Sacrament Meetings & My Ramblings

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BlackMormon
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Sacrament Meetings & My Ramblings

Post by BlackMormon » Sun Jan 29, 2023 8:49 am

Some things should evolve a bit. I like to see the young men blessing and passing the sacrament, There is a level of innocence and faith to that. I like when parents take screaming children to the hallway so members can enjoy peace and quiet while partaking the Sacrament. It shows parents respect others and It teaches children that screaming in the chapel is annoying (; Sorry I am cranky as I get older I dislike the sounds of screaming children, not the children themselves). It is nice to see people thinking about their faith and their lives and meditating about their sins, hopes, and dreams or whatever is on people's minds when they take the sacrament. All that is fine. I like reverence as well.

But - I know you are waiting for this - Here comes the speaker with a piece of paper. I always look at how many pages. If it is one piece of paper, one-sided, great, it's going to be a short talk. But when they come with 5 sheets, I worry. Then they go up there and read and read and read. I am like, ok, I could Google all that on my phone and get a short summary in maybe 2-3 minutes. I wished that members that give talks would do more than read. I like personal experiences that aren't long-winded or talks that discuss day-to-day issues we all face, not some reading about Church history, or worse, the history we have heard a million times.

Or speeches that are always referring to "Elder so and so said this or that and I quote..." I like to hear how someone joined the Church or how they solved some problem and I believe that these types of talks connect better with the members that had to wake up early, feed the kids, shower, get dressed and sometimes drive only to hear someone reading a piece of paper with nothing touching or personal. Yes, I am picky. But I think that personal experiences or stories help members get something out of the talks. Of course, trained GAs are good at this. I also dislike when someone goes up there and postures like they are a GA-in-the-making or mimicking GAs. Have you seen this? It's annoying. I don't mind the crying Karens because emotions are touching, and more human.

I would like to see some sort of training lessons on how to speak in church, referring to respecting time constraints, staying on topic, how to give talks that address people's issues, and challenges, how to )tell a story, and how to practice delivery. Then, invite these members to talk. That way, the audience is bored stiff, asleep, texting, or their minds wandering in la la land, thinking about lunch or what's on Netflix after Church. Talks can help investigators also, nothing worse than working hard to bring someone to Sacrament and the talks are weak, shallow or annoying. As missionaries, we used to tell people to watch conferences for "real" good talks. It doesn't have to be that way. Every single member has something they can say without reading.

Lastly, I dislike the rare times when someone uses the pulpit to come out of the closet, to bash the Church, the General Authorities or to shock the members while their buddy is filming it all to post on YouTube later. Seriously, grow up! I always felt like, If I were to permanently leave the Church, I would simply quit going, stop annoying other people about my decision and leave. No need to send letters, to have special meetings with Bishops and Stake Presidents, not need to go to ex-communication meetings, and so on. Simply leave and not look back. Not need for exit interviews. No need for secret hidden recordings and subsequent podcasts. I also wouldn't become an anti-LDS person posting videos and other things to "show them" how I think they are wrong or this or that. Waste of time. If I search YouTube under "Mormon" I only see anti-Mormon stuff. To me, it's like zzzz. Same old stuff. I wouldn't publish anything about how the Church is a big rich corporation or this or that. I would simply leave, and leave the Church alone. Heck, I would just go join some other church where I identified better. Something like that.

But that's just me. I still think that most Mormons are pretty decent people and I have a love for them. I also like the missionaries and respect them because in this day and age, it would be so easy to stick to TikTok crap and other things that promote stupidity, dumbs down, and turns people into walking idiots in our society.

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Ghost
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Re: Sacrament Meetings & My Ramblings

Post by Ghost » Sun Jan 29, 2023 10:45 am

I haven't been to a Sacrament Meeting in some time, but one nice thing about technological advances when I did was that I could bring my Kindle and no one would know whether I was reading scriptures or something else during the boring parts. (It was something else.)

I agree that it's always better to hear personal stories than regurgitated conference talks. The thing that really bothered me was when a Sunday School teacher would not just read a talk but pull out a computer and actually make us watch it, as opposed to sharing thoughts or having a discussion. Said discussion was often merely repeating talking points, but it least it had the potential to become personal and meaningful.

I haven't technically left the church, but I did stop participating a couple years ago. I rarely talk with anyone about my faith transition outside of occasionally posting here, but I have found and still find some of the Internet ex-Mormon content valuable. Some of it is of course as shallow and repetitive as reading a conference talk in church, but some of it is well-researched and interesting.

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Palerider
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Re: Sacrament Meetings & My Ramblings

Post by Palerider » Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:51 am

I once read an article by Daniel Peterson the apologist. He was going on about how unfair all the criticism of the church was and then he said, "WE didn't start this fight but we're going to finish it and protect ourselves", something to that effect.

I thought what a disingenuous dope.

You send out 50,000 missionaries every year to tell all the world that their religion is wrong and that you have the one and only true church and you don't think you're starting something? You don't think you're going to get some blowback on that deal? And then you're going to be a cry baby because somebody asks you to explain why your great prophet was manipulating 14 and 16 year old girls for sex?

On top of that the church does significant harm to families and individuals while sitting on a nice nest egg of over $100 billion. I'm amazed how much the institutional corp cares for the poor.

I tried to walk out and told them to leave ME alone but in spite of what Hinckley said about, "They can leave the church but they can't leave it alone" I found it was the church that couldn't leave me alone, not the other way around. That is until I had my name removed from their "records".

Members of the church deserve to be able to worship in peace and how they see fit. They shouldn't be harassed in their own meetings.

But church leadership deserves every sling and arrow thrown at them. They are gutless cowards and they should be made to feel it.
"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily."

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light."

George Washington

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deacon blues
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Re: Sacrament Meetings & My Ramblings

Post by deacon blues » Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:44 am

Day-um!! I have to agree with Pale Rider. :D

On second thought, we all need to realize the mote and beam parable could be applied to all of us, if only a little. :(

I wonder if a GA will ever give a conference talk on how he (always a he) realized the parable applied to him personally? ;)
Last edited by deacon blues on Fri Feb 17, 2023 10:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
God is Love. God is Truth. The greatest problem with organized religion is that the organization becomes god, rather than a means of serving God.

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Red Ryder
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Re: Sacrament Meetings & My Ramblings

Post by Red Ryder » Thu Feb 16, 2023 10:06 am

Great post Black M!

I somehow missed this thread and it totally relates to a conversation Sister Ryder and I were having yesterday about leaving the church alone. She successfully defended the people who leave in a conversation with her Brother who was spouting off the “why can’t people leave the church alone?” narrative.

Pale Rider, I love your comments and didn’t realize you’ve removed your name. For a long time I considered name removal as an unnecessary thing for numerous reasons. Now I think I will at some point when we can do it as a family. It might be another 20 years unless something drastic happens that pushes the people I’m waiting for.

Sacrament meetings have been an echo chamber since I can remember. The conference talk regurgitation has become the normal routine. My FIL was recently asked to speak in church and was caught off guard when we all recommended he ditch the talk and speak from his own personal and meaningful experience.

What?? Why would I do that when we have the words of the prophet to feast upon?
“It always devolves to Pantaloons. Always.” ~ Fluffy

“I switched baristas” ~ Lady Gaga

“Those who do not move do not notice their chains.” ~Rosa Luxemburg

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deacon blues
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Re: Sacrament Meetings & My Ramblings

Post by deacon blues » Thu Feb 16, 2023 12:09 pm

Black Mormon: Or speeches that are always referring to "Elder so and so said this or that and I quote..." I like to hear how someone joined the Church or how they solved some problem and I believe that these types of talks connect better with the members that had to wake up early, feed the kids, shower, get dressed and sometimes drive only to hear someone reading a piece of paper with nothing touching or personal. Yes, I am picky. But I think that personal experiences or stories help members get something out of the talks. Of course, trained GAs are good at this. I also dislike when someone goes up there and postures like they are a GA-in-the-making or mimicking GAs. Have you seen this? It's annoying. I don't mind the crying Karens because emotions are touching, and more human.

Deacon: I can vaguely recall some GA criticizing "travelogue testimonies." I remember thinking those are the most interesting. ;)

Can you all believe I still cAN'T FIGURE UOT HOW TO QUOTE OTHER POSTS! !*#?** IT! :x :oops:
God is Love. God is Truth. The greatest problem with organized religion is that the organization becomes god, rather than a means of serving God.

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alas
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Re: Sacrament Meetings & My Ramblings

Post by alas » Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:12 pm

deacon blues wrote:
Thu Feb 16, 2023 12:09 pm
Black Mormon: Or speeches that are always referring to "Elder so and so said this or that and I quote..." I like to hear how someone joined the Church or how they solved some problem and I believe that these types of talks connect better with the members that had to wake up early, feed the kids, shower, get dressed and sometimes drive only to hear someone reading a piece of paper with nothing touching or personal. Yes, I am picky. But I think that personal experiences or stories help members get something out of the talks. Of course, trained GAs are good at this. I also dislike when someone goes up there and postures like they are a GA-in-the-making or mimicking GAs. Have you seen this? It's annoying. I don't mind the crying Karens because emotions are touching, and more human.

Deacon: I can vaguely recall some GA criticizing "travelogue testimonies." I remember thinking those are the most interesting. ;)

Can you all believe I still cAN'T FIGURE UOT HOW TO QUOTE OTHER POSTS! !*#?** IT! :x :oops:
Deacon, at the top of the post, on the right hand side are quote marks. Hit those n the post you want to quote. Then a new post window opens for you with the quoted post already quoted and just write your comment. Try it now for practice.

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deacon blues
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Re: Sacrament Meetings & My Ramblings

Post by deacon blues » Thu Feb 16, 2023 7:45 pm

[/quote]

Deacon, at the top of the post, on the right hand side are quote marks. Hit those n the post you want to quote. Then a new post window opens for you with the quoted post already quoted and just write your comment. Try it now for practice.
[/quote]

That's it, gee thanks
God is Love. God is Truth. The greatest problem with organized religion is that the organization becomes god, rather than a means of serving God.

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