lydie15

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  1. You are so right, thank you. I am definitely in no rush to get into a serious relationship right now, as in my opinion I still have a lot of personal spiritual growth to be done before I can be in one. I want to have a lot more knowledge of the Gospel than what I have already (which is behind a little bit as I was inactive for 2 years, but Institute is definitely helping me with learning more about the Gospel, I've learnt at least one new thing every week!). I just feel that even if I get to that point where I'm ready to be in a serious relationship that others may choose me as second best as I've already had a child etc. But I guess all I can do is be patient and trust that everything will turn out okay. :)
  2. I agree with what you say, it's so true to go for the older guys. The only problem in my area is that I only know the younger people who are around my age, and they're all getting prepared for missions, going on one etc. But all the older men who are back from their missions are surrounded by 5342374809 women who are the same age, and I don't know any of them so I can't be introduced etc. I only really know the people around the same age as me... so it's sort of hard to get to know the older ones when they're in a slightly different social group etc.
  3. The blessing was today. It was great, she had her LDS book to play with while sitting on my lap, and she only moved around a little bit (and was smiling at the brothers who were circling around her and telling them to shh lol). I'm so thankful that one of my friends wrote down some notes of what was said throughout the blessing, so we can keep it for when she gets older! It was a great day!
  4. Did you video record or just sound record? :) It sounds like a good idea!
  5. Wow thank you for all your advice! I was seriously starting to consider using duct tape (haha) as I was really concerned about how she will be! I hope that she will pick up on the environment that she's in and be quiet while like everyone else during the prayer. I've tried teaching her to pray, but whenever I do pray at home or if we're in Sacrament she just looks around at everyone smiling, but she's silent. She hasn't started closing her eyes and crossing her arms yet. Mum suggested that I bring her LDS book (from Deseret, with all the hand puppets inside, it's so cute and she loves it!) and possibly buying a dummy (although she's been weaned off it for 2-3 months now) in case she does start playing up during the prayer, but I would love for her to be silent and still without the help of those things.
  6. This Sunday my 22 month old daughter is going to be blessed. I know it's nearly 2 years late, but I only started going back to Church regularly at the beginning of this year and haven't organised her blessing until recently. I organised for her blessing to be after Church, in one of the rooms in the Chapel, as I thought it would be more appropriate as she might play up in Sacrament, as she'd be around a bigger group of people. I'm really concerned as to how I can keep her occupied and still while she's being blessed, as she's a very lively and active toddler (as most are), and doesn't sit still much while in Sacrament (I get about 10 minutes of her being good if we're lucky and then she starts playing up). Also, for blessings do they have to wear only white clothing? I know that newborn babies being blessed usually wear white, but is there a certain rule similar to Baptisms where they have to wear all white? Or is it just Sunday best? I know I should probably know this stuff but I never really thought about it while other babies were being blessed in the Church, and this is my first child so I've never experienced any of this personally before. Any advice would help! Thank you :)
  7. I've been needing to read more of the Book of Mormon, I tried challenging myself to read the whole book by the end of the year but I've been VERY slow with it and am only 3/4 of the way through 1st Nephi. But I do really enjoy reading it, I just need to make the time for it, which I should do. I'm going to start reading it more often as I have it on my phone too so I can read it during the day instead of only when I'm at home. That's really good advice though, thank you :)
  8. I agree with what you say, but I seem to have trouble trying to get that feeling that I'm uniting with Heavenly Father. Maybe I'm not trying hard enough, but when I do pray I try to wait and invite the spirit but I end up giving up as I don't feel it. It really upsets me too, as I know I'm not praying as wholeheartedly as I could be... and I sometimes feel that my prayers have never been completely right or as wholehearted as they could be.
  9. Wow, thanks everyone for the awesome advice! I think that the one thing that I'm struggling with when trying to improve my prayers is patience. I'll try and feel the spirit and feel like I'm talking to Heavenly Father, but sometimes my mind is still racing and I feel that I'm also rushing them too much. I think that I really need to try and be more patient while saying my prayers and I'll definitely try asking less in my prayers and focusing on being more gracious. ' Writing down during the day what I'm thankful for is a great idea, but I'm afraid I might forget to do it during the day. Although, if I think of something during the day, I'm going to write it down so that I can remember it for my prayer at night. :)
  10. I was always taught how to say my personal prayers while growing up as talking privately with Heavenly Father and thanking him for all the blessings in your life, and asking in faith for help in anything you really need. Since I was in my early teens and started saying personal prayers every night, I would somehow get stuck in a pattern of what I'd say in my prayers. I have OCD as well, and every time I pray I feel that I should repeat the same prayer every night and not miss out any parts, as they all feel important to be included in a prayer. The problem is, it turns out feeling like a routine and I don't feel like the spirit is there as much as if it weren't the same prayer every night. It is really starting to frustrate me as I feel that my lack of proper praying is stopping me from becoming closer to Heavenly Father. I really want to learn how to get out of this routine and to be able to pray with real gratitude, without feeling as if I have to repeat the same prayer every night. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can help make my personal prayers better?
  11. Hey, So in YSA in our stake there's a dance coming up which is comic book themed. So we have to dress as a comic book hero. I've found it really hard thinking of things to wear for it as most female comic book characters for one wear extremely tight one piece outfits or ridiculously revealing costumes. I don't know how many of the females are going to dress for the dance for this theme, it seems really hard to find something modest and under the theme. The only outfit I can think of was to either wear my own clothes and maybe buy some stuff that may distinctively look like a comic book hero, or to go as Sailor Mars but with white tights underneath the skirt. I'm really worried about wearing the Sailor Mars costume as although I would be wearing tights underneath, it's not really Church code to wear tights to a dance nor to even have such a revealing skirt in the first place. Can someone help me with ANY ideas on what to wear? :) Thanks heaps!
  12. I completely understand what you mean. It seems that there is alot of cliqueness within alot of wards in the Church, but it does happen in all Church's and in every other social environment in which everyone encounters. My sister and I were born in the Church, and growing up, although we had friends in the Church we never felt as part of the 'group' in YW. As in the group everyone accepted in stake events etc. The cliqueness within our ward growing up is part of the reason, sadly, that my sister doesn't go to Church anymore. I went inactive for about 3 years, and have only recently in the past 3 months started going back to Church. Since becoming inactive, I got pregnant at 16 and had a child. I now have a 19 month old, and it was VERY hard making the decision to walk into Church one day with my mother and 19 month old daughter. Luckily, my ward (which is a different ward from the one that I grew up in) welcomed me with open arms and I have felt much more at home in my ward then I have in a long time. Even though everyone has treated me well, I know that if I was in my old ward or in some other wards in my area, the way I would have been treated by some of the people would have been different, or would have seemed like they were just trying to be nice. I know that you know that the cliqueness is only subject to a certain number of people in each ward. Not everyone in the Church is going to welcome you with open arms, although we all wish they could. All you need to do is focus on the people that are appreciating your strength and will in coming back to Church. The Lord will be very pleased that you and your family are making an effort, and that's the most important thing. When you go to Church next, just be nice and welcome everyone that you see there, and even introduce yourself and your family to some members that you may not know. People will appreciate your courage to start a conversation with them, and they won't wonder so much why you're at Church, but that you're just here with your family to partake of the Sacrament and remember our Lord and learn and teach the gospel to your family and others. Just remember when you go to Church next, that you're not the only one that's going through this. Many people have gone through the process of getting back into going to Church regularly, and it will get easier every week. If it doesn't get any easier after all of this, then I suggest to pray to the Lord and ask him what he thinks you should do to help resolve the issue, as he does know what's best for all of us. I hope all goes well!
  13. That's so inspirational. That is awesome that you could raise 4 children by yourself, as well as find someone, and then having 8 and another 2 after to look after together is amazing. The perspective you had of not focusing on yourself but on your children is right, and it sounds like you recieved some amazing blessings from it. Over the past few months I've realised that I don't need to focus on dating, but moreso on my daughter and education and figuring out who I want to be as a person. I'm still going to YSA activities, but I'm not planning on rushing into anything. Thank you for sharing your story, it's really helped me realise that I'm not the only one that's been through the same thing. :)
  14. Thank you for your advice, you're right, I shouldn't be worrying about what others think of me, and I shouldn't have the mindset of dating. At the moment, I'm actually quite happy where I am as it's the first time I've been independant and single, so I feel as if I'm just starting to realise who I am and strengthening my relationship with my Heavenly Father, learning independence, and learning & trying to a better person towards others and myself is my first priority at the moment! :)
  15. Thanks everyone for your responses, they've really helped build my confidence in going back to Church and feeling confident in being a teen parent there. I went last Sunday, and everyone was happy to see me there and loved having my daughter there too! :) This is where I'm scared that alot of people will, 'look down' on me. I'm 18, and I fell pregnant when I was only 16, while I was going through a stage where I didn't know what I really wanted etc. usual teenage stuff, except I got a bit lost. Since I've had my daughter I've slowly come to terms with what's happened and how I was acting and how I usually would not agree with that sort of behaviour... which brought me back to the Church. If I go through the repentance process (talking to the Bishop etc., I've already prayed for forgiveness but I will continue to do so), it would probably help prove to everyone that I've stopped the behaviour from my past and I'm following the Gospel and its teachings again. Still, in the back of their heads, they could still be thinking, 'she's still broken the law of chastity willingly in the past etc.' when they could always choose to date someone of the same age that hasn't broken the law of chastity & doesn't have a child? This is true, and I'm thankful that you mentioned this to me, because I never really thought of it that way. And the perfect partner to find is someone with a very strong testimony of the Church.