seashmore

It probably has something to do with being encouraged to continue our learning. It's not uncommon for members to set a goal to read/study (scriptures) for fifteen minutes a day, when even some educated people don't read a single book for pleasure after graduation.

All excellent ideas! The Oct 2010 issue of the Liahona is another great resource. (It's the "temples" issue.) The message from Elder Russell M. Nelson included there, "Preparing for the Temple" can be found in full in the March 2002 Ensign. Reading that and following his suggestions helped me prepare to take the temple prep class.

I can tell you that, at this very moment, if I hadn't made a promise to abstain from alcohol, I'd have a couple drinks to help me forget my problems tonight. (My sister moved out tonight, two months after she moved in and I can't get my mom to call when she said she would or return mine.) But this is why so many people choose to drink. "I don't like who I am when I'm sober," and "I wish I could forget the things I've seen" are both things I've heard people actually say when talking about why they drink/drank so much. Drowning your sorrows and grief in the living waters of the Gospel is so much more effective than drowning them in alcohol, but it also requires so much more effort. Knowing this, and combined with my maternal family history, I could almost guarantee you I'd be an alcoholic were it not for the WoW, even after some of the things I've seen and heard with my own eyes.

Come Thou Fount or I Believe in Christ. Pretty much any hymn that is sung with conviction of feeling is my favorite. My favorite scripture passage is D&C 121:7-11. Or just that whole section. I taught a youth Sunday School lesson on The Living Christ today and loved the reminder that the life of Christ "neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary." @RooTheMormon didn't see you tagged yet!

Might I recommend studying the Bible Dictionary topic Prayer? While reading it, look for ways to improve your prayer life so that you can receive more clarity and confidence in your answers. That's one thing that helped me. (Trying with added measure to keep the commandments was another.)

This is actually a technique I use to manage my anger. I call it "Not Seashmore," and she gets to say all sorts of snarky, mean things. Sometimes I'll post them in an online journal thread or text a friend who understands the situation upsetting me and also that I don't really want to say these things, but if I don't get them out of my head somehow, they'll just stay there. For example, as a counselor, I once asked the auxiliary President if she could text/call/email me if a lesson schedule changed as a result of the stake leadership's request. Her response was "Well, that's not very convenient for me." Real Seashmore picked her jaw up off the floor, responded with a hard blink, and calmly walked out of the room. Not Seashmore said, "Right. Because fulfilling your callings is supposed to be convenient."

True story: the last time I remember my brother-in-law baby faced was the first time he came to church...seven years ago . He also was sans baseball cap, which he would wear everywhere. Hence my friend who had spent some time with him said to him as he was walking down the hall, "You look funny!" Right in front of the bishop's first counselor and EQP. The looks on their faces were priceless. Anyway, I used to tease him that I could tell whenever he got a new girlfriend because he would give in to the "I want to see you without your beard!" Three days later, his face was full and normal. He's always done a pretty good job of keeping it tidy, though.

Today, I had a customer come to the checkout and was hunting for the right card in his wallet. Don't know why, but I said a silent prayer that he would find it. He did. Perhaps a more meaningful prayer was one I prayed often after a friend told me he believed that God hated him. To me, that was more heartbreaking than if he had said he didn't believe at all. My prayer was that he would come to know the truth of God's love for him. Two years later, we sang "I Know My Father Lives" (and loves me, too) at his baptism. The first time I felt an answer to a prayer was my freshman year of high school. I was in the bathroom, running a little late, putting my band uniform on before a football game, and was having zipper problems. I sat down, prayed for help, and tried again. After a little more finagling, it worked. Whenever I find my phone or keys after a prayer, I offer another one of thanks.

Well, if there's someone who doesn't have something to work on, they get translated. No one is perfect yet; we all have things to work on. Anger, gossip, addictions, sloth...If it helps, assume that whoever is speaking has a Christlike attribute they are working to improve. A testimony in a secular sense is to bear witness to the truth. Ask a lawyer (or someone who played one on tv). Fast and testimony meetings are meant to be uplifting, edifying, and encouraging. Moreso than regular sacrament meetings. This is why it seems you've only heard people share what they know to be true. Most of the admissions of doubt appear in more personal settings, such as Sunday School classes, where open and relevant discussion can occur, which helps the doubter nourish their seeds of faith.

Hello, neighbor! I'm also a Midwesterner. 10 years in NE, 4 in IA, and 18 in WI.

If I'm not mistaken, the Church's Addiction Recovery Program is for all addictions. There should be ARP missionaries in the Phoenix area. Your bishop can help you contact them. If not, I think the manual is available online and can help motivate you. "Whenever you have a bad thought about yourself, tell it to go to hell, for that is exactly where it came from." Falsely attributed to Brigham Young, and I don't know who did say it, but it seems doctrinally sound to me. When I struggle with progressing and want to give up, I try to envision Elder Holland, with all the fervor in his heart, saying at General Conference, "Don't you quit."

F. Start singing "This little light of mine" My dad's side of the family loves music and reading, both stemming from my grandmother's influence. He was a disc jockey (like at weddings and stake youth dances) from about 1985-2010, so he would have to keep up with current trends in music. I was three and singing along to Meatloaf's most popular album. As a result, I'm into all sorts of music. Ask anyone who has ever lived with me, and they will tell you that I'll play disco polka, country, Christian pop, progressive rock, and 80s soundtracks. The only time we took "family photos" was the day I received my own endowment; it's the only time we've all been together. In the front, it's me, my sister, and our half sister (a term I use only in instances when it needs to be clear we have different mothers, such as now) and the back row has my (first) brother-in-law and my divorced parents. We've all been baptized, but my dad and I are the only ones consistently active over the last ten years. (Both my sisters have been semi active.) My first sister got married with three hours notice to a guy she had only been dating a couple of months (I'd known him for years, so he wasn't a complete stranger to everyone) in a park by a lady they found on the internet. My other sister was married with three weeks notice (seven years and five days later) a month before she graduated high school. I joke I'll give everyone three years notice.

Lonliness isn't being alone, it's feeling like you don't connect with anyone around you. I'm hardly ever bored (I own 300+ books and 150+ movies in addition to hobbies), and have zero qualms about spending time with just myself (unless I'm experiencing a bout of depression, in which case I'll go shopping or to a restaurant just to exchange in some small talk).

I do have LDS female friends, but not so many LDS male friends. It just kind of irritates me a little that I have to be considered an adultry risk just because I'm not married. News flash: I'm not going to try and lure away anyone's husband, and there are obviously issues if you (general) feel that even has a chance at being successful. Just don't give me the stink eye if I remembered your husband's birthday because it is the exact same day as mine.

This is why it's so lonely being single. Especially within the church because, under this way of thinking, I ought not to have a friendship with my home teachers. "I don't care what a man's character is; if he's my friend-a true friend, I will be a friend to him, and preach the Gospel of salvation to him, and give him good counsel, helping him out of his difficulties." Joseph Smith, Jr. Anyone who treats me this way is someone I consider a true friend. Regular friends must either make me laugh or make me wiser.

7. My branch. Our last two YM Presidents were called within a week of receiving their records, so we'll take just about anyone. @MormonGator included.

Someone is better than no one. Also, I remember reading a blog post some years back prioritizing a relationship of trust over monthly visits when it comes to home teaching. @Carborendums home teacher is an excellent example of that. Anecdotes: I once had a home teacher who brought his then-13 year old son with him because the 17 year old son (the junior companion) didn't realize he had to work the same time as our HT appointment. And I remember being Primary aged and going on visits with my dad (he was also the branch mission leader, so the visits could have been in that capacity for all I'd have known). I had a visiting teacher who would bring her whole family (husband and two daughters), but she also would call the family to the living room when my companion and I would visit her.

Quick background: my sister got married in April, graduated high school in May, moved 600 miles to live with me in June (while her husband is on a Marine base in Japan), and turned 18 in July, and less than two months into this adventure, is making plans to move back home with her mother. Unable (or perhaps unwilling) to give clear reasons for why she wants to move back is because her anxiety is worse here than it's ever been. She also wants to help her mom get out of an abusive relationship. She claims that she received inspiration and confirmation from the Spirit that she is supposed to move back. In different words, she said that it was the first time she's ever received personal revelation. I am having a hard time accepting that, amidst her anxiety (and binge watching Game of Thrones), the Spirit would tell her to give up and go home. A big part of the reason she moved here in the first place is because she had nothing for her there. To make matters worse, I gave in to the natural man and shouted at her last night. I warned her that, where she lives, there won't be any other members for miles. She doesn't feel like her car is reliable enough to get a job in town, but insists she will drive two towns over to go to church. She thinks things will get better if she gives up, and I warned her they won't be. She waited over a week to tell me she felt this way. Now, I'm stuck with a higher rent (thankfully my landlord is low key enough that he didn't make me add her onto the lease), a monthly internet bill, and getting my home back in order. Quite frankly, I'm disappointed that she's giving up so easily and am concerned for the precedent that it sets for her in the future.

Sounds to me like he was encouraging you to have an open line of communication with your parent/s, especially as it relates to living the Gospel. He was helping to strengthen you and your family in the best way he knew how. Had you followed his counsel, he wouldn't have felt obligated to say anything to your dad.

My sister is easily provoked, and has even blacked out while angry. I tell her, "it's okay to get mad if you need to, but don't stay mad." As she's gotten older and better about keeping the WoW, she's not as physically violent when she's angry as she used to be.

I took my 14 years younger sister to the ER with kidney stones the other night, and for the first time in about fifteen years, I was mistaken for her mother. It's because I had my glasses and work uniform on. Otherwise, I look exactly the same as I did eighteen years ago, when I was a freshman in high school. I tell the haters it's because I don't have kids.

Ah, so this is what I came here for tonight. Thank you for sharing. Side note, of the two young men who passed the sacrament to my row last week, one was wearing a blue dress shirt and the other sandals (with white shirt, black pants). They happen to be two of the most spiritually dedicated young men I've seen.

@Grunt online payment is an option @Sunday21 @Fether I hesitate to use the online option mostly because I've had issues in the past with my student loan lenders garnishing my bank account without warning. I ended up living a cash only lifestyle for about seven months. (My direct deposit went to my sister, who would mail me a check and rent was paid via money order.) It has made me leery of any sort of automatic payments.

When do you turn in your tithing? With each paycheck? Once a month? Something else? I'm really struggling to figure out the logistics of it for me. I get paid from one job every other Thursday, and the second job pays me the following Tuesday. Would it be silly to pay every week? (One job is only one day a week, so the amounts would be rather different.) Or would it make more sense to pay the first Sunday of the month? That's how I used to do it when I was working three jobs, before the days of direct deposit. I got paid every other Friday, every other Tuesday, and the 1st &15th. It just made sense to save my pay stubs, do the math, and pay it with a fast offering.

We do a few pioneer things in the stakes around Winter Quarters, but it's usually generic games and such on the last Saturday in July. More edutainment than celebration, if that makes any sense.