unpleasant spirits, what does the church do? Do they perform blessings in the home, or on a person? Do they take any kind of action against it? Or do they prefer people just ignore it to smother it out? I really don’t hear a whole lot about this with LDS, so I was just curious. That’s pretty much the majority of my question. But for those who are interested in ghost stories, below, I will post the more specific reasons for wanting answers to this question, via my own personal experiences. Most of these things happened in my grandmother’s house, as it usually does. There are always lots of problems there, these stories are very common occurrences: Incident #1 (1999)-- I was staying at my grandma’s house one summer (on my mom‘s side), when I was 18. Several of her grandchildren live with her, because their parents were in jail. Grandma told me she was going to go pick up the kids from school. I said “ok”. I sat there waiting alone in the large, old, 2-story, 4-bedroom house. I was on the couch in the living room, watching TV. My only company was the family dog Cody (a large, brown pit bull mix), who was laying at my feet. Suddenly, I heard a loud thump coming from upstairs. I muted the TV, and listened. Then I heard distinct, heavy footsteps walking down the upstairs hallway (which is just above the living room). Cody heard it too-- he jolted upright and looked toward the top of the stairs. I heard one of the bedroom doors creek… So I thought somebody might be up there. I was kinda scared, but I ventured upstairs to check. I searched the rooms (closets, under the beds), checked all the window locks, etc. NOTHING. All was secure. So I went back downstairs and resumed my seat on the couch, Cody once again sitting at my feet. But this time, he wouldn’t relax… He was tense, sitting upright, and staring at the top of the stairs. Then he started growling, low and rumbly. He made his way toward the stairs very slowly, his back hairs raised. When he reached the bottom step, he paused, barking and snarling viciously! Again, I muted the TV and yelled out “HELLO??” ….. Then I heard BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! All the upstairs bedroom doors had slammed shut hard, one after the other. I completely freaked! Cody whimpered and ran over to me, and hid behind me. So I grabbed his collar and ran out of the house, probably faster than I‘ve ever run before. I sat on the curb outside the driveway, and didn’t go back in until grandma got back with the kids. It wasn’t the first time something like that happened, and to this day, I refuse to be alone in that house. I didn't tell grandma about it though, because she thinks spiritual stuff is just rediculous. Which is why nobody has ever been called in to bless the house, she probably wouldn't go for it. Incident #2 (1999)-- This happened a few months before the above incident. My cousin Nichole and I were at my grandma’s house. Grandma had taken the younger kids to Marine World, so me and Nichole were alone. We were in the back yard, by the pool. Nichole was practicing tricks on her skateboard, on the cement. I was relaxing on the white wicker patio furniture. Suddenly we heard a very loud, low, male voice yell out, “NICHOLE!” from the window at the top of the staircase. We both turned to look and we saw a very tall, very thin man standing in the window. He wore a black coat with a white under shirt. He had black hair and a mustache. Nichole and I looked at each other and I said, “Did you see that??” She said yes, and described the same thing I saw. We looked back up again, but there was nothing there. Now, keep in mind, this man’s head was way up at the top of the window, and it’s a LONG window! A person would have to be nearly 8 feet tall for their head to be that far up the window. We both ran inside, to see if someone was there. We checked around, but there was nobody. It really freaked us out. Incident #3 (1995)-- This happened when I was 14 years old. It was mid-August. Me and my 3 cousins (all a few years younger than me) were helping out with cleaning grandma’s house. I was not an active member at this time, and none of my cousins had ever been to church, much less read any bible. Our grandma asked us to sort through some of the junk in the old chest in the back closet, and throw out anything that was broken or useless. So there we were, going through a few old items, when we ran across an old Ouija board. It was still in the cardboard box, along with the curser. We took it out and decided to play around with it. We sat in a circle around it, gently resting our fingers on the curser. I didn’t actually touch it, because I didn’t want to be accused of moving it. We had this silly little “concentrating” moment, and then we asked it if there were any spirits in the room, and the curser pointed to “yes”. So we asked a few more questions: Are you someone we used to know?-- No. Did you pass away recently?-- No. Are there any messages you have for loved ones? -- No. Have you ever been alive on earth before?-- No. Are you an older spirit?-- Yes. Are you an angel, or a messenger of god?-- No. Where are you from? -- G-E-H-E-N-N-A I wrote the letters down on a piece of paper, and since none of us had ever heard of such a place before, we assumed it was either a silly nonsense word, or one of us must have been messing around. At the time, my dad and I lived in the same town. After I went home, I told my dad what we did, and he looked at me like he was disappointed. He went to bible college, and he is very religious (a baptized member, but not active). He knows a lot about the bible, and is very spiritual and liberal-minded. But he does not approve of stuff like that. Right away, he told me “You shouldn’t be playing around with those things.” Well, I told my dad about all the questions we asked and the responses. Then I told him about the name of the supposed location we were given… He looked at me kind of puzzled and asked, “Wait a minute… How was it spelled?” I showed him the piece of paper I wrote it down on. He looked at me like he was concerned. I shrugged and said, “What??”. He stood up, walked over to the end table, opened the drawer and pulled out our Bible. He flipped to the “concordance” as he called it, and looked around for a minute. Then he walked over and laid the book in my lap, pointing to the word “Gehenna”. Basically, one of its definitions was another name for ‘hell’. I looked at dad kinda freaked out, and he told me, “Like I said, you shouldn’t be playing around with those things. Don‘t do that again.” And I haven’t. I’m just saying, I think something is up in that house. If people get out of there, they are peaceful, happy, friendly…. But when they go in that house, they fight and yell constantly, and say the meanest things. Even get physical.

Maybe its and angel :)

I like the episode of "Joan Of Arcadia" I saw a while back (the one where a modern teenage girl talks to and sees god, in the forms of many different kinds of people, at random throughout the day: God appeared to her in the form of a boy her age. She doubted him, and asked him to prove to her that god and miracles existed. He turned and pointed to a tree. Joan said, "That's just a tree." God said, "Let's see YOU make one."

If you turn on the news, the headlines are all over-- a powerful earthquake has rocked Haiti, causing devistation, and possibly up to 1000,000 deaths! Their palace was destroyed, and so were countless homes and buildings. The reporters say the wide-spread sound of cries are ringing out everywhere. There is also a tsumani warning in the area and many roads are destroyed, so it will be hard for help to come to the people. I wanted to submit this thread so we can all offer prayers for the victims in the Haiti earthquake. Those, poor, poor people! The damage is going to be unimaginable, and they have so few resources to recover. The power of prayer can work miracles though, so I think that if we all pray together, we can help to minimize the damage. I hope everyone else will please add their prayers and blessings as well, and if there are any sunday school class teachers or bishops reading this, please be sure to ask your church to pray for the victims this comming Sunday. Prayer: Dear heavenly father, we ask that you look after the victims in this catastrophe, and keep the survivors safe in your care. Let love enter their hearts and compel them to help each other as much as possible. Keep hope for help to arrive in their hearts, and allow the best of circumstances for aid from other nations to reach these people. Let there be widespread love around the world that will provide plenty of aid from many countries, and let the people of Haiti find ways and means to recover and rebuild in the future. We ask these things in your name, and in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Well, we cannot say that ALL the stories in the bible are just metaphors.. Archeologists have found tons of physical proof that many of those events actually occured. Cities have been dug up in the locations the bible mentioned, and there was evidence that they were distroyed in the same manor the bible described. Not to mention, the historical records of other coutnries, telling very similar stories, or "the other guy's version" of stories seen in the bible, suggesting that these cultures really did live through these situations, and have these quarrels with each other. There is just too much evidence pointing to the fact that at least most of the stories in the bible really happened. But as for things like talking pigs, pilars of fire, god and angels appearing to people... Well, religion is designed to where there has to be a certain amount of faith involved, and god will always see to it that this is the way. Its important to god that we CHOOSE weather to believe in him or not, and you can't choose weather to believe in something that has been scientifically proven to exist. On that note, I find it quite sad that scientists simply tell us "the Earth travels around the sun, and the sun is multi-thousands of times bigger than the earth", and we just believe it without question, even though none of us average people have the equipment to prove something that incredible from the ground. Or we will readily believe the extremely censored, re-written and filtered news stories we see without question. Yet we are so quick to jump up and yell "I won't believe in god, until you PROVE that he is real!" Why is that? I'll tell you why: Because believing in god, and the stories in the bible, causes us to have to reconsider the way we live our lives, and most people are terrified of doing so.

It could just be that your bishop is just not the best bishop (I know that sounds mean, btu its true)... If continuing to attend, and additional efforts don't work, then I'll tell you-- My mother has been welcomed back to the church with open arms, even after she has strayed pretty terribly in her life... The bishop treats her like everyone else, and everyone's glad to have her there. It really is often the bishop, and not you. So, if there are other wards at different times in your church, you may even be able to ask the other ward's bishop if he can make an exception for you to attend his ward instead (I know my church's second ward welcomed me quite nicely to sit in on their sacrament). Just explain the situation. If he's more like my mom's bishop, he will understand. Its worth a shot. Its no secret there are some church leaders who just assume "only the members who've always been in good standing are worth any time and effort". But remember-- we are the church if Christ, which means we are supposed to follow his lead. And who was Jesus eating supper with and speaking to? The tax collectors, the lepers, the "women of sin", the criminals, etc. And when he was asked why he associated with such people, he simply gave the message, "The healthy need no healing". Some bishops could take a hint from that :) . Of course, we all go to church because we need the fellowhsip. But I think the people who've hit rock bottom need it more than ever.

People think that its just the sugar in soda that makes them fat, so they switch to diet soda, thinking they are making a wolrd of difference. But did you know that when a rusty chunk of metal was submerged in diet cola, the rust came off??? And that's what ur putting in ur intestines! Plus, its really more the SODIUM that causes you to retain water, and thus gain lots of weight. So even if you drink diet soda, you're still causing yourself to bloat like crazy. If you must drink soda, get "Diet Rite", because it has no caffiene, no sugar, no calories, no carbs, no fat--- and NO SODIUM. Of course, that doesn't mean that you can jsut drink Diet Rite all day... The chemicals in any flavored drink (crystal lite, diet rite, etc.) that give it the color, the flavor, etc.-- your body just doesn't process it as easily as it does plain water. Even those can slow your metabolism and make you bloat. I would say shoot for plain water as much as possible.

The two sister missionaries who visit my mom's house all the time are the ones who recently inspired me to come back to the mormon church after 15 years. Next time I see them, I will tell them that too! They deserve the credit for what great infuences they have been. Maybe this can help you keep your spirits up and go for that mission, and maybe you can bring up some of these points to those with a bad attitude-- I will say right now that as a woman, I noticed there were so many benefits to having female missionaries around. I was doing my mom's dishes (they were piled a MILE high, I felt so overwhelmed!!), and one of the girl missionaries came in the kitchen and stood beside me. She helped me get them all done, then helped me clean and organize the rest of the kitchen, while we talked about beliefs and such. That would not have been allowed with a male missionary. Also while I was spending that week at my mom's I slept in my little cousin's room (my mom adopted my 2 little cousins). Both are girls, one is 15, the other is 9 months old. Again, because the missionaries were women, they were allowed to come in the room and sit and talk with us. They even helped us clean the room up. Once again, that would not have been allowed with male missionaries. They were very inspirational to me, and as a woman, it was nice (for once) to not feel so distant with the missionaries. To feel more like they were friends. Most of all, to be able to give both of our missionaries a great big HUG before they left (yet another thing not allowed between me as a woman, and male missionaries). It was a very different, but very refreshing experience, and I think more women should serve a mission. The other thing is, all those times when 2 male mormon missionaries would randomly show up at my door back when I was single and living alone, the weather would either be blistering hot outside, or freezing cold, or raining. I would answer the door, we would talk about religion, they would ask about my family... I would explain that I hadn't raised a family yet and still lived alone. Because of that, they said they weren't allowed in. Despite the fact that they were just following rules, I would always feel so rude having to talk to them through an open door. My instincts were saying "invite them in to sit down and rest for a while, offer them something to drink or eat". But because I was a single woman, home alone, I knew they weren't supposed to come and be there with me alone. But I didn't want to stand there and have a whole discussion in an apartment doorway. Relaxing in my chair while they sat on the couch would have been much more easy-going, but that wasn't an option. Now if they would have been women, that wouldn't have been a problem. That's something else for the "the haters" to consider, because these days, there are a lot of single women out there who can't invite the male missionaries in, but also don't want to converse through the doorway.

Thanks, both ideas sound good, I LOVE lemon on fish and I'm up for anything with (food-type) mushrooms :)