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DarkJedi wrote:
Thanks for sharing.I don’t talk much on here about what I do. I work with incarcerated youth. This is my third Christmas at this facility, but the kids are all different because we have them for less than a year (minor crimes). But only the names and faces are different. It’s really tough for them being away from their families and even though most of them really haven’t had the greatest of Christmas memories you can see and feel their hurt. They are not permitted any gifts. We do activities with them this time of year, mostly Christmas crafts like gingerbread houses and decorating stockings. Despite all the other hard exterior gangsta attitude we see every day, we can see the little kid in them as they participate in the activities (often for the first time in their lives). Unfortunately as employees we can’t share religion with them. But I think I can see what our Heavenly Parents see in us.
Wow! I had no idea what it was you do. That is amazing. No wonder you can relate to my calling.
I just wanted to post this AMAZING video that we showed to our Sunday School class at the jail last Sunday: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/inspiration/latter-day-saints-channel/watch/collection/christmas/infant-holy-infant-lowly-music-video-mormon-tabernacle-choir?lang=eng#__prclt=RF9ZbZ4J ” class=”bbcode_url”> https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/inspiration/latter-day-saints-channel/watch/collection/christmas/infant-holy-infant-lowly-music-video-mormon-tabernacle-choir?lang=eng#__prclt=RF9ZbZ4J I don’t know where I’d be today without this calling. If not inactive, I’d be the most miserable person in the congregation each Sunday.
Minyan Man wrote:
I had an interesting conversation with a member of my ward the other day. I consider him & his wife to be good friends.They are very conservative & very orthodox. We have had some interesting discussions along the way. We never get upset or angry.
They have several children who have gone on FT missions. He said that he made it very clear to them that if they ever came
home early from their missions, they would have to walk home from the airport. He wasn’t going to pick them up. This was
half joking & half serious. All I could think of was: what a message to give to your children. Even if it was in jest.
My conclusion is: everyone lives the gospel according to their own conscience. We are all different. There are those who don’t
accept the call. Others who may come home early. Who are we to judge? This is one aspect of the church that gets to me from
time to time. We expect conformity & we are quick to judge when we don’t or won’t conform.
When I read something like this, I just want to scream! Heaven forbid that friend of yours be humiliated by a son’s or daughter’s early return from the mission field. It sounds to me as if there is zero concern for the child and only a selfish concern that your friend’s own reputation might be damaged. What is it with people anyway? Talk about having a misguided understanding of the gospel. If you ask me, that dad is not only flat out asking for trouble, but deserves it. Maybe his kids share his mindset, but sending a kid on a mission and having his serve out his full two years and “returning with honor” is no guarantee that ten years later the kid won’t be leaving the church entirely. Heaven help that man’s kids if any of them turn out to be gay. What if they fall in love with a non-member and don’t marry in the temple. Honestly, the fact that you can even consider him to be your friend says a lot about you. You are a lot better Christian than I am. I’d have written them off a long time ago.
Roy wrote:
Wonderful! Special Note, The Christ child cries.:thumbup:
It was just a whimper. I can assure you than Jesus would never have had colic for three months and cry 18 hours a day!
I have always loved and admired Jon Huntsman, Jr. Unlike the vast majority of people who run for office, he is a true statesman and not a dirty politician. He is a man of great integrity and I only wish his run for President had been successful. I know that his cafeteria approach to Mormonism is problematic for some TBMs but it’s part of what I like about him. I totally relate to him. His approach to Mormonism also seems to endear him to Utah’s Democrats. I definitely don’t see him cowtowing to the Church’s attempts to influence Utah’s government. I’m not very politically-minded, but he’s one person whose candidacy I could really see myself getting involved in. Daughter1 wrote:I work in banking and keep a photo of my family (parents/siblings) on my desk. The topic of kids will come up and I’m often asked if I have any. It’s amazing how many people reply with “you have plenty of time” when I say I don’t currently. Occasionally I even state “I don’t know if I ever will” and they just seem unable to process that statement as a fact, not a despairing cry for comfort.
When I was a teenager, I used to swear that I didn’t want kids — EVER! I came to that conclusion by babysitting the neighbor kids. My mom always used to tell me that it was different with your own. After I met my husband, I changed my mind and decided that I actually did want a couple of kids — at some point in the very, very distant future. We had our first (of two) children 9 1/2 years after we got married, and it was by choice that we didn’t have any before then. I was 30 when I got pregnant, and I more or less decided when I turned 30 that I probably ought to get started, just in case I ended up having problems conceiving (which I didn’t). I got a lot of static over our choice. My parents were fortunately completely supportive of the decision being ours and ours alone. My sister-in-law, though, used to call us long distance (not cell phones back then) and tell us it was our responsibility to multiply and replenish the earth. When I told me parents about her hounding us, my dad said, “God commanded Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth. He commanded Noah to build a ark. Ask her if she’s started on her ark yet.” I never got the chance, but boy! would I have loved to do so. We still don’t have grandkids, and quite frankly, it doesn’t bother me all that much. Yeah, I’d like some, but I am definitely not in any kind of despair over it. People annoy me.
Minyan Man wrote:
Is there another parallel with the Family History Program of the church?– how many names can I send to the temple?
– how many names can I index?
– what historical people am I related to?
– who in church history am I related to?
I must say, I do find this program to be very interesting.
Because, at some point, we are all related. IMO
Oh, absolutely. There is a lady in my ward who is a direct descendant of Brigham Young, and let me tell you, there isn’t anybody in the ward who doesn’t know it. (Personally, if it were me, this is not something I’d be bragging about.
If a man were to stand up when I entered the room, it would really make me feel uncomfortable. This is definitely old-school. I don’t think it has anything to do with President Nelson being LDS; it’s more about his age. Curt, you need to forward this to the First Presidency. Then all of us on StayLDS need to fast and pray that they see things as clearly as you have explained them. What a logical and charitable way to look at the issue! :thumbup: I’ve never heard it taught that God’s love is conditional. I think it’s precisely the opposite. That doesn’t mean that God is equally satisfiedwith how we’re all doing, but I truly believe He loves everyone equally. Old Timer wrote:Quote:publicly promoting opposition to the Church.
To me, this really says it all. My previous bishop knew about my affiliation with Mormons Building Bridges and was fine with it. He didn’t see it as a group that was promoting opposition to the church and I certainly don’t. Since I’ve discussed it with him at length, and have his blessing, I figure I don’t have to run it by every bishop I have in the future. Obviously the LGBT issues, including the POX, aren’t the only issues members might have problems with, but for me, it’s the biggie, and for me, the matter is solved.
Old Timer wrote:If this approach had been in place 5 years ago when my youngest daughter (in high school) started YW, she might be attending now. She would have thrived in this model. As it was, she was bored stiff and lost all desire to attend. Right now, as of about two months ago, she is inactive. She has a solid testimony of the Gospel, knows the scriptures well, loves blessings, and is a wonderful, caring, service-oriented, intelligent young woman – but church bored her to tears, literally.
I can certainly relate to your daughter. It took a little longer than my late teens to get to that point, but I can seriously understand where she’s coming from.
DarkJedi wrote:I like your 15 minute speaker and the rest for music MM. I’ve long thought sacrament meeting should be more like Music and the Spoken Word.
Absolutely!
Minyan Man wrote:
I love your posts Katzpur. You make me wish I were in jail to hear your message.I never thought I would say that.
Awww, that’s so nice of you. But I’m seriously glad you’re NOT there to hear my message!
We had an even better day at the jail today than usual, if that’s possible. We taught and talked to so many amazing men. I can’t believe how much I’ve grown to care about them. When we were in maximum security, where we are just allowed to go cell-to-cell to teach and visit with the inmates, we spoke to Ali, a Muslim inmate from Pakistan. He was in his bunk reading the Koran when we were walking by his cell, and jumped up when he saw us like his bed was on fire. He was so excited to see us, and we had a great visit with him. He opened his Koran to the first page. It was in both Arabic and English. I read the first page out loud. It was really beautiful and I told him so. He was so appreciative of our visit and so appreciative that I’d shown an interest in his scriptures. We asked him if he’d like us to leave him with a prayer, which we did. We typically take turns offering prayers, just depending upon which one of us feels like we’d like to do so. I prayed the LDS way, i.e. to our Father in Heaven. I said that we could feel the goodness in this man’s heart and asked God that, regardless of how Ali might address Him, he would be able to feel God’s love and concern for him and that he might be blessed to be able to make good choices once he was out of jail. It was a great visit. We were in max for close to an hour and forty-five minutes today (having already taught a class of six men in a medium security Sunday School class). We still didn’t get to everybody who wanted to talk to us. They were standing at the doors of their cells, trying to get our attention so that we wouldn’t skip them. (We only go to the cells where one of the inmates actually wants to talk to us, and it’s easy to see which ones they are. We could have stayed another hour and would have still not been able to talk to the men who wanted to see us. Sure, they enjoy just visiting, but they always say, “Do you have a message to share with me? Do you have a picture of Jesus to leave with me? Can I get a Bible? Can I get a Book of Mormon?” It is SOOOOOOOOO fulfilling!
On the way out of the jail, we were turning in our badges and signing out and there was another couple nearby. The woman said something to the man that I didn’t hear, but he said, “Yes, dear.” It made me laugh and I made some little comment like, “Sounds like you know the right answer.” They both laughed and we got started talking. Their names were Rhonda and Russ. They were wearing lanyards that said, “Good News” and were also there to leave a non-denominational Christian message with the inmates. The woman volunteered some information that her husband may not have wanted us to know, but he really didn’t seem to mind. Apparently he was in jail as an inmate himself at a prior time. He had decided while he was there, to go to an LDS Sunday School class and was just blown away by the joy he said the couple teaching the class obviously were feeling. He said he wanted to feel that kind of joy himself. On the way back to his cell, he’d said to himself, “God, I’ve been doing things my way long enough. I’m ready to start doing them your way.” From that day on, his life changed. Now he’s teaching other men who are where he once was. His wife said, “If you guys ever wonder if you’re doing any good, you are. This change in Russ is the result of one LDS couple’s work.”
Seriously, before I started doing this service (it’s been 10 months now), I was starting to hate Sundays. They were so boring, and everybody was trying to out-righteous everybody else. There is absolutely no pretense at the jail. None of the men we talk to are trying to do anything but improve their lives. Jesus Christ truly does walk through the cells of the Salt Lake Metro Jail. You feel His spirit there like nowhere else!
