NOM

Could be worse. Dad, I want: 1. More annoying little brothers and sisters to torture with endless pranks. 2. Extra school assignments to use as paper airplanes for aerial warfare. 3. A permanent bedtime extension, so they can stay up past the adults. 4. A secret passageway in the house for their "t...

What does your son really want here? It sounds like your son wants to go to church to see his friends and right now church is where they meet. Can you encourage him to meet his friends outside of church? An after school or a Saturday activity? I asked him why he wants to go more and he didn't have ...

Wanting to be good... New semester, students introding themselves, getting to know the new crowd. They want to be good at math, good at programming, good at - you name it - immersed in excercise, immersed in learning a new language, immersed in music, in cooking - dedicated to being good/talented ....

My son asked if he can attend church more. I've posted before about the arrangement my DW and I have agreed on, attending church as a family half the time and staying home as a family half the time. I figured the kids would have an opinion at some point, and it looks like for my deacon-aged son that...

I 100% relate to your situation stuck. I lied to my wife about my beliefs, then she found in an email from someone else and it crushed her. I lied to my wife by not telling her that I drink coffee until she confronted me about it and it crushed her. In my mind, the idea of telling her about those t...

I 100% relate to your situation stuck. I lied to my wife about my beliefs, then she found in an email from someone else and it crushed her. I lied to my wife by not telling her that I drink coffee until she confronted me about it and it crushed her. In my mind, the idea of telling her about those th...

I baptized my son last year in similar circumstances. We let him pick who confirmed him and he chose his RM cousin. The bishop didn't ask me anything. The requirements to perform a baptism are quite low. The confirmation requires an active temple recommend I believe. I wanted to baptize him because ...

That sounds like a successful and mature interaction. I went through this with my DW a few years back and it was a big deal then, but it hasn't been an issue since then. It's been nice to move on from the recommend dance. She said she knows she can't force me but would really appreciate it if I coul...

I wasn't asked that in my return interview either. Maybe your SP asked it of everyone so he could call it standard? That is a weird question to ask someone who just spent 2 years giving their all to share the gospel. I'm sorry your mission was so terrible. Mine was rough too. I sometimes wonder if I...

Thank you all for your thoughts on this. Lots of good points made and examples of doing good. This place is fantastic!

I think a lot of those black holes lack Hawkin's radiation, so nothing escapes. Hahaha, this is the best science-nerd burn of the day, you win! Ugh. That's something I really didn't enjoy when I was in, now that I'm out it's really unappealing. I feel like it's a general Christian thing though, and...

I was chatting with my TBM dad and brother about life and it was really interesting to watch everything be immediately incorporated into their gospel worldview. They information would shift slightly and slot right into their testimony. It felt like their beliefs were a black hole with gravity so pow...

The last 10 years or so I've spent a huge amount of time unpacking my mormon upbringing and former beliefs. It was shocking to reconsider the stories and actions of the church through a new perspective and see formerly good things as at best a waste of time and at worst actively harmful to millions....

I haven't been posting as much lately, but I still lurk and appreciate the posts and read through most of them. Posting has slowed some recently and we haven't had many new converts, but this is still the place to find thoughtful posts and discussions. I post less because I'm in a better place so I ...

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 exceedi...

Pages 3-50: pictures of people being really happy as they write tithing checks, walk through the temple doors, sit in meetings, gaze lovingly at the TV during general conference, and scrub the toilets. Wow, they've been doing photo ops like these for so long that I can already vividly see each one...

Just because I drink coffee, doesn't mean I will drink anything. Just because I don't believe in mormonism, doesn't mean I need someone to step in as a spiritual father for my children. How about the inverse? I _______, because ________. I drink coffee because it makes me feel good, is a relatively ...

accessing the power of God through covenants Wow, that is a brutal topic for a nonbeliever. To get to a non-magical thinking talk you have to pretty much ignore every part of the topic. Maybe you could pick covenants which are clearly helpful and share some stories about how to maximize the helpful...

This post reminded me of my kid's recent talk. My oldest son just gave his first sacrament meeting talk on Sunday. He was really anxious after he accepted the invitation to speak and he demanded that we sit down and write the talk immediately. We tweaked it together to improve flow, add jokes, make ...

Remember this from 1988? It was a simpler time. Half the words are banned by the church now...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99rxBcXUAs0