Sacrament Meetings & My Ramblings
Posted: 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.
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.