CourtneyP

Hi and welcome! :)

To me, faith is a belief in something that cannot be scientifically proven. For example, as kids we all have faith that Santa brings us presents on Christmas Day. Santa's existence has never been proven. Explorers to the North Pole have never found a workshop or a sleigh or toys. But millions of little kids believe that Santa exists and that he's the one bringing presents to them. Faith in God is similar. We believe that He exists. We believe that his son Jesus died so that we may have eternal life. We believe that the Book of Mormon is true and is another testament of Jesus Christ. Do we have any scientific proof in these things? No, but we still hold fast to these beliefs. That is faith to me.

*LOL* I haven't been to a dance in years! Not that I ever danced at them because I can't dance worth a flip. But I enjoyed watching others and I love to listen to music so they were fun for me anyway. :) But anyway...dress modestly. Nothing clingy or that hugs your curves. And dance modestly too.

*hugs Holly* The ending of a relationship is never easy. And the pain doesn't go away overnight. My ex husband and I have been divorced since December 2004 and there are still times I get teary eyed and cry about our splitting up. It's been nearly 3 years now and it still hurts sometimes. But I can promise you, as one who has been in your shoes, that the pain does get easier over time. I know that right now you are hurting very badly and feel like you're at the end of your rope. I can guarantee you that there's nowhere to go but up from here. But you have to first forgive yourself for the mistake you made and seek forgiveness from God for it. If it helps, talk to your bishop about the issue and ask his advice.

Hi and welcome! :)

*falls over laughing* Oh that was good! I haven't seen an episode of Cheers in ages! It was such a funny show! :)

I've never seen House so I can't really say. But it sounds weird.

Hi and welcome! :) I too am going to return to the church this week after a very long 10 year absence. I am looking forward to it!

Hi and welcome! I have two good friends who are athiests and they are both good people. I hope you enjoy yourself here at the board. :)

Your story is amazing Garden Girl! Wow! Still, I am sorry for the loss of your mom and your husband. I am glad that you were able to return to the church and how blessed you are. I can only pray that I will be just as blessed in my return as well. I am planning on sitting down with my husband and discussing it with him tonight. I didn't want to do it last night because I am unsure of what his reaction is going to be and I didn't want to risk him having a rough day at work because his mind was on our conversation rather than his job. So I will tell him tonight and that way he has the weekend to sort it all out in his head before going back to his job on Monday. Either way, I am going to my new ward this Sunday morning at 9:30AM. That's when Sacrament meeting starts and the rest of after that. I just hope that people don't make judgments based on the fact that I'll be there and pregnant and no man with me.

Hi and welcome! :)

*LOL* Always good. My group never even tries to work the evil stuff. No thanks. It not our style. And thanks! I'm glad to be here.

We had snow flurries yesterday! I love snow! Now I just want it to stick!

Paganism is a following of the gods of the old times before Christianity. The Greek gods, the Egyptian gods, the Norse gods, etc. Choose your own pantheon. It doesn't matter which one. Any god is welcome except the Christian one it seems.

That is awesome! I would love to retake the discussions. I learned so much in them the first time! But that was over 10 years ago.

That's awesome! :) And that's a lot of missionaries on one plane. WOW!

Hi there! :) Yes, I know there is some truth in paganism. There is some truth in every religion that exists. I believe that every religion out there has some aspects of the truth. However, there is truly only one church that can be the "one true church." And once you find it you've got to stick with that one. I've not read any of Gaia's posts yet. I just found this board a little over an hour ago and there are hundreds of posts for me to read. But I will keep my eyes open. Thanks! Courtney

Congrats and welcome! :)

Hello everyone. I have just recently found this forum and decided to join it. My name is Courtney and I am an inactive member. I was baptized back on September 22, 1996. I was so happy in the church! The spirit was strong in my life and I finally felt like my search for the one true church was over. When I turned 18 the following year (and was in the middle of my senior year of high school) I was moved out of the Young Women's program and into the Relief Society. I felt very uncomfortable in there, surrounded by these women who were all more than 5 years older than me. They were all talking about how to be a good wife and mother. And I hadn't even graduated yet! It felt very weird. After high school my Bishop suggested that I go to the singles ward, one hour east of where I lived. Well at the time I was commuting to college, which was a half hour west of where I lived. I really saw no sense in having to go to the singles ward. Besides, I wasn't ready for marriage. I wanted to go to school and graduate and get my teaching degree in music education. I politely declined his request to go to the singles ward and let him know that I was not interested in rushing into marriage or having kids. Strangely enough, a few weeks later he came to me with a calling in the church nursery of all places. I figured I would try it, so here I am, 18 years old and working in the nursery. I spent a couple of months there and just never did feel comfortable. It felt to me that their whole motive behind it was to make me learn to adore babies and want to go get married and start creating my own. During this time I began dating a guy named Adam, who was in the band with me at college. He was my same age and we got along great! He also knew of my LDS beliefs and never tried to pressure me into anything that would compromise my chances of visiting the temple. Well my friends back at church learned that I was dating a non-member and they discussed this with the Bishop. The next week he asked me to see if Adam would come to the church and meet with him. So I talked to Adam and he agreed. We went to the church on a Saturday evening and the three of us talked with the Bishop. The entire conversation was about Adam's beliefs and if he ever thought he would convert to the church. After we left, Adam told me that he was uncomfortable with my church and would never set foot in there again. And the following day at Sacrament meeting the Bishop pulled me aside and strongly advised me to stop seeing Adam. I felt that who I dated was no one's business but my own and ended up just stopping attending church. I never went back after that Sunday. Adam and I married 5 years later but the marriage was shot lived. We did produce our daughter and a year after her birth I divorced him for reasons that I will not go into on this board. We worked out all our issues and parted on good terms for the sake of our daughter, who we decided would remain with him since I had decided to move 1800 miles away. I left Georgia and moved to Fargo, North Dakota. I have since met and married a wonderful man named Thomas and we are expecting our first child together. Thomas knows of my beliefs in the church and he knows why I chose to leave the first time. Although I physically stopped going, I never stopped believing in the church doctrines and the majority of my beliefs are still LDS. I have tried other religions but nothing filled my heart with the spirit like the LDS church did, in spite of my differences in opinions with the Bishop. However, in looking back on the situation, I believe the Bishop was right. I think he was being led by the spirit to tell me that Adam would do me no good in the long run and to turn from him. But I was a stubborn teenager who thought that I knew everything. In looking back I wish I had listened to my Bishop and stopped dating Adam before things got serious. He was right and he was trying to get me to do what would have been best for me. I know that now, 10 years later. I just wish I could go back and listen to his advice. It would have spared me YEARS of pain and grief, really. Now for my current situation. Since moving to North Dakota, I have gotten involved in paganism. Yeah, witchcraft. I know, not the wisest choice to make, really. My husband and I are members of a pagan coven that meets at my house. And all of our friends (except for one lady) are all pagans as well. I have mentioned my desire to return to the church to my husband once and he said he'd prefer for me to remain pagan. As I look back I realize that I turned from my beliefs to satisfy a man once and it ended up really screwing up my life. I can't do this again. So I am looking for advice on how to leave paganism and return to the church without destroying my perfectly happy family. I adore my husband and do not want to ever lose him. My hopes are that someday he will want to go to church with me. But if he doesn't I will be just fine with him being accepting of my choice to go and not try to stop me. Sorry for this being so long, but I think I just had to vent and get it all out. Any advice ytou have will be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Courtney