MormonMama

I love this! There was an article on this, written from the perspective of a missionary who came home early, in the Ensign sometime in the past few months. It was called, "My Mission Was Cut Short": My Mission Was Cut Short - Ensign Apr. 2012 - ensign I thought there was another one as well, told from the perspective of an Elder, but I haven't found it. I'm glad you've been able to find some peace in the matter, Backroads. Sometimes we just need a little time to get over the initial shock.

And yet we always remain seated for the Sacrament prayer, at least in every ward I've ever been in. Maybe because the person giving the prayer is kneeling? I pray when seated. I pray after I've taken the Sacrament, in those quiet moments while it's still being passed to everyone else. I pray while seated in my car, like a previous poster said. I pray while seated at the lunch table at work. Somehow I don't think Heavenly Father is going to get angry about those.

Welcome! :)

Hello and welcome!

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I would definitely seek some type of counseling, even if you don't feel you want to. You should not have to go through this alone. {{{HUGS}}}

Thanks Connie! I hope it's the same for me. I'm more worried about the time constraints than anything. Because of my job, I'm away from home for almost 12 hours a day. The Primary President ended up being sick this weekend so I won't get a chance to talk to her about it until later this week. I'm supposed to teach Sharing Time all next month, so I'm a bit stressed about it!

Thanks! I just hope I only have to manage Activity Days and not actually run them. I get home late in the evenings, so that wouldn't work, and on Saturdays I have no transportation but we also can't do it at my house (for various reasons), so that's no good either. I'm going to talk to the Primary President tonight and discuss these things with her and see EXACTLY what is expected of me.

I've been called as the Second Counselor in the Primary Presidency! I'm scared to death! I've always been a teacher (usually of Sunbeams), never a member of any presidency and I have NO IDEA what to do. I know the Primary President is going to go over some stuff with me tomorrow night, but starting next week I have to give Sharing Time lessons for the whole month of September and I have no idea what to do! How do I hold the kids' interests for 15 minutes?! I can barely keep it for 5 in class! Also, I thought they said I would be in charge of Activity Days. That is going to be VERY hard since I don't get home from work until almost 6pm every night and there will be many days when I work later. DH has the car for work on Saturdays, so that won't work either. And on top of all that, I've already warned them that I'm pregnant and I have had pre-term labor with all of my previous pregnancies and will probably be on bed rest in another couple of months. They didn't seem to think that would be a problem with my calling! I'm scared to death and wondering if I can really handle this calling!

Thank you, MarginofError. I guess we need to swallow our pride and embarrassment and go to our Bishop. We will definitely do what you suggested and write up a budget of our income and expenses and how much extra tithing we can pay each month until it is caught up, and how long that will take. On top of that, we will ask the Bishop what other service we can perform to help contribute in ways other than financially.

I'm bipolar. It's caused by a chemical imbalance in my brain and is also related to an imbalance of hormones. It is something I was born with, not something I chose, and it can never be cured. I cannot use my bipolar as an excuse when I let my temper get away from me. I cannot use it as an excuse if I abuse my husband or children. It DOES make it harder for me to control my temper, but it is still up to me to control it. Just because I was "born this way" doesn't mean God wants me to be this way. He wants me to learn to rise above this challenge and learn to control it, not let it control me. That's the same way I view homosexuality.

We fully intend to pay our tithing (and no, I don't think you were being judgmental :) ), but at this point it is going to take us months to catch up. I mostly feel weird going to the bishop because we are brand new in the ward, we've literally only been there two weeks. We just feel like we'd be saying, "Hi, we're the So-and-So family, give us food."

I personally believe that the ratings system should be abolished and instead there should be a brief list of the types of things that are in the movie, such as violence, nudity, blood and gore, etc., more detailed than the little 3-4 word blurb they give you on the back of the DVD box. Netflix does something similar, and there are MANY sites online that you can use that will tell you, some in detail, what will be in that movie. Then you can decide for yourself if it's appropriate or not. I've seen some R rated films that I would never have rated R if it were up to me. And I've seen some PG-13 (and even a very rare PG) films that made me cringe and wish I'd never watched them. I don't think you can trust the ratings system much.

Thank you, LM. You bring up a great point about doing other service. Maybe we should ask the Bishop what service we can offer in lieu of fast offerings this month. Or maybe we can pay our "mite" this month and pay a little extra next month (we've certainly paid more than the cost of two meals in the past when we can afford it).

We've thought about asking our bishop for help, but we just moved into a brand-new ward and we're two months behind on tithing. We feel like it would almost be slapping the Lord in the face to ask for assistance from the Church when we're not paying into that assistance. We only have to make it through one more month, then we'll be back to earning a regular income (though DH is trying to find higher paying work as well). I'm glad you brought that up, as I'd forgotten all about that! That definitely gives me some food for thought (no pun intended). Thanks!

But that's just it: we're buying LESS food than before. We're literally living on mac n' cheese and rice (and I'm pregnant, so I'm not even supposed to be fasting). Is that amount too small to bother with? We're talking a couple of dollars.

DH and I usually try to give at least $10 each for fast offerings. But our combined paychecks this week are literally going to be less than we will need for bills, gas and groceries until next payday. I know that fast offerings are voluntary, but when is it okay to say we just can't do it this month? Is it ever okay to say that? We've always tried to give something, but we don't want that amount to be so low that it's an insult to those who are worse off than we.

I don't worry about when the world will end. I could be in a car accident today and that could be the end for me. The only thing I need to worry about is whether or not I'm living my life every day as if it were my last, because any given day could be. Treat every day as if Christ were coming, because it could very well be the day that YOU go to HIM!

Interestingly enough, I read this quote today and thought it was very appropriate to this thread:

I was married to my first husband when I joined the Church. We divorced a year later, for reasons having nothing to do with my joining the Church (he was actually very supportive and the ONLY family member who would come to my baptism!). Since he was never a member, we were not sealed in the temple. 9 years later I married my current husband. We have since been sealed in the temple. My bishop was aware of my prior divorce, but it was never a factor because I had not been sealed to my previous spouse. Now, a friend of mine was sealed to her first husband and he ended up leaving her for another woman. Her sealing to him remained in force until she became engaged to her second husband. Because of the circumstances of her divorce and the fact that she and her first husband had not had children, her sealing to him was cancelled and she was subsequently sealed to her second husband. I don't know how that would have been affected if she and her first husband had children together.

I suppose if all your grandchildren cared about was your money, then I could see preferring your cats to your grandkids. Cats don't care how much money you have.

Ignore this post. I hadn't realized that Snow was banned until after I posted.

Agreed. The Church teaches (and really, every church I've ever attended teaches this) that Satan is VERY real and can influence us, but ultimately it is up to us whether we will choose good or evil. I don't know any faith that teaches that we can't control our own actions and everyone I know understands that "the devil made me do it" is just a joke. The devil can't MAKE us do anything. He whispers in our ears and tries to influence us, but whether we listen to him or not is entirely on our shoulders.

His behavior is not an issue. If you claim you believe in Christ but not Satan, then you either imply that Christ is a liar or you truly do not understand His teachings. Because Christ very clearly stated that Satan is real. Actually, I think you are quite right. But I also think that's true of most of us. Satan is watching us and rejoices every time we make even the slightest mistake.

Hopefully he will have a spirit of humility as well. Hopefully he realized that he came across too harsh and didn't mean to. Maybe he's worried ever since the incident that he offended you. But even if not, even if he's convinced that he handled things the right way, I think it's great of you to be so humble about it and willing to forgive and work with him. You are taking the high road here and the Lord is pleased with your efforts. :)

Please talk to your bishop and allow him to help you through this. It sounds like you've already begun the repentance process on your own (you clearly feel guilty and repentant). You're not going to get kicked out of the church over this. Take it from someone who got pregnant while in the Singles' Ward! Although it is very hard to go to your bishop (I imagine your feelings of shame and fear are similar to what I felt), it is the very best thing you can do. He will help you through this process and give you the support you need. Don't be afraid.