How do i get used to going to church while being the only person in my family who believes?


jonathan909817
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I feel awful when i used to go to church. Being the only one in my family who was interested sucked big time :( This wonderful religion focuses a lot on family, and i feel so left out. I felt so left out that i stopped going a few months ago, but recently my heart is trying to make me go back. How can i deal with being the only LDS person in my family, which makes me miss out on so much?(also im the only one in my school and circle of friends)

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Hai there!

It is a very family orientated church and believe you me i can totally understand where your coming from. I too am the only LDS in my family. I get alot of crap from them about it. And i know it sucks because they do talk alot ALOT about familys and it is difficult - The only thing i can really suggest is perserverance.

Find a group to sit with. If you can't then sit on your own. Pray; Read your scriptures, Build your testamony.

There is a blessing here you haven't seen yet. You are the FIRST GENERATION!

That is amazing! Don't ever feel like you don't belong there because the church and the gospel are your salvation. People may be kind or cruel to you. But at the end of the day HF will always love you.

Something else that helped me was asking the missionarys to link me in with a few groups and speaking to my YSA reps. INFACT, not too long ago i had the YSA come over and give me a blessing because i felt i didn't fit in... and you know what.

You never really know who notices you.

Chin up :D i promise you it will be amazing just don't give up hope

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I'm currently visiting my parents who live with my sister. They're all Catholics. They do tons of Catholic stuff - I mean, just praying before meals, they make the sign of the cross so it is pretty obvious I'm the "odd woman out" coz I'm the only one that doesn't do it. Last Sunday I went to a ward close to my sister's house - all of them went to the Catholic church. We all met at the shopping center afterwards - yeah, Catholics have no problem with shopping on Sundays.

The Catholic priest visited the house a few nights ago. They talked about all the church stuff and kept on asking me what happened to me - they all think I'm "lost" and must be "found".

No big deal to me. My faith is between me and God. My family are all great people and they are doing the best they know how to get to live with our Heavenly Father as well. So, I don't mind them trying to talk me back into the Catholic church. It's what they know.

Monday was FHE night and of course, there's no such thing in Catholic. But, during dinner, I started lesson time while eating. I asked the children the question: When you asked God to bless this food (they do the same prayer for every meal - "bless us, O Lord, in these they gifts...") what did you expect is gonna happen? I mean, what if the food was somehow bad and if you eat it, it will make you sick. Do you think that after saying the prayer that God will take the poison away and make the food good? What do you think happens?

It was a good discussion - everyone got involved and shared their ideas and it led into us talking about the promptings of the Holy Spirit - because I said that more than likely, God will not take away the poison but that He will send the Holy Spirit to prompt us and give us an indication that the food is bad so we can avoid it. We stayed at the dinner table for 2 hours... impromptu FHE.

So, yeah, family is big in LDS. But, that doesn't mean only "Mormon family" - it means ALL of your family, Mormon or otherwise. Stay close to your family and remain strong in your faith. Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength. You'll be at peace.

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all the advice given is good. just continue to go. meet people, join in with them and become a friend to a family and join t hem in sitting with them in church, fhe...etc...i only member too. so i know how u feel. the church is very family related. The church is a big family Learn and grow and u never know what miracles, and blessing lay around the corner u might be surprised when some one in your family looks up to you and joins. How great will be your joy. In the mean time mingle, mingle, mingle.

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Hi Jonathan.

Yes the church does focus on family. As a convert for 34 years now, I know how it feels to be the only one at first. But you know, it's only hard if you dwell on what you don't have and not what you do.

So focus on you. Remember in your own way you are a pioneer. My son wrote me a letter from his mission telling me how grateful he is that I was the first to join. That I made it possible for him to be a part of something so wonderful.

One day you won't be sitting alone. And you aren't alone. You have your brothers and sisters in the gospel.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was you, 35 years back. I joined the church when I was 14 and was the only member in my family. I would go to church on Sunday and feel absolutely horrible. I'd sit with my friends family and feel very sad that my family wasn't there. Sometimes I'd say to myself "I'm not going back next week." Next week would role around and I'd be back there. I left home when I was 17 and lived with a member family because I thought they were better than mine..Stupid I know. When I was 21 I went on a mission. While I was gone my 17 year old brother said he was thinking about becoming a priest. I thought, "Where are the blessings from serving a mission??" I came home, he was taught the discussions and joined the church. 12 mths later, he goes on a mission and is called to the same mission I was in. Twenty years after my baptism, after the blessing of my 4th child, my mum says she wants to be baptised! She comes to church with us every week. My brother has married in the church and ha three boys. My only sister would have joined the church at the same time as my mum if it wasn't for her husband.

Don't give up. One day you will a have a family of your own and through your example, you will influence your parents, maybe not to join the church, but none the less your righteous example will bless them.

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I know how you feel. In my experience, I joined the church at 19 -- and not even in the past 2 years has anyone in my family shown an interest in learning anymore about the church than they already know. It can be tough when you feel as though you are alone.

One thing that helped me was being able to go to a young single adult (YSA) ward. There was one that met at the stake center just 10 minutes from my house, so I started attending there and was baptized into that ward. The ward eventually became my family -- I attended group FHEs with members of the ward, became friends with many of the members, and even went on a YSA trip to Missouri last summer with most of my ward. Was especially nice was that everyone was pretty close in age (most members in my ward were early/mid-twenties) and we were at common stages in our lives. It felt good to relate!

The ward so much became my family that I was even able to find someone who would step out of that ward as my new family (my husband, and when I say "new" that isn't to mean that I'm replacing my parents or siblings with him, but the time has come for me to start my OWN branch of family). We met in the ward right after I was baptized, dated and gotten engaged about 7 months after I joined the church, and were sealed 5 months after being engaged when I hit my year-mark as a member. Our one year anniversary will be in 3 months!

Basically what I mean to say is that it's amazing how alone you might be in the beginning, and yet sometime down the road, it's also amazing how Heavenly Father understands our faithfulness, our needs, etc. and we can find ourselves with so much within our reach. (Example: I never thought I'd have an eternal companion ... EVER, none-the-less 1 year after joining this great faith! But because I stayed "true to the faith" so to say, and continually try to do what is asked of me as a member, Heavenly Father does give blessings -- and that goes for everyone who truly follows the gospel!)

Heavenly Father knows your heart and your intentions. You might feel alone now, but he will provide you eventually with the knowledge and the means to know that you really aren't. :)

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