jayanna

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  1. I am a ward missionary and I love it. I am 37. I have two kids still at home, so I can do both missionary work and have my family time. We did have a Mission President here that had kids still at home. He had been very very successful at his work and was able to take time off to serve and take his family with him. He was the MP when I joined and I really liked him. I do look forward to serving a full time mission, but my kids come first and I need to earn a living right now. Hopefully I can save up enough for retirement and a mission, if I can keep my med expenses down. Until then, part time missionary work is just fine for me.
  2. I'm so glad you asked this question, PC, my hubby and I are adult converts. There is a huge amount of adult converts in my ward. Something that I have noticed among those raised in other churches in general is their deep love and avid study of the Bible. They are also very friendly and have a great capacity to care about and understand the problems of others. Many of my friends who grew up in the LDS faith have trouble connecting with investigators and new members, especially those facing difficulty with family relationships after baptism. Withouth these knowledgeable members many problems faced by those just learning the ways of the Lord would go unanswered by ward family. My husband amazes me all the time when we are doing family scripture study or when we have come upon a situation and he gives some eye opening insight of a comparable situation in the old testament. His grasp of the old testament is beyond any one else's I've ever met. He is patient with those who have stumbled and is very patient and not overbearing when waiting for others to understand and live gospel principles. He can help others quit tobacco because he has done it himself, he has seen what church culture looks like from the outside and knows how to help others understand it. It has helped him in teaching children who are learning, teens who have had trouble gaining a testimony, and investigators/new members who are trying to grasp doctrine that they have never heard before. Sometimes it can be initially difficult to understand doctrine until it is seen in action. For example, when I first joined the church it was so strange to me that there are both tithe offerings and fast offerings. Once I saw the difference being put to action, and saw that one did not hinder the action of the other it became much easier to understand and accept. Sometimes we cannot get a testimony of certain principles until we try out the action associated with the doctrine written on paper. There are several types of learning and all are employed with the help of the church organization. Doctrine that may appear only academic quite usually is not, but comes to light through service to others. We learn by reading, hearing, and doing the gospel. Perhaps that doctrine your friend changes his mind about doesn't mean he is losing anything, but rather gaining a greater understand of the gospel as he learns through service to others. One of the things I love most about the true gospel is that it is not two dimensional. It is not only on paper, it is not only talked about, but it is put to practice in the world around us, it is living and growing and expanding. This is proof that we believe in a living God. Scriptures are growing, giving us more and more insight and understanding rather than getting further away from us because of a lack of understanding of a form of English that is no longer commonly used. Adult converts have a blessed understanding that it isn't the Bible vs. the Book of Mormon, but rather they testify of each other and strengthen each other.
  3. The only one saying she is crazy is you. The only one saying it is a hallucination is you. I was earning minimum wage when I joined the church and recieved revelation to do so. I said my living situation was less than some with no difference in church standing at all. I don't think you are telling the whole truth. I know that you are a liar, you have admitted it yourself. You are only on here to look for more reasons to hate. You don't need to look here for that. You will make some up when you need more. You are like a tornado, wanting to suck others into your swirling mess. And guess what, you can't squash her revelation with anything. You flatter yourself. Nothing can stand between her and the Savior, and that is what bugs you the most. You can have your name removed, but you can't remove her testimony or her prayer, or the fact that she can continue with out you. Ordinance or not, she is a daughter of God and even you can't stop that. If she exists, if she is what you say she is, but I don't think you are honest, I hope you do show her, I sincerely hope she realizes what situation she is in. Your hate supercedes any faith of hers in your heart. Your hate is stronger than your love for her. It is like a drug that you can't put down. The saddest thing is, if you had any idea what you are missing you would realize what a monumental waste of time this is.
  4. I think a lot of it has to do with perspective. I do not choose to feel less than equal, so I don't. Yes, my role in the temple is different, but I like it. I have had sisters who lead the ward mission, I have had sisters who teach the Sunday school for the adults, I have seen a sister in the Stake Sunday School presidency. I have had a lot of experience with sisters filling roles in the ward that, I guess in more LDS populated areas they do not do. They have had to do more here because the brethren would not. It is a very sorry state to be in. My husband's place is not in the home. He is not suited for it, he can not accomplish the things in the home that I can. He is suited to administration. Our roles are different, not unequal. I do work outside the home, but believe me if I could I would be a stay at home mom. I find great joy in womanhood. What kind of man would he be if he were not asked to do any calling because women can do it better? How would his talents and self-confidence grow? How would he be more like the Savior? They need these callings. Sisters inherently are creators, self-motivated improvers, we beautify the world and people around us so naturally that we don't even have to be asked. Men have to be asked, sorry but in general it is true. Not that they don't want to, or that they are incapable, but there is something in their nature. They want to stay in the garden, questioning if they really have the intelligence and wherewithal to accomplish anything more. They need to be asked. They need the title. Eve is the one who was ready to move forward, take on the beginning of mankind, the knowledge of good and evil. Adam drug his heels, only moving out of necessity. He had to be put in the lead, otherwise he would always be drug around like a puppy on a chain only going where he felt he had no other choice. A balance has to be made between Eve's enthusiasm and Adam's introspection. The men who go out and work, the things they work on will pass away. The money, the status cars, possesions, etc. will all pass away. What the women stay home and do has eternal consequences. To nurture, raise and educate another who has the potential to become a god is nothing to sneeze at. We influence their hopes, likes, goals, and dreams. We show them problem solving skills, compassion, empathy. When they use that priesthood to bless that baby, it is a seedling compared to the amount of sacrifice that the child's mother has gone through to give that baby life. We feel it grow, we work for his/her birth, and feed that child so that it's continued existence is completely dependent upon us. What significance does that momentary blessing have compared to growing a body for an eternal spirit that has been waiting a millenia or more for the temple we prepare for it? Must the mother be the sole source of every moment of progression? They can never do what we do, but they need to have eternal significance too, so they have the priesthood and they give a blessing. I learned my role in the temple standing before the veil. Of course we don't bandy about the significance of our Heavenly Mother, look what is done in our Heavenly Father's name. What horrible things He is given the credit for. She is much too sacred to be drug through such slime. PEC is concerning priesthood matters. They do not make decisions of what the RS Pres will or will not do. The sisters are expected at ward council and have an equal say at that round table, yes because every person at that table including the sisters have an equal responsibility to listen to and recieve revelation concerning what is discussed there. If they do not speak up it is because of their own feelings. We choose to feel what we feel. We are not made to feel anything. To say, "it makes me feel" is passing on responsibility. We choose to feel less when we place more importance on titles and momentary responsibilities than we do on the little ones we care for. What short-lived calling can compare to filling our children with a view of the eternities. Both areas have to be met. The brethren take care of the baptism and the water, the sisters are what get the children in the water and give the courage and encouragement to keep the covenants made there. It is anti-feminist to tell me that I am not equal without a priesthood title, and tell me that what I do isn't as important because I don't do it in front of a bunch of people and get a load of glory for it. The reason my hubby is a great priest has a lot to do with me taking care of the things he doesn't have to worry about at home. He can focus on other things, less important things, true, but things HE needs to do to become more like the Savior, and this is how I sustain him. He sustains me by staying out of my way.
  5. I have seen MP bless and pass the sacrament, they are usually YM leaders, or new to the priesthood. There is nothing wrong with MP blessing and passing the sacrament. I don't get the white shirt thing. You really can't have it both ways...if a MP has to wear a white shirt so that he can perform the ordinance of the sacrament, but they are not supposed to do the sacrament, then why would it matter what color shirt they are wearing to church anyway? I don't really get LDS culture. It mystifies me. One VT I had when I first joined the church had her youngest child in her van when she was giving me a ride to a Dr. apppointment. She said she had that child to 'do her duty to the church'. Now this is clearly a cultural idea...I was judged by many sisters very very harshly because I could not have any more children...but what really disturbed me is that her child heard her say that. That ward had a lot of cultural teachings that had veered them way off of the path...one was that nonmembers should be avoided and were the 'wicked' spoken of in scripture and that CONverts (how they said it while teaching in RS) were very fortunate if they were allowed to join 'OUR' church. Me being only one of the two adult converts in the room at the time. Another was that if your husband to whom you are sealed goes to hll you have to go with him b/c of the sealing ordinance. Lots of wacky ones in that ward, but if I spoke up they just thought I was crazy. Luckily, it was fixed very shortly after I joined. It is the Lord's church and He is very aware when things are going astray.
  6. Well, I don't know how their wards work, but here if the sisters aren't behind an activity it ain't happenin' Even the chili suppers the priesthood put on...who buys the ingredients? stirs it when they aren't looking? reminds them what time they need to be there, or that there is an activity at all? The Priesthood is a tool to be used to accomplish the Lord's work. To be jealous of it is like being jealous of the guy who does the mopping while you are sweeping. You have to sweep, you have to mop. Just be glad you don't have to do both all by yourself. He can have his mop, I'm so good at this sweeping business that he hardly has to use it :)
  7. You say where you work and what you drive and where you live and whether or not you went to college have anything to do with lying and church? I live in a 900 sq ft home, I drive an extremely old van, my hubby has a high school education,not having yet finished college, when we go to church he wears used suits, sometimes second hand shoes...and he has been in church leadership since the day he got the priesthood. Literally. Church responsibilities have nothing to do with circumstances of living. Church helps people be more like Christ. If you go to any church someone is eventually going to ask you about your life to start a conversation, they are going to try to get to know you, they are going to invite you to eat something, like, gasp, pie or maybe even chili. Most Christian congregations baptize members in front of the entire congregation. You are either a horrendous snob or mentally ill. Someone tries to start a conversation with you, offer you dessert, welcome your wife like she is family (because she is) and all of that you turn your nose up at...they are beneath you. I don't know what has happened to you that you take offense at kindness, or how you happened to marry someone that actually likes the idea of spending eternity with someone that treats her like a stray dog. Her answer to her prayer was to find happiness by being sealed to her husband. Her answer did not say that the husband had to be you. That poor woman, instead of praying in a pew where people love her and care for her, she has to pray in her closet alone and in the dark, ignorant of where to find peace that she is seeking. The more I think about it, the more I think you are lying all around. No way did that woman get baptized without telling someone she had children. No way that the missionaries did not know she had children. Women are proud of their children. They tell people how cute their kids are, they carry around pictures. You mean to tell me that both of you went to church and didn't take them! yeah right. Bologna. Bologna. Bologna.
  8. OKC That's ME! We have Spanish branches in OK. We really need a Spanish speaking missionary in my ward too. I think there is a Spanish speaking ward or two also in the actual city, but I'm not sure. I want to learn Spanish more fluently and the previous Spanish Speaking missionaries were helping me with that. I have had classes in Spanish, baptisms, prayers, and have shared my testimony in Spanish several times but I am still very shy in approaching anyone outside of church in Spanish. Outside of church service I can't speak it at all. I can't even ask where the bathroom is. But I have even been a visiting teacher in Spanish and had no problem understanding her or making her understand me. She said my accent is excellent, but shrug, I don't actually speak it at all. Most of the Spanish speaking members in my ward boundaries drive for an hour to a Spanish branch or ward instead of coming to my ward. Wouldn't it be great if we could have a Spanish branch in our new building we are getting 2013!
  9. Well, that is nice, but I think a dress would really make it hit home more than purple. I don't think a dress is demeaning and I just don't get it. I also have longer hair and I get to wear earings and make up. He doesn't get to. Really, he should be the one complaining, I mean no nail polish even! And his shoe choices are between black and brown...no bows, no straps, no open toes. Poor men. The snazziest thing he gets is his tie, and maybe a colored handkerchief in the pocket. I LOVE being a woman.
  10. Gasp, that looks so dangerous. That can't be legal can it? I mean if they are going up a steep hill and there is traffic behind them...
  11. OKay, so I have no idea why men were wearing purple of all things. If they really wanted to show solidarity, why didn't they wear dresses? If they really want 'equality' and for some reason this means that women are equal all along and it is not acknowledged, why not wear a dress? Is it considered demeaning to wear a dress? Jesus wears a dress in every picture I see of Him. In fact when shortly after my hubby got his endowments I mentioned to him that really I thought men would wear robes in the temple. I mean, you see the pictures of angels, men and women angels, and they are all in robes/dresses. So I suggested to him that he might find himself under those clothing guidelines in the hereafter. At first he was opposed to the change, but then said that if everyone else was then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. There are a lot of members of a certain religion in my area that expects the women to not cut their hair and to wear dresses every day. I can understand that they are trying to be Biblical, but I don't understand why their men wear pants. I mean, they are a relatively new invention, and if you are truly trying to live Biblically, they should be in robes. To be perfectly honest, if there were women in my ward today that wore pants, I didn't even notice. Actually there was at least one because she sat next to me and I helped her with her kids. At least I think she was in pants, but I'm not positive...you know why? I don't care. I really honestly don't care, as long as they are modest and relatively clean I don't even notice what someone else is wearing, truly. If the police came to me and said, "What were they wearing?" sorry, I got nothing. The number one thing I notice is their gender. Second, what language they are speaking. Third, hmmm if they were kind to me or not or if I felt I had filled their expectations from one bearing the Lord's name. Fourth, did they have kids with them. Fifth would be race I think. Age after that. I don't always notice facial hair or glasses either. Odd I know, but there it is. You truly believe in equality? Show me the dresses. I love wearing a dress. Pants if I'm in the nursery on the floor probably.
  12. Now that I think about it, Jesus did separate from His physical body when He died on the cross, so oops on that one. I should have marked it, sorry.
  13. I'm going Christmas Day. Never seen the stage play, so I guess I won't have anything to compare it too.
  14. Actually, before I received my endowments I read up on the temple in the Old Testament, and I read the Pearl of Great Price. I also attended a temple prep class. After all three I was not surprised at all by temple worship. All of the things learned and taught in there lead us to Christ. Do we need to be honest? Do we need to be chaste? Do we need to be clean? All of these sentences did not contain the word Christ, but when we are Christlike we are honest, chaste, and clean, to name a few things. So yes, temple things that we learn lead us to Christ. Go ahead and do some reading in the Old Testament and then read the Pearl of Great Price. There is much much for us all to learn. Temple worship is not secret at all, we encourage all to prepare themselves to re enter God's presence. I would be thrilled if all of my family would decide to do those things the Savior would have them do and prepare to enter into His Holy House. We do not want to run before we walk, so we start with baptism and once we have those covenants down we can move on to other ones. One thing to remember is that a lot of what we learn in the temple is from being taught in a symbolic manner...what does that mean? An example of a symbol is a wedding ring. When I look at someone and see that wedding ring I know that they are married, but if we continue to study the ring we realize that it is made of a precious metal because our marriage is precious to us. We see that it makes a circle, which is another symbol. We also see that both members of the marriage wear one, which shows they are equal partners. Temple learning is like this in that at first glance we might not understand the meaning for doing something a certain way, but as we continue to ponder it the principle becomes more clear. Temple work is also to help those members of our families that have passed away and otherwise cannot recieve some ordinances like baptism and receiving the priesthood. Have you taken a chance to go do some baptisms at the temple recently? There is nothing better than personal experience to really get to know the truth about something. Really reading terrible negative and confusing things about it is not the best idea. After all, if someone where writing negative and misleading things about you, do you think I would spare one second wasting my time with it, or would you rather I talk to you myself and get to know you better? 19 is not late to be going on a mission at all.
  15. Concerning gum, good question, I personally have to do a modified fast because last time I did a full fast I passed clean out. Yuck. I usually do not like to use gum, but now that I am singing so much as Primary chorister and sometime ward choir member I do use sugar free gum to keep my throat from locking up altogether. Some members do gum, most do not. I would think it is a personal choice and go with your conscience. I do drink when I am taking medication during my fasting time. On a side note, So glad you are chatting with missionaries, they are the best...sister ones are especially cheerful I think. :)