NeedleinA

Tbone I think sometimes all of us allow our lives to get so busy and so complicated that we forget how to actually fellowship those that we come into contact with at church.  But I do agree with a couple of the comments in regards to offering service to others.  Hang in there.  I wish you the best.

Sabbath morning, now we rest from every care.... 

If he's serious about getting married, he won't be wanting to waste time either; and one year from first date should be plenty of time for him to make up his mind.  (You won't necessarily be married by then; but IMHO you should at least have a ring.)   Much more than that, and chances are that he doesn't really want a wife.  He wants a long-term girlfriend. 
I can see exceptions, perhaps, if he's been badly hurt in a prior relationship, or if you spent a significant part of the one-year period apart--in that case, you may need to give him a couple more months.  But now that I'm on the wrong side of 35, my twenties seem like an awfully short span and just one of those years would seem like a very long time to have spent stringing a gal along who didn't turn out to be "the one".)
(FWIW, Just_A_Girl and I met in September, started dating in October, spent May - August doing the long-distance-relationship thing, and got engaged in September.  And pretty much everyone we knew thought we were taking an inordinate amount of time.  Ah, those Provo courtships . . . )

Recapping the hypothetical situation:  You (girl) are dating this guy for two years, you really like him and want to get married, but he's still unsure whether or not he feels "ready"?  (Did I get that right?)
In general, I would say that if after two years a couple has a very serious life-goal mismatch... it's time to sit down and have a serious conversation about things.  Why does he feel not "ready"?  
If he's not "ready"  because he's playing Peter Pan, then that's a mega problem.  
If he's not "ready" because (hypothetical situation here) in that two years he's heard the gospel, seriously pondered before converting, worked on his porn addiction, gotten baptized, and generally become a whole new reborn, and still metamorphosing in order to be sealed to you. Then I think two years is far from a "too long". 

...And this is the main concern that I have seen voiced over why study groups aren't the best idea.
Even study groups with the best of intentions that start out innocently need to take caution that they stay diligently focused on the "actual gospel" versus the gospel according to Bill or Jill. 
It is wonderfully refreshing to have many strong members and strong moderators here, so as to avoid the cautioned scenario from above playing out. It does/can play itself out as evidenced in even other supposed "lds" forums. 

This is my understanding - the church discourages private study groups. 
Gospel knowledge is gained primarily by personal study, personal pondering, and by personal faith. Greater spiritual knowledge comes from becoming more obedient, becoming more humble, becoming more pure in heart, and becoming more in tune with the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is the source of spiritual truth, not the ideas of people sitting around in a group. The Spirit will reveal things to you, as you work for them and are ready to live the greater knowledge that you have humbly sought.
I'm all for study and learning. But we have the scriptures, and tons of other books. And we have the Spirit.
We don't need unofficial study groups.
(Anecdotally, the one such group I saw in the past resuled in many of the people in it going apostate.)

Each one of these videos is based on an essay with more details:

https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/why-was-abinadi-scourged-with-faggots

What a wonderful insight to have. What a blessing it is to realize this has actually happened upon being released. By feeling this, once again your testimony is reinforced to the fact that you "were" and that you will "again" some day be uplifted and supported by Heavenly Father while faithfully serving in the Church.
It was always imperative to me that when members received their callings, that we set them apart soon. Being set apart is real, and comes with real blessing to not only carry the mantle but receive inspiration while fulfilling their calling. Now days, if someone I know hasn't been set apart, I always encourage them stand in front of the Ward offices after church and kindly insist that it be done
Moons ago I was the Gospel Doctrine Instructor for several years. All week long ideas and thoughts would flow to me about the lesson. I had a very well oiled routine and loved my calling. Upon being released, I was sitting in the audience the following week, my mind was blank to "quick insights" and I opened my mouth to give an answer... sharing what "I knew"... and what came out instead, was a wrong answer. Hah!! I was no longer the GD Instructor, that mantle had moved to the next person. 

Over the years the story of Abinadi has always been a source of strength for me. I have been able to pull from it many personal meanings in my life. 
Strength to stand alone. Strength to stand alone while standing for what is right/correct/true. An example of holding on to your testimony regardless of how many others around you are unrighteous and how many of your friends/family fall away from the truth. I kept the following painting taped in the front of my Book of Mormon my entire mission. 

Tonight while doing laundry I turned on a Book of Mormon series that I really enjoy: Book of Mormon Central - Knowhy
This episode #96 referred to Mosiah 17:13 
"And it came to pass that they took him (Abinadi) and bound him, and scourged his skin with faggots, yea, even unto death." 
It was interesting enough that I thought I would share it here for those of you who enjoy BOM studies and interesting facts. Viewing this only helps increase my appreciation for what Abinadi did and sacrificed. 
 
 

4. I wonder why all the uproar over Polygamy back in the Eastern United States. I wonder if political cartoons depicted Polygamy in a positive/fair light? People out east apparently got their first glimpse of the WWE Royal Rumble thanks to illustrations in support of the "Anti-Mormon Legislature". Uh... lovely

 
5. The Church's Young Woman Organization was originally called, The Young Ladies' National Mutual Improvement Association or YLMIA. Later shortened to MIA and then weekly activities became known as Mutual. @Eowyn 
In 1950 - Age groups were realigned:
Beehives 12-13
Mia Maids 14-15  (m.i.a. maids?)
Junior Gleaners 16-17  
Gleaners 18-24
1959 - The name Gleaners is changed to Laurels 
 
6. Some people try to sell "Mormon" items on Ebay for a lot of money:

*putting on my admin hat*
Let me please remind people that this is an LDS site.  And this particular forum is to help and encourage those who are having a hard time and provide some suggestions that are appropriate for LDS members.  We do not encourage them to look away from the LDS religion.  

From lds.org, Gospel Principles Chapter 24: The Sabbath Day
"The Lord's Day
Why was the Sabbath changed from the seventh day to the first day?
Until His Resurrection, Jesus Christ and His disciples honored the seventh day as the Sabbath. After His Resurrection, Sunday was held sacred as the Lord’s day in remembrance of His Resurrection on that day (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). From that time on, His followers observed the first day of the week as their Sabbath. In both cases there were six days of labor and one for rest and devotion.
The Lord has given us a direct commandment in these days that we too should honor Sunday, the Lord’s day, as our Sabbath (see D&C 59:12)."
Doctrine and Covenants 59 Section Heading:
" Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, in Zion, Jackson County, Missouri, August 7, 1831. " August 7th was Sunday. 
D&C 59:12
" 12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High,confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord."
 

I believe this feeling is why it is hard for many recently returned missionaries to remain active: They have felt the spirit of their calling for so long that they take it for granted. Then, the mantle being lifted, they find themselves well and truly in the "lone and dreary world", bereft of that spirit that carried them through those two years. They feel spiritually "depressed" and imagine they have lost their testimonies when, in reality, it was quite a different thing.
I believe in "inoculation", that is: preparing our children for the onslaughts of the Adversary with detailed explanation of how they will see and hear attacks on their faith. This takes the form of twisted accounts of LDS history (whence the saying "I have a testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ. I do not have a testimony of church history."), distorted views of LDS doctrine, attacks on the character of the Brethren (both current and past), and warped interpretations of our scripture, teaching, and practice.
We explicitly told our RM sons about this phenomenon when they came home — one in the car from the airport driving to President Ssssssss's home where he was released. I believe all of them have told us they appreciated this counsel and warning.
It would appear, at the very least, to be something mission presidents should tell their outgoing charges, and the stake presidents should tell their  returning elders. I think this would greatly reduce the alarming rate of inactivity among our sons and daughters.
Lehi

I'm got my temple recommend!  Going to get my endowments later this summer   That is, after I finish taking their Temple Prep class... a class of 1 (me)... that might be a little strange.  
Anyone have any temple prep suggestions?
 

Let's assume the Church has gotten it wrong. Let's also assume that the Sabbath is, as both the Bible and other scriptures and the Church say, extremely important to our worship. Just how long would it be before the Lord told us we needed to observe it differently?
My guess is that it would not be all that long. The JST, or the Doc&Cov, would have included a commandment to do it "right". So, we are here, 160 years later, with no such revelation. Yet we do have repeated counsel to observe "the Sabbath", there are blessings promised for observing this law. We have seen the result of such observance. So, it seems that the day of the week is far less important that the spirit of the law of the Sabbath, the law of Shabbat, the law of rest.
We do not need to have revelation on the matter because the Bible tells us that the Early-day Saints followed the Law of the Sabbath on "the Lord's day", as related by John on Patmos in the first chapter of the Revelation of Jesus Christ:.
Finally, the Brethren have repeatedly told us that Sunday (except where specifically amended) is our Sabbath. That's more'n good enough for me.
Lehi

Thanks for the advice.  I really do appreciate it.

From habit I started thinking about who needed to speak in sacrament meeting.  There was nothing where there was always something and that's when it really hit me.  That mantle has now moved on to someone else.  Even though I know that's how stewardship works, it doesn't make it easier.  That conduit of inspiration has closed and being released has certainly been the hardest part of the calling.

Ugh.  Not fun.

Yes, absolutely. I have felt this way many times. Part of it is the mantle of responsibility being lifted. Part of this feeling comes from a little loss of identity. Before you had a secure place in the puzzle of the Church organization, and now... how do you fit? Part of it is perhaps realizing that you actually did enjoy and love your calling even more that you knew. Being productive serving in the church is rewarding, and taking that away can feel blahhhh for a while.
I have a church binder and on the cover I keep the following quote that I reference, especially with demanding callings:
"Only if you sacrifice for a cause will you love it".  Demanding callings require sacrifice and the side effect of it all is we tend to love our callings.
Never fear @Str8Shooter, one thing that is guaranteed in the church is that another calling will be on the horizon soon enough!

Yes, absolutely. I have felt this way many times. Part of it is the mantle of responsibility being lifted. Part of this feeling comes from a little loss of identity. Before you had a secure place in the puzzle of the Church organization, and now... how do you fit? Part of it is perhaps realizing that you actually did enjoy and love your calling even more that you knew. Being productive serving in the church is rewarding, and taking that away can feel blahhhh for a while.
I have a church binder and on the cover I keep the following quote that I reference, especially with demanding callings:
"Only if you sacrifice for a cause will you love it".  Demanding callings require sacrifice and the side effect of it all is we tend to love our callings.
Never fear @Str8Shooter, one thing that is guaranteed in the church is that another calling will be on the horizon soon enough!

After three years I was released from my calling yesterday.  It was a demanding calling and looking at it logically I should be relieved and happy.  I do feel some of those things, but right now I just feel empty; kind of just....blaaahhh.

Has anyone else felt like this after being released?

Yes, absolutely. I have felt this way many times. Part of it is the mantle of responsibility being lifted. Part of this feeling comes from a little loss of identity. Before you had a secure place in the puzzle of the Church organization, and now... how do you fit? Part of it is perhaps realizing that you actually did enjoy and love your calling even more that you knew. Being productive serving in the church is rewarding, and taking that away can feel blahhhh for a while.
I have a church binder and on the cover I keep the following quote that I reference, especially with demanding callings:
"Only if you sacrifice for a cause will you love it".  Demanding callings require sacrifice and the side effect of it all is we tend to love our callings.
Never fear @Str8Shooter, one thing that is guaranteed in the church is that another calling will be on the horizon soon enough!

I agree with NT, please let us know how things are going @TilKingdomCome. Thanks NT for sharing the links too, I have just about finished this site, minus the videos. This caught my attention:
"There is no change in the Church's position of what is morally right. But what is changing - and what needs to change - is to help Church members respond sensitively and thoughtfully when they encounter same-sex attraction in their own families, among other Church members, or elsewhere" 
I agree with Yjacket.
Same link above states, "Same-sex attraction itself is not a sin, but yielding to it is." Also later it states, "Reconciling same-sex attraction with a religious life can present an especially trying dilemma. Anyone who lives in both worlds can attest to its difficulty. But with faith, love and perspective it can be done".
Elder Holland gave great talk: Helping those who struggle with same-sex attraction
""The First Presidency has stated, "There is a distinction between immoral thoughts and feelings and participating in either immoral heterosexual or any homosexual behavior." If you do not act on temptations, you have not transgressed.""
 

Of course, most of us have because, by the time any of us has poured a ton of ourselves into a calling, it is ours, it is us. When that's gone, there's an emptiness for that very reason.
I loved the children in the nursery. Even twelve years later, many of them still called me their teacher (I had "followed" them for a couple of years into Sunbeams and CTRA) and would give me unsolicited hugs. And I loved them, too.
Elders' Quorum President, Sunday School Teacher, even Home Teacher, they all left their marks on me, and when I left or was released, there was a hole.
Lehi

I agree with Lehi. Here is an AskGramps expansion on what Lehi shared:
When does the Sabbath Day actually begin and end?

For most of us, it's Sunday, local time, midnight to midnight.
For those in, say, Israel, it's Friday night (sundown) to Saturday night.
For those in, say, Saudi Arabia, it's Friday, as the locals observe it.
"Shabbat" is Hebrew for "rest". It's, by LDS definition, 24 consecutive hours (plus or minus, if using a solar clock) out of 168. We rest from ordinary labors and focus on the Lord's work. Which day is largely a matter of convention. If the local populace rests (or pretends to) on Sunday, it's Sunday; if Friday or Saturday, then we follow their lead.
We follow the ancient practice of Sabbath worship (adapted to our needs), and that of the early Saints of observing "the day of the Lord", as opposed to the original Shabbat, but the actual day is not as important as the spirit of the Law which impels us to rest from servile labor, and read scripture, serve other people, search for our deceased ancestors, and similar activities.
Lehi

You do know lds in lds.net stands for Latter-day Saints, right?  You know, the religious organization?  How would you like it if we go to a biotheist site and start telling y'all struggling with life to go "choose a new path"?
You need to back off and rethink your approach... like explaining yourself better with more words or something.