New old calling


mirkwood
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Well, after a two year stint as Sunday School President, I have been released.  Bishop and SP had a conversation where the SP asked if there was a possibility that I could be released and put into a different calling, one where I was also going to be asked to help at the stake level.  I'm now the ward Self Reliance Specialist and have been asked to teach food storage and update the ward emergency plan.  I previously held this calling for almost a decade at both the ward and stake level.  Back to the grind!

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I have this very real fear that my knowledge, understanding of, and enjoyment for temple and family history will doom me to an eternity in the family history center. I’m in my early twenties and am in charge of the family history of my ward and am convinced I’m the only one that has ever opened familysearch.com (or at least prior to the implementing of the ward temple and family history plan).

Edited by Fether
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12 minutes ago, Fether said:

I have this very real fear that my knowledge, understanding of, and enjoyment for temple and family history will doom me to an eternity in the family history center. I’m in my early twenties and am in charge of the family history of my ward and am convinced I’m the only one that has ever opened familysearch.com (or at least prior to the implementing of the ward temple and family history plan) 

I stated family history work in the early 90's, at age 7.  I know this stuff backwards and forwards, and really love it.  But I can never get a family history calling, even after repeatedly volunteering.... instead they always want to assign a retired older member who's afraid of the computer.  

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Guest MormonGator
5 minutes ago, Jane_Doe said:

retired older member who's afraid of the computer.  

The overwhelming majority of my ward is over 65 (not an insult, statement of fact) and one day, the EQ president asked me to give a talk about how we could use social media to spread gospel messages. I told him "It's not going to do anything. 95% of these people don't use social media because they think it's immoral in some way." Guess what? 95% of them didn't use social media because they thought it was immoral in some way. 

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7 minutes ago, Jane_Doe said:

I stated family history work in the early 90's, at age 7.  I know this stuff backwards and forwards, and really love it.  But I can never get a family history calling, even after repeatedly volunteering.... instead they always want to assign a retired older member who's afraid of the computer.  

Oh thank goodness!

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59 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

The overwhelming majority of my ward is over 65 (not an insult, statement of fact) and one day, the EQ president asked me to give a talk about how we could use social media to spread gospel messages. I told him "It's not going to do anything. 95% of these people don't use social media because they think it's immoral in some way." Guess what? 95% of them didn't use social media because they thought it was immoral in some way. 

Are you insinuating that it isn't?

 

The Traveler

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1 hour ago, Jane_Doe said:

I stated family history work in the early 90's, at age 7.  I know this stuff backwards and forwards, and really love it.  But I can never get a family history calling, even after repeatedly volunteering.... instead they always want to assign a retired older member who's afraid of the computer.  

You are way too young to have a family history calling - plus you live in Wyoming!  If you are in star valley say hi to my college bud Clark Price.

 

The Traveler

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Guest MormonGator
57 minutes ago, Traveler said:

Are you insinuating that it isn't?

 

The Traveler

No, I'm bluntly saying it isn't. Not insinuating anything. 

Look, I get it, it's new, so it's evil. Just like the telephone, the car, the radio, the telegram machine, the computer, etc. But just because we've changed how we communicate doesn't mean it's evil. Can it be used for evil? It sure can, but it can also be used for unspeakable good. 

And like I've said 4500 times, no, I can't take you seriously if you complain about social media from an online forum. The premise is inherently flawed. 

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3 hours ago, mirkwood said:

Well, after a two year stint as Sunday School President, I have been released.  Bishop and SP had a conversation where the SP asked if there was a possibility that I could be released and put into a different calling, one where I was also going to be asked to help at the stake level.  I'm now the ward Self Reliance Specialist and have been asked to teach food storage and update the ward emergency plan.  I previously held this calling for almost a decade at both the ward and stake level.  Back to the grind!

Congrats Mirk ~ Perhaps the Lord wants the 20 somethings to really learn about Self Reliance & food storage. Only He knows how badly our little branch and the neighboring ward needs someone like you. Our 20 somethings feel that Self Reliance & food storage is for the *Molly Mormons & Peter Priesthoods* not for them. The senior citizens feel that they are the inventors of self reliance and are doing just fine with the food storage ~ thank you very much.

Hubby has been Sunday School President since 2013, unbeknownst to him he was a Beta tester (?) for the Youth Come Follow Me program, and then again for the Teaching In The Savior's Way. He is terrified of being released and called as Financial Clerk. A calling he held for 6 years running in three wards. Cleaning up the seemingly unclean-able computer mess the previous financial clerks had made. (Hubby is a computer nerd/guru) Not saying our Branch is in a computer mess - the last FC held the calling for nearly 12 years and grew with it and is now our 1st Councilor. The current FC is a whiz on the computer, whiz with numbers and has become a happy, smiling man since he accepted this calling.

 

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Guest Mores
1 hour ago, MormonGator said:

Look, I get it, it's new, so it's evil. Just like the telephone, the car, the radio, the telegram machine, the computer, 

But computers are evil.  As evidence, just look at us on this forum.  We're all sinners.  Therefore, what we do is evil.  We all use computers.  Thus, computers are evil.

We all use cars.  They're evil too.  And telephones.  Radios.  I think we all stopped using the telegram machine.  So, those are not evil anymore.  But they used to be.  If we can just stop using computers, then they'd stop being evil too.

Can't break down that syllogism into false logic.  No, sir.  That's just plain iron clad.  Yup.

 

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4 hours ago, MormonGator said:

The overwhelming majority of my ward is over 65 (not an insult, statement of fact) and one day, the EQ president asked me to give a talk about how we could use social media to spread gospel messages. I told him "It's not going to do anything. 95% of these people don't use social media because they think it's immoral in some way." Guess what? 95% of them didn't use social media because they thought it was immoral in some way. 

There's a lot of wisdom in us old fogeys - you young-uns need to listen to us. Have you actually read the garbage on Facebook or twitter the last few years?

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Guest MormonGator
6 minutes ago, mnn2501 said:

There's a lot of wisdom in us old fogeys - you young-uns need to listen to us. Have you actually read the garbage on Facebook or twitter the last few years?

One of you old guys needs to tell this guy to delete his Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/russell.m.nelson/
Then, you should tell this guy to delete his Twitter. https://twitter.com/hollandjeffreyr?lang=en

After all, if social media is evil, than the apostles should be told! 

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Guest LiterateParakeet
1 hour ago, mnn2501 said:

There's a lot of wisdom in us old fogeys - you young-uns need to listen to us. Have you actually read the garbage on Facebook or twitter the last few years?

I can think of one old fogey I wish would stay off of Twitter while he holds a public position!  But I don't use Twitter so that helps. 

Facebook...you can set up the way you want. There's no garbage on my page. I follow my ward page, relief society page, stuff for school (mine and the kids), things about art, and the local theater and ballet.  The only issue I have with FB is if I'm not careful it can suck up too much time.  But that's on me to discipline myself and I do.  :)

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8 hours ago, MormonGator said:

Guess what? 95% of them didn't use social media because they thought it was immoral in some way. 

I put together a presentation on using social media.  Half of it was this, along with all the apostolic cautions and warnings. 

image.thumb.png.4d358e5c2fc575d3b1a707afec93502a.png 

 

Half of it was this, along with the apostolic admonitions to go online and be heard and seen. 

image.thumb.png.f610963c2ec7efc07762afc6f75e122c.png

 

And the third half was stuff like this:

image.thumb.png.459e548eb6e000823244b5cfa7a657f3.png

 

I finished by acknowledging the people who didn't want anything to do with it, and I said that was fine.  It's a tool in our belt, not a "thou shalt go forth and tweet" thing.

 

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Guest MormonGator

@NeuroTypical-

What I said was ignored by mostly everyone. People talk about those darn youngsters not listening when in reality, it's old people who don't listen because they think they know everything too. I was so, so grateful for the one person who paid attention, asked questions, and seemed to genuinely interested in what I had to say.  My general idea was that people will find what they are looking for. If you are convinced social media is horrible and evil, you'll find evidence to prove that. If you are convinced it's uplifting and positive, you'll find evidence to prove that. The one thing I'll say in support of the people there was at least they don't talk about how evil Facebook is from their Facebook pages. 

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Guest MormonGator

People complaining about social media on online forums remind me of college kids complaining about capitalism from their iPhones. Both are too dense to see the irony. 

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2 hours ago, MormonGator said:

@NeuroTypical-

What I said was ignored by mostly everyone. People talk about those darn youngsters not listening when in reality, it's old people who don't listen because they think they know everything too. I was so, so grateful for the one person who paid attention, asked questions, and seemed to genuinely interested in what I had to say.  My general idea was that people will find what they are looking for. If you are convinced social media is horrible and evil, you'll find evidence to prove that. If you are convinced it's uplifting and positive, you'll find evidence to prove that. The one thing I'll say in support of the people there was at least they don't talk about how evil Facebook is from their Facebook pages. 

I stopped listening shortly after you said you were a KISS fan.

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Guest Mores
13 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Half of it was this, along with all the apostolic cautions and warnings. 

Half of it was this, along with the apostolic admonitions to go online and be heard and seen. 

And the third half was stuff like this:

1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 ...

I know our meetings tend to go over at times.  But by 50%?

And what is it with you and ponies?

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2 hours ago, Mores said:

1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 ...

I know our meetings tend to go over at times.  But by 50%?

And what is it with you and ponies?

The overall message was being online makes you so cool you can cram three halfs into a whole and get away with it.  My experience was a bit different than Gator's, with a third of the audience old folks, a third already online, and a third having real lives and not seeing the point.  And the presentation was in 2015, which was the height of the "ponify everything" craze.  I saw a top 20 meme-tracking database, and My Little Pony did indeed crack the top ten for a span of time in '14-15.  

As for me and ponies, it was something like this:

BecomingABrony.jpg.2d0efbf48f9fbb7e3bb12f3a5f1b664c.jpg

Don't look too closely, lest a similar fate befall you.

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Guest Mores
1 hour ago, NeuroTypical said:

And the presentation was in 2015, which was the height of the "ponify everything" craze.  I saw a top 20 meme-tracking database, and My Little Pony did indeed crack the top ten for a span of time in '14-15.  

OH!!  That's it.  My Little Pony.  I thought that looked familiar.  TBH, I haven't seen those images in a LONG time.  Now I get you.  You're a "Brony" or "Bronie"?

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I blame my daughters.  Actually, I blame the weird dude in his early 20's walking up to my 14 yr old daughter at the Walmart and offering her a hoof bump because she was wearing a pony shirt.  I made it my job to learn everything about these people to see if they were a threat to my family or not.  Somewhere along the line I think I became their king or something.  One minute I'm watching Star Trek and being a dude, the next minute I'm tweeting back and forth with the show's writers, creating MLP music/art/stories, finding a brony buddy and going to lunch with groups of 'em.  I'm a friggin facebook moderator for an LDS MLP forum for pete's sake.

It wasn't just me - this is something that happens to others.  I encountered a random 6 yr old boy in my ward who liked it more than his sisters, but didn't want to talk about it because he thought his dad would be mad.  That presentation I gave had our new missionary come up to me and tell me he thought he was the only one.  

I'm glad somebody gets me, I honestly don't have a full understanding of the phenomenon myself.  We have favorite bands, serious hobbies, TV shows we obsess over.  If that's alcohol, MLP became my crystal meth. 

No really - be afraid, be very afraid.

BecomingABrony3.jpg.9d80280efb299b62f4a35ad0d0c31856.jpg

image.png.0516a29e7772e818bfb7fd88d625a657.png

 

 

 

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Guest LiterateParakeet
13 hours ago, SilentOne said:

Lol, great article. I enjoyed that.  My response to the comment at the end about it being tiresome to keep fighting the algorithm is...limit your time on Facebook and go out and experience real life. You can have the best of both worlds.  :)

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