gdiculous

Thank you for your advice! I've already dropped an engineering class, but I have a lot of pressure from my teachers, parents, and school to excel with my grades and extracurriculars. I think I am going to continue with seminary for this year, and just see how the workload next year is.

I am a Mormon and I think that others' stress shouldn't determine your interest in the church. It depends on your situation and how well you handle stress. It isn't about mental health at all! What you are saying about Buddhism is very interesting, and I think that you can find peace in whatever church you go to, but you shouldn't think of the Mormon religion as stressful. Many mormons are non-stop as you said but they enjoy what they are doing, and if they don't, they stop. If a calling gets too stressful you can step back or ask your bishop if there might be another calling more suited for you. The Mormon church is purely volunteer based. You are not forced to do anything, and you have choices. It is not the religion that is stressful, it is what people take on in their life. You can choose whether or not to do certain things, which affects your stress level.

I am a freshman in high school, and attend early morning seminary. I'm trying to decide right now if I should continue with EMS or if I should try at-home seminary. I get up for seminary at 5:30 in the morning, and get home about 7:13 am. School starts at 9:00 am but I have to catch my bus at about 7:50. I do golf, UIL, and youth and government (mock trial court) and all GT/PreAP classes as well as one AP class (as that is all my school allows me to take). It's a heavy courseload, and I don't finish my homework normally until after midnight. I am always stressed, tired, and sick (but I can't stay home from school). I have missed so many days of seminary (and had to do the make-up work for it) that I don't know if going is the best option for me right now. I have an amazing teacher who gives great lessons, but he lets us out late (sometimes even 10 minutes after our normal let-out time, 6:50) so I don't have a lot of time to get ready. However, I really want to go to BYU Utah with a full scholarship. I look and feel terrible when I go to school, and it's starting to have a negative effect on my grades as I am partway through the second semester of 9th grade. It's also having a negative effect on my parents (who take turns driving me). My parents have tried talking to our bishop and the stake leader about online seminary, but that's not an option right now. If someone could give me some good advice on how to handle this situation, or even a link to seminary makeup work questions for the New Testament (because I have to type my own questions from the teacher manuel onto a Google Docs then answer them), that would be awesome!!