Noticing Acts of Service Tag


RooTheMormon
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Oh, wow, thanks for the tag, @my two cents! I didn't notice this thread before!

Acts of service that I've noticed? A lot for me lately. Now that I'm in Rexburg, I'm trying to get my life together and I'm basically starting at the level of a 16 year old as far as capabilities. I have the drive and the desire to go out and do things, to get started and get growing but I'm still so dependent on everyone else. I consider it an act of service that everyone is so patient with me. My aunt and uncle have been crucial at this time, even as they try to get settled in this new city themselves, trying to keep up with their girls needing to go to activities and such, and trying to get familiar with people in their ward and their new calling. And yet, my aunt Wendy has driven me everywhere I needed to go to get job applications here in town and once I got my permit, she's been with me to help me practice and learn driving, even though I know it is stressful and hard for her to do so(I'm not terrible but not very good at it yet).

My cousins who live here have shown me acts of service by taking me to the singles ward and FHE and different activities on campus to help me get involved and to meet new people. My aunt and uncle have also commissioned me to paint a mural for their daughter's room to help me keep busy while I wait to get my track assignment and get a paying job.

I tag @Vort and @MormonGator! :)

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Guest MormonGator
21 hours ago, MormonGator said:

I think service can come in many different ways. For me, service can be about forgiveness because it's something I struggle with. Many years ago I was in a relationship where both of us had all sorts of problems. It ended when I crashed her car and said some truly horrible things to her while she also did the same. Many years passed and out of the blue on Facebook she private messaged me. We ended taking for about an hour and she forgave me for everything I did, including totaling her car and the horrible things I said. She taught me a very valuable lesson and it's still something I think about. I'm eternally grateful to her.  
 

@Vort, @Carborendum, @zil, @Backroads

 

1 minute ago, a mustard seed said:

\I tag @Vort and @MormonGator! :)

I gotta think of ANOTHER one? Jeez, give me a few minutes okay? :P

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1 hour ago, a mustard seed said:

I tag @Vort and @MormonGator! :)

Another one, huh? Shouldn't be too hard. I have been the recipient of a lot of service in my lifetime.

When I was a newbie on the forums at lds.net many years ago and even more combative than I am now, very early on I took umbrage at something  posted by a guy who called himself LoudmouthMormon and let him know about it. He did not respond in kind; rather, he responded graciously and with completely unnecessary self-effacement. I was struck by his kindness (though I now realize he was just being neurotypical) and started trying from that moment to be less abrasive and slower to take offense. The scary part is that I have succeeded in large part, so what you see now is actually a new, improved Vort. So let that keep you up at nights for a while...

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Full, transparent, embarrassing disclosure - It was a battle tactic I had learned online, and I figured Vort and I were doing battle.  I've been arguing online for decades, and the hardest nuts to crack, the most fearsome opponents I had faced, were those who didn't take offence and who stayed polite.  When someone stayed at a level that had me realize that I had sunk to another level, well, it was like a fatal blow to my inflated online ego.  

I wish I could say I was coming from a place of kindness and love.  As the years have gone by, I have actually approached that place, but I sure the heck wasn't there a few years ago.  

So there's me noticing acts of service I've received - The friendly atheists and counter-cult evangelicals and lefties who responded to my arguments with calm respect helped me earn my black belt in online Ghandi-Fu.

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Guest MormonGator
18 minutes ago, Vort said:

Another one, huh? Shouldn't be too hard. I have been the recipient of a lot of service in my lifetime.

When I was a newbie on the forums at lds.net many years ago and even more combative than I am now, very early on I took umbrage at something  posted by a guy who called himself LoudmouthMormon and let him know about it. He did not respond in kind; rather, he responded graciously and with completely unnecessary self-effacement. I was struck by his kindness (though I now realize he was just being neurotypical) and started trying from that moment to be less abrasive and slower to take offense. The scary part is that I have succeeded in large part, so what you see now is actually a new, improved Vort. So let that keep you up at nights for a while...

Another MormonHub story: I had someone (not @Vort) who I disagreed with strongly PM me and tell me he appreciated several things about me. It was totally unexpected and very sweet of him. Still appreciate it to this day. Really solidified my view that Mormonhub is a great place. 

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2 hours ago, Vort said:

Another one, huh? Shouldn't be too hard. I have been the recipient of a lot of service in my lifetime.

When I was a newbie on the forums at lds.net many years ago and even more combative than I am now, very early on I took umbrage at something  posted by a guy who called himself LoudmouthMormon and let him know about it. He did not respond in kind; rather, he responded graciously and with completely unnecessary self-effacement. I was struck by his kindness (though I now realize he was just being neurotypical) and started trying from that moment to be less abrasive and slower to take offense. The scary part is that I have succeeded in large part, so what you see now is actually a new, improved Vort. So let that keep you up at nights for a while...

I miss the old Vort.

That says a lot about me doesn't it?

Edited by The Folk Prophet
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Guest MormonGator
11 minutes ago, Vort said:

The old Vort did have his virtues. His main vice was that, too often, I didn't really like him very much.

"It's been my experience that those with very little vice have very little virtue."-Abraham Lincoln 

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2 hours ago, anatess2 said:

@askandanswer has been of great service to me.  This post alone... this made me smile so big my kid who is playing video games nearby gave me a funny look and ended up grinning too because I couldn't contain myself.  My house and my day just got that much brighter.  Thank you, Aussie dude for your awesomeness.

I'm gonna tag @ProDeo.  I have this feeling that he has some great personal stories.

Woops, I was focussed on the wrong side of the screen and hit the Quote button instead of the Like button. Thanks Tess now I'm smiling too :):) 

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Since I've been tagged twice I'll give two examples. When I was young and had a head full of hair I volunteered at the Army branch that met in my ward's building (this was not unusual for many local young adults my age preparing for a mission). I lived on a dirt road (I joked that any time Foxworthy needed new material he would pull up to my cousin's house down the road), and apparently that was quite evident on my shoes. One Sunday one of the fellows going through boot camp stopped me and said he had to fix this. He started polishing my shoes. I don't think I saw him before or since (was this John the Beloved?).

I don't think I've ever cared much about my birthday as an adult. So I never brought it up the few times when by birthday fell on the same day as a family member's funeral. One person consistently noticed and held small, private commemorations with me. That's not really something I put on my must-have list, but I'm glad my wife is thoughtful.

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2 hours ago, Vort said:

The old Vort did have his virtues. His main vice was that, too often, I didn't really like him very much.

I have been working on version 7.4 (upgraded from 7.3) of TFP. The primary goal being to try and respond with more meekness. Having a bit of trouble balancing that against what I believe is our mandate to defend truth.

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I havent been tagged but I'll still comment.

Act of service??

Well once upon a time when I was younger there was a girl in my ward that always made sure everyone came to YW, or at least was asked to come. She would come to every YWs house and invite them to come with her to church. I really appreciated feeling like I was wanted there! :)

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Last night I watched a bunch of videos from my mission.  I consider it an act of kindness that other Elders were not mean to me, even though it is apparent I was an annoying fool for at least the first half of my mission.  The second half I was still annoying, just not so much a fool :D  That said, I also realized that videos from a mission only rarely would capture any quality aspects of serving, because you almost never film when you are doing something worthwhile, just the stupid immature stuff you shouldn't bother filming!  ^_^

On another note, one of the brethren in my ward just beat prostate cancer and had his last treatment on Monday!  Another brother in the ward called him, unprompted, and took him to dinner to celebrate!  He was very appreciative.  I would consider that an example of true brotherly love.

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5 hours ago, RooTheMormon said:

@Blueskye2

@beefche

More active members!

Active member of wut? ;)

Ye olde infirm parents have kind neighbors who take their garbage bins to the curb and back, rain, shine, blizzard, every week, without fail. And have done so for several years now.

@Traveler

Edited by Blueskye2
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Late to the party, but I love this idea! I suggested it at work to help people focus on the positive (every department was picking out all the flaws of the others). It worked a few times.

Anyway, most recently, my branch president brought his wife and daughter over on Sunday while we (mostly him) worked to change my flat tire. Because the lugnuts were deep in the rim, a standard lugnut wrench wasn't cutting it. He called his second counselor (whose wife had given us a ride to church while he was at work, which was when she mentioned it was his birthday) to see if he had the right tool. When he showed up, we started singing Happy Birthday, but even that was too much spotlight for him, so we stopped. I had to practically chase him down in order to thank him! 

But it reminded me of the time my golden birthday party turned into an impromptu moving party for a stranger. (I may have told this story in another thread.) I'm generally not a big birthday gal, but my golden birthday fell on a Saturday, and I hadn't seen a lot of my old friends in the six weeks since I had moved. I felt almost obligated to have a party. I decided to invite folks to carpool the ninety miles and we would do lunch at a unique local spot. Then we would hit up the farmer's market/town square and county museum. My sister and her husband drove 8 hours for the adventure. Before lunch started, my roommate said she would only be able to do lunch because she had agreed to help a coworker move. Towards the end of lunch, she touched base with her coworker, who said the only help she had so far was an older couple who would let her use their truck, but they were too feeble to be of much help. So, she left early. Most of the rest of us walked a couple blocks to the town square, only to realize the farmers market was over. I received a few gifts (which I was not expecting), and we all looked around at each other like, "what do we do now?" The museum was still open, but all any of us could think of was that poor lady who had everyone flake out on her. So we got ahold of my roommate and spent the rest of the afternoon moving this lady from one apartment to another. I'm very grateful to have friends like this.

As for the tag, I'll go with my signature: I tag everyone who wants to but hasn't been tagged yet.

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6 hours ago, TheCraCraMormon said:

I'd like to tag @RooTheMormon because although she started this thread, she hasnt shared an act of service!!

:eek:

True true.

Well I see acts of service everyday so its hard to choose just one.

My parents do acts of service everyday to raise me and my family, and they make so many sacrafices for us!

Anyways, one specific act of service that really stood out to me is this: This year at girl's camp a girl who was new to neighborhood was invited to come to camp. She isnt a member of the church and neither is her family. Anyways when we got to camp she was having a really hard time being away from her family, and she felt that she didnt fit in amongst the other LDS girls. One of our wilees (an awesome, funny, kind, and all around great one) took her in under her wing and even invited to let her stay in yhe wilee tent with her. The rest of camp the girl had  great time!

I just see these simple acts of service that can really affect someone. I know that Heavenly Father wants us to show our love to him by showing love to others. 

Thanks for tagging me @TheCraCraMormon

I think I've tagged quite the amount of people, no?

Here, instead of tagging people I'll challenge everyone who has already shared an act of service to share another!

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My son, Bear, went to a dance at a neighboring stake.  He left his jacket there.  I took him there after our church block to go see if anyone found his jacket.  No one had seen it.  But we were directed to the RS President who had a hand in organizing the dance.  (I might have misunderstood and it was really the YW president.  But that's what I think the bishop said).  Anyway, she was not around at the cleanup.  But she knew who was.

She found who cleaned up.  They did find the jacket.  She was unable to meet with me when I could go down there.  She left it with the bishop to hold for tonight (activity night).  But I was unable to make it because of our martial arts class.  I hadn't been in two weeks because I had so much work to do.  My eldest son, Ffenix, goes to the class too.  But he knew that I was far behind because of my absence. So, he offered to go get the jacket and skip the class.

I got to class and I'm now all caught up.  He went to the other building and got the jacket.

TAG: @Larry Cotrell

Edited by Guest
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7 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

I have been working on version 7.4 (upgraded from 7.3) of TFP. The primary goal being to try and respond with more meekness. Having a bit of trouble balancing that against what I believe is our mandate to defend truth.

Are you open to suggestions/recommendations for version 7.5? Iv'e got a list :) 

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