carlimac

I sense that Trump is burning out. He's making less and less sense in every big decision or action he takes. Dementia?

That was clear as mud to me. I guess I just don't speak the language. I've given up any hope or desire to speak it. My opinion is that, as much as I like him, Romney could never win a presidential election, even if he could oust Trump in the Primarys. He's too much of a chameleon. What about Huntsman?

Same from our SP. No music in Sacrament meeting unless it's in the hymnbook. I look at this as missing out on the joy of finding truth and beauty everywhere we go- not just within the confines of the LDS hymnbook, lesson manuals, scriptures, etc. There are some wonderfully talented musicians who have written religious music that would inspire and lift our souls. But we aren't allowed to sing or share it in our church. Here's something really ironic though. We are participating in an interfaith program this Sunday and a song in our Primary songbook is being sung in the Catholic church by the interfaith choir.

Happy Birthday isn't in the hymnbook.

One of my sons was exposed to it at his friend's house- the home of youth pastor from another church, at age 11. We were just so naive, thinking that "our family doesn't do those kinds of things", that his addiction went on for 6 years before his brother discovered it on the family computer and told us. He's 26 now and we don't talk to him about it anymore. I don't know if he still deals with it or not. But when we first found out he had counseling. We didn't punish him- just tried to get him the right kind of help. When he confessed to our bishop he was essentially dis-fellowshipped. Couldn't take or pass the sacrament for months even though he wasn't viewing porn at the time. He tried so hard to quit and would for awhile- months at a time, but he always found ways to access it again. He wasn't defiant- just addicted. We moved to a different state. Son went to BYU but wasn't perfect during that time. The new stake president was less hard on him and helped him get ready for a mission. He went, served honorably although struggled with masturbation during his mission- he'd wake up at night in the middle of it. It was really frustrating for him. After his mission he returned to porn off and on. His BYU bishops tried to help but there was a limit to what they could do. This was all during the time when the addicting nature of porn was less stressed than the sin of viewing it. So my son felt really lousy about himself most of the time. Ultimately he left the Church. I think it may have been too hard to keep feeling so bad about himself because of the external pressure. He also lost his testimony of God- at BYU of all places. But he remains a very good-hearted person who tries his hardest to help those in need and is studying medicine. He keeps the Word of Wisdom and doesn't sleep around- hasn't even had a girlfriend for 4 years. It all makes me so sad. But even if he didn't see it in the home of this particular friend, he would have encountered it somewhere else- teenage boy parties were notorious for viewing it and he would probably have had this problem anyway.

Inside the waist of your pants? Isn't that uncomfortable?

I don't know what was wrong with it. Probably just frozen. DH fixed it.

My daughter went on a mission. I wish she hadn't. She is now behind in her schooling because taking that break got her out of the habit of university level studying. She got straight A's her first semester before leaving. Now she barely gets Bs and probably won't get into her major of choice because of it, let alone losing her scholarship. I actually advised her not to go but to get her degree first and then to go on a mission after. But she was determined. She's really struggling now. I think her mission changed her in not-so-positive ways. She loved it, but strangely enough, came home more tentative and insecure than she was before. And way, way more serious!! Another daughter had a mission call and then turned it down to feel out a new promising relationship. She ended up marrying the guy and now is raising a young son. She is strong spiritually, serves those around her with her whole heart and from my perspective is no less of a person because of it. All three of my children who have served missions have been in areas with high LDS populations and to be completely honest, despite their best efforts, it was a drag much of the time. They struggled to find people who were interested. I think they blessed people's lives in spite of not being able to teach all that much. But they listen to the stories of their cousins who served in foreign countries and were involved in tons of conversions and feel a little "less than" for not having had as much success. I went on a mission. It was a fascinating cultural experience. But I wasn't involved in any conversions that lasted. Three baptisms and only one of them ever came back to church after. And the rest of my work as a welfare missionary really didn't result in any great changes in anyone. So truthfully, it was a waste of time. I could have gone on to get a higher degree and maybe married a couple years earlier. If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't go.

I disagree. Licentious society has entered the walls of our homes. It comes in through the tiniest of cracks. You would have to be a complete hermit to not be influenced by the world around us.

Can i ask a really dumb question? How and where do you conceal on your body? I can't figure any way to dress aside from wearing a moo moo that would allow me to conceal anything. How do you keep it from accidentally being seen?

Is the app not working on anyone elses phone? I can't get it to come up in the app store either.

What happened to this thread?

I think you have to look at each group individually. My daughter's ward is the same as yours. Very poor morale. Kids just don't participate in anything if it isn't fun. But our ward is really amazing. These kids are very active and supportive of each other. Every activity is well attended. Service projects bring them out in droves because they just love to be together no matter what the activity is. Personal progress was slacking but is going well now with lots of motivation to finish. We just had two finish with a couple more almost done. At this stake training, I felt as if we were talked down to, and that he really doesn't relate to the youth very well. Again...it's this particular man's personality informed by his cultural upbringing which was one of extreme discipline. He is very strict and his delivery is pretty awful. It could be that there are some wards in our stake that are struggling more than ours is. After talking with others in our ward, I'm backing off of feeling offended, and realizing that I don't have to be personally offended by him. He's may be reacting to feeling like his time is almost over as SP.

A little update... Apparently it wasn't just the Young Women leaders that got a stern talkin' to by the stake president. The bishops got raked over the coals and the RS leaders, too. He only spared the Primary this time. My husband is in the bishopric and reported that our bishop, since the fateful stake meeting last week, is experiencing PTSD from the last time the SP got overbearing and they had to go to the regional leaders get him to him chill out. Bishop is afraid it's all happening again. The comment he has made is that though he has been given the keys to managing our ward, he feels stripped of the keys when the Stake President gets involved. One thing we all recognize is that part of this is the SP's cultural upbringing and it's his go-to method of disciplining and teaching.That in combination with his micromanaging personality makes him formidable. His wife who is from his same background isn't like this. I've heard him give talks in stake conference and in our ward where he will go on excessively on the topic of obedience. It was so over the top I got the impression he has OCD about perfection and obedience. So we have to peel back these layers and try to understand the message- his anxiety for the spiritual well being of the stake and his hope that no one goes astray on his watch. But at the same time we have to assert our own right to revelation and to run our programs in the way we feel will be best for the ones we're responsible for. One other detail that gives us hope is that he's 9 1/2 years in to his calling and will most likely be released in the next year. I pray he is never called to be a mission president. I can imagine disastrous results for many missionaries. He is a good man with a big heart and a terrible leadership style that offends. His wife is an angel. Love her to bits! I see his daughter as a really high achiever but she alternates between the deer in the headlights look or a dull, won't look you in the eye countenance. I'm worried for her. She is his only child!

NO I haven't met with him. Too scared to do that. But I have talked with the YW presidency and one of them is wife to the bishop. Also the YW president meets regularly with the Bishop to discuss what's up. The bishop ( poor guy) has by default been the one to act as a buffer between disgruntled ward members and the SP. He's very diplomatic and the results are better if he does it rather than one of us lowly stake members.

I think he loves them. There is nothing wrong with helping them increase their testimony. But I feel he is imposing his own personal preferences on the whole of the stake. Why would he single out having spa nights or playing board games? If these are activities that might bring in people to associate and fellowship with LDS youth in an upbeat, clean, safe environment, what is wrong with doing those activities. I just think he has overstepped his bounds. Plus he is demonstrating that he thinks we can't think or receive revelation for ourselves or lead the youth without him dictating what we should do. He definitely doesn't trust us. I don't know but I can't recall my kids ever having interviews with the stake president unless they were going on missions.

This really irks me!! I can't imagine this would be the responsibility of the stake president to impose this kind of test on a person. It has nothing at all to do with temple worship or obedience.

Does anyone know if there is anything in the handbook about young men and women not swimming together?

When I was in the MTC we sisters had grooming lessons during time we could have been studying the gospel or learning Spanish. We also had "exercise" classes. Anyone remember doing "Chicken Fat" in the MTC? Also I've noticed that all the female temple workers in the temples I've gone to are very well groomed with make-up, and fingernail polish and some with not extreme but modern haircuts.

I just don't know about this. I will sustain him in as much as he follows the prophet. But I won't sustain him in his extreme efforts to control the stake to meet his own personal standards. Another example was that when his daughter was in Primary, he would personally re-write the Primary programs that were written by the Primary presidency, offending many in his wake. Apparently he was called on the carpet for stuff like this by his superiors. Not released, just told to relax and stick to stake affairs.

It's not a fight. I'm just wondering if others think this is appropriate or is the stake president himself "going beyond the mark"? So far he hasn't specifically vetoed any already planned activities. And I'm sure we could put a gospel spin on almost any activity we do. But if it's all preaching all the time, we're not only going to lose some of our youth, we're not going to be able to draw in the less active or not yet members to join and associate with us. He has already vetoed any swimming or water activities with combined YM and YW because of... swimming suits. `So people in the ward with pools just have their own parties and invite everyone. Last Labor Day a family with a pool and who lives on the river invited the whole ward over for a BBQ lunch. ( They are former mission presidents. So they are pretty well educated in the gospel and church policies.) They were worried at first about letting people in the pool because the stake president would be there, but finally said, OK we'll let Primary aged kids swim. Some of the more exacting families had their little girls wearing long leggings and (clingy) t-shirts to swim in (some of these were developing young pre-adolesents so it wasn't exactly doing the job of providing modesty ) The boys- just trunks. 🙄 But all the youth- both young men and women went down to the river to canoe and kayak and swim in the river- in swimming suits. (Except his daughter who I'm sure would have loved to join in.) I think in a way it all just made the stake president look foolish for his policies. It was as if we were all thumbing our noses at him. Of course during camps or youth conference there is NO coed swimming. We follow the rules! We moved here 18 months ago from a ward that used to have combined mutual boating /waterskiing outings. Nobody got uptight about it. What exactly are the rules??

Thank you for this link. I had forgotten about it.

I just want to throw this out there to see what you think. We have a very spiritual and meticulous stake president. I fully believe he wants the best for all in the stake. I think he loves us. He says he does but...this keeps coming up and I don't know what to do with it. Last night at a stake auxiliary training and leadership conference he came into the Young Women break out session and said, " We have been told in the scriptures and by our church leaders to "not go beyond the mark". I looked that up on LDS.org and found a few references. Didn't read the whole conference talks or whatever to find the exact quote but the gist I came away with was that we are to keep things simple and forgo all the elaborate, showy stuff we (especially women) get caught up in as we serve in our callings. ( I think this is what some women just do by nature in and out of the Church. We are prone to decorate and entertain by nature. ) But our stake president has interpreted it differently. He thinks it means we should NOT be doing anything at all beyond enriching our knowledge and "relationship" with our Savior. So last night (2nd time I've heard him say this in the last month) he said that ALL our mutual activities should be centered around Christ. This isn't a bad thing except , I quote, " all these things that we keep doing like having spa nights and playing board games are a waste of time. They are going beyond the mark of learning about Christ." OK this kind of jars me because-1) I think he's interpreting this saying in his own way and 2) I feel hes' really out of touch with what the youth, and especially the young women need. He's known to be a very controlling person, extremely disciplined AND only has one child- a 13 yr old daughter. He is very invested in what she does at every activity ( they are in our ward.) I used to be the Beehive leader but thankfully have been moved to be secretary. So I don't have to worry anymore about the very picky stake president judging me for the activities we would do at mutual with his daughter. But I'm still involved and I see this rigid attitude toward youth activities being detrimental to them. I have two daughters of my own in Young Women. I've raised three others. They have so much pressure in high school right now!!! They are losing sleep to get up and go to seminary at 5:30 every day. They hear the same lessons over and over every year and every week at church. They supposedly have scripture reading with their family every night and now will have even more gospel study with families on Sundays ( if they happen to have a family that wants to do this.) I feel very strongly that they need some down time with their like minded and same believing pals at mutual. They need to play and chill and interact and have a spa night if that brings them closer to each other and builds friendship and love. Thoughts?

As far as whom we pray to, it probably doesn't matter as much as we think it does. I'm sure that honest heartfelt prayers said to Jesus are heard, too, even if it's not doctrinally exactly what we're taught. I would assume that both the Father and Jesus Christ are involved in the affairs of men and women on earth. Perhaps our Heavenly Mother(s??) are, too but we just don't recognize it. We aren't meant to at this stage of our spiritual progression. ( I say this with a great big question mark because we just don't know.) That being said, -here is a spin off question from the OP that I've always had. My understanding is that we pray to God the Father. And yet I've heard the phrase so many times that someone " has a close relationship to Jesus Christ". How do you have a relationship with someone you don't communicate with?

I bolded the question this creates for me. I thought Jehovah created the earth and all that is on it. What does McConkie meant by "the Creator"?