Dixielee

Interesting thread! I am ward chorister and put the date in my hymnbook when I plan and we sing a song so I don't repeat it too often. We are singing I heard the bells on Christmas Day this coming Sunday. When I first was called to this position, we seemed to sing the same songs over and over, so I try to keep it interesting. I do admit though, I wish we had more Sacrament songs to choose from. This is the best calling ever !!

I think the question has been sufficiently answered, but I have mailed my tithing in on a number of occasions. I also occasionally have to work Sundays, and want to get the money out of my hands as soon as possible! Since I live in a stake that covers many hundreds of square miles, and my Bishop lives about 90 minutes away, sometimes I must rely on the US Mail. I would never send cash but have never had a problem with the proper person getting the tithing check. I read once that one church (not LDS) has an ATM machine in the building that only accepted "deposits". Maybe that is not such a bad idea!

I have to work and will miss the Saturday sessions, but I always buy the DVD's to watch over and over! I love hearing and seeing the choir! I could sing/hear " How Firm a Foundation" 7 days a week and twice on Sunday! I am music director in our ward....best calling ever!!! I was raised and still live in the South, so sometimes our pianist gets a little carried away, and a lot of our Baptist roots come out and we all have our feet tapping to the hymns . I love the hymns!! And I listen to the talks so I can get to the music....just kidding. I always look forward to Conference!!

This has been a very interesting thread! My first thought was that if someone knows I am carrying, then I am doing it wrong! I got my first CCW when I was a 23 year old nurse working in a downtown Atlanta ER, getting off work at midnight. I got my first gun the week a friend of mine was raped and beaten nearly to death in the hospital parking lot. I am rapidly approaching 60 and have carried since. I carry because I want to level the playing field. Yes, the bad guys will always have weapons. If they can't get a gun, they will get a knife. If they can't get a knife, they will get a tire iron. If they can't get that, they use fists, and feet. Laws will NEVER stop them, they will only make it more difficult for the good guys to go about their lives. I still work in a very busy ER and it is getting more and more dangerous just to be at work! I have been in the building on two separate occasions in two different states when an ER doctor was shot by an irate family member. While I don't currently carry on my person while working, I am considering it. I have not yet decided what the ramifications would be if I had to shoot someone in self defense at work. Assaults on health care workers are increasing, and while they are considered a felony, most don't get prosecuted. There have been about 10 fairly serious injuries to my co-workers this year while at work. The most serious had a broken jaw. One had a broken arm, and most had bruises and neck or back injuries. I don't announce to anyone I am carrying, and it is never an issue. I carry a loaded gun, because an unloaded gun might as well be a rock. I refuse to live in fear. I do not ever want to be a "victim". Can I still be attacked and assaulted? Of course, but I am doing all I can to improve the odds in my favor. Are guns dangerous? NO, they are merely pieces of metal and plastic. Do stupid people abound? Yes, and some of them are armed. A responsible gun owner would never, ever point a firearm at someone, loaded or unloaded unless they were prepared to fire that weapon. There are people who should not have firearms. But there are people who also should not be allowed to drive, have children or roam the streets too! In all my years as an ER nurse, I have seen relatively few gun shot wounds (percentages), and the only "accidental" ones were the result of someone being stupid! On the other hand, I have seen thousands of injuries resulting from vehicle accidents (actually they are not called MVA's anymore but MVC's for motor vehicle crash). I can't begin to tell you how many lacerations I have seen as a result of kitchen utensils. Knives, scissors and blenders. I can't believe how many people put their hands in blenders that are on! Farm machinery!! Very dangerous!! I have seen a number of deaths, dismemberment's and serious injury from tractors, trucks, combines, etc. Should we ban everything that is potentially dangerous? I think we should just ban stupid people. But alas, if not for stupid people, I would be unemployed. Just my .02 worth

I usually have oatmeal with raisins and orange juice or water. A brisk shower gets me going in the morning!

I also believe there is not a right or wrong place and time to pray. Weren't we taught to pray "unceasingly"? I have almost an hour drive to and from work, and I use that time to pray. Do I fold my arms and close my eyes? Of course not, but my prayers are still heard. I also use this time to listen to Scriptures on CD. I think it is our attitude and not our surroundings that are important. You can believe there are a lot of prayers going on in war zones and emergency departments all over the world, and those places are not the picture of reverence. If you feel the desire to pray, then pray. If you don't feel the desire to pray, that's when you should pray the hardest!

You really touched something special in me with your answer. I had been praying about something important last year, received a clear answer about it and have not implemented the change yet, because I have been caught up in the semantics. Thank you for the not so subtle reminder. I know you are correct, and I know what I need to do! NightSG, you also said in another post "By the same token, when the Spirit tells you something, whether it's a commandment or a suggestion, disregard it at your peril, as you may be giving up a blessing you otherwise would have had." You have spoken wise words to me tonight, I hope others are feeling the same Spirit, and will heed this good advice.

Very interesting thread! When I first began to wear garments, I lived in Atlanta where it is very hot and humid in the summer. I tried a number of fabric types and styles. I wear scrubs to work, so they have an elastic waist band as did the garment bottoms, and then the top overlapped, so my midsection was very hot! Someone mentioned the one piece garments, and I have been a one piece girl ever since! They have a slit in the bottom so you don't have to pull the top down to take care of necessary business throughout the day. They also make the flare leg one piece that I think is very "cute" and flattering. The only problem with them is they do not have the slit in the bottom, and you have to work around the flare leg to take care of business, and it is awkward, so I don't use them for that reason. I do wear cotton underwear over my garments for some of those "other feminine reasons". I never thought about the garments being attractive or unattractive, as the reasons I wear them are so important, every other consideration pales in comparison. I think they are very comfortable and on the rare occasions when I don't have them on (going to the beach, etc), I feel naked. I will never forget a story a friend told me many years ago. Her brother, who had been a lifelong member did something stupid and ended up spending some time in jail. He said the worst part about the entire matter was that he could no longer wear his garments. He said it added to his shame and guilt over what he had done and immediately after leaving jail, he began the road to repentance. Ever since I heard that story, if I think I may have an activity where I don't wear my garments, I think about how bad I would feel if I could no longer wear them. My garments are special to me. As far as the world seeing that you are wearing garments....who is seeing them? Many women wear camisoles under their lighter weight shirts, so if my clothing is such that someone could see the outline of my garments, what would make them think twice about it? I have never in my life been concerned about what someone was wearing under their clothing. I also lived in Arizona for a while, and while it was hot, it was so much more comfortable than Atlanta with it's high humidity! My garments were not an issue.

This is a very interesting thread. I also am a widow. My husband died 4 years ago. It was a second marriage for both of us. His wife died shortly before I met him. We both had grown children, so that was not an issue. We were not sealed in the temple originally, but married civilly. Even though it has been 4 years, the pain and grief is still very close to the surface. My home teacher recently mentioned that I would want a companion at some point. I just can't imagine that time ever coming. I still wear my wedding band and I still "feel" married. Pres. Monson made reference to death at the last Conference and mentioned the deceased person was not dead, but only in another room. That is exactly how I feel! Even though my husband had been a member, he had not gone to the temple. We were sealed a year after he died, and I find extreme comfort in that. He also very much loved his first wife and often said how much we would have liked each other. So the natural thing to do was to stand as proxy for her, so they could be sealed as well. Every situation is different. I probably would have wanted to remarry if I was younger and of child bearing years, but I am quite content in my current state. I work full time, have wonderful friends, am in the Young Women's presidency and am Ward Chorister, so I am certainly not bored. My prayers go out to all who have lived through the death of a companion. No one could have ever prepared me for how difficult it has been. The sure knowledge of eternal life is such a blessing and is what keeps me going day by day.

I am sorry you are having to go through this trial. It does sound like he is intentionally trying to hurt you by sending you texts of himself getting drunk. I think he wants you to go berserk over his drinking so he can "justify" to himself that you are the problem. I lived with and loved an alcoholic and it is not an easy life. He was a pillar of the community, a supervisor in his job and everyone thought he was the greatest, especially his new girlfriend. His public and private lives were polar opposites. He may not think he is an alcoholic, but he most definitely is displaying those characteristics. Have you thought about Al Anon meetings? It is for family and friends of alcoholics. You will find wives who are going through similar problems. You will see patterns in his behavior you never noticed before as you discuss his behavior and hear other stories. They helped me understand him and I was able to separate my good decisions from his bad decisions. I was able to stop blaming myself for everything. My husband convinced me that if I was a better mother, housekeeper, lover, income provider, etc. then he wouldn't have to drink. In any case, it sounds like you have done all the right things, taken the right steps to try to put things back on track. You can't save a marriage by yourself, but you can save yourself and your children. Yes, you have been badly hurt and your faith in marriage has been shaken to the core, but you can survive this, you must survive this. The alternative is rolling over and dying, and you can't do that. You have children to raise. You have examples to set. Concentrate on healing yourself and your children right now. Go through the motions of life and you will eventually find the peace you are seeking. I wish you peace in your adversity.

I was a travel nurse for 7 years and attended many different meetings in many different states. I wore the same thing in rural Arkansas as I did in Atlanta or Tucson. The branch I attended in the Ozarks of Arkansas was a double wide trailer with an average attendance of about 40. Many of the people were dirt poor, but wore the best they had to church. That best may have been a clean white t-shirt and coveralls, but the most important thing was that they CAME to church and brought their families! I saw men in camo print pants, and women in threadbare dresses, but they came, they spoke, they took Sacrament, they sang hymns and they worshiped just like the people in the big cities. Heavenly Father understands our needs and our concerns, even over the little things, but I am certain that what is in our heart far outweighs the clothes on our back. Best of luck in your travels. :)

Maybe we just have very accommodating ward members, but most of the people assigned to clean the church actually do it. At least 4 people are assigned every week. Sometimes it may be a large family or may just be 4 singles. 2 are assigned for the Chapel and "new wing" and 2 assigned for the "old wing". They list all of the assignments with names and dates in the bulletin each week for the upcoming 6 week period. That way everyone knows in advance when it is their turn, and if you keep seeing your name pop up as it moves up the list, it's hard to forget.

We are counseled to do all that we can do, and then Heavenly Father will take it from there. So if I am doing all I can to prepare for my family so we won't be a burden to others, and then I lose it to an "act of God", then as others said, I start over and try to learn something. We can't possibly be prepared for every contingency, so I prepare for the most logical problems that I would encounter in my area. I live in the mountains of North Carolina, so I don't prepare for earthquakes. My southern California son and family aren't too concerned about tornadoes. But we are all concerned about serious injuries, job lay offs, global economic problems, etc. As far as hoarding, I always considered hoarding as taking more than you need so others don't have it available to them. Preparing is when you sacrifice to store extra while in a time of plenty. So when I prep, no one else suffers or is even aware of it. Then I am able to provide for my family and others if the need arises. Hoarding would be if after a hurricane, I bought all the bottled water at the store before anyone else could get there. While not illegal, it may be immoral. But if you planned ahead, you wouldn't be worried about getting water in the first place. Just my opinion, we welcome yours

This is my first post here, although I have been lurking awhile. I was taken by your comment. I am also a convert to the church, 21 years ago, and I still feel like a puppy! I am so enthusiastic about the gospel, the church in general and all of my callings. Many times I think I need to reign in my enthusiasm! I am the music director in my ward and have to be careful not to jump and shout with some of the hymns! I guess my Baptist roots are showing. I DO understand where you are coming from and I also pray that you never forget that "new car" feel!