pkstpaul

There is a push to offer Latin. I know my father's congregation has Latin masses. I like going to mass still. I attend when visiting family. I like to go at Christmas, when LDS don't have a special service unless it happens on Sunday.

I was raised Catholic. As Catholicism is the as large as it is, you will find many, many LDS are converts from Catholicism (I apologize for any mis-spelling. There is no spell-check here and I don't spend more than 15 minutes a day on the Forum). I have great respect for the Catholic church and personnally feel it to be the most correct of churches, with the exception of LDS because some restored truths and priesthood ordinances lost during the long history of the Catholic church. My father is a Catholic convert and is very devote. He runs a radio station, a newsletter (paper and web), and does sidewalk counselling at obortion clinics. I support him in many ways. I run his web site and contribute to his radio station, so you can see I have no animosity toward the church. I will say, I have seen private comments at church that are anti-Catholic. It angers me when I hear them. We shouldn't be anti anything and as a Church, we are not anti. Those are private comments by members, but I bring it up because you will not alway hear "kind words". I love a book I found called Wind of Fire, where the LDS author paints a fictional story about the second coming and how all viable faiths are saved. One of his primary characters is a Catholic girl (family) and they pass through the Second Coming together. During the Millenium, the two faiths are reconciled to show the truth in both.

You really wanted to dive in didn't you? I'm not reading all the responses above. My take is always simplistic. Our purpose in life isn't to figure out the eternities, it is to become/stay worthy so that after this life we can figure out the eternities. In other words, I concentrate on getting through the day without screwing up. Exaltation is a billion years away (I think literally a billion). It isn't that we die, get judged and move to the Celestial Kingdom. There will be work, lots of work, to become exalted. That work isn't done on Earth, except to work toward achiving the ordinances available to you while living - endownment and sealing. Other than that, I think it more important to tackle the "not screwing up" challenge of dealing with my fellow man. Too simple? :)

I don't think he can win so I can't support his running. I'd support a more conservative candidate, but haven't found one I think can win either. Conservatism can't fight the billion $ marketing machine that is the Democratic Party and the allied "free" press. You won't find me commenting on political threads. I should have left this with my first comment.

What you are going to find is a lot of ex-Catholics. :) I don't think you will find Catholic bashing. I love and respect the Catholic church. I am ex-Catholic but by father is extremely devote. I even help him with his web site and radio station as I understand just how important his faith is and I am all about increasing spirtial awareness and activation regarless of faith. You will find some diverse opinions here. We cover a large spectrum of membership from a very large organization. Feel free to question anything and everything and we'll hash it out publicly in the Forum. Welcome

It seems you feel as those the essays are disclosing hidden issues. I never felt those "idiosyncrasies" about the early church were hidden. I knew about them when I joined the Church and I have read them in the manuals since the printing of the Presidency manuals going back to Brigham Young. I try to put them into the context of how the world was in the 1820-1844 time frame. There was polygamy back then (outside the Church). There was a lot of focus on mysticism in the spiritual community. It was a very different world than we know now. I would argue it is OUR world today that is SO much different than ALL of the times before the industrial reveloution and the information age. What we think "weird" today has been the norm in all generations before us. Base your testimony on what on how the Church teaches you to live. It is the most correct of all churches and its teaching are pure.

It is funny how one can see a thread in multiple postings on the same day. I find myself handing out the same advice more than once in a "session" on the Forum. You need to "own" your spirtualty. Don't assign it to your ward members. Your activity is your choice. Don't take the calling thing personnally. Without being active and social in the ward, you will be overlooked...not ignored, but overlooked. When a presidency is looking to fill a spot, they quite often look around the room. Yes, they use spiritual promptings to make callings, but nothing says there is only one person they are going to consider. An active member is going to be considered more than an inactive. It is just nature. Although the Nursery is a place people go to hide, it might be a good place to volunteer. They can generally use people to help play with the children and put out snack, etc. You get to chat with the adults (only a couple) because the kids aren't talking yet. :) That's easier than chatting in Sunday School or RS.

I'm sorry for your pain. It will be a difficult time for some time. Give yourself that time to grieve. Avoid making big decisions and kind of ride out the storm. If there is love there, the end of the marriage might not end the love. My parents divorced many years ago and are still good friends. They love each other but are not compatible partners. I love Anatess and hate the thought of disagreeing with her, but I wouldn't do the pet thing. I understand the benefits of pets, but most people underestimate the effort, commitment and cost of "owning" a pet. I consider it a big decision. It is a touchy subject and I am sure I'll be criticised by pet lovers, but please don't take it lightly.

You shouldn't have such expectations of other members. Just as they can't know or understand your personal stuggles, you don't know theirs. You need to own your spirituality and I believe you will only benefit by inserting yourself back into activity; just lower your expectations. As an aside, I don't follow the "trials are assigned to us" theory. Heavely Father places us in temporal existence and we are subject to the good and bad of that existence. Cancer is one of those things we are all subject to. It isn't assigned to us. We are also subject to the lessons of such difficulties and we are subject to joy and fulfillment. Best Wishes!

From what I observe, you are little different than a lot of people in a "lost" generation. I am seeing many, many people your age in the same position you are. What makes you different is your knowledge of the Gospel and some desire to reconnect to that part of your life. Most people do find themselves in young-adulthood struggling. Many are fortunate to have supporting family that drive them down a road of college and marriage and provide temporal, moral and spiritual support. Others flounder. Regardless of your past choices and the support network you have, you are still very young. You have many years to be propserous. Certainly you have dreams and goals beyond not falling off the Earth. Find that support network. It should be family, but if not, it can be Church. Your sins are irrelevant. We all sin. Don't feel guilty or unworthy.Simply set your compass to move in a new direction and make the first steps. My favorite saying...no lie..."Action cures fear." (David Schwartz, The Magic of Thinking Big). Making the first steps forward (or picking up a phone) will melt away your fear and motivate you to move more. Start today.

The Book of Job is one of the 5 "song" books of the Bible. It is said to be the oldest book of the Bible which means it was constructed even before Genesis and the books of Moses were committed to writing. It is a testament as to how scripture was passed from generation to generation from the beginning of time - verbally. People who think the Bible is a literal translation from the mouth of God simply haven't made any study on the "life" of religious writings. Just to understand how the King James version was compiled from a dozen different Bible versions - and those from dozens of disparate versions - would lead one to understand that the Bible is simply man's "version" of what God has communicated to man. Given that, I believe as is stated above; it is the Spirit that testifies of revelation and I am grateful for those who have sacraficed to preserve those writings so as to direct us to the Spirit.

First rule of making a marriage work... your spouse is ALWAYS right. Not you...the other spouse. Put aside your childish (not immature) ways. You chose to marry. You chose to sacrafice. Millennials are lazy. We've gone through too many generations without sacrafice (no wars or depression). Not sure what it takes to get a banned post, so I'm biting my tongue.

I found myself thinking of your situation as I was pondering things last night. I knew you were unlikely to find anyone on the Forum who would condone anything other than temple marriage, sacrifice, etc., even as I posted to you. I only wish to reiterate or clarify my point. You can marry outside the temple and have a happy wonderful life following a path to the temple. The clarifications on your circumstances show you to be level-headed and your boyfriend to be a great catch. I have little doubt you will do well regardless of the path you choose. Your parents/family will always accept your final decision. Yes, they will object to anything other than the temple, but you will find them supporting you through the process. One more caveat: if you pick a hard row to hoe, you can't complain when the going gets hard. You need to stick with it. I eluded to my own marriage. We accepted difficulties when we went into it and things were hard, but we've made it.

I'm glad you said this, as I forgot it was one of her topics. I'm constantly amazed at the amount of misinformation in the Church. We seem to interject small things like this when we don't stick to the manuals.

Ignore it. It is a shame so many members of our church apply a doctrine of infallibility to our leaders. I'm not saying you did this. I am saying most people wouldn't understand your reaction to the bishop. I do. I think you are completely correct in not having anything to do with him. I am angry just thinking about it. Yes, our leaders are set apart and given an extra measure of the priesthood to help discernment, but that doesn't mean they can't make idiotic mistakes. That's why I cringe when people post 98% of the time "talk to your bishop" when you have issues. Bishops are administrators first. It says so in the handbook. They are not marriage counselors, they are not employment counselors, they are not sex theripist or financial theripist. They are administrators. Yes, before you have me banned from the Forum, they are blessed to give guidance, but they are NOT the Pope, they are MEN with jobs and families and histories and they make mistakes. Rant, rant. I just get so riled up when I hear bad bishop stories. Because we have thousands and thousand of wards, and the bishops change over every seven years or so, we're going to have bad bishops.

My first impression is that there are a lot of issues and thus it would seem inappropriate to "rush" to marriage. Marriage should be done as unimcumbered as possible. It shouldn't be influenced by any duress. Even "easy" weddings are difficult to manage. The concerns about his health is a good example of a reason "not" to marry, as harsh as that sounds. It certainly isn't a reason "to" marry. The list of exception issues appears to be long. Those issues WILL be addressed with time and thus time is the appropriate thing to apply right now. I do trust your spiritual promptings. Marriage to this man may be the best thing ever to happen for you both. But you want to start off on the right foot. Even if you were to go with a civil marriage, it sounds like time is needed. I don't want to interject my personal experience as applying to you, but I do relate to a lot of what you are going through. Hindsight tells me I should have handled my own marriage differently and things would have been easier overall. That doesn't mean my marriage was a mistake, just that I could have taken an easier road to get to the same space. Hindsight is 20/20. If I could benefit you with my experience, I would say to go the temple route and obsorb the risk and pain that sacrafice brings. Sacrafice brings forth blessings.

The Church also properly understands the difference between "poor" and "needy" as they taught me this. Needy are those who may be down and out but with a little help can get back on their feet. The "poor" are those who lack resources to overcome poverty or other difficulties. The Church has training programs worldwide for assisting people in education and employment. My son's brother-in-law recently completed a motorcycle repair course sponsored by the Church and held at the Mission House in Peru. The primary mode of transporation in that city is motorbike. A dozen men qualified and were trained in that class for jobs that can help them provide in a city otherwise steeped in poverty.

Wind of Fire - by Stephen Fritz I've plugged this book several times in the fourms but only because I'm facinated by his take on the Second Coming. I don't have a list of clean novels, not because I have a bunch of dirty novels. I'm just not a huge reader. Also, I re-read books. I love Chronicals of Narnia, and other CS Lewis work, I liked the Tolkien books (Hobbit, LOTR), but not the movies. I spent too much time reading/re-reading Harry Potter only to now be disappointed in the story line. I like old classics too. I see the author of Wind of Fire posting on lds.net. Ask him to send you a copy if you don't want to spend $10.

You may be misinterpretting their immaturity. Some people never mature and one needs to try and evaluate that before marriage, but don't expect college age women and men to act mature.

Excercise them.

I like something CS Lewis said - I don't have the referrence to quote exactly so I have to paraphase - "One cannot say they know the ocean by standing on the shore with a map." He was addressing those who seek to find spirituality without belonging to a faith (Church). I would venture to say, 2RM didn't even get wet. Religion and faith are more than intellectual arguments. You have to dive in. As expressed earlier, if you think the LDS faith isn't about sacrafice, you haven't been paying attention.

Can there be any bad words? I read an LDS novel (indie published on Amazon) called Wind of Fire, which I enjoyed. It had one character that some a couple of 4 letter words, but none that would make you blush. The character needed to be set apart from the others and a bit of a rebel. CS Lewis would be my recommendation, but obviously that is a bit dated.

What I find myself saying a lot is to be a 'patient missionary'. I agree with Anatess and the subtleties of being Catholic. You seem to indicate you were not Catholic, and therefore I would assume you not married in the church or otherwise under the marriage sacrament. Anatess was a better Catholic than myself, so I would defer to her on the impact your joining a church has on your husband's standing in his. Overall, I would recommend moving forward in your persuit of the LDS faith, but be sensitive to your husband. Don't try to eat the whole elephant. Take it slow. Watch that the church does not consume too much of your time and attention (it will try - callings can be demanding). As long as you look for a balance, your husband should see the change for the better. You will be a better wife and mother. Take your time, but keep moving.

Vortex is right about job protection from religious persecution, but the statement above would be grounds for termination. Best just let you personal life be your personal life and not take it to work. It may seem unnatural in a small company but I bet there are a lot of peronal things you wouldn't talk about at work.

I got all that except for two things. I don't understand a consideration of quiting your job. It is as if you don't respect your employer and not vice-versa. Go find a equal job or better job for the sake of sanity, I understand. Quiting, I don't. As I understand Grandpas, they are the most forgiving and understanding of all. They know what life throws at you. Consider his blessing as having been in effect for what it was. Now, seek new blessings. Don't think you are required to repent of offending him. You have other work to do. For encouragement, I would say your reactivation will prove you out to your friends, wife, co-workers, employer, through your works. You don't need to shove the Gospel at them. You need only live it. It will be through living it that others will be accepting of your decision. - not your words. Good luck, and welcome.