They told me to come here and say hello.

[nattums]

Hello! I'm Natalie. I'm 31 and I live in Louisville, KY.

I've never been LDS, but I've been, um, investigating? for something like 15 years. I've taken the discussions, but back then, the idea of giving up drinking, smoking and premarital sex was just too much. I always figured I'd eventually make my way back and be baptized.

Then along came the internet, and I started learning all sorts of things I'd not known about the Church. Tithing, for one thing. Call me crazy, but when I was talking to the missionaries way back when, they never mentioned that it would cost 10% of my income for me to be part of the club. That seems like sort of a big thing, and I was a little upset that they were going to let me get baptized before I found out about that little detail.

The Angel with a flaming sword part of how polygamy came about threw me for a loop too - my Mormon BFF when I was growing up told me very clearly that polygamy came about because there were so many women widowed when the Saints were making their way to Utah, and the men had to take on multiple wives in order to support all the women that otherwise would've been left helpless. To a 16 year old girl who didn't want to do library research and who'd never heard of Google, that answer seemed pretty reasonable. Learning that the practice in fact came about via Joseph Smith himself, and the threatening manner in which it was delivered to Emma (D&C 132), and, of course, the Angel with the flaming sword bit - well, it colored my impressions of the truth of the Church greatly.

I'm still fascinated by the Church, though, and its members. I still wonder in the back of my mind if it isn't true. I came here with the hope of learning more of how things really are.

So, again, Hello!

[skippy740]

Well Natalie, you came to a good forum to ask and search for some answers to your questions!

Do a search first, then, if not quite the answer you need, please ask. Try one post/thread per question to keep it simple for the rest of us.

Here's another tip for you: take some of your study materials and go to the Louisville Temple grounds to read & study there. You might get some additional insight and feel of the spirit of the temple.

[LittleWyvern]

Welcome! I'm glad you're here. Part of the purpose of this board is to foster understanding between the LDS Church and its members and those not a member of the church. So, please don't be afraid to ask questions, this is what this board is for! Just make sure you give each question its own thread!

As far as learning goes, you'll learn a lot as you discuss religious concepts with us. Even I learn stuff sometimes. :)

[Spartan117]

Hello! I am a convert to the church myself, baptized just last year. I remember those topics you mentioned coming up when I was being taught by the missionaries. I had an issue with tithing at first, then once I realized the church has lay clergy and none of them get paid, I was okay with it.

The internet is great but I would be careful where you do your research on the church and it's history. There's a lot of people out there with an ax to grind who are quite dedicated to smearing the church. Lots of websites filled with bitter ex-members and their side of experiences they had while in the church. You could easily stumble across one of these sites accidentally while searching for legitimate information about the church. It's unfortunate, especially if an investigator, like yourself, found yourself on one of the many anti-Mormon websites out there and made the mistake of thinking they were somehow correct about something.

Imagine you want to watch the State of the Union address, learn about the United States a little bit. And you saw one of Osama bin Ladin's "talks from the cave" videos, but thought it was just as trustworthy as a State of the Union speech given by the President. You might get a very bad impression about the United States!! All because of misinformation that you were told was the real truth.

Sadly, sincere and eager investigators sometimes end up on a website loaded with half-truths and sometimes outright bull ****, but believe the hype and think they have inside information the church doesn't want you to know. The whole time it's really Al-Qaeda, lying to you. That makes Sad Panda very sad.

But you're here! And that makes me happy :)

Welcome to the forum, Natalie.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Spartan117