BeccaKirstyn

Maybe we're talking about different church activities here, and maybe that's the general problem between our disagreement. For example: a church activity my ward has every week is Volleyball Night. Where we go play volleyball for an hour and a half and some go out for ice cream or other treats afterwards. Then there are other activities such as: institute on Tuesdays, and ministering night onThursdays. Very differing activities. My description of "needing" church activities is in relation to the formal activity (i.e., volleyball night, dodgeball night, games at the park night ---that are specifically NOT the YSA FHE activities. Those would fall under the second category of activities). The other activities I would be in total agreement with you. They are not for me (I mean institute is for me to gain spiritual knowledge, but it's also to help others gain a testimony and to come together as a ward), they are to bring souls unto Christ, to feed His sheep as you have stated. Maybe this helps. Maybe it doesn't.

Because we do "need" activities for different reasons (like the ones I originally stated). This doesn't mean that because those individuals need activities in a different way than I do that we all don't need to be remembering the purpose of our life (as you've stated in relation to attending church activities). But we can and should view our personal needs in relation to church activities. If you disagree then we can agree to disagree about that.

Ouch. Hope that wasn't a jab at me. There are many of us who feel drained from social activities. I personally deal with a lot of anxiety attending big group activities and do not find the "fun" most people do from them. Church activities are just that: activities. Building up and bringing a ward family closer is not centered just on church activities. Many cannot participate for multiple reasons. You're also using my "need" word for attending activities in the wrong context. I was very specific about the way in which I was describing "needing Church activities". This does not extend to every person or context. This was about those who need them for finding groups of friends, healthy activities, etc. vs. those who are in different scenarios. We're talking semantics here. Yepp, we definitely have. That's why when I do go to activities, and church on Sunday, and to temple night, I am fulfilling my covenants by being loving and caring for my fellow ward members. By listening to them about their day, asking if they need anything, looking out for those who are by themselves or seem unhappy. I am definitely not perfect in a lot of aspects of life. My struggle with church socialization and caring for every member in my ward is one of those areas where I am definitely far from perfect. That's why I am continuing to learn and grow through my weaknesses.

Honestly the way I see it, and maybe I'm looking at it totally wrong and I'll add it on my "to-do" list of things to improve upon, is that activities are for us (and others) to help us become closer as a ward, to socialize, to have a fun time, to enjoy a healthy activity with your ward family, etc. I see visiting teaching/home teaching as the activity that is especially for others and not for us (although most of the time you end up learning a lot that benefits you). This is where you need to attend to those specific members' needs and desires. To help them if they need it. And this is not just a one time, "oh I stopped by their house and taught them the lesson" type of activity. This is your responsibility to oversee this person in the ward and notice if they aren't there on Sunday and check in if they are alright. If they're at the activity to go and say hi and see how their day is going. All of those small and important things that help the ward become more aware of each others' needs and to be more Christ-like.

Well then I guess I'm a pretty selfish person.

I'm going to respond to this with my own understanding of what you're asking....because I'm not 100% sure. I have many friends in my YSA ward who truly need the activities. They live alone. Their family is not in the same state. They are new to the area with very few friends. These activities help them to find friends, make relationships, feel included, and therefore do not result in becoming inactive. They need the socialization and want to be involved in activities (in which we have an activity EVERY day of the week) and this is actually great for them. They go to work from 8-5 and would either be at home by themselves for the rest of the night, or at the church activity with a good group of friends and a healthy activity. Without it, they may fall into bad habits, find the wrong group of people to hang around, spend money on unnecessary activities, etc. My Bishop is pretty adamant about having lots of activities for that reason alone due to a lot of independent living YSA members with no family close to home. For myself, I live with my family and attend the YSA ward as I'm putting myself through undergraduate school. I come home to my family and hang out with them, do a lot of homework and studying, and call it a night. I usually don't attend the activities because I don't need them in the way that my friend does. Do I still go on occasion? Well of course. It's my ward family. But is my situation different than my friend's in the way that we view church activities? Yes. Same goes for family ward with a family of 5 kids and a family of newlyweds. They need the church activities in different ways. Maybe you misunderstood what I meant by "need" or maybe you didn't. I don't know. The struggle with text communication.

I understand, especially the part of wanting to be with your family sometimes rather than going to activities all the time. I can relate a lot to that. I've come to the realization that people don't understand how to communicate with people like us (those of us who don't need ward activities to feel close to our ward), so they ask "why weren't you there?" and we feel guilty for missing. Your family is important, especially with a baby on the way. If you feel like your husband's calling is too much, you are very much allowed to voice your opinion in a meeting with you, the bishop, and your husband. We have responsibilities with callings, and if we feel we cannot put in 100% that is necessary for those callings, we are allowed to communicate this. We have to keep an open line of communication about these issues or we do result in just not coming to Church, which I promise isn't the right choice. The Lord wants you there on Sunday, and participating in activities at your level of comfort and availability (this is subjective to all). I'm pretty "antisocial" (more so introverted) and I don't like the socializing aspect of our culture, but I understand why it is so important. A lot of people need that socialization and constant amount of activities to go to. Then there are people like me, and maybe you, who don't need this and actually don't want it. This is okay. Voice your concerns (you specifically and your husband) to the appropriate ecclesiastical leader in a honest and heartfelt way (if you haven't already done so). At least that is what I would do if I was in your scenario.

These are standard policies for bishops and other ecclesiastical leaders. He is a judge in Israel and will take each families' scenario subjectively and with every detail taken into account. As I said to another friend who was asking a similar question, these will not be an easy "yes or no" answer. Much thought, prayer, and guidance will be put into scenarios such as the one being questioned by StrawberryFields and is out of our hands to be worried about. It is between that family, their bishop or other ecclesiastical leader, and The Lord. The best thing we can do is be loving, supportive, and helpful in any way that we can to them through that time. The Lord is especially aware of their circumstances and will not leave them in their time of need.

I have a lot of friends speaking about this. Specifically in scenarios where the other parent (who is in a same-sex marriage now) does want their child reared in the gospel, but the child is at their mother's house every other weekend, and at the father's on the "off" weekends for the mother. So the child is being raised by a gay parent, and by an active parent. This is based off of a real example, not just some thought-up scenario (because I've gotten a lot of those as well).

In the end, the Lord knows the intent of our heart and the actions we have made here on Earth. Sometimes the basics is all we can manage in our time of trial. Sometimes the basics is all our testimony is able to survive on. The basics are the sure foundation in which we can find faith and hope in Christ as our Savior. When we are strong in that foundation, then we can continue to build upon it. I can tell you that the home teaching/visiting teaching rates in my YSA ward are pretty mediocre. But I have never been in a more loving ward in my life. These members love and care for one another in a way I have never seen. These actions in my opinion are more telling than home teaching/visiting teaching rates. While we should be concerned with other members and if they are doing okay, we are responsible for our own salvation. We should be focused on what we're doing and if we could be doing more (which is always a yes).

My heart is so heavy tonight. I have many Facebook friends who are really questioning the Church after all of this, and many non-LDS friends who are already making horrendous assumptions about members who agree with this policy.

I need to go take some programming classes....

Unless someone comes up with the answer provided in the video (again, without cheating) then I think Crypto wins!

It might be considered cheating since I don't think they're allowed to take their hats off (although it doesn't specifically say this, but I think it's implied....not 100% sure though), but that was a good idea! Definitely works with the cooperation aspect.

Alright, there seems to be a lot of intelligent people on this forum. Let's see if anyone can solve this riddle (and no cheating!).

Thanks for the response. I totally get where you're coming from and agree with your examples given of situations where the individual is seeking out the endowment for the wrong reasons. In regards to the 2 reasons you gave above as to why you think a young woman, who is neither serving a mission or getting married, should receive her endowment, let me give you a personal example. I am what you would consider a "young woman" (I'll forgo giving my age due to my own knowledge of not giving out that kind of personal information on the internet). I have prayed to ask if I should serve a mission. The answer I received was no. I have dated for quite awhile, but in my current circumstance, I am not in any sort of serious relationship. About a year ago I received a strong spiritual impression after a prayer of "what am I doing with my life??" to specifically "go through the temple". It struck me, and I of course pondered upon it for many more weeks. I continued to pray about what this spiritual impression meant, and for awhile I was truly preparing to enter the temple to receive my endowment. I started going to temple prep classes. Then Satan got in the way, convinced me I was nowhere near worthy to commit to such a covenant and that I was not ready, and I stopped pursuing that spiritual impression. Fast forward to 3 months ago, I was speaking to my bishop casually about my life (he was a relatively new bishop, but we had conversed before), and I was speaking about my spiritual growth and other circumstances that were going to be happening (leaving across the country for Grad school) and the first thing he said was "have you considered preparing to enter the temple?" It struck my heart. I told him about my experience about 9 months prior and he encouraged me to continue my temple preparation and to let him know when I was ready to set up an interview. Now I do have to say: I am not an ordinary 20 something young woman. Not to be prideful or boast about myself, but I am an extremely mature person with my head on my shoulders. I was brought up by amazing parents. They noticed my spiritual growth early on and were not surprised at this spiritual impression I received, or the one my bishop received that day, for me to prepare to enter the temple. So this circumstance will not be the "rule", but the exception to it. But I have no doubt that there are other young women in my same scenario, who are spiritually ready for that covenant. In the end this decision is between an individual and The Lord (and their bishop when they want to bring it to his attention). If they are spiritually ready for such a decision, they will be able to decipher the whispering of the Spirit of whether or not this is the right time for them to make those covenants. For me, I received that impression and I am incredibly grateful I heeded that prompting.

Tradition. Culture. Norms. They are all much different than doctrine. Doctrine about this subject is about personal revelation, both for yourself and received by your bishop for you, about when the appropriate time is to receive your endowment. Subjective experiences do not have to be compared to "traditional" norms in order to justify such decisions. Going back to my original point, I am hoping the topic of "tradition" was brought up in order to identify the personal, heartfelt intentions for this decision, posed out of curiosity by Vort, rather than comparison to norms.

I hope this is more about her intentions to receive her endowment, rather than pointing out that she is neither married nor going on a mission but requesting to receive her endowment (which is not "tradition"). My own personal bias is overshadowing my reasoning while reading your post, but I'm trying to look it at from your perspective.

I'd have to ask why have grades come up in your discussion with him? Obviously this has to have been a previous discussion if he's bringing it up. I do think it's a little weird, but I don't know the whole context of the scenario.

Very interesting way to think about the temple. I'll keep this in mind when I go again this Wednesday!

My thoughts are the same as classylady, are there any hotels close that you get a room just to have somewhere to sleep? I'm really sorry. Your feelings are completely valid and feel free to vent all you want!

We can give you all the advice in the world, but in the end, this is between you, The Lord, and your husband. But in my honest opinion, this will be something that will weigh on you no matter how much you try to not confront it.

I think your faith shows a lot in the steps you're taking right now to really engross yourself in The Book of Mormon. Thank you for your example!

I think this is the portion they are referring to? From the student study guide for the Book of Mormon Seminary manual. To understand the difficulty of what the Lord commanded, it is helpful to know that the distance from Jerusalem to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aqaba) is about 180 miles through hot, barren country infested by many thieves. Lehi and his family had traveled three days’ journey beyond this point (see 1 Nephi 2:5–6), and now the Lord was saying his sons were to go back to Jerusalem. Read 1 Nephi 3:7–8, and identify the reason Nephi gave for his willingness to obey the Lord’s command.

Only person who gets to decide that is God. I'm gonna leave that up to Him. (Kind of why I didn't like this thread in the first place, but some things were mentioned that caught my attention that I wanted to understand). I agree, too much semantic debate, not enough focus on the basics. I will not win that Twinkie (or other delicious Hostess snack) because "doing all that is required of us" involves all the things I stated that qualify us for exaltation. I would call that a trick question!