KScience

Personally I don't think its a literal connection (says she who has been voiceless for 5 weeks for no obvious cause) The healings all rely on the faithfulness of those being healed. Our faith can be affected in our ability to walk away from sin, or accept the saviours grace for our sins. Just my opinion, but I know plenty of sinful healthy people and lots if sick and faithful people.

You are in my prayers. No advice but lots of sympathy. Despite being well educated and in full time work as a lecturer I can only afford to rent a room because rents are crazy. A bedroom with just enough room to fit in bed, wardrobe and desk with kitchen shared by 9 rooms costs nearly half my take home pay. I was only going to be here a year so thought as a temp measure it would be OK....somehow I ended up staying longer. Renting a one bedroom apartment within an hours drive to work would be nearly 3/4 take home pay without bills. But I spend more time at work than home, its warm, its safe and private, so counting my blessings.

And yet in many wards here in the UK we have many members with multiple callings. My current ward we have have had to amalgamate primary classes due to lack of teachers and needing two to a class. The size of the ward makes SO much difference, if we have 80 adults on a Sunday we are having a good week.

I am a dog person....and refer to them as toddlers with teeth to get people to understand how dog behaviour works

You need to see the opportunities to grow everyday without temple attendance. I waited a LOT longer than 2 years (without any worthiness issues) as it was common practice not to take out endowments unless about to go on a mission or sealed. I had no idea if or when I would be sealed and so waited patiently and learned that it was a righteous desire but things would happen in Gods time. It did not stop me from serving in my ward and stake. It did not stop me building a relationship with my Saviour. It did give me the opportunity to sustain and honour my priesthood holders who had stewardship over me. I hope that you can move past your current feelings and find the opportunities to grow closer to Christ and serve those around you.

Do what you need to do. Just be assured we are not all judging you. Is there a sister with/once had young kids that you can share your concerns with?

Alia, sorry this week seemed so difficult. Keep persevering and know that all of us who know what you are going through are sympathetic and empathetic and not AT ALL judging you or your sons behaviour. Have you looked around and noticed what other children and parents are doing? You might notice that small children move around and make a lot more noise than you are aware of. It always seemed SOOO much louder when it was my own son making the noise. The week he properly did a runner i.e. crawling under benches giggling and screeching loudly with members trying to catch him for me. Then running up and down the aisle with me in "trying to be reverent and not cross" pursuit and failing until, the speaker had to stop and 3 deacons waded in - I WAS MORTIFIED. I was all ready to pack up and go home and never show my face until he was old enough to marry- or at least not act like a heathen. I was so lucky that my Bishop passed by gave my son a pat on the head, me a big smile and said that's the most exciting meeting for a while...at least everyone was awake. I also overheard a couple of older sisters in RS chuckling at his antics. People really do understand that children are not malicious and can be exuberant. Things did get easier - being called as YW pres really helped as the YW of the ward then had a great excuse to sit and play with the cute toddler! There are other tales, even when he got older..... I figure kids are here to teach us humility at times....and I have LOTS of stories to tell his future girlfriends/spouse and embarrass him right back (as is a parents privilege) This is not the finest display of my parenting skills - but I am going with reached the age of 26 and calling that a win

Your question immediately brought to my mind the talk from last conference by Jeffrey R Holland (Sunday morning) “Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven,”11 Christ taught in New Testament times. And in our day: “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.”12 It is, however, important for some of you living in real anguish to note what He did not say. He did not say, “You are not allowed to feel true pain or real sorrow from the shattering experiences you have had at the hand of another.” Nor did He say, “In order to forgive fully, you have to re enter a toxic relationship or return to an abusive, destructive circumstance.” But notwithstanding even the most terrible offenses that might come to us, we can rise above our pain only when we put our feet onto the path of true healing. That path is the forgiving one walked by Jesus of Nazareth, who calls out to each of us, “Come, follow me.”13

I am the first to admit to being a bit of a doofus and not terribly coordinated, so usually its me that messes stuff up and then has to get creative putting things right. I was very excited to open my order from LDS stores today to find that instead of one picture of the London England Temple I now have 50!!!! I have emailed them to make them aware of the error (I am pretty positive that when my order says 1 and the charge is 55p that I really should have only received a single picture) and assume I will have to post them back. So in the mean time........ any creative ideas for what to do with 49 8.5x11 pictures???? 🤭

Junior at this point I am not sure what you are expecting anyone to say to you. All responses have been along the same lines, and you have received some heartfelt and wise counsel from a number of people who don't know you and can only judge your situation (notice NOT judging you) from how you have represented yourself here. Continuing to repeat yourself will not help you to understand any netter our points of view. All that is left is for you to pray with an open heart and mind for further enlightenment and counsel with your Bishop, who is doing his level best to support you.

When the majority of people here are giving you the same response as your Bishop with explanations of their support; I would suggest that instead of protesting so much, that you consider why everyone, including your Bishop and your mother, see things in a different way to you. Your actions will speak louder than any words and a change of heart is a long term commitment and your actions to date do not match your words - at least on the surface (i.e. going directly against church teachings and the council of your Bishop) You are a young man who is trying to do what he thinks is best; BUT to do better you will need to do what Heavenly Father thinks is best. To desire going to the temple is a worthy aspiration, but your concern at the moment seems to be to go NOW rather than when you will be spiritually more able to appreciate the experience. I waited for years to get my own endowment as I was not getting married or going on a mission and my Stake President required waiting for one of these circumstances for YSA's. Please note I had no worthiness issues. It was a good exercise in patience and understanding that things will happen in the Lords time and according to a bigger picture that I am not aware of. At no point did I think it would be appropriate to "bad mouth" my SP (I consider you to have done this to your Bishop on this forum), but that I should sustain him and try and learn from the experience. My only advice to you would be - take this issue to the lord in prayer and leave it with him. Then work on being the best person you can be and live within the bounds that are expected of you.

I don't know why we let Piers Morgan back into the country let alone back on TV....... Although I did have the urge to apologise to my US friends when he appeared on your radar.

I opened the link thinking "Elder Oaks not popular....tell me something new". I got no further than the first paragraph, because that was enough to put me off. I didn't continue reading as I don't want to read negative comments about ANY of the apostles. That meant that I missed out on any positive message that the full article may contain..... because I choose not to read things of this nature. So sorry OP I will instead go back to the original source material and make up my own mind about the message and the intent.

Hey some of us come here to avoid the B word ........

Hello and welcome, I am a close neighbour in Kent. Go through fits and starts posting according to work demands.

As a single parent who moved to a new ward with a 2 year old baby after my husband left, I keenly remember this experience and felt your pain for a while. Before this I went to church alone with a baby as my husband was not a member. I just went because I needed to take the sacrament. Children pass through this phase with a little perseverance and pre planning; although at the time it can seem like an eternity and things will never get better. I had a very energetic son, so would take him to the park on the way to church so that he had time to run around and wear himself out. Being English this often involved wellies and a big coat and a change of clothes for when we got to the chapel, but it made the day easier for him. I am naturally a reserved person and would prefer my own space, but found that my son settled best if I sat in the middle of a pew surrounded by people. This meant that I found out that members were very happy to have a "small" sit and quietly chat to them (to my surprise especially the older ladies who I had mistakenly assumed would be irritated by him). Crayons and paper would help him sit stiller, or sitting on my lap and playing boo with the members in the pew behind could keep him entertained for a good 10-15 mins. Finger games like incy-wincy spider were also a useful distraction I also trained my son at home to have short periods (starting with just 1 minute) where he sat still on my lap and we had quiet time every day. This helped him to be able to sit still and learn to entertain himself with his imagination. It's a skill that helps children in school too and increases their concentration time. Don't worry about what other people think - just do what's best for you and your son. On the worst days I just had to chant to myself "this too shall pass" We did survive this, and thinking back on this has reminded me of some of the fun times we had when he was a tiny tot - and now with the passage of time I find myself smiling at these memories.

Thank you all for your suggestions (sorry not to get back to you sooner but work is ridiculously crazy and I barely have time to fit in sleeping so have limited social media time) I am hoping that as I am a "fresh face" in the ward, members will go with me if I mix things up a bit and add some of your suggestions to what has already been established practice. We will have a new YM president this week, so hopefully it is someone open to new ideas (they will need a substantial amount raised due to having 12 active YM to send). Members contributions historically would not have met the current demand, and very few of the parents of the youth are not in a financial situation to meet the costs so we will be needing some inspiration. We have time on our side so need to remain positive, engage the youth and put our best foot forward for this cause.

I am posting here for traffic since the youth forum is not active. I have been called as YW president We are a small ward (average about 50 in sacrament) and I only have 4 active YW. There are LOTS more YM. My biggest concern this year is raising funds to send the youth to FSY or beehive/deacon camp. In the past they have had a dinner/ bake sale event but have had difficulty collecting the money from members who turned up so barely covered costs!! If we were to go this route I would change how funds were collected but was wondering if anyone had any great alternative ideas?

Bless you. It sounds like you are in a really rough place right now, you have my prayers. You have already had the best advice and I echo what the other have said. Feeling worthy has nothing to do with our covenants to wear garments. We are always our own worst judges. I bet that if a friend confided in you that they were feeling exactly as you are now you would throw your arms around them and show them love and reassure them that the Lord and our Saviour love us completely unconditionally. Be your own best friend and let the Saviour and the Lord wrap their arms around you.

I have been reflecting on the shorter day, the changes which have been brought into effect and how to make the most of the lessons that I teach. I hope that the structure inspires families to study together and makes it easier for this to happen. I heard good reports of SS being more interactive as people had prepared; I hope that people keep the momentum and energy going for as long as possible. More people lingered to chat after SS - We had a baptism and a few more than usual stayed as we were finished by "normal" time. We had fewer testimonies borne, people will have to figure out they need to be more concise. People were turned away so we didn't run over. Not sure if this will be a positive or negative...depends on who is more determined to speak. I am struggling with only 20 mins to teach. Especially as I have a class of children who do not get the gospel at home - part member families, the only active one at home and one that comes with grandparents every other week. These children are amazing and I don't want to let them down...so will need some prayerful thought so I can receive promptings to guide them in the best way. I miss singing time as now have to stay in the classroom with the other teacher as we have split junior/senior - loved being in with singing time. Also fear I will be struggling with having an extra hour to do the stuff I usually do i.e. prep next weeks lesson, personal study and family history. So hoping people will want to linger for a few weeks still. So overall very positive and trying to frame my worries in a more positive manner. Would love to hear other peoples thoughts on the changes

Happy New Year all. I don't have a resolution as such but before Christmas decided that I need to find a new career outside of education...so will be exploring all avenues.

I have a very small christmas shopping list and don't celebrate with family until 30th Dec (split family and evolved into 2nd christmas as a tradition) so dont have the same urgency and wont pick up main present until boxing day sales !

I am genuinely wondering what people would determine to be unnecessary and intrusive questions.

@bytebear I was addressing your comment "That death from wars is almost non-existent." I don't have numbers to compare so but would also assume that the number of deaths in the WWI and WWII would be higher; but would consider these anomalies rather than the normal pattern of events. How many people dying annually would need to comparable?