LauraG

Ha ha! Well, most of them would cover you about as well as garments, and isn't that the point of wearing a modest swim suit to begin with? I think my SP would be thrilled if all the girls wore suits like that to girls camp. I know you can't hear my sarcasm, so I'll just tell you I'm being very tongue-in-cheek here. However, I do think some SPs, maybe mine, too, would like to see that style of suit. I own a suit similar to those I linked to, and for lounging around/playing in shallow water or on pool deck, I wear it (so that's about once a year). When I'm actually swimming for exercise, I wear a good 100% polyester lap suit. In open water, I would choose the lap suit for safety reasons.

Modest Swimwear, Modest Swimsuits, Modest Bathing Suits, Modest Swim Wear Princess Modest Swimwear At least, for girls camp, they don't require suits such as these. They aren't bad looking or uncomfortable, but price and availability in your area could seriously limit the style of suit you are able to buy. If stake presidents required this type of covering for girls camp, then far fewer would be able to participate. Tankinis can be just as modest or more so than one-piece suits. It just depends on the style. I would venture to guess that a removable strap probably isn't very modest to begin with. I swim twice or more a week, as I am a triathlete. If you go with an all polyester lap suit, it'll hold up a lot better and be WAY more practical than anything available at your local Walmart.

I went through and re-read the thread, and didn't see anywhere where anyone said you needed to gain a testimony. The closest comment to that said something to the effect that it can be hard to tune out the noise, especially if your testimony isn't strong, which in a general way, is true. When we have a fullness of love in our hearts, we aren't as annoyed at the little things in life. The crayons and coloring books DO need to be taken into the pew, because it is an escape hazard in case of fire or emergency to have them out in the aisle. That's a safety issue that could be mentioned over the pulpit, or directly to the parents in a private manner, without being the least bit offensive. I've noticed in my life that the more annoyed I get, and the more I find faults in others, it seems to snowball. It becomes easier and easier to see shortcomings and to be irritated with everything around me. I'm not defending bad behavior by little kids, or inattentive, unthoughtful parenting. However, I'm sure you can find a way to be less annoyed with that situation, and with all the thoughtful and supportive comments in this thread, if you want to.

What would Jesus do? How would he handle the moment, and how would he teach with kindness and love afterwards? With my little ones, I do take them out when they get unruly, but I never let them get down and run/scream in the hallway. A lot of parents make this mistake, and it only encourages the kids to behave badly in sacrament meeting. I can usually find a small private room where I can discipline my child without the observance of others. I call it the "quiet room" and there is nothing exciting/fun about that room. Just some chairs, and sometimes a table. We sit there while the child practices being quiet. When the child has calmed down again, we go back into sacrament meeting, where there are books, crayons, and paper, and other quiet toys. I avoid snacks for small children during sacrament meeting. It seems that any food during the meeting become a nightmare for me, whether in clean up, or in kids fighting over what one another have to eat. Better to just avoid it, in my opinion. I do have trouble when other families with young children sit near my family, because many families allow lots of snacks, and the children are sometimes very unruly. My children and the children of some other families seem to feed off each other's energy. I try to stay away from these families as much as possible. By the way, my family is the largest one in the ward, those living at home range from 17 yrs to 20 months. In all my practice over the years, spanking hasn't been an effective teaching tool as much as consistent consequences for actions, and lots of love and praise for proper behavior. This isn't always as easy to do as it is to say, but I can say that when I have spanked, it was out of anger, impatience, and my own limitations on creative ways to handle situations. Example from last week at church: My 7 yr old son, a very hyperactive little boy, was acting pretty silly during church. Lots of giggling and general unruliness. His brothers were trying to get him to hush, his sisters tried to shush him. My husband was getting noticeably upset and was about to grab him and take him out for some very harsh discipline. I whispered in his ear, "B... I know you love HF, and that you are going to grow up to do great things for God." He started to relax a bit and a sweet smile came over his face. I continued, "One of the great things you can do for God right now, is to learn to sit quietly during church so that you can feel the Holy Spirit, and so others can, too. Can you feel the Holy Spirit, B?" He whispered back, "Yes." I gave him a great big squeeze. a kiss on the head, and he remained calm the rest of the meeting.

I am a convert, and so is my husband. None of our extended family comes to anything. Even though there isn't the expectation the way that there may be in an all LDS extended family, I understand how it can hurt not to have extended family at these special events. I have lowered expectations from family, and that has made a big difference for me. Sorry for your daughter, if she has been hurt by their absence.

Yes, I don't like being thought of as being in a weakened state when I am pregnant. In fact, I run about 16 miles a week, and also bike and swim, and plan to continue through my pregnancy. A lot of the ward members know that I am active, and I've even run past the Bishop's house and waved to him as I ran by. I present myself as a real go-getter, who eats rocket fuel for breakfast and goes nonstop all day every day (even though the reality is far from that... people who really know me realize I'm very human). I don't think the bishop would even buy it if I simply said that I wanted to be released because I am pregnant. Today I had a chance to tell one of the counselors in RS that I'll be asking for release from the chorister calling, and told her the reason why. I was figuring that might give the presidency a little more time to find someone to fill the job. She suggested a long-term substitute for me, but I said that would be awkward because I'll be in attendance, and it would seem odd that I'm not leading the music if it's my calling and I'm present. I did tell her I would be happy to mentor someone else who is less confident of their ability as a chorister, if desired. My appointment with the bishop is right after ward choir practice tomorrow. Better go put some extra anti-perspirant on before bed. Putting it on the night before helps the next day somewhat. I'm 7 weeks along right now, and the sweating doesn't usually get bad until the 2nd trimester. I would so love to do ward choir through Christmas... maybe if it's extra cold and I can wear a sweater to cover my pits...

Wow, what a lot of support! Thanks to everyone who responded. I need to make an appointment with the bishop now. :)

Well good! Thanks for the encouragement. I think I will just ask to be released. I would hope that I can stick with the choir calling until after the Christmas program, but let me think... how bad will my problem be by that time... I don't know. I'll talk to the bishop about it. Thanks everyone!

I don't have an assistant for either the RS Chorister or the Ward Choir Director job. Interesting idea, but even with an assistant or two, presumably, I would still need to lead on occasion, and that would still be a problem for me. There are so many in our ward who are musically talented. I'm sure someone else can fulfill these jobs. I would be happy to mentor someone into these callings, too, if desired.

I am the RS chorister and ward choir director. I love music. I love my callings, even though I am burned out, having been in a music calling for most of my 20 years as a member of the church. But the reason I am considering asking for a release isn't because of burnout, even though it's a factor (I specifically asked to NOT be put into a music calling when I moved to this ward, but said I would gladly serve wherever they needed me, which I have, faithfully). The biggest reason is that I am newly pregnant. I generally have wonderful pregnancies, but have this embarrassing condition when I'm pregnant, and it's particularly embarrassing (and much worse) when I'm leading music. My armpits are like sprinklers. I get sweat rings that are about 6" in diameter in each pit, and I've tried every anti-perspirant that there is. Nothing works. I don't know if I really want to tell the Bishop about this condition. I mean, I find it really embarrassing. On the other hand, in previous pregnancies, I have endured being mortified every week from this problem, and I just don't want to live through that embarrassment anymore, especially in a new ward, where everyone hardly knows me. I don't want them to all think of me as the sweating choir director, lol. Is this a valid reason for asking for a release, when every calling and every release is inspired? Shouldn't I just have faith that the Lord knows my needs and will release me or stop my sweat rings? Oh my gosh I am so embarrassed right now!

Turns out that we didn't go to the wedding afterall. My husband and I got wrapped up with something, looked at the clock, and it was already 7:45 PM, so too late to get showered, changed, and attend the wedding. I wish I would have attended. Oh well, it's probably not too late to give them a gift card. The ward FB page admin reinstated me at last, after my husband went to bat for me. It doesn't effect my eternal salvation whether I'm on the FB page or not, so I didn't really care, but my husband was really offended in my behalf. Anyway, it took several days and a lot of posts, but I'm back. I took the first opportunity to post current ward choir information, as I am the ward choir director.

I haven't called the mod or tried to email him. My husband is still a part of the ward FB group, and hasn't been "excommunicated" from it yet, so if there is ever anything noteworthy there, I'll hear of it from him. And, if I have anything pressing I need to post, I can ask my husband to post it for me. Yes, I think the admin/mod took it too far by blocking me from the group, too. I had already deleted all of my comments before being blocked. He is just on a power-trip. Oh well, too much drama for me. Really, my only concern was that church policies and guidelines were being followed and not getting blurred. If the admin/mod wants to cause drama about it, I guess he can suit himself. I'm going to attend the wedding tomorrow. I got some more information about the couple from a member of the RS presidency today. She told me they were basically homeless and are now living with another family, but have very little to their names... they have a baby, hardly any clothes for themselves or the child, and the financial hardship list goes on... I asked what sort of gifts they would need the most, and was told ANYTHING. So, what would you give to a young couple who need everything, but don't really have a place of their own at the moment? Would a gift card be tacky?

Well, I hope you are right.

Well, we did FHE and I milked my cow. Just reading through the most recent comments. I was surprised that even after deleting my own comments, he not only deleted the entire thread, but kicked me out of the group and blocked me, so I can't even message him. I could call him, but I don't know what I would say. Should I even care whether I'm a member of this FB group? It can be useful for getting the word out to people sometimes. I'm new-ish to the ward... moved here in November... so I haven't made many friends yet. I guess now I probably never will!

Wow, after I deleted my comments, I was deleted as a member of that group! The moderator also blocked me so I can't see him on FB anymore. I'm pretty sure at least someone will remember my folly.