Jane_Doe

It seems like you're letting your OCD/anxiety rule your life, so of course it's exhausting! As others have mentioned, I would recommend a proffesional counselor to get control of your OCD/anxiety. Once that is handled, you can more clearly focus on other things like not taking the Lord's name in vain.

My experience has been similar to ClassyLady. You show up at the stake center, stake presidency announces the new boundaries and gives everyone a map of them. They then answer any questions. Usually done within 30 minutes, and the next Sunday you go to your new ward. If you can't make it to the meeting, new boundaries are posted online. As a side note: these type of things usually make the rumor mill go crazy. While amusing, speculation ultimately doesn't get you anywhere.

My 2 cents: Does God play with dice? Absolutely! If He wants you to get snake-eyes, you will. If He doesn't, then you won't. If He doesn't care, then it'll be whatever. Say a hypothetical child has 50% odds of inheriting a generic disease from a parent. If God wants that kid to have it, then he will (or vise versa). Or maybe God doesn't want to micro-manage things in this case.

Welcome, welcome :)

You could also try emailing the mission house or asking any other missionaries in the area (they probably know his first name)

Hi siistipoika and welcome to the site. No need to feel ashamed of having questions, we all do. The purpose of this forum is so that we can all learn and grow together-- so welcome!! Now on to your questions (pardon my abbreviating) It is true that some people will not accept the ordinances done on their behalf. If they were forced to accept them then it would thawt the entire plan of happiness. Do we as a people try to be super optimistic and think that everyone will? Heck yeah, you always want to hope! The scriptures do talk frequently about lower kingdoms and those whom won't live in the presence of God (I recommend Alma 40). A man can only be judge according to the truth he has received. Someone in middle-of-nowhere-China who lives the best as he knows (with very limited knowledge) will be judged well: did he honor his parents? Did we be truthful to his word? Did he care for his fellow man? He will be judged on what he knows to do. If an LDS person knows a lot and throws it away, then they will be judged harshly. If some random American sees an "I'm a Mormon" billboard, that doesn't necessarily mean they've seen the whole truth, and hence can't be judge by it. Hebrews 10 is a great chapter about this. The imagery in the "Tree of Life" vision is powerful. Yes, there are many people in the Great and Spacious Building mocking all day long. Some of them ended up there very on in life (not knowing the full truth), while some people partook of the Fruit and then left for the Great and Spacious Building (apostatized). I won't lump them all together. Rather the Lord judges each one of these people individually, based the knowledge and truth they have received. It is never easy to be a good person! Knowing more about how to take care yourself spiritually is like knowing more about taking care of yourself physically. Today we know so much more about nutrition, exercise, disease, etc. This knowledge is a great tool, and helps me live a healthy life. But just having the knowledge is not enough, I still have to *use* the knowledge I have: to eat right, get exercise, sanitize the best I know. It's just like my grandmother did and my granddaughter will do. That effort doesn't change. A person whom doesn't know anything about the gospel still has to work to be the best person they know how. Just the same as you and me. And when the next life comes, all of us will have our minds blown away with how little we really knew. I have two things to say-- 1) God's wishes aren't just hoops for a us to hump through: they're tools to help us live a better life. By obeying God's commandments (like resting on the Sabbath) I enjoy my life more then if I didn't (benefit for me now). 2) If people are being trolls then just ignore them. Ok, take a deep breath. Done? Now take another deep breath. Know that your Father in Heaven loves you. Know that He sent His son to die for you. God wants you to be the happiest you could possibly be, both now and in eternity. Does any of that help?

Good to hear you're taking control Mday16. Just remember that you can also be a whole person yourself.

Oh my… this is going to be a long answer. Native American genocide: Europeans did decimate Native American populations, but it had nothing to do with Christianity or even the Europeans themselves. Rather, it was the nasty passenger of European populations: small pox. With no immune resistance to disease, 90% of Native Americans died within 100 years of European arrival (disclaimer: numbers are from memory, I’m too lazy to confirm right now). Nothing to do with Christianity. Destruction of Native American culture: somewhat had to do with Christianity. Europeans sent missionaries over to Christianize the natives. Frequently this meant erasing the pre-existing religions and culture, sometimes violently. Europeans also very frequently destroyed Native American cultures and civilizations simply due to greed (want land, resources, etc). How Christianity/Catholic-church made the Dark Ages not so bad: the Dark Ages were caused due to fall of Rome and the resulting power/civilization vacuum. The fall of Rome was not due to Christianity, but rather Rome’s incredible corruption. The church preserved the remints of civilization by teaching people how to read, basic moral values, and some sense of order. They also took some of the only records from the time and preserved relics of civilization (like the Bible). How Christianity/Catholic-church contributed to the Dark Ages: after several hundred years of the Dark Ages, the Catholic church had become very powerful, power which also sowed corruption. Once the Renaissance started to brew, the church feared these radical new ideas because it A) threatened the traditions the church had spent centuries preserving and B ) it threatened their political power. So the Catholic Church did fight the development of these ideas (like slamming Galileo).

Yeah, I think this family just a weird quirk. Don't let it bother you.

Your boyfriend's got it right.

Here's my logic: 1) Was the Book of Mormon inspired by God? Yes. 2) So was Joseph Smith was a prophet? Yes, as he translated the BoM. 3) If Joseph Smith was a prophet, does that make him perfect? Heck no!! 4) Did Joseph Smith do somethings wrong? Yes, he was imperfect. 5) Do I need to make a list of all the things Joseph Smith did wrong? Nope, I'm not his judge.

No idea how I would have learned it growing up, but some type of greek/oriental orthodox.

Saw it tonight. I totally get the informercial impression, but IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!

I understand your frustration here Dorian. A lot of Mormons online (myself included) are quick to wave the "speculation" flag because I run across so many people who go "Wow, I just read this on the website '10 weird things about Mormons'-- do you really believe this bonkers?" And I ask "Well, are you familiar with Mormon beliefs at all?" "Nope and don't care, but do you really believe this [...]". ..... It becomes a quite tiresome conversation about the 200th time.

Believe or not, something like 40% of Mormons are single (I think that's the stat anyways...). They just make less noise than screaming toddlers :).

Back in the day (when local members built their own buildings) local plumbers did volunteer to do all the plumbing for free.

Yeah, sometimes people can get over enthusiastic...

Plumbing is a no, because Jack-the-amateur-plumber is not to be trusted ;P. But to do I expect that I will scrub church toilettes for free? Yep. To watch rowdy toddlers? Yep. To listen to whiney teenagers? Yep. To cook food? Yep. To organize events? Yep. To spend hours helping people with genealogy? Yep.

The movie isn't coming to my town (too small), but it is to my parents' and their ward literally bought out the theater opening night and are just handing out tickets to whomever wants to go.

I understand you Pipeorgan. I spent 2 years teaching public speaking and hearing so many Mormons with horrendous public speaking skills makes my ears want bleed. I confess to occasionally having to step out of Sacrement Meeting because of the speaker's exceptional lack of skill. There is something that helps me though....Does anyone remember the show "Full House"? There's an episode where Jesse (a pro musician) here's his wife singing to their little boys. Jesse cringes- his wife has a horrible voice!! He then spends the entire episode trying to teach her to sing, but it's a lost cause and he has to give up. Then towards the end of the episode, he walks upstairs and here's her singing to the kids again. This time he listens-- not to the notes, not to the words, but to the emotions. And he bursts into tears at how beautiful she is: her voice carries such a magnitude of love for her babies! When it comes to the Lord, it's the heart that counts more than skill.

As an introvert who've spent years going to church solo (husband isn't a member), here's how you do it: 1) Walk into the room 2) See somebody (just the first person you happen to see) 3) Vala! You've now find someone to talk to and hang out with for the next hour. It really is that simple. Here's what you don't have to do: 1) Feel awkward cause you don't know people. We've all been there. 2) Make excuses cause your husband's not there. Is it really anyone else's business? Besides, you're making friends for *you*

Not at all, Mormon scripture even describes the procedure for it (in D&C). I find that paid speakers are also usually better quality that ammeters (whom half the time are afraid of the mic). It's just current Mormon practice that vast majority (>99%) of positions are unpaid volunteers. Yeah, it's a lot of work, and yeah teacher/speaker/musician quality is probably not as good as if we paid people, but it encourages congregation participation in an unparalleled way. We are the speakers, we are the teachers, we are the ones scrubbing the toilets-- this is *our* church and we're going to own it!

You never thought about it, that’s ok. No need to feel stupid.

The 1stPres, Qof12, 1stQof70, and mission presidents receive living stipends because they can’t hold a full-time job while being zipped around 6 continents. After they are released (relevant for 70’s & mission presidents), they can now hold a job so the stipend stops. These people make up ~300 people of the 15,000,000 Mormons out there (0.002%). There are also non-clergy people employed by the church as well. They run the BYU’s, church HQ (paperwork), and other church sites. But that’s a day-job and not calling.

It's also worth pointing out that just because a person doesn't find a spouse in this life, doesn't mean they can't have one in the next (all things done in God's wisdom).