[Daughter1]

Well I missed a bunch of the start of the prophet’s talk.

Edit. Also missed that it wasn’t Pres Nelson. Had to change to YouTube from LDS.com.

[Daughter1]

You did miss the best quote by missing the first speaker (Soares).

Paraphrasing, but I loved it. I was not super focused on the talk quite yet. But related to “lost sheep” he clarified: “They are not lost. God knows exactly where they are and how they are doing.”

I always love Elder Uchdorf.

[Daughter1]

SilentDawning wrote:

He did purge the earth with Noah’s flood, and there is expected to be a purge before he comes a second time. But I agree the scriptures are slippery…full of contradictions so I’m not fully committed to either position on the purge issue. Just quoting what I read in the non-fiction book Lund wrote called The Coming of the Lord.

I agree that purging is totally within historic context of divine prerogative. I just don’t know of a prophecy that indicates it will be a central part of the run-up to the 2nd coming. And thank you for correcting me regarding the book. I only knew Lund as a fiction author and was not aware he had non-fiction work.

[Daughter1]

I can speak to the marriage/family question as both a daughter who’s father left and a single adult who’s deciding how she feels about the church these days.

On the side of watching a family member leave, yes, it’s hard. It was scary for a while. I blamed my dad. I was mad. But I am now closer to him than I ever was as a teen. He was my seminary teacher. He had been my favorite adult when I was a little kid. I idolized him. But he was very traditional and as I grew up, our similarly stubborn natures caused a lot of friction. I tell my mom regularly that I prefer my not-a-Mormon dad to my Mormon dad. He respects me more. He listens to my opinion. Some of this may have been a natural part of growing up and redefining my relationship with him as an adult. But looking back at seminary teacher dad, the me I was even when I just graduated BYU (and I will never back down from the certainty that Provo is best) would not have gotten along with him as well as I get along with him now. I have friends who were taught one parent was the cause of all the problems and yet they came to be closer to that parent in the end. What I am trying to say here is that kids don’t always do what’s expected. Give them a confident and self-assured example in a good life – however you define that – and you’ve done the best you can.

For the record, my mom and dad met at EFY, she waited for him on his mission, they got married in the temple, and held all the callings. It doesn’t matter where you start. It’s going to change.

That leads into my perspective as a single adult. I honestly think it’s better going through this now. Not to get to the end of the journey – that won’t happen until I die – but to know that it’s something I will struggle with. Ever since my dad left, I wondered if I would ever reach this point. He and I are so similar, it worried me. Turns out, my reasons for asking these questions are totally different than his, but I am still asking. I’ve tried dating in the church. I have found that I actually can’t handle most Mormon Boys. They just aren’t people I care to spend a lot of time with. I’m starting to date outside the church. That has all it’s own issues (which I’ll probably post about at some point), but it’s the route I’m trying right now. I mean, if you aren’t sure you’re sticking around, does a temple sealing even matter? For me, I’ve thought for years that marrying an RM wasn’t an issue for me. Now I’m thinking a sealing isn’t a huge issue either. My best friend has nearly 4 kids who – as of now – being raised in the church. If I really care, I can arrange to have it done when I’m dead.

Wow, that was more words than I meant to dump here. But your post really struck home for me and I wanted to start sharing. Thanks for coming here.

[Daughter1]

I will start this by saying I have never been particularly interested in church history or the early teachings of the church. I only really go down that route when I have questions about where a current policy/practice/whatever came from. So I may be missing something that was taught more explicitly in earlier times. Additionally, I have never read anything by Lund. My opinion about LDS fiction is pretty low. I did read the Tennis Shoes series for a while (I know, different author, but I’ve heard comparisons multiple times). So take this with a grain of salt.

That said, I have studied the Book of Revelation carefully. It has always been one of my favorite books of scripture. I took a course at BYU all about it taught by the top LDS scholar on the topic. I have never heard of a “purge” of the church members. There will be trials. Some people will fall away. Some people will recognize the signs and come to the truth. Good people will die. Not only will they die, God will put them in positions where they will be killed as victims of the war specifically so he can use that fact in judgement against the evil forces. But nothing indicates that trials will be in place for the express purpose of purging the weak/wicked.

All this to say, I don’t know if an opening and welcoming of others is really an indicator that the 2nd coming isn’t still coming/coming soon. If anything, I would think it may indicate that we are preparing for that day. Trying to rally everyone to “the truth” so that we can have the strongest position possible in the coming war.

[Daughter1]

Thank you for the warm welcome. The wishes and congratulations about the excitement of this moment really did help me see it in a new light.

I guess the one other thing I really want to share right now is what I do believe. From what I have learned and what I’ve seen here, knowing your baseline “testimony” (or whatever you want to call it) helps when you’re relating to others and to new concepts or tough concepts.

1. I know God loves me. He loves each of His children.

2. The temple means a lot to me and was a very important spiritual experience.

3. There is truth within the LDS church. There is also truth within other religions.

4. God speaks to each of His children individually. And I believe that this trumps general instruction to groups.

I’m really glad I came here and I’m excited to explore life with the support of this group. Thanks everyone!

[Author]

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