Sunday21

It’s all relative by AJ Jacobs. The description of his love of genelogy, his efforts to organize the world’s biggest family reunion to which everyone was invited. He had a ted talk on this. He got help from a lot of people including the lds genelogy society. He gives us a plug! Says we are the world’s best at organizing people!

@unbreakable Welcome! Hope all goes well. A tricky situation!

Have you ever had a time when you wanted to say a prayer of gratitude for the internet? Here is my ‘thank you, internet’ story From time to time, I wake up and see an enormous spider on my wall. I have searched for this stupid spider to no avail. Fortunately, I like minimalist decor...well in all honesty, no one in their right mind would describe my motley collection of household affects as ‘decor’, more a hapless but spartan collection of stuff. Thus hardly anywhere for a mega spider to hide. So I woke up and saw a huge-scary-spider! Walked across the bedroom. Spider still there. Went to kitchen to get fly swatter. Returned to bedroom, no spider. Hmm. Started to think. How big do spiders grow to in my neck of the woods anyway? Googled. Yep. Spiders get very large here! But wait a minute look at that image of a spider....not many legs on each side! How many legs did my spider have? At least 12! So not a spider! So I just googled ‘wake up see spider’ and What you are describing sounds alot like Hypnogogic Hallucinations. I have narcolepsy and because narcoleptics go straight into a dream stage of sleep and wake up from the same, there are times when we will open our eyes and see what we are dreaming. These are often scary images & at the time it happens realizing that is what is going on isn’t as easy as saying to yourself “Oh I must be experiencing a hypnogogic hallucination.You might be able to find a more definite answer to your question by typing in the word “parasomnias” and doing a search on it. .... There are quite a entries for ‘wake up, see spiders’ So yes you can wake up and see things that are not there. However, ..obviously my subconscious was asleep in school when we covered the eight legs thing...Waking up and seeing spiders is a Thing! Thank you Madame Internet! So has the internet ever saved you?

@carlimac I stand behind you. I had similar issues with my stake president. He lied to me outright. He called me to be an advisor to the stake singles rep. I did not agree to this calling. In stake conference, he announced that I was the stake singles rep. He used this tactic on at least one other person that I know. He repeatedly lied to me on factual issues. Not all stake presidents are righteous.

@SilentOne She speaks! She sings! How lovely!

Although, we arent youth so we may not need to listen to the council in the strength of youth pamphlet.  As a former Stake Singles Rep, I cannot tell you how many times, men and women have told me that The Strength of Youth (SOY) does not apply to those > some age or other. SOY is excellent advice for those of any age. Be wise. Don’t do something that you will have to repent of!

@Returninghome Hi! Sorry that you are going through this! You know how Satan messes with your mind? I would discount a big chunk of your anxiety to his imperial nastiness. I suspect that things will go a great deal better than you think! We are on your side! Make that phone call to the bishop or just email him. Things will get better starting now. Good luck!

Yeah! Glad that we are building bridges. A good cause.

This practice is called bundling https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundling_(tradition)

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!" Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

· A Mormon told me that they don't drink coffee. I said, "A cup of coffee every day gives you wonderful benefits." He said, "Like what?" I said, "Well, it keeps you from being Mormon ..."

I am sad. I received my ministering list. I called and really made a connection with a less active sister. She does not attend. Two weeks, TWO weeks later. I get a new list and now this sister is gone, Sigh. Maybe, the sister decided that she does not want to be visited?

Don’t worry about the fraud thing. Tons of people return after a period of inactivity. We are all used to the pattern and most of us have had less enthusiastic periods. You are NOT a fraud. You are your unique self and no one can replace you. We are glad that you are back. If the questions get too much, just smile. 🙂

@BornToGoodlyParents Hi! Sorry that you are in this situation! I went through the same thing with my family. While you are at University, you can attend church without your parents knowing. As per previous message, you can talk to missionaries on Mormon.org. In terms of time commitments, I am firm that I do the things that fit into my schedule. I volunteered for a calling that I can handle and say , No to additional duties. Just be firm but polite. Good luck!

😱!

@LiterateParakeet Good ideas! Another suggestion- retired sisters. They often have more time and are less anxious about forming a new friendship. If you see a sale on produce or a good deal at a local supermarket, you can bring along the flyer and show them. Amazing how thrilled people are to find a deal on toilet paper, cucumber, or chicken breasts. If there is a potluck, you can make brownies and pass the plate around. There are cake mixes for brownies so no expertise is required! Another idea is any sister between the ages of 7 - 13. I don’t know about you but I was even shyer at this age. If you come across any young sister, you can make eye contact and smile. If you get the opportunity, you can say something nice about their outfit. Being friendly to young sisters is really a good dead. They are often just as shy as you are. Some day that young woman will remember your kindness and be grateful. Other ideas: Go to the family history Center and sit next to a retired sister. Ask her how the genealogy is going. Ask a retired brother to be a chaperone so that you can have the missionaries for dinner.

@Justlynn Hi! Sorry that you are going through this! I can see why attending church is stressful when you are uncomfortable in groups of people. How about forcing a smile regardless of how you feel? A smile makes you appear to be more approachable. If a smile becomes your default expression, you may find that people are drawn to you even if you are panicking inside. Sometimes having one friend can make all the difference. Can you make a friend through the ministering program? Perhaps someone that you are assigned to minister to? Or someone who is assigned to minister to you? If you can become comfortable with one person, then you can call them and find out if they are attending and then when you arrive, you can relax a bit as you know there is someone there that you know, One thing that I have observed at church is that many of the sisters are overwhelmed in their lives. They are juggling more than they can handle in terms of children, jobs, unsupportive husbands, financial concerns. A lot of the sisters are running on empty because they are trying to fulfill so many roles. Given their level of exhaustion, they simply cannot take on any more. Thus, they cannot handle having another friend especially a needy friend. They see someone who is needy and they back off. If you sense that some sisters are backing away, bare in mind, they are not rejecting you personally, they are just overwhelmed. Plastering a smile on your face will really help to signal that they can be pleasant towards you withou a big emotional commitment. Good luck!

Great video! Note the image at 2:53! http://www.ldsliving.com/Watch-If-You-Have-Ever-Felt-Excluded-at-Church-You-Need-This-Message-from-Elder-Kearon/s/88826/?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=mr

Gets my vote but .....

Modern prophet acknowledges presence of angels http://www.ldsliving.com/When-President-Hinckley-Acknowledged-to-Presence-of-Lehi-and-Other-Angels-at-a-Temple-Dedication/s/88789

Helpful video for those affected by suicide. This would be a useful video for those of all faiths. https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/reach-out-in-love-to-those-considering-suicide-elder-renlund?cid=HP_MO-2-7-2018_dPTH_fCNWS_xLIDyL1-C_

I wonder how we will be able to afford new hymn books? We will now be using standard coloured scriptures in the temple rather than white due to the expense.

There was an Ensign article many years ago that said we should be grateful to the Catholic Church for preserving the Bible. Does anyone remember this article? I did not find it by googling.

Commercial message: There are some deals out there. State schools can be inexpensive. Some Ivy League schools seem to have a quota for low income earning families.

@Tobin52 Welcome! Glad that you are here!