dahlia

Oooh. These sound like Michigan/Michigan state jokes. How do you get an MSU grad off of your porch? You pay for the pizza.

All this Gator Cougar stuff! What happened to my little thread? Anyway, none of this trash talk matters. There's only one school worthy of all praise and adoration...

Yup. My son talks about this all the time. One of virtue signals that just ticks the heck out of me is someone saying, "I heard about X on NPR." Who gives a .... where you heard it? You only want to let me know that you're one of the cool elite who listens to NPR, as opposed to whatever country music station, FOX news, Telemundo, or other useless communications source the rest of us peons get our news from. Academics, from admins to students, preface their comments with this crap all the time (I can't escape since I work on a university campus). I just laugh at them (inwardly, of course, because I'm a nice Mormon).

No trick intended. Those are the sites I visit frequently.

Thanks for the compliment. It isn't always easy for a lapsed lawyer to be sweet - as I'm sure many of my posts here attest. I agree with you that some shouldn't go on missions, or not go when they are first eligible. I'm thrilled that the Church offers different types of missionary experiences such as having disabled missionaries do online work. It seems that those who want to, and who are worthy, can serve in some capacity. It does pain me, however, to think that some poor soul who ends up coming home early, may have a tough time from other church members.

I'm in a number of Facebook food groups, mostly vegan and vegetarian, some for health, some for ethical reasons. People are zealots about organic. More than a few will say you aren't eating right if you aren't eating organic. Here's my thing. I think all food is political. If you tell me that I need to eat more fruit and veg to be healthy, then tell me the only way to do that is to eat organic, and I either can't afford it or can't buy it locally, then some folks need to get off their high horse and let other people eat what they can afford/obtain. Personally, I find a lot of the statements about organic, and how they are said, to be very close to racist and privileged. It's not organic foods, per se, that I have this problem with, it's some of its advocates. I just want people (especially blacks, sick people, and those with limited incomes) to eat more fruits and veg and to leave dairy alone. Organic or not, that's your choice. Shut the heck up about mine.

Why are there 3 BYUs and no Joseph Smith University? Since we don't consider him a deity (contrary to what some think), is there a reason why we never named a university after him? Is there a Joseph Smith University overseas somewhere?

I have the problem with every computer. It's not the computer, it's the sites and the font color used. This site is typical, but many are much lighter. diet doctor blogs are the worst: oh she glows

I think we have some web people here. If that's you, I have a question: I notice that a lot of the text on websites is in gray, rather than black, or at least it seems that way to me. I have had to install a high contrast tool so that I can darken the page/print and read the page. Is this just my old eyes or has there been a movement to gray text for some reason? I took website design back in the late 90's and have some idea about contrast, eye strain, etc. More recently, I did some searching on website accessibility for seniors for an issue at work. What is up with this light colored font? It's aggravating as heck.

I have to think that if this were not a problem within the Church, it wouldn't be repeatedly addressed in Church publications. This is not the first time I've come across the issue. So, if I come across as judgmental (and I'm not afraid to use that word in reference to myself), it is partly because I see the problem raised so often. If it were only a few cruel people in a ward here and there, I doubt it would be given so much coverage.

This month there was an article about missionaries returning early. I cannot believe that people in the ward would be negative toward someone who returned early through no fault of their own (the example in the article was a health issue). It is also worrying to see the amount of self-doubt, anger, depression, etc. that these missionaries come back with. I can completely understand why some of them would leave the Church or become inactive after being treated so badly. What the heck? What kind of head job do LDS do on their youth that they have such major issues if they have to return early? Personally, I find it distressing. I would never want to put that burden on my child. If s/he became very ill and have to come home, I'd rather have my sick child at home and getting care rather than out in the field. And what is with telling missionaries they should have struggled more or prayed more or worked through pain and illness on their mission? How awful. Every now and then I run across LDS behaviors that make me glad I wasn't born Mormon. This is one of them. What happened to loving all of God's children - especially those who are going through rough times?

Could you sit in the car and write before you leave? It seems the impressions would still be fresh from the temple to the car. I've never seen anyone write in the temple and the only place it seems appropriate to do so would be the foyer. Our changing rooms always seem so busy, I don't know if I would want to negatively affect someone else's need to get in and change before a session by me just sitting there and writing.

There are people with guns all over the place, including church. You just don't know it. As the saying goes, 'I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.'

Watched 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' (I remembered the old TV show) and 'Journey to the Center of the Earth,' two old movies that are family friendly and still entertaining, tho a little dated. I love the idea of the women on a submarine werling pencil skirts and heels. I want to see 'The State of Jones,' but it doesn't seem to be playing out here in the cornfields.

Jeez ... no. I wonder if bus stops are different, tho? We all speak to each other and know about each other's jobs and a bit of personal life. I just wonder if most young people have heard of the accidents that happen with these devices. It sure would make me think twice.

I got a mesh top; hated it. I don't think the fabric is cotton, is it? It just seemed like hot mesh. (hahahahaha)

There is a beautiful young man who vapes at my bus stop. I want to hand him pictures of other beautiful young men whose e-cigarettes blew up in their faces, but haven't figured out how to do that without looking like a kook.

Maybe TMI, but I wear my bra under. I don't recall if the temple worker said it was OK, but I read it on several LDS sites. It appears the Church would rather have you wear the garments with your bra under than not wear them because you hate wearing the bra over. I had a couple of days when I thought I would pass out in my garment top. I am a diabetic who uses insulin, which can increase core body temperature. I recall sitting in a meeting and also walking across campus in warm weather when I didn't know if I was going to make it or pass out from being overheated. I admit to a couple of times when I haven't worn the top because of this. I don't feel right about it. I think one time, tho, HF got me back - I thought it was going to be a super hot day and I had to be all over campus. I didn't wear the top. Darned if I didn't almost freeze to death. : ) I am trying to wear just the garment and a light summer sweater and see how that works. I need to look professional, but the top, a blouse, and a jacket/sweater is often too much. Also, I used to wear the fitted tops and found that the ones that aren't fitted and are a size larger are better in the heat. You just have to keep trying... Of course, in our Iowa winters, I'm happy to have them on. : )

Every now and then my mother runs into missionaries in a restaurant. She always goes over and says her daughter is a Mormon. They seem happy about it.

I would want more detail on the disability payments. They are notoriously difficult to get 1) the first time around and 2) w/o an attorney. Have they filed and the attorney told them everything was approved? If you don't have a letter stating she's been approved and listing the monthly benefit amount, I'd take any talk about disability with a grain of salt. Toward the end of my practice law I worked with adult schizophrenics and their parents setting up trusts so they could continue their disability payments.. I have a sister on disability. I know a little about this stuff. I also have another sister who has lied through her teeth to stay rent free in my mother's apartment. I have to admit that this situation has caused so much discord in my family, no one wants to visit my mother any more because they have to deal with this sister and her awful child. To be blunt, the rest of us would have no problem booting them out, but my mother keeps them, even when it means she has to ask for money from the rest of us because this sister and her demon child syphon off all of her money. If you want to keep the grandchild, that's your call. Everyone else has to go. Now. There's no guarantee that even if they get the money, that you will get any. With a certain type of person, it wouldn't matter how much money they have, something else would always come up that stops them from paying their bills. Scrape 'em off. Yeah, I'm harsh, but I intend to keep my sanity and the money I make. I've very charitable, but I don't enable.

Thanks again everyone for the responses. I was able to use some of them, and my own story, in my lesson and we got a lot of conversation.

Oh for crying out loud. It's meant to be light hearted. When I was investigating, I found all the 'difficult' Mormon history on the internet. Some was actually posted by the Church, some by those with an ax to grind, and some info as a part of authoritative history sites. Do I expect the elders to have told me every little thing, no - but it might have been a good thing for some of them to have read that history before they got out in the world and met people who would have no problem telling them about it.

Of course, now that I know more about how the Church runs, I see this, but you have to remember that outside of Utah and Idaho, many people in this country know very little about Mormons. People don't know that Church leaders, at the local or national levels, aren't paid. They don't know where the money goes, they just see a Church asking for money.