Knock, Knock

[Blessed]

Two fine LDS missionaries came to my house last night and wanted to share the good news with me. I told them politely that I was grateful for their time and attention, but I already know the good news as I am "RLDS." One smiled. The other didn't. One knew of the RLDS church and immediately asked me if he could return next week so we could discuss various points of our faith with one another. I said "absolutely!"

So, next Tuesday, I will be meeting with them to discuss the interesting points of my faith and answer his questions and we will discuss various points of his faith and hopefully, he will answer questions.

I just wanted yall to know... I think it is really neat and I am looking forward to it very much. (And yes, I did ask them if they had heard of LDStalk and neither of them had, but I told them to look it up after they were done with their missions. (I had to plug this place!!!)

[CrimsonKairos]

Cool stuff, Blessed. :)

I'd love to hear how the visit goes. Hopefully the Elders will be polite and listen as well as talk.

[BenRaines]

Blessed, last article I read about Community of Christ church is that they were voting to have a female Prophet. How did that come out? Is the vote later?

Ben Raines

[Dale]

In the Community of Christ we have the main Community of Christ and Restoration RLDS which split from the church. President Stephen Veazey is our prophet. They were considering a female counselor to President Stephen Veazey. I don't know how that turned out.

[BenRaines]

thank you for that feedback Dale. I was wrong it was a member of the presidency as you have stated.

Ben Raines

[Blessed]

She was voted in.

[Jia]

I've only ever met one other RLDS and when she found out that I was LDS she was VERY mean to me. I'm glad to see another to make me know that they aren't all that way. (Though I never really believed that). She just gave me the impression that the RLDS church preaches that everyone should hate the LDS (her words, not mine).

Hope you have fun with the missionaries. They are always so interesting to speak with!

[a-train]

Living in the KC metro, I have known RLDS and others who believe in the Restoration through Joseph Smith for years. There are many LDS people living here who were RLDS before switching.

What I have always wanted to talk about but still haven't had the opportunity is the Temple. The Independence Temple does not house any of the ordinances that were performed in Kirtland and Nauvoo.

Does the Community of Christ hope to participate in those ordinances one day? Are they viewed as necessary or only extra? What is believed about the Spirit of Elijah and his coming to the Temple to Joseph Smith? Baptism for the dead? Eternal Marriage? etc.

-a-train

[Blessed]

Jia, I am sorry for the experience you had with that one RLDS person. I have always held to the belief that the LDS and RLDS are distant cousins and we come from the same heritage... Jospeh Smith. :) So, I shall call you family. :)

A-Train, to be honest... I don't understand what you mean by temple ordinances. We have a temple in Independence, but we don't practice temple ordinances. So, maybe you could break it down for me and maybe then I can answer?

As for our beliefs regarding baptism for the dead, eternal marriage, Adam-God theory, etc, we reject those beliefs. That does not mean that "I" think that they are wrong beliefs, but for me, they do not fit into my belief system.

I have not heard about the Spirit of Elijah visiting JS at the temple... perhaps that is in our history, but I don't know.

I guess I don't know much... DOH!

[Dale]

I have persons in my congregation hostile to LDS. I think one can have significant religious differences without being mean about it. Unfortunately people in both churches arn't always nice towards eachother. Sad to say that prejudice towards LDS can also include fear of reading, or listening to the LDS side.

[Jia]

Jia, I am sorry for the experience you had with that one RLDS person. I have always held to the belief that the LDS and RLDS are distant cousins and we come from the same heritage... Jospeh Smith. So, I shall call you family.

That's so sweet of you! I've a much better impression of the RLDS now.

[LT04]

Thats cool you get to have them come back, and discuss the finer points of each others faith. I just hope thats what they intend to do as well. I have found the missionaries to have a one track mind, sorry to say. I just think you should keep that in mind.

As for me I'm LDS, so I don't see the possibility of RLDS or Community of Christ missionaries (if you have any, sorry I know very little of what your faiths practice today. I just have a basic understanding of how they got started.)

I remember a wile ago that the LDS church and the RLDS church sat down and had a huge pow-wow I think in Missouri. The mission was to categorize the "major differences" between us. They came to the conclusion that there were four major differences, I don't remember them all but I remember one was polygamy, and another was temple functions. I remember that they decided not to include the "divine right of kings" concept (passing positions from father to son) b/c to some degree the LDS church does as well. I can't for the life of me remember what the other two were, but I'll look into it.

Maybe you Community of Christ Brethren and Sisters could "riddle me this" I live in northern New York. A lot of early church history took place around here. The sacred grove isn't far for me to drive. There is a group who call them selves the Community of Christ in a very small town called Hogansberg very far North of here. I found that odd at first b/c as far as I could tell there were only Omish (Om-ish) (don't think I spelled correct) families living there so at first I didn't give it much thought I figured maybe they just had the same name and nothing else in common b/c like the Omish they practice church in there homes not at a chapel. Later I found they only did that b/c they don't have a chapel nor do they intend to build one. From what I gathered they plan to stay until the church budget gets cut then sell this huge field (well over 100 acre's) they have there to the LDS church. I thought that was very odd as well of all the organizations it could be sold to why the LDS church. So when I looked into it more they originally intended to use this site for something more important then a chapel location, I'm not sure if you follow temple practices or not but I'm very baffled as to what other options there could be higher then a chapel and different then a Temple. Maybe you fine Brothers and Sisters could shed some light on the subject for me thanks.

-LT04

[Marsha]

If you are talking about the Amish, that is correct, they worship in each others homes. They travel in their community via horse and buggy and are very low keyed people. Each week there is a buggy crafted to pick up pews from one farmhouse and take to the ones that are hosting Church for that Sunday.

They also won't let people take pictures of them, have no pictures in their homes either.

You won't find any electricty in their homes, much less telephones or computers. But they will ask to use your cell phone. They pay very well for a ride to town or out of state to a wedding or funeral.

Their children go to the 8th grade in their own schools. I could go on and on, but do a search, interesting life they live.

I have never ever met a rude Amish person. We lived in one of the biggest communities of Amish.

Marsha

[shanstress70]

I used to travel with my job before and just after I got married. Once I spent months in Lancaster PA (which has a huge Amish population) and I was enthralled with the Amish. I read everything I could about them and even went to see the quilts they handcrafted whenever they had a sign in the yard. I knew I wasn't going to spend the $1000 or so to get one, but I love quilts and was really interested to talk with them and such. They are super nice people. Even though I would never change my way of life that dramatically, I learned a lot from them and changed my life somewhat bc of them.

I quit my job so that I wasn't on the road all the time, even though for a while I made substantially less money. I HATED being away from my new husband right after our wedding. And I tried to live more simply, getting rid of so many 'extras' I had. I got into gardening and back to the more basic things in life. Very interesting people!

[Blessed]

The other day I saw our two missionaries again and they asked to confirm today's appt and I said "yes!" I was looking forward to it. I got out the chairs on the front deck so we could talk (in public since I was alone) and made refreshments for them and did they show up at noon??? No. Did they call? Yes, three hours later to tell me that a meeting ran over (way over).

Oh well, I tried, but I am not so sure I will stick my neck out again. I was dissappointed.

[BenRaines]

Blessed,

That is their opportunity lost. I agree that there is no reason not to call and to call three hours late. No meeting runs three hours late, unless they are casting out demons or something like that. Were they in an area where there are no phones?

That is them being irresponsible. A bike crash, a car crash and both in the hospital understandable. A late overrun appointment, sorry.

Ben Raines

[rosie321]

The other day I saw our two missionaries again and they asked to confirm today's appt and I said "yes!" I was looking forward to it. I got out the chairs on the front deck so we could talk (in public since I was alone) and made refreshments for them and did they show up at noon??? No. Did they call? Yes, three hours later to tell me that a meeting ran over (way over).

Oh well, I tried, but I am not so sure I will stick my neck out again. I was dissappointed.

Sorry you had such a horrible experience . Its unfortunate that happened. Especially after all your preparations. You've really been looking forward to this time . I don't know why they were so irresponsible. Here's a cyber kick for them :)

I hope you try again, and do let them know how much it bothered you. They need a Blessed learning experience:)

[Dr T]

That is unfortunate. to hear that Blessed