Grunt

Just to resurrect an old thread, I've been watching his videos the last few days. Very interesting.

A week or so ago we had our ward Christmas party. At the bottom of the email forwarded to me with the time of the party, I saw an email to relief society asking for people to help set up the morning before. My wife couldn't make it, so I went over to help. After about an hour of work, I was asked to bring something into the RS room and give it to the woman working there. Upon arrival, I handed the boxes to the only woman in the room. I saw her at church every Sunday but don't believe I'd ever interacted with her. As I handed her the box, she stared at me and demanded: "Who are you?". I told her, and she asked if I was the husband of Mrs. Grunt. She continued to look at me very oddly and made it clear through body language that I was not yet "dismissed". "Why are you here!?!". "To help", I responded. She then asked in an accusatory manner: "Why are you here?" I explained I saw the email and apologize if this was supposed to be for RS only, I just stopped by to help. "It's just unusual to see a man willing to help" was her response (the First Counselor was the only other male there, but I assume he opened the building). I don't remember my response, but I felt fairly odd about the interaction. I went back and continued my work. At the end of the morning, she handed out little gifts and gave me a hug, thanking me for my help. Even that seemed forced. I mentioned it to one of the RS women I'm friendly with. She laughed and knew exactly who I was talking about. I was informed that was her personality, but she was a lovely woman who gives her heart and soul to the ward. I'm glad I didn't let that initial interaction to harden my heart towards her or the church. I will admit, though, it took a conscious effort on my part to put it behind me at that time.

I hope as you get older you look back on your decision with fresh eyes. In the meantime, I'll send you a prayer and hope the pain that clouds your judgment subsides and you find it in your heart to do as God desires. Merry Christmas.

Joseph Smith's birthday. Now you can never forget my baptism date.

Happy Birthday!

When I started investigating the church it was obvious to my co-workers that something changed. I no longer drank a gallon of coffee or had a beer at office gatherings. They asked why, I answered truthfully, nobody seemed to care. Sometimes they ask questions about my other wives, but that's about it.

I wonder how much of that is biological and how much of that is environmental.

This is why I stay completely out of some threads.

Obtuse or acute?

You're doing better than me. I used to explain things to the best of my knowledge, then I would read something that shed more light on the subject. I've since just become really comfortable saying "beats me, BUT the answer to that question is on LDS.org."

Thank you for this! It reminded me why I stopped visiting Canada.

That's awesome

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/come-join-with-us?lang=eng

Interesting. I have trouble reconciling this with my belief. I'm not sure I'm going to tackle it at this time. I would be interested in hearing @jane_doe's reconciliation, though

Where is that? I'd like to read it.

@docjohn, I'm not LDS, but I've had things that shook what little knowledge I have. Fortunately, I got the right answers in time. The very first thing I did was just ask for peace on a topic. Mormonism is a very complicated religion, in many ways because its members are encouraged to ask questions and pay attention to their personal revelations. There is no possible way to work through all the questions and issues that come up, so just drop back to the core of your beliefs and ask God to bring you peace with the rest until you can figure it out. The other thing I did was wise advice I was given by a Stake President. He reminded me that God speaks to us through a triangle. We have the Prophet and Apostles to bring us revelation. We have the Scriptures. We have personal revelation. Because we are imperfect people, it's often hard for us to understand God's divine word. If you are having trouble with one point of the triangle, fall back on the other two to examine what is giving you trouble. I'm a crappy speaker and this probably makes zero sense to a normal person, but it really helped me.

This is my belief as well.

How often do you go to church? How many different churches have you visited?

The church doesn't clean itself, regardless of the color of its skin.

Welcome, eVa.

I think I'm a vole.

Ask 30 Mormons to participate in a thread about doctrine to help investigators.....

I'm currently watching a thread on faceplant where they are discussing whether or not green tea violates the WoW. Very entertaining. Apparently, as long as it isn't Lipton you're in the clear.

Put thirty Mormons in a room and ask a question on doctrine.......

It's all in the delivery.