Search found 175 matches
- Thu Mar 28, 2024 5:40 am
- Forum: Support
- Topic: Declining callings and talks is getting easier for me
- Replies: 14
- Views: 1012
Re: Declining callings and talks is getting easier for me
Some bishops are good at preemptively cornering you in such a way that saying no feels more and more uncomfortable. Whenever I think of names yours keeps coming up again and again. I talked to everyone in the ward and they think that you would be the perfect fit. God wants you to do this. This is t...
- Wed Mar 27, 2024 8:49 am
- Forum: Support
- Topic: Declining callings and talks is getting easier for me
- Replies: 14
- Views: 1012
Re: Declining callings and talks is getting easier for me
Congrats Sparky! There may be a few times your lack of calling gets called into question, remember the various ways to say no and pick your favorite! Thanks Link, and thanks for the suggestions! Currently my go-to is along the lines of "I appreciate you thinking of me, but for now I'm not accepting...
- Mon Mar 25, 2024 5:18 am
- Forum: Support
- Topic: Declining callings and talks is getting easier for me
- Replies: 14
- Views: 1012
Re: Declining callings and talks is getting easier for me
Things have taken an unexpected and decidedly welcome (for me) turn! After years of co-teaching primary with spouse, a BP member asked to talk to us after church. My heart dropped to my feet as I anticipated having to navigate yet another calling decline, but this time with spouse involved because t...
- Mon Mar 18, 2024 9:37 am
- Forum: Support
- Topic: 9 stories from those who returned to the faith
- Replies: 9
- Views: 649
Re: 9 stories from those who returned to the faith
Put up or shut up Liahona. If you aren't going to provide details about exactly what the concerns were that caused them to leave and exactly why those things shouldn't be concerning, then your article serves no purpose other than providing misleading and false reassurance for people who don't know ...
- Mon Mar 18, 2024 7:40 am
- Forum: Support
- Topic: Declining callings and talks is getting easier for me
- Replies: 14
- Views: 1012
Declining callings and talks is getting easier for me
After years as a PIMO and hard work in therapy, I have the strength to decline things that aren't for me. I got an email from a guy asking to meet with me the next day. No reason given, not even an introduction of who he was, just (paraphrasing but not much) "Hello brother Sparky, can you meet with ...
- Mon Mar 18, 2024 7:10 am
- Forum: Support
- Topic: We’re back! Thanks Captain Salty!
- Replies: 23
- Views: 1857
Re: We’re back! Thanks Captain Salty!
What a relief! I know I don't post often, but this place still feels like a sanctuary and I was sad to see it down. Long live NOM!
- Mon Nov 13, 2023 2:48 pm
- Forum: Support
- Topic: Primary Program 2023
- Replies: 10
- Views: 2871
Re: Primary Program 2023
I had to sit on the stand for our program as I'm still a primary teacher with DW for the time being. It was painful to say the least to hear the kids regurgitating standard Mormon propaganda and see the rapturous approving smiles of the adults. Oh but our program was extra special, because the leade...
- Mon Nov 13, 2023 12:43 pm
- Forum: Support
- Topic: One more thread severed: ministering
- Replies: 14
- Views: 2908
Re: One more thread severed: ministering
Just a small silly update. I informed the EQP of my decision to opt out last week. Yesterday a member of the presidency handed me a printout of my ministering assignment which I think is completely unchanged. It was seconds before sacrament meeting started so he just sort of did a hit-and-run, didn'...
- Fri Nov 10, 2023 9:24 am
- Forum: Support
- Topic: One more thread severed: ministering
- Replies: 14
- Views: 2908
Re: One more thread severed: ministering
Do you think most people are good or most people are bad? I think most people can't be defined by such simple labels. I think most people are a tangled mess of contradictory beliefs and incentives and experiences, and they make decisions in any given situation that are the result of that mess. Some...
- Tue Nov 07, 2023 2:15 pm
- Forum: Support
- Topic: One more thread severed: ministering
- Replies: 14
- Views: 2908
Re: One more thread severed: ministering
At one point the Primary Secretary explained to me that they only count the people who attend. The mathematician in me started to object, but then I realized it really didn't matter and kept filling in the report with 100% attendance month after month. That is amazing, a true statistical miracle! :...
- Tue Nov 07, 2023 7:09 am
- Forum: Support
- Topic: One more thread severed: ministering
- Replies: 14
- Views: 2908
One more thread severed: ministering
Recently I was assigned a time for my ministering interview. I have not visited or contacted my assigned friends because I find it awkward and uncomfortable to continue pretending I have any belief in this religion. I looked at the "responsibilities of ministering sisters* and brothers" in Jesus's o...
- Tue Sep 19, 2023 6:16 pm
- Forum: Support
- Topic: Garments always hanging out and it drives me nuts
- Replies: 21
- Views: 19522
Re: Garments always hanging out and it drives me nuts
Vent away. Garments are one of the stupidest ideas Smith ever conjured into the world. On the other side of it now it's almost unbelievable that Mormons accept this ~200 year old humiliation. After I stopped wearing them I hoped it might encourage DW to give herself permission to ditch them too, at ...
- Fri Sep 01, 2023 7:14 am
- Forum: Support
- Topic: Welcome to the Tuesday Podcast Club!
- Replies: 33
- Views: 20910
Re: Welcome to the Tuesday Podcast Club!
Great idea and recommendation, RR! This was good timing for me as I have recently disappointed DW by not renewing my temple recommend. Here's what I learned from the podcast: I liked the premise of the discussion, a line from Julie Hanks: Your job as a adult is to disappoint others. This is because ...
- Wed Aug 30, 2023 8:08 am
- Forum: Mixed Faith Relationships
- Topic: Not renewing my temple recommend
- Replies: 6
- Views: 13408
Re: Not renewing my temple recommend
Welp, today is the day! I'll be going with her to the stake center for final Worthiness Approval. Weird that the omniscient God of the universe has to rely on the Swiss cheese model to mitigate the risk of contaminating his many luxury vacation homes, but I digress. We haven't talked any more about ...
- Mon Aug 14, 2023 2:28 pm
- Forum: Mixed Faith Relationships
- Topic: Not renewing my temple recommend
- Replies: 6
- Views: 13408
Re: Not renewing my temple recommend
Congrats! Way to stand your ground. Mixed faith marriages are difficult right?! Anyway, it takes a certain amount of give and take to make it work. Thanks! And yes, there's a give and take that changes over time. I don't blame anyone for jumping through the TR hoop, or giving up coffee, or whatever...
- Mon Aug 14, 2023 7:07 am
- Forum: Mixed Faith Relationships
- Topic: Not renewing my temple recommend
- Replies: 6
- Views: 13408
Not renewing my temple recommend
Yesterday DW did her recommend interview while I waited for her in the lobby, the first time I won't be renewing mine in tandem. I've held a recommend ever since my faith implosion, going through the process three times while choking on my own integrity. But I couldn't do it this time. We talked abo...
- Tue Jul 25, 2023 12:39 pm
- Forum: Doctrinal Discussion
- Topic: The Cost of a Janitor
- Replies: 28
- Views: 13625
Re: The Cost of a Janitor
Some back of the envelope calculations: There are ~31000 congregations (wards+branches) worldwide. Most chapels host more than one ward, but maybe in less Mormony places in the world it's still just one ward per chapel. So we'll estimate a ceiling of maybe 20,000 chapels. Median salary for a full ti...
- Mon Jul 10, 2023 1:37 pm
- Forum: Doctrinal Discussion
- Topic: Does anyone tell the truth anymore
- Replies: 16
- Views: 7250
Re: Does anyone tell the truth anymore
The video is back up, it seems like it was probably taken down by YouTube's algorithm because it discusses CSA. The video now has certain words muted no doubt to avoid this issue. Also I didn't realize this until the end, but it's a short excerpt from a long episode from two years ago, episode 1364
- Mon Jul 10, 2023 5:35 am
- Forum: Doctrinal Discussion
- Topic: Does anyone tell the truth anymore
- Replies: 16
- Views: 7250
Re: Does anyone tell the truth anymore
Then I wake up this morning to a mormon stories video saying this movie could be fake !!" What video is this? I can't find anything about the movie on the MSP YouTube channel. I'm interested because my family has been making anxious/outraged posts about it after watching it, but I'm extremely skept...
- Mon Jul 03, 2023 8:43 am
- Forum: Doctrinal Discussion
- Topic: New marketing manual from dear leader
- Replies: 12
- Views: 8574
Re: New marketing manual from dear leader
I see chapter 9 on finding people includes a new section called "Keep lines in the water." It's a extended metaphor comparing missionary work to fishing, in which a bait is deceptively attached to a fishing line with a hidden hook that's almost impossible to escape from once set and that is exceedin...