Hypothetical - mail-order bride


Ironhold
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Hypothetical from a fiction series I'm tinkering with.

 

There's a member of your ward, "Devon". Devon is in his early 30s, and is the author of a popular science fiction series. Even though he's wealthy enough to have his own estate on a plot of land north of town, he's still the kind-hearted person he always was. He's generous with his time and money, as much as he can be at least, and he knows so much about the church he's often asked to take over as Sunday school teacher for one class or another... sometimes on that specific Sunday. He also loves cats and has quite a few "geek" hobbies. 

Thing is, for as long as you've known him, there are signs that he's... off a little. You've come to suspect that he's a high-functioning autistic, and the way he sometimes tries to steer the subject away from parts of his past indicate that there are unpleasant memories as well. Between this and his seeming tendency to keep inter-personal contact at arm's length, his romantic prospects in your local area seem pretty dim. 

...Something that several other members of the ward, and even members of the media, dog him about. That he's still single at his age is seen as a sign that something's wrong, or that he might be hiding something sinister, and people keep asking him what's up. That he's hinted at a few people who only wanted his fame and money never seemed to register.

Then one Sunday he goes home after church and is functionally incommunicado the rest of the week. Terse, quick responses to texts and social media simply saying that he's busy and will talk later. 

It's the next Sunday, and for obvious reasons he's the talk of the ward. It's five minutes to start, and everyone's buzzing.

That's when he walks in the door.

...With a sweet Russian thing 10 years his junior hanging off his arm. 

Basically, because no one would shut up about him still being single, he got himself a mail-order bride. He and "Natalya" caught a red-eye to Vegas the other day, paid a quick visit to a wedding chapel, and flew right back. The wallet-sized photo he has indicates that the minister and both witnesses were Elvis impersonators. 

 

How do you react to something like this? 

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Be Happy for him that he's married.

There is something similar (or at least it seems similar) in the Church today.  I've known a few members that have entered into communications with women in other nations outside the US who are also members of the church.  They talk via email and then get married.  I've helped a few of them get the process started to get their now married spouses over to the US so that their spouses can actually come live here.  It feels a little odd to me that they chose this route, but ultimately it seems to be what they and the individual who married them want for various reasons.

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On ‎12‎/‎22‎/‎2020 at 2:17 PM, Ironhold said:

How do you react to something like this? 

Nobody wants to admit the obvious--the worry that maybe she is scamming him. Still, the right and godly thing to do is to speak blessing into their new life together, and to pray that God draw them together, even as they are jointly drawn closer to Heavenly Father. Further--if I am deeply worried, I ought to pray even harder that God will protect the brother, and perhaps even help her to develop a sincere love for him.

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On 12/22/2020 at 3:17 PM, Ironhold said:

How do you react to something like this? 

Invite them to your home - perhaps for dinner.  Get to know them better and share some common interests.  As you get to know them better - and over time - introduce them to some of your friends and help them expand their social circle.

 

The Traveler

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4 hours ago, Backroads said:

Probably gossip a little bit, but I actually know a Russian mail-order bride...

What part of Russia are you from @Backroads :)

51 minutes ago, mrmarklin said:

There is only one relevant question here:  Is she hot?😃

unibrow-model-sophia-hadjipanteli-11-59ba669555c1f__700.jpg.cf6204d8b4e55f9dabd84fb21d0328bd.jpg
Still up for debate.

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The name "Svetlana" means "blonde". So I was told years ago by a Russian immigrant at Microsoft named Svetlana—ironically, a brunette—while we rode the bus together. My wife, who does not speak Russian, has always fancied the name Svetlana and has occasionally used it as her "fake name", appropriate since she is a blonde*.

*Note that "blonde" with a final e is a French feminine adjective, and thus refers specifically to blonde women and girls. Men and other blond-colored things that are not explicitly female, which in modern non-gendered English would include basically everything other than women, girls, and perhaps female-identified animals or mannequins (womannequins?) or something like that, are properly referred to as "blond". Similarly, a "brunette" is a dark-haired woman or girl; a dark-haired man or boy or thing is called "brunet". Not that most people actually observe or even understand these linguistic niceties, but there you go.

Edited by Vort
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On 12/22/2020 at 3:17 PM, Ironhold said:

How do you react to something like this? 

I doubt I’d care much.  Other than the fact that the ward has a new member (or potential convert) who naturally should be fellowshipped like anyone else—how is it any of my darned business?

Your plot does sound intriguing, though.  🙂

Edited by Just_A_Guy
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If I can be blatantly honest...

If I didn't know him all that well, and all I know is that one day he shows up with a beautiful young Russian bombshell on his arm, I'd simply think, "Well, he's rich. So... yeah."  I don't think the "mail-order" aspect of it would even enter into my head.  And if I were told about it, I'd simply shrug and blow it off.

I wouldn't give it much of another thought after that unless... Other thoughts might eventually come up in conversation if someone else brings up the topic like "I hope he had a prenup.  It's his life.  But if he didn't, he's a fool."

But if no one else brought it up, I don't think I'd care much.

Edited by Carborendum
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