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I’m fine with the church having weird doctrine and teachings, but what I don’t like is the enormous pressure I feel to conform and believe the official, orthodox interpretation. I would be fine if I could just show up and be myself. I envy people who are able to find enough good in their local congregations and are able to happily stay and contribute. I don’t have a single friend at church and I’m pretty much invisible and cut off from the community. It probably doesn’t help that I’m a student who moves around and changes wards every few months.
It’s comforting to know that others have found ways to deal with issues and like the church in spite of its flaws, but honestly I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to that point.
Some people will come away from this thinking home church is better. Some people will come away thinking that they can’t stand being away from church for so long. Still, this presents an opportunity for the Church to change. It’s becoming clear to people that the way things have always been done is not the only way. As for home church, I’m waiting out the pandemic at my parents’ house, and we gave up on home church weeks ago and now Sunday is just a day off. I feel like I got an extra day added to my weekend. And I don’t have to worry about church attendance for my BYU endorsement anymore. I’m not going to be very enthusiastic about going back. Church is stressful. DarkJedi wrote:I also disagree with the online training in lieu of the MTC , there’s no way it is anything like the same. And I think the church should stop calling missionaries for now, let it be.
Having spent 9 weeks in the MTC, I would have preferred online training. As long as it wasn’t living the missionary rules and schedule at home.
It must really be rough to be a missionary stuck at home now without access to entertainment. When I was at the MTC some of the missionaries resorted to holding midnight spider-fighting tournaments (they would trap spiders and pit them against each other in a weird kind of arachnid blood-sport). It was a big scandal when they got caught. Then in the field there were always missionaries swooning over pictures of attractive girls in their General Conference issue of the Ensign
😆 . When people are banned from traditional entertainment they resort to other things out of desperation.I’m really worried at this point that next year I’ll be graduating college in the middle of a recession 
The 20th century saw two world wars, the Spanish flu, came close to nuclear apocalypse in the Cold War. If the world didn’t end then, it’s not going to end now. BYU classes canceled until Wednesday, when they will be moved online. Students are being encouraged to consider going home for the rest of the semester. Roy wrote:
Some enterprising film student should do a short film based on these questions. It could start with a young person pondering the questions before falling asleep and having a dream about a dystopian nightmare where people are angry and fight each other for toilet paper.😆 😆 😆
Make sure it’s in the style of a 1980s seminary video too.
I don’t know what they were thinking with this, going about confusing everybody. Even though only a small number of students are actively protesting, people are talking about it. I think for many this “misunderstanding” is further evidence that the honor code is not inspired. LookingHard wrote:
I can believe that if someone had come and spread it at conference, that isn’t the “Mormon Moment” the church is looking for and they don’t want that kind of news coverage.
Especially after looking at the media coverage of that church in South Korea where a lot of people got the virus.
I’ve seen mostly positive reactions from other students so far. Though many are disappointed that the change had nothing to do with beards. Roy wrote:
I have noticed what I believe to be a trend of ascribing miracle status to things that are not miracles by strict definition.Like saying that learning to overcome challenges is a miracle, or being able to see the bright-side in a bad situation is a miracle, or feeling the love and support of heaven through the actions of the ward members is a miracle.
If we redefine what miracles are then we can feel more comfortable in our worldview that God is a God of Miracles and produces miracles that same today as he ever has … according to our faith.
I also think that many of the things once done by miracles are now accomplished by science.
Many once terrible diseases are now prevented or cured by vaccines and antibiotics. Glasses and surgeries can improve vision. Cochlear implants can give hearing to the deaf. These things would truly be miraculous in the past.
We are now used to living in a world where the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and the sick are healed. We just don’t need God for a lot of it anymore.
I’m not sure people really would “forget” experiences of seeing God. However, everyone reinterprets experiences over time. Some could see an angel and originally think that means the church must be true. However, 20 years later they may think the experience shows there is a God, but doesn’t necesssarily prove the church is the one true church. I’ve never had a vision, but I had spiritual experiences that I used to think proved beyond a doubt that the church was true. Now, I’m not so sure. I know I experienced something, but I’m no longer sure what it means.
I think it’s entirely possible for scriptural figures to draw different lessons and meanings from their experience after some time.
While I personally don’t think Revelations is talking about modern technology, there is a lot that could be said about the role of technology in eroding personal freedom. I think church leaders don’t talk about it much because they don’t really understand technology. And honestly, I kind of prefer it when they don’t talk about things they don’t understand. Church leaders rarely speak out about major societal/political issues, but when they do it often doesn’t work out so well (Civil Rights movement, LGBT issues, etc).
