priesthoodpower

Your description of your bil fits my ex-wife exactly, she left the church 6yrs ago, except I still live with and support her and my teenage girls. 
This past weekend I watched conf on the big screen in our living room, as each one of them woke up and entered they made snide remarks and exited quickly, like a vampire being exposed to the light. Yes my ex has groomed the little ones over the yrs to hate the church too.
Only since this past weekend has the thought of a bad spirit crossed my mind, I prayed to God to help me escape this but I keep reminding myself that after 1yr off my mission I prayed to God to send me an angel, he literally sent me her as she had just gotten off her mission. He then sent me 3 more angels, my girls, to take care of. That is why I will not leave them because I made an oath in my heart to be their provider. 
The funny thing is that life is all flowers and cookies in this home but when the subject of my religion comes up, they become very hostile. I have witnessed their gradual decline from church and christ and defended them as I witnessed both sides first hand. I have learned a lot and have a lot to say in hopes that I can beat this. Sadly its out of my hands, only christ can heal this. 

David Burge (aka “Iowahawk”) has observed that liberals often go through a four-stage process:
—Identify a respected institution
—Kill it
—Gut it
—Wear its carcass as a skin suit, while demanding respect.
Christianity has been a victim of this process since long before modern political liberalism made its arrival.  It got to the where it was “Christians” who tried to steal the gold plates from Joseph Smith, “Christians” who shot little Sardius Smith at point-blank range, “Christians” who gang-raped Eliza Snow and scored of other Mormon women, “Christians” who murdered Joseph Smith, “Christians” who drove the Saints of God out of their country and then turned on each other for a hundred years of unlimited warfare from the Civil War to World War 2 and beyond.  “Christians” who have told God to shut up, preferring to worship their biblical exegeses.  “Christians” who are increasingly replacing the scriptural Jesus and His law, with a bizarre libertine hybrid of Santa Claus and omnipotent pimp.
We looked at the word “Christian”, saw it for the hollowed-out shell that it was, and said “screw that.  We don’t want it.”  And we went off into the wilderness; and with God’s help we built something new, something blessed, something wonderful—and we acquiesced as the world called that thing “Mormonism”.
But the Second Coming draws ever nearer; and it would seem that before the Bridegroom returns—one of His instructions is that the bride to go and get her skin-suit back.
So, we will.  Nominal “Christians” may consider themselves to be on notice—if they aren’t going to live and love their religion—their true religion; there are yet Saints who will.

Your description of your bil fits my ex-wife exactly, she left the church 6yrs ago, except I still live with and support her and my teenage girls. 
This past weekend I watched conf on the big screen in our living room, as each one of them woke up and entered they made snide remarks and exited quickly, like a vampire being exposed to the light. Yes my ex has groomed the little ones over the yrs to hate the church too.
Only since this past weekend has the thought of a bad spirit crossed my mind, I prayed to God to help me escape this but I keep reminding myself that after 1yr off my mission I prayed to God to send me an angel, he literally sent me her as she had just gotten off her mission. He then sent me 3 more angels, my girls, to take care of. That is why I will not leave them because I made an oath in my heart to be their provider. 
The funny thing is that life is all flowers and cookies in this home but when the subject of my religion comes up, they become very hostile. I have witnessed their gradual decline from church and christ and defended them as I witnessed both sides first hand. I have learned a lot and have a lot to say in hopes that I can beat this. Sadly its out of my hands, only christ can heal this. 

Your description of your bil fits my ex-wife exactly, she left the church 6yrs ago, except I still live with and support her and my teenage girls. 
This past weekend I watched conf on the big screen in our living room, as each one of them woke up and entered they made snide remarks and exited quickly, like a vampire being exposed to the light. Yes my ex has groomed the little ones over the yrs to hate the church too.
Only since this past weekend has the thought of a bad spirit crossed my mind, I prayed to God to help me escape this but I keep reminding myself that after 1yr off my mission I prayed to God to send me an angel, he literally sent me her as she had just gotten off her mission. He then sent me 3 more angels, my girls, to take care of. That is why I will not leave them because I made an oath in my heart to be their provider. 
The funny thing is that life is all flowers and cookies in this home but when the subject of my religion comes up, they become very hostile. I have witnessed their gradual decline from church and christ and defended them as I witnessed both sides first hand. I have learned a lot and have a lot to say in hopes that I can beat this. Sadly its out of my hands, only christ can heal this. 

Your description of your bil fits my ex-wife exactly, she left the church 6yrs ago, except I still live with and support her and my teenage girls. 
This past weekend I watched conf on the big screen in our living room, as each one of them woke up and entered they made snide remarks and exited quickly, like a vampire being exposed to the light. Yes my ex has groomed the little ones over the yrs to hate the church too.
Only since this past weekend has the thought of a bad spirit crossed my mind, I prayed to God to help me escape this but I keep reminding myself that after 1yr off my mission I prayed to God to send me an angel, he literally sent me her as she had just gotten off her mission. He then sent me 3 more angels, my girls, to take care of. That is why I will not leave them because I made an oath in my heart to be their provider. 
The funny thing is that life is all flowers and cookies in this home but when the subject of my religion comes up, they become very hostile. I have witnessed their gradual decline from church and christ and defended them as I witnessed both sides first hand. I have learned a lot and have a lot to say in hopes that I can beat this. Sadly its out of my hands, only christ can heal this. 

I agree with everything you say annendex, unfortunatley things are not as simple as it seems. What good is having all the answers if we cant recognize and solve the problems. I personally dont agree with the position .." they choose to leave, they are disobedient". 

We cant! The church in its current format, although well intentioned, is micromanaging peoples thoughts and beliefs. This works for some but not many, as evidenced by higher amount of inactives on our rosters then actives.
My little sister and her family in vegas are the last of my siblings to go inactive, shes not anti or disbelieving but just tired of the mind games and needs time away to "deconstruct" her testimony. 
The answer to this problem is already in play,  the change that Pres Nelson envisioned with come follow me home learning and worship. Its a start but it still has a long way to go before our lost sheep return home. For example my sister avoids any contact with her home ward leaders but will allow me to discuss gospel items with her, unfortunately I, nor another male relative of ours are not in her ward boundary therefore have no right to excercise any priesthood ordinances with her.
IMHO we just need to wait a few more years before the term "I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves" takes on a whole new meaning. 

op, much of what you say is speculation but i sense that your perspective is inspiration and light for you and your household. Thank you for sharing as I have been dwelling on Adams transgression the past 6 months and how it relates to sin in my life. I was gonna start a topic on it but your post and some of the replys clears things up for me.
My belief is that sin happens to me, by me and around me because just like Adams transgression, it allows other parts of Gods plan to unfold. 
I love your explanation of a plan A, where Adam could have resisted sin and simply grown from the temptation alone (just as Christ did), why? because I know many members of the church who live in "lesser" sins (better at resisting temptation) and I see their spiritual growth the way you explain it as a "plan A"....and that, my friend, is what Christs example is, a plan A.
 
 

It might be a generational thing where one generation gets sick of hearing all the flaws and makes a point to focus only on the good, the next generation feels lied to because they grew up only hearing the good and thought (insert prophets name) was perfect, and the pattern continues. I see nothing wrong with the article in fact it contains both the flaws and greatness of BY, something future generations need to know.
If snell was bashing then yes, totally inappropriate but he is not, just simply stating that BY had flaws. I appreciate couples who tread lightly talking about the flaws in their relationship/family/homes. Bashing, nope! Letting others know you have flaws and are human, fine with me. Also there is a difference between your average person and a leader or someone that everyone holds in high regard. The leaders greatness is repeated through-out history and so should his flaws.  
 

It might be a generational thing where one generation gets sick of hearing all the flaws and makes a point to focus only on the good, the next generation feels lied to because they grew up only hearing the good and thought (insert prophets name) was perfect, and the pattern continues. I see nothing wrong with the article in fact it contains both the flaws and greatness of BY, something future generations need to know.
If snell was bashing then yes, totally inappropriate but he is not, just simply stating that BY had flaws. I appreciate couples who tread lightly talking about the flaws in their relationship/family/homes. Bashing, nope! Letting others know you have flaws and are human, fine with me. Also there is a difference between your average person and a leader or someone that everyone holds in high regard. The leaders greatness is repeated through-out history and so should his flaws.  
 

So, I have read most of the responses here and they all seem to be helpful, however, they sound speculative in nature. No-one here can make any types of assessments as to whether or not your son has a "mental illness". Does he display symptoms that could lead one to believe that he is depressed, sure! But I am not going to diagnose it because I am not trained NOR have I spoken to him in person. 
I can share with you what my own experience was and then you can decide if my experience and what I did is something your son could do as an alternative. he needs help or if this is a passing thought.
Firstly, I commend you for wanting your son to be whole and healthy and happy, like any loving and caring mother would. Missionary service is a really wonderful and rewarding experience one that gives back even days, weeks, years later. However, it's not easy to re-adjust once the mission is finished.
A missionary Elder (or Sister) is endowed with the power of God himself to preach and touch the hearts of those they come in-contact with. That power can be felt and it is ever present in a missionary's life (so long as he/she is following the commandments and mission rules). With that power, a missionary can see how the Gospel, when being taught by the spirit, changes lives and blesses those who accept the message of salvation. Once the missionary is released, the Endowment he had for two years is no longer there and in most cases, not having it is a real feeling of "loss" and can be challenging to overcome. Most missionaries have a well established support system and even then, they struggle. However, if the missionary is focused on his future, He(she) must be involved and active in anything that gives them purpose. But I m sure you already knew that because that's the normal reaction for anyone going through some sort of grief process. 
I remember thinking to myself about how much I longed for my Grandma and my Aunts to hear the gospel and pray to God about its veracity. I then had a special experience about four months after I had started my mission and although at the moment it was very scary, later I realized that it was my Grandma coming to say goodbye. I remember doing my personal study (missionaries have a strict schedule to follow every morning and one of the hours prior to leaving the apartment for the day is to study the scriptures) and while I was reading my scriptures, I felt a sens of deep sadness. The kind of sadness that makes one sob uncontrollably. My companion saw me and was concerned and I couldn't explain what was happening. Suddenly I realized that perhaps my mom had passed away. Soon after I had that thought, I offered a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help me accept His will regardless of whatever had happened. A few weeks later it as mother's day and I was praying that my mother would answer the call. After I dialed the number it rung a few times and then I heard my mother's voice. I was so relieved and at the same point confused. After a few minutes and greetings she had informed me that my Grandma had passed away. At that moment I felt at peace and I knew that she had come to say goodbye to me. I prayed to Heavenly Father that I needed Him to send missionaries to her right away because I was going to do her Temple Work as soon as I was back at home. Soon after I came home, I went to the temple and id the work for my Grandma and it was a wonderful experience. I have no doubt that she accepted the ordinances and is happy with her decision.  
I am not sure as to why you aren't a member of the Church or if you are but not active, nevertheless, I can see your son wanting desperately to share the gospel with you the way a missionary does and if you have resisted to learn more about the Gospel before, he might be having an internal struggle because he wants the Best for you. If you at some point decide to take the discussions, please involve him in the process. I am going to be bold and say this, it will be a much better experience of you at least learn and take the discussions now, than after you're gone through the veil. Eventually, if you decide not to take the discussions now, he will do the work for you after you're there. However, please do now that whether you do it now or then, you still have a choice and regardless of how your son feels or your husband, you are loved by God. 
Another aspect about being a returned missionary, is the fact that usually the bishop of your Ward puts the young man to work (a calling in the ward) and he might want to take a few weeks to "re-charge".
Regardless of whatever the reason is, do not dismiss your gut-feeling and keep the lines of communication opened. He needs to talk to your husband, and he needs to talk to his bishop. He needs to get active and go to school or get a job. 
One last thing, upon finishing a mission, the mission president does one last interview and in that interview, most times, the mission president extorts the missionary to find a young lady to marry and not to take too long in doing so. It is a good advise however, it is definitely something that could be intimidating.
Hope this helps and gives you an idea as to what he might have gone through. 
To finish, I would like to share with you AND YOUR SON, my testimony: I know without a shadow of a doubt that your son was called of God and that he had God's blessing to testify on His behalf. I know that the gospel is true and it's real. I know that the Book of Mormon changes lives and I know that it is the true word of God. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is the head of His Church. I also know that God lives and loves His children. He has living angels and some of those are called "Missionaries"! Most of the future is uncertain, but I know that if we live by the Word of God, that uncertainty will turn into Happiness. In the Book of Mormon there is a verse that gives me hope for the future: Mosiah 2:41
I share this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

This was me two years ago with my three youth daughters....
This is what I did and am doing, it works.
 

Over the years I have witnessed members leave the church, members come back and non-members join. They are ALL better off for having come unto Christ. After witnessing my exwife and kids leave I am learning to put all my trust and faith in Christ and try not to stress over the things I cant control.

Over the years I have witnessed members leave the church, members come back and non-members join. They are ALL better off for having come unto Christ. After witnessing my exwife and kids leave I am learning to put all my trust and faith in Christ and try not to stress over the things I cant control.

There was a point in time when I didnt pay tithing for 4 yrs, not because I couldnt but because I was frustrated with life in general.
This was a time when I think I learned and grew the most, from a spiritual perspective you could say I was living the allegory Footprints in the Sand. The atonement became real to me and not just something I believed in, why? because I needed and wanted Christ even more in my life.
Financially I was very blessed, my business grew during this time but im humble enough to recognize that this was a result of the momentum built up during the previous 3yrs. Still though its not like God was going to punish me and make me homeless because I stopped tithes. One day I even fell 15ft off a roof backward, smacking my head on the concrete, got up and walked away without a scratch, truly a miracle and evidence that God was watching over me that day.
The title of this thread is everything that is wrong with religion.
 

This statement would be more accurate by stating, "Members who grow up in areas with a higher populace of members will often associate with other members. Members who grow up in other places (i.e. California) will learn to become friends with multiple people."
Having grown up in California, none of my best friends were members. None of my neighbors were members. My high school class graduated with eleven members of the Church. Three of my best friends (non-members), whom I consider my brothers, and often refer to them as my brothers.

MG, you are a convert and you grew up learning how to be friends with anyone and everyone. Mormons grow up only associating with other Mormons and that becomes their safe haven. I am an example of that and I see it all the time.
The social possibilities are endless as the internet connects the world, current church culture boxes members in to a single ward for their social life and that is sad. What is even sadder is when ward boundaries split the ward a part, or one family moves into another ward then all of sudden we are not friends anymore. We claim to be a WORLDWIDE church but little do we realize we operate like a WARD-wide church. One of many instances of this mentality is when our Stake Pres. gets up a few times a year to chastise us for the low baptism rate in our wards, he says that we are not doing enough to talk to our neighbors, yet the people I have most influence over are co-workers or friends that live in other towns, I guess member missionary work is not that important if it doesn't benefit the ward.
 
 

Here is another quote you may like Grunt from Joseph F. Smith, "To the faithful Latter-day Saint is given the right to know the truth, as God knows it; and no power beneath the celestial kingdom can lead him astray, darken his understanding, becloud his mind or dim his faith or his knowledge of the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It can’t be done, for the light of God shines brighter than the illumination of a falsehood and error; therefore, those who possess the light of Christ, the spirit of revelation and the knowledge of God, rise above all these vagaries in the world; they know of this doctrine, that it is of God and not of man." (emphasis mine)
Anything, any question, any person seeking to destroy faith in God's Church/Gospel can and will be overcome if we possess the light of Christ, the Spirit of revelation. I know this to be true.

Some men wont open up and just stay quiet with generic responses while relying on their better judgement.
From an organizational standpoint, where there is smoke there is fire so I wouldnt be too worried that this particular person behaves this way but that many people behave this way when it comes to finding the reason they dont attend and/or left.
Most of you that follow my posts in here know that I appear borderline anti-mormon when I am simply expressing my true feelings and questions about the church. Im just trying to find answers and make sense of my testimony in the gospel. I will NEVER open up like this to my local leaders or fellow members for fear of being labeled.

Some men wont open up and just stay quiet with generic responses while relying on their better judgement.
From an organizational standpoint, where there is smoke there is fire so I wouldnt be too worried that this particular person behaves this way but that many people behave this way when it comes to finding the reason they dont attend and/or left.
Most of you that follow my posts in here know that I appear borderline anti-mormon when I am simply expressing my true feelings and questions about the church. Im just trying to find answers and make sense of my testimony in the gospel. I will NEVER open up like this to my local leaders or fellow members for fear of being labeled.

Some men wont open up and just stay quiet with generic responses while relying on their better judgement.
From an organizational standpoint, where there is smoke there is fire so I wouldnt be too worried that this particular person behaves this way but that many people behave this way when it comes to finding the reason they dont attend and/or left.
Most of you that follow my posts in here know that I appear borderline anti-mormon when I am simply expressing my true feelings and questions about the church. Im just trying to find answers and make sense of my testimony in the gospel. I will NEVER open up like this to my local leaders or fellow members for fear of being labeled.

Hence why I am not a fan of debates like this. The only common ground here is the Bible, and someone who spends his life studying it and learning all the ins and outs of it is far more advantaged than one who has MANY more sources of truth. It’s like pitching the 70 year old man with a doctorate in English and literature from Harvard against a 9 year old who is obsessed with dr Seuss in a competition of who had more dr Seuss books memorized. What is really being debated here? 
In atheist vs Christian debates, it becomes purely a battle of philosophy and wits.

Any and all debate/arguments over religion have become pointless in the internet age, both Kwaku and Jeremy did a great job but when your intent is to prove the other wrong there is no room for the holy ghost to manifest. I left after 35 mins.

Anyone in the public eye leaves themselves open to critique from onlookers. Intolerable to some may be outstanding to others.
No matter what side you are on, I give him and the others a huge amount of respect for providing gospel positive content and trying to build up the kingdom of God in a world that consistently pushes the negative.
If their content or personalities are intolerable, heck, feel free to produce something even better. Maybe you have? If so, please provide a link, I'd be happy to share your faith promoting content with my family.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin - The Virtue of Kindness

 

Thank you for posting this. I dont have fb so I went to Youtube and searched Kwaku and found him on the "saints unscripted" channel. I have three things I want to share.
1. Two weeks ago I found a vlog on utube of a young 45 yr old man that left the JW religion after 25 yrs born and raised. Some of the things that really interests me is that he married at 18, divorced after 12 yrs of marriage, has a 25yr old daughter, lived in his car for 2 yrs, is an entrepreneur, was shunned by his parents and JW friends after leaving the religion. He shares all of his life stories unfiltered and holds nothing back, I found a lot of gems in his videos that give me courage and strength. Im obsessed with him because he is relatable. Other channels I follow religiously is Joe Rogan, ESPN (1st take, skip/shannon), NBA, NFL to name my favorites. 
One channel I do not follow and is pretty boring to me is the churchs channel (T.C.ofJ.C.ofL.D.S.) I try to visit it maybe once a month especially when new videos come out but it seems so scripted and monotonous. I was thinking just yesterday if it was bad of me to think like that of our churchs utube channel but then I decided to look at how many subscribers it had and it shows 1.03 million out of 16 million members worldwide. Only 6.5% of our members are subscribed to the channel. I looked at a video posted 6 days ago "Joseph Smiths first vision" and it only had 17k views. That's a mere 1.7% of views from its own subscribers. Lets go back a month to find a video of president Nelson, that only has 54k views, 5%. Im not the only one that finds the content boring.
In contrast I looked at a utube channel that my kids frequent. Norris nuts, an australian family with 3 young kids, they have 3.4m subs. Their most recent video posted two days ago and already has 2m views, thats a 64% viewing rate. How is it that a random family in australia with no talent whatsoever is more interesting than the prophet and only true church of the world? 
2. So tonight I was sitting on the couch after dinner thinking how Im going to get an fhe/spiritual lesson going with my kids. I have been working nights the past week so tonight was the first opportunity in a long time (last fhe was 3 weeks ago). Usually when I mention fhe the kids run away or suddenly "need to shower/go to bed", they are some rebellious kids I tell ya! Being a little discouraged I decided not to mention anything of a fhe lesson and just surf on my phone with my earphones on. I came to thirdhour and saw your post Mrshorty and thats when I looked up kwaku on utube. Keep in mind that my kids dont know what im watching or listening to on my phone.
I found the saints unscripted channel and was blown away that these young 20 something year olds were addressing mormon topics in a hip and fun way. I quickly subscribed after watching one video and then decided to watch another, considering that halloween was just a week ago I watched "Do Mormons believe in Ghosts?" which was only 6 minutes. After that I turned off my phone and then put my attention on the family and just hung out. About 10 minutes later my 13yr old daughter sitting in the corner randomly said out loud "I wonder if ghosts read people's minds", she was thinking this because her grandma passed away 5 months ago and was wondering if her grandma was reading her mind. My eyes widened as I saw an opportunity to talk religion by showing her the video "Do Mormons believe in Ghosts?", which would answer her question from a mormon stand point. I chickened out and decided not to mention the video. Then my 10yr old daughter yells out to the 13yr old "who you gonna call! Ghost busters!!". OMG, the video has clips from the Ghost busters movie. I knew this was a sign and God's hand in helping me get a religious lesson in tonight.
So I called my 13yr old daughter to my side and told her I have an answer, put the headphones on her and played the video on my phone. She loved it, absorbed all the info and was entertained. Out of curiosity my 10 yr old asked what are you watching? I explained to her its about mormons beliefs about spirits, put the head phones on and then showed it to her. That was 2 of my 3 kids that got a religious message for the night, my 16 yr old had just gotten out of the shower and had no idea what we did, I had no intention of showing her the video so we carried on. About 15 mins later as my 16yr old was on the computer browsing pinterest something caught her attention and she said out loud "I want to see a psychic!", I smiled and invited her over to me. The video also addressed wigi boards, seance/psychics. Unbelievable!
3. Thank you Mr Shorty!