Wordnerd

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Everything posted by Wordnerd

  1. I have lots of relatives in Familysearch, not one on this though
  2. I'm pretty shocked that military action is not going to congress, from what I understand (and I may be wrong because I haven't ever studied your constitution in depth) the President's grounds for relying on a 13 year old authorization for the use of force is pretty shaky.
  3. I honestly have trouble believing he will hold that line, lets just pray it doesn't come to that.
  4. Is your "well done" a compliment or sarcasm? After the initial lack of fortitude on the Ukraine and ISIS, it seems like a comment like that is just begging Putin to test him.
  5. Thanks everyone for your thoughts - I think if it was just my husband and I we might try to make do without eating out but with the kids in tow we'll find somewhere to grab a simple quick meal in between sessions. Loved your comment Str8Shooter - thats exactly how I feel, it's less vacation (although we are excited to go!) and more an opportunity to strengthen our testimonies as a family. We are undertaking a long drive in order to have a chance to see the talks in person, and feel the Spirit. Sounds like you are equally far away - we live in Calgary, Alberta, I've heard conference causes a mini-exodus at the Canada to US border crossing because there are so many of us in Southern Alberta, but I've actually never been to SLC before.
  6. The words that stood out to me most in the were "seldom contacted" rather than "shunned". These are two very different things. If a person is assuming that infrequent contact means they are being shunned, then it is quite possible they are over reacting. (Not saying this is the case because I am not aware of the exact circumstances). It could be that the adult children in question are over-scheduled with work, callings, kids and their activities and so on. I am not good at initiating contact with people when I am busy (so always). This doesn't mean that I don't love and care for them, I simply am often overwhelmed at all I have going on in my life. I have very good friends that I only see a couple times a year, and we live in the same city. I am blessed to have friendships where we can not see each other for months and then get together and no one is hurt or offended at the lack of contact, we just pick up where we left off. For many people under 40 Facebook is how they share their news and interact with people they don't see on a regular basis, it may be that adult children appear to be seldom contacting their parents because they have become accustomed to sharing their news on facebook, or twitter, or texting. If the OP is feeling neglected perhaps reaching out to their children, or trying to connect with them on their chosen platforms would help the situation. However it could be that OP is being shunned, and the reasons in my opinion could be one or more of many, and most of those have nothing to do with the church. As Maureen said, the children could have been treated badly growing up, or they could feel that their parents treat them badly now, by guilt trips, criticism etc as Eowyn mentioned. The parents could just need too much time and attention, that their children are unable to provide due to other obligations - I have met some very demanding people over the years who can't seem to function without constant reassurance, help, and attention from others, people tend to withdraw from others who demand too much from them. It could also have nothing to do with the behaviour of the parents - I have seen adult children cut their parents out of their lives because they still have not developed the maturity to accept that the parents rules when they were teens were implemented out of love and a desire for the childs' own good.
  7. We are planning on coming with the kids to General Conference in October. Our hotel has breakfast included but other than that I am not sure what to do about meals on Sunday as we won't leave till Monday morning because its a very long drive (around 12 hours). I understand there is not much open in downtown SLC. What do other people do when they travel to conference and stay in hotels? The hotel restaurant may be open, but I am also sensitive that it appears somewhat hypocritical to travel to conference and then force others to work by needing to buy restaurant meals. Am I being oversensitive? We really don't travel often but when we do we try to keep Sunday a quiet day, but will eat out if we need to.
  8. Part of his orneriness is that all the fences, including the one he put up were several inches on our side, although he still claimed ownership of them. So glad to not live near him anymore.
  9. It's interesting the range of thoughts on this. As converts we are the only members of the church in our respective families. We don't keep coffee and tea (other than herbal tea) in the house on a regular basis. However I have no problem with family bringing their own and would be happy to serve it to them. My mother stayed recently to watch the kids while we went away for a few days, I would have bought coffee and tea for her, except I wasn't organised so she bought her own, it's still here and I expect it will stay here for future visits. We also have welcomed friends and family who bring their own wine or beer for meals with us. Smoking friends/family go outside, but I don't know anyone who would smoke even in their own homes, so that's just normal and not because we are members. On a side note, my mother keeps a stock of my favourite herbal tea in her house, which she doesn't drink. She does it because she wants us to feel comfortable and welcome. I want people to feel the same way in my house, so I am accomodating of their preferences. We wouldn't tolerate illegal drugs in or around the home - but that hasn't changed from before.
  10. Yes, then he put it up again, then my husband took it down again. This was after a year of trying to reason with him, he was a problem neighbour who was very agressive and tended to threaten people, he had a long history with half the street and we had filed many complaints about his behaviour but the police wouldn't do anything about him, so all the good people just kept moving away. You probably wouldn't believe half of the stuff he got away with, like deliberately swerving his car at people (and children) if he didn't like something you did or said (such as complaining about his speeding). I eventually got him ticketed for harassing my dog, and had to go to court because he was determined to fight the ticket, but he lost. I find it really ironic that after 7 years of harassment animal control cared more about my dog being harassed than the police cared about the safety of my children.
  11. Whatever you do don't use plastic orange snowfence like our (former) neighbour put up between our houses. Pros - cheap, but cons - ugly, will look like its half falling down within days, orange!!!, also your neighbours may take it down when they find the city does not regulate fencing material, and when you put it up again, your neighbours will take it down again...and so on. Good fences make for good neighbours so glad we have moved.
  12. I do understand your point - to us it is excessive and unneccesary, but I do think that we need to look at it as a matter of degree. I took my family to Disneyland last year, I did the cheapest trip I could, using airmiles and travelling in the off season, but I still spent $2500. Thats money that I could have given to the poor and needy, and I'm sure there are many who have less than me, who only camp or don't vacation at all that would be disgusted at my action. My family has two vehicles, could we make do with one, possible, but extremely inconvenient, but thats $450 extra in gas and insurance that I could give the poor and needy. I guess the point I am trying to make is if someone is tithing, and presumably supporting charity, most likely in excess of what my family even earns total in a year, are they obliged to forgo a more comfortable lifestyle as well, and donate everything in excess of what I deem lifestyle needs? Should I be reducing my expenses to the bare minimum, and forgo living in a comfortable house, and driving cars so that I can give more, because there are those that live with less than me? I wasn't trying to imply that he was called because he was perfect, but that he wouldn't have been called if he had not been, mostly at least, stewarding what he had been blessed with wisely. All of us who are blessed with some excess use some of what we recieve for personal recreation and wants, where do we draw the line at what is reasonable and what is not? Just by virture of living where I do I am blessed with more luxurious lifestyle than many people in the world will ever have, I don't consider myself wealthy, but I can be comfortable if I manage carefully. I need to be grateful for that, but do I need to forsake it all to better build the Kingdom?
  13. Watch or membership? based on the information provided the watch could have cost anywhere from 5 to 50K. I personally usually buy used vehicles that cost around 15K, so yes a 15K watch would be extremely excessive for me, but for someone that likely earns million(s) a year it could just be a small luxury (like designer shoes, although I personally find that excessive as well, I will spend on quality but not a designer name, quality is not that expensive). Its all a matter of degree, we don't expect middle class families to live on the bare minimum and donate the rest, the wealthy just have a lot more excess, and since they have worked for it I think they are justified in using some of it to reward themselves. The golf membership is big dollars, but we are talking about a business owner - lots of business gets done in these private clubs, if that is the cost of entry into the circle where he networks and cultivates influence to continue to provide jobs for others, is it really that excessive? I have had lots of experience working for people who are extremely wealthy, most of them have been extremely philanthropic, I don't think I should judge what they spend based on my lifestyle, we all have weaknesses (I buy too many books) but in general wealthy people do a great deal of good in the world, I expect the unnamed 70 does, and has been using his wealth wisely, otherwise the Lord would not have called him to his current role.
  14. Yes Classylady makes a good point, all travellers require passports to get into Canada. Also don't bring guns LOL (not saying you would have just been watching lots of episodes of Border Patrol - a Canadian version of Cops that covers Border Officers; its a really common mistake apparently)
  15. No returns on Bieber! On a more serious note - the Ukrainian government is only a provisional government, my understanding is that there was an armed coup and the legal impeachment procedure was not followed. The Ukrainian president who was ousted was democratically elected with UN observers in place, is he corrupt and did he order protestors fired on? A full impeachment process would have proved the truth one way or another, it's a shame it wasn't followed so that the legality of the current government couldn't be questioned. So why do we accept the provisional Ukrainian government decisions but not the decision of the Crimean parliament? Just because they are friendly to the west and Crimea is friendly to Russia? I think the media, both western and Russian are cherry-picking facts to support the positions of their governments and none of us are getting a full view of what is really going on. On a more sobering note, it feels to me that Russia is again trying to extend its sphere of influence and establish itself as the power broker of the world, instead of the US. I don't think this is about oil pipelines or Crimea or democracy, it's about who is the big man on campus- Putin or Obama, whose country is going to call the shots for the world?
  16. Treating a chemical imbalance in the brain is not equal to using alcohol for recreational purposes (or self-medication). Depression is a real illness, requiring real treatment, even medication. I believe comments like yours show a lack of understanding of the very real effects of mental illnesses, please have some compassion for your brothers and sisters in their challenges and not assume that they are using medication for a spurious reason. If there was ever any doubt regarding the appropriateness of medication for mental illness (and I don't believe there was) Elder Holland made it clear last conference "If you had appendicitis, God would expect you to seek a priesthood blessing and get the best medical care available. So too with emotional disorders."
  17. Cost of living is significantly higher here as well, even with the Canadian dollar on par, purchasing a home is about $250/sqft, in a fairly average neighbourhood and everything else is also much more expensive than in the US.
  18. Hi Daybreak it would be oilfield/ pipeline / pressure vessel / construction type stuff. The guys who make the most tend to have the independent setup with the truck mounted unit, or work in camps up north but I'm told even shop welders in town here earn about $35 or $40/hour mostly non-union work. There isn't strong union presence here. We have an extreme shortage a welders and have had for at least 10 years now. I'm in Alberta. About 14 hours drive north of SLC the camp work is about another 8 hours further north of me.
  19. Welding is an extremely highly paid trade in my area, people make 150K a year easily. Not that the work is easy, it can be quite unpleasant. I have no tips though, my husband has a little welder that he plays with out in the garage, thats all I know. :)
  20. This was an enlightening thread, I actually had an assumption that all people raised in the Church tended to marry young. I think we are among the youngest and we weren't even members at the time. I was 21 and my husband was 24, we were the first by years of many of our friends and to cap it off had our first child right away which really made our lives different from everyone else around us. But my husbands cousin married at 17 to a 16 year old, not because they "had" to but because they were convinced they were right for each other and they are still happily married 20 years later now. Its about the person and not the time of life :)
  21. INTJ - we are supposed to be rare, surprised to see others on this board. Maybe INTJ's have a preference for talking to random people on the internet
  22. I have a wonderful husband and loving family :)
  23. My first calling was activities committee, which my husband was also called to, within the first couple months of joining. When that calling was eliminated I was called to, as the first counsellor put it "Relief Society extra meetings helper or whatever we are calling Homemaking nowadays" Lol. I am the Laurel advisor now, I have to admit I do miss relief society but I am learning a lot. My favourite calling was activities committee, our ward always called couples to it since they figured that people always get their spouses to help anyway. I am not very outgoing so it gave me a reason to go to activities and a job to do there, it really helped me to get to know people and feel more comfortable. You can always remind the Bishop you are eager to serve, also talk to the Relief Society President, she likely has lots of service opportunities she can give you, and she can remind the Bishop about you as well. If you have been a member for a year its a good time to be thinking about preparing to enter the temple, not having a calling to keep you busy is a good opportunity to focus on your own spiritual preparation.
  24. Tim Horton's is safe - the military are big fans. We even set up a Tim Hortons in Kandahar otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get any soldiers to serve out there. (jk...our soldiers are very dedicated and serve in very difficult conditions, not the least of which is not having the same standard of equipment as other NATO forces)