NeedleinA

I won't pretend to speak for other stakes elsewhere, but I know for our stake presidency/leadership the concern is thankfully pastoral in nature. We all are very open about the fact that numbers/stats are only small tools/indicators to help get us to the real goals BUT they are not the goals. In this case: temple attendance, saving ordinances, service to those who have passed on and ultimately exaltation are the real focus. We can't get to step 2 (the temple) without step 1 (recommend). If we can't get to step 2 (covid), we can at least strive for step 1 in the meantime. It reminds me of stories where members of the Church in eastern block countries, post WW2, would save their tithing in jars, etc. even though they had no one to give it to. They saved it up in the hopes that someday they could actually turn it in. While they were limited in their ability, they still did the best they could at that particular time in those particular circumstances.

I believe I'm tracking the sentiment here, I think. Since my sphere of stewardship does not offer me the chance to ask the actual members in stake their reasons for not renewing their recommends, asking here acts as a great second place sounding board. Taking your pizza analogy, we have plenty of customers who come to the restaurant but no one is ordering pizza combo #1. When we have been asking people 'why not?', we are only hearing back that it is 'not for them' but nothing beyond that. What exact part is not for them? The mushrooms, anchovies, the what? You are correct, it is hard to try and help individuals address their certain concern(s) if we can't figure out the concern to begin with. One more check mark as to why I appreciate everyone here offering up their thoughts. With varying degrees of Church activity from participants here and the anonymity it helps to drill down to some possible specifics.

@LDSGator & @MrShorty, thoughts or ideas to add to this list?

I'm in the same boat and always have been.

Thank you for the variety of answers thus far. If I were to try and summarize the reasons given so it appears to be: a. Not a priority to even attend the temple, so why do I need a recommend for a place I'm not interested in attending and serving in. b. Avoid recommend interviews since they are not living the standards to enter the temple anyways. c. Recommend holds no spiritual value by itself d. Lack of time for interview e. Avoid the experience/wait/rush/privacy of the interview itself

Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Elder Djarot Subiantoro shared the following: At least in this particular case, it is my next HC speaking assignment.

Looking for your thoughts on how to encourage members to renew their temple recommends? Stake leaders have spoken on this subject fairly recently, several times, with little to no movement towards success. Members just seem to be rather resistant to getting it done. Do people feel the need to only renew their recommends 'if' a temple is open? Do you try to keep a current recommend regardless of temple availability? Are people lazy? Disinterested? How about in your area? All other key indicators in our area are back to normal or better than pre-Covid times... except this one area and we haven't been able to pinpoint if there is a common theme/concern yet. Thank you!

This has been making the rounds. If you haven't see these two ads (Russia army recruitment ad vs. USA army ad) ... it is worth a watch/reality check. Spoiler: USA army ad is about a person with two mothers.

Hah! "Made in China" typically = low quality Zombie making has proved no different.

Regrettably, having the same impression as of late. Same boat, hoping the chess moves and proactive hand are revealed sooner than later.

My son is currently in Utah waiting to go to Spain. Supposedly Spain only has 30 missionaries in the country right now. It has started to open for tourism, but not missionaries yet. He served in wards surrounding UVU campus in Orem. He said he was constantly approached by rogue jack-LDS trying to show how un-LDS they were. Playing loud lewd music was a common theme.

Same in our area.

Yesterday was our first Sunday, as an entire Stake, without masks and singing from hymnals. Those blessing/passing the sacrament still wore them. Out of the 200-225 in attendance only about 10 people still wore masks. Headed on vacation real soon. Normally it is a toss up between California vs. Florida. Gone are the days of going to CA, Florida it is for foreseeable future. If we are going to put money into a state, it will be one like FL or TX.

^^^^ This!

Or buy cereal and let your kids put their preferred pronouns on the cereal box. Thanks Kellogg's, they really are grrrreeeeaaat aren't they.

I'm pretty dang tired of seeing stuff like this, "gender neutral". How about: Most Church participation and some priesthood ordinances are not specific to gender. Why do we need to incorporate terms, that in today's world are hijacked / pushed upon us by the sexual progressives? Back to the complaint from the 'Queer Sister' thread, the more things are normalized, well the more they are normalized. I know a SSA sister who was married to a man for a decade+ with kids. The church had her go up to SLC to 'advise' them on LGBTQ issues/verbiage since she was some kind of 'role model'. Also from North Star just like the 'Queer Sister' thread. Why do I care? Guess I'm a little butt hurt from above mentioned SSA sister dumping her husband, helping to destroy my female cousin's marriage and then run off with her instead. I hate to picture the Church in it's eager beaver desire to love all, being led around by the nose by such a person. I can tell I'm not successfully merging the concept of all this SSA/transgender stuff bleeding into the Church, while still believing:

...ditto...

Si senor.

Both sound semi-gross if not gross... but both have become favorites. I selected these since there might be a chance of others trying them via the national chain. We have a hole in the wall pizza place that kills them all though. Old school 70-80s pizza joint. 1. Papa Murphy's Cheeseburger Pizza: Turns out pickles on pizza is not bad after all 2. Godfather's Taco Pizza: I know, sounds gross.

The therapist feels a lot like this... it is everyone else's fault... never your own.

B to the I to the NGO. The 'death is upon all' Covid scare is backfiring and people have had enough of it. It's political weight/power is drying up in the USA.

Son on his mission out in the happy valley area of Utah says an entire stake is mask free and they have been having meals with members again. 👍

66% devil worshipers 'refusing' the vaccine.