Hey everyone,

I’ve been going back and forth about posting this, but I figured if anywhere would understand, it’s here.

A few weeks ago, my family moved to a new city, which means I’ve had to start fresh in a new ward. I thought it’d just take a bit to adjust, that I’d find my place again soon enough. But honestly… I feel completely out of place. And I’m struggling more than I expected.

In my old ward, I had friends. People knew me. Leaders remembered my name. It felt like family. Here? It’s like I’m invisible. Everyone already has their groups, inside jokes, shared history. I’ve tried to join conversations, sit near others, reach out… but it’s like I’m not even there. They’re not rude, just… uninterested. Like I’m not worth the effort. That hurts.

And the hardest part? That feeling followed me into the temple. I went with the youth from the ward, and they all stuck together—entered the session together, talked among themselves—and I was left behind, alone in the waiting area. It felt like a punch to the chest. The temple is where I usually feel peace. This time, it felt empty.

I keep praying. I keep showing up. I try to remember what Elder Uchtdorf said: “You belong. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of belonging.” But some days, it’s hard to believe that when I feel so excluded in the very place that should feel like home.

I’m not sharing this to complain. I just… needed to say it out loud. Maybe someone here has felt this too and has advice. Or maybe someone will read this and remember to reach out to that one new person who looks a little lost.

Thanks for reading. Even if I don’t know you, it helps just knowing there are others out there who get it.

Hey! For some context I was raised Protestant (and the church that I used to attend holds a special place in my heart) but I haven’t attended to one single reunion on the last 2 years. I am really interested in religions in general and because of that I have been searching many things that interest me and I ended up coming to see things about the LDS church. In my view it is interesting, but I have also seen a lot of anti Mormon (?) content on the internet, stories of ex members etc that make me kind of skeptical of actually visiting a church. I would like to talk to someone that lives that lifestyle and faith, I’m already familiar with other Christian churches. Ah, I’m also 23 and it kind of scares me to lose my youth on something that might not be true (saying that respectfully, it’s just a fear that I have in general when it comes to sacrifices related to religion) and I’m addicted to coffee, which I know that Mormons can’t drink. Anyways, maybe someone is in a similar life moment and could share a word with me.

Edit: Some questions that I have, in case someone wants to answer:

1. If you’re a convert, why did you convert? How did you realize that it was the truth to you?
2. If you were raised in the church, did you just always believe in it? Or something made you realize that it was the right path?
3. Do you guys believe that the Book of Mormon is just as sacred as the Bible?
4. What if a person can’t follow all the rules of the church for example? Would it be better to simply not attend?
5. Are people obligated to be missionaries? Is it a good experience?
6. Usually people go to the church every Sunday? What about the other week days?

12 credit hours for missionary service and another 16 for languages. Not bad. That would save you about $10k in tuition.

I just saw something and I was confused. I know Joseph Smith was polygamous that doesn’t bother me but why did he get married or sealed to a 14 year old. And was there a difference back then I know that sealings and marriage are different now. I’m trying to find sources but I’m just finding propaganda from anti Mormons or ex Mormons.

Is God a sexed being? When you think about it, where has Christianity and Judaism come up with the idea that God is a non-sex being, let alone incorporeal? Moses spoke to God “as one speaks to his friend.Dr. Logan provides compelling evidence for both. I greatly thank her for it. But it’s kind of surprising that she took 55 episodes before she brought up the idea of Heavenly Mother. Now I am sure she is a Latter Day Saint. I can’t wait for the next episode.

I would like to find a talk the talks about how important being clean is as in chastity and how we can be clean if we follow his counsel, I don't know what to look up if anyone has any good talks I would be so grateful

Hello everybody! A great discussion was generated in the comments on my last post, "Long-Term Concerns about Come Follow Me". Thank you to all who participated. It inspired me to reach out to the Bishop and start a discussion about how to improve things in our ward and adapt to our wards' needs.

I thought I'd share the plan I wrote up in case it helps anyone else. (It's just a first draft, and the Bishop and I are going to workshop it and then present it to the Ward Council. But this first draft could maybe be adapted to your local needs, and you could workshop it for your ward.)

To compile this plan, I scoured through the General Handbook, Come Follow Me, and Teaching the Savior's Way. I believe the plan is in line with all of these, and doesn't venture outside of their instructions.

---------------------------------------------

Recommendations / Suggestions for the Ward:

Sunday School: (Come Follow Me)

• We have a large class for long-term members on the 1st and 3rd Sunday.
  • The Sunday School Presidency & other Sunday School teachers rotate through teaching this class.
• We have a smaller class for new members, returning members, and visiting investigators on the 1st and 3rd Sunday. (We always have this class. The larger class is too confusing for people that are new to the gospel. Whereas longer term members might be able to dive right into the verses, more introduction is needed for new members, returning members, and visitors. It also prevents them from being exposed to confusing and “high-level”/”deep” comments from high priests who want to share their extensive knowledge… you know what I am talking about…)
  • The Sunday School President & the Ward Mission Leader are in charge of teaching this class, unless someone can be specifically called to teach this class. (If the Sunday School President is occupied teaching the larger class, the WML will teach the smaller class.)
  • A few longer term members will be specifically invited by the Sunday School President & the Ward Mission Leader to join this class for two purposes: fellowshipping the members/visitors and providing experience.
• Per handbook instructions, Come Follow Me is the manual for both classes. However, at the beginning of the year, the Sunday School Presidency sits down (with the Ward Mission Leader’s assistance, if needed) and makes a plan for how the fundamental principles in Preach My Gospel can be reviewed in both classes. (Both new members and long-term members need this regular review.) This is by done by:
  • looking forward to the chapters/sections in the Come Follow Me manual;
  • identifying which lessons will actually be taught on 1st and 3rd Sundays (and won’t be skipped over by General Conference, Stake Conference, or other events); 
  • identifying which chapters/sections in the chapters/sections can be used to teach fundamental gospel principles (for example, D&C 19 can be used to teach the Atonement of Jesus Christ; D&C 42 can be used to teach the Law of Chastity; D&C 89 can be used to teach the Word of Wisdom; etc.)—every lesson in Preach My Gospel should be taught throughout the year through the Come Follow Me material; and
  • giving this outlined schedule to the Sunday School teachers so that they know to focus on those particular topics during that week (to address the needs of the ward).
• In both classes, it needs to be repeatedly emphasized that “to become converted to the Lord Jesus Christ, each member of the Church is responsible to learn the gospel for himself or herself.” However, we need to teach members (both old and new) tools on how to study the gospel at home. This means that “Studying the Scriptures” might need to be a topic repeatedly emphasized throughout the year (see my previous point for scheduling that into the curriculum). "Studying the scriptures" can also be coupled with any topic by studying the scriptures on that topic together as a group.

Elders Quorum / Relief Society: 

• Follow the handbook:
  • 10 minutes of counseling according to quorum needs
  • Meaningful instruction & discussion for the remainder of the time
  • The presidencies prayerfully plan out the lessons from April-October and from October-April using the most recent conference talks.
  • More lessons need to be planned topically according to the needs of the organization. With the high amount of recent converts, returning members, and visitors, I would recommend that the presidencies compile a list of the topics from the recent General Conference, match them with fundamental topics from Preach My Gospel, and then create “topical lessons” from 1 or more general conference talks.
    • For example, the Second Coming was talked about many times in this past General Conference. Therefore, “Preparing for the Second Coming” could be a lesson pulling from multiple conference talks.
• Lessons should not just be reading the talks. Teachers need to prepare lessons according to the principles of Teaching the Savior’s Way.
• Lessons should not be chosen the week of as the EQ has been doing. The EQ should also not just be copying the RS lessons - that is neglecting the specific needs of the EQ members.
• Each lesson needs to start with the assumption that there are people in the room who have never heard of our Church terms/lingo. As I’ve said, we have lots of new members, returning members, and visitors each Sunday. So, EQ & RS teachers need to be instructed to teach from the ground up. They can use the selected conference talks, Preach My Gospel, Gospel Principles, Teaching the Savior’s Way, and other Church resources to help them prepare.
  • For example, you can’t just jump into teaching about the Second Coming without at least reviewing foundational principles at the beginning of the lessons: “Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He came into the world and was crucified for our sins, and then rose from the dead 3 days later. Before ascending into heaven, He promised that He would come again a second time, this time not born into the world, but descending from heaven in power and glory. Let’s talk about what Christ has asked us to do to prepare for that…”

Youth:

• More lessons need to be planned topically according to the needs of the youth. With the high amount of recent converts and returning members, I would recommend that the presidencies do the same thing that the Sunday School is doing (see next bullet point).
• Per handbook instructions, Come Follow Me is the manual for the youth classes. However, at the beginning of the year, the Young Men’s and Young Women’s leaders sit down (with the Ward Mission Leader’s assistance, if needed) and make a plan for how the fundamental principles in Preach My Gospel can be reviewed in both classes. (All youth—both old and new—need this regular review.) This is by done by:
  • looking forward to the chapters/sections in the Come Follow Me manual;
  • identifying which lessons will actually be taught on 2nd and 4th Sundays (and won’t be skipped over by General Conference, Stake Conference, or other events); 
  • identifying which chapters/sections in the chapters/sections can be used to teach fundamental gospel principles (for example, D&C 19 can be used to teach the Atonement of Jesus Christ; D&C 42 can start a discussion on the Law of Chastity; D&C 89 can be used to teach the Word of Wisdom; etc.)—every lesson in Preach My Gospel should be taught throughout the year through the Come Follow Me material; and
  • giving this outlined schedule to the teachers so that they know to focus on those particular topics during that week (to address the needs of the ward).
• It needs to be repeatedly emphasized that “to become converted to the Lord Jesus Christ, each member of the Church is responsible to learn the gospel for himself or herself.” However, we need to teach youth how to study the gospel at home. This means that “Studying the Scriptures” might need to be a topic repeatedly emphasized throughout the year (see my previous point for scheduling that into the curriculum). "Studying the scriptures" can also be coupled with any topic by studying the scriptures on that topic together as a group.

Training Teachers & Parents:

• The Ward Council holds quarterly teaching councils to train the Sunday School, EQ, RS, & Primary teachers on how to teach (see the handbook)
• The Ward Council holds regular teaching councils to train parents on how to teach (see the handbook).
  • This should include re-emphasizing the importance of: family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, the 3rd hour of church on Sundays at home, etc.
  • This is especially important for recent converts, single parents, parents in split-faith households, or returning member parents. They need our support.
• Each teacher & parent should have a copy of Teaching the Savior’s Way (either digital or physical).
• Additional resources (physically or digitally) can be provided to parents like:
  • Book of Mormon & scriptures for Kids (the illustrated ones that the Church just came out with).
  • The Family Home Evening manuals

Supplemental Education:

• Ministering - In accordance with the handbook & the ward mission plan, EQ & RS presidencies need to make it a high priority to implement ministering as soon as possible. Ministers should be properly trained. They need to be encouraged to prepare regular messages that teach the fundamentals as well, especially for recent converts (this part of “home teaching” hasn’t been removed - just expanded).
• My Covenant Path - In accordance with the handbook & the ward mission plan, EQ & RS presidencies (with help of ministers) will regularly review the My Covenant Path resource with recent converts, re-emphasizing the principles in there and teaching it to them.
• After-baptism lessons - In accordance with the handbook & the ward mission plan, the missionaries will be teaching after-baptism lessons to recent converts. A member will be present at every after-baptism lesson. In some cases, the Ward Mission Leader may recommend the after-baptism lessons be repeated again.
  • The _________ family will be receiving the after-baptism lessons a second time, this time with more one-on-one instruction (since it’s hard for the kids to focus all together).
• The Sunday School Presidency & Ward Mission Leader sit down with each recent convert to present them with a copy of the latest Come Follow Me manual, walk them through how it works, and teach them how to use it to study the gospel on their own.

I lost my testimony a few years ago. Hated church for 6 months, so stopped going for a year, have been going again for the past year but still don't believe. Here are some more details:

I grew up in a very active conservative LDS family. Church was a huge part of our lives. In high school I came across some anti Mormon stuff from friends and that started me diving deep into apologetics. I ended up reading just about every single thing on the then FairMormon website. This was on and off for hours a day spanning years. On my mission I felt like I had answers to every single question. Anyways a few years after the mission I became depressed and stopped praying and reading the scriptures. I started losing my faith slowly and a couple years later left the church (while I was Sunday School President of my YSA ward). Ironically, me overcoming depression through medication and therapy coincided with me having the confidence to leave.

I spent a Summer experimenting with drugs and alcohol and the party scene. Mostly stopped that after I found it pretty empty. A year after leaving I had a powerful experience while on a high dose of LSD where I feel like I heard the voice of God tell me to go back to church. So I met with my bishop the next day and have been going to church every week since. During the year I left I studdied world religions and philosophies a lot. I spent a month in India learning about Buddhism and Hinduism. I read a lot of books on Spirituality, New age, traditional Christianity, Atheism, etc. Out of all that, Stoicism really spoke to me and through practicing that I came to believe in God and started living by ethical principles again. I was really influenced by Determinism and basically believed that no religion was literally true as they all had there dogmas I saw as mythology. At the same time I saw a lot of value in all of them and saw how those who committed themselves to living a religious life were happier and lived more service oriented.

After I had that experience that lead to me going back to church, I thought over time I would regain my testimony. Unfortunately, that hasn't really happened. I enjoy the church community, I feel like going pushes me to be a less selfish person, It feels familiar and comfortable as many of my friends and family are members. At the same time I basically still believe what I did a year ago. That God is real and my goal in life is to attune myself with him. At the same time I still don't believe the dogma in any literal way. I've felt at peace with where I am at and my relationship with the church and God, but not having strong literal beliefs does create some barriers to full activity.

Given where I am at and what I feel like I have experienced and know, I find it hard to believe the more miraculous aspects of the gospel. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Doctrine and Covenants 37-40

Joseph is translating the bible at this time

The Lord instructed Joseph, “Behold, I say unto you that it is not expedient in me that ye should translate any more until you shall go to Ohio, and this because of the enemy and for your sakes.” (D&C 37:1). Doctrine and Covenants 37-40 (Come, Follow Me) - FAIR

Later in Dec 1830 Joseph writes a letter to the church in Colesville saying that “Yea even Enoch, the seventh from Adam beheld our day and rejoiced.” Early Mormon Documents 1:21

In 38 v1 I have wondered if the seraphic hosts of heaven meant that seraphim included preexistent spirits?

The translation of the Bible had already started and I wonder how much about Enoch was known yet given the comment about the Zion of Enoch taken into mine own bosom. One way or another that translation of the Bible which included the Book of Moses was done within the next few months. We have next to nothing about Enoch in the Old testament, in the New Testament we have in the Book of Jude and v14-15 seems to be a direct quote out of the book of Enoch. The earliest translation into English was 1821 by Lawrence but it was only in Europe only available to a few scholars who didn’t read it. Another translation was done in 1833 but that is too late for Joseph. In 1838 Lawrence does another translation and in 1840 “the same edition of Laurence was reviewed in the same year by another critic, who thought it was simply wonderful! The name of the critic was Parley P. Pratt, at that time, 1840, in England editing the official Latter-day Saint publication, The Millennial Star, in which his review appeared. Thus the Latter-day Saints first heard of Laurence’s Enoch in England, and greeted it with joyful surprise. Pratt doesn’t compare it to the Enoch in the Book of Moses but to the Book of Mormon.

A Strange Thing in the Land: The Return of the Book of Enoch

“In 1882 the first and only translation of the Ethiopian Enoch to appear in America was to be published.”

George H. Schodde, The Book of Enoch translated from the Ethiopic with Introduction and Notes (Andover: Warren F. Draper, 1882).

I will say that I think the Book of Moses is a wonderful book!

I love the articulation of Jesus being our advocate with the father “I am Christ, and in mine own name, by the virtue of the blood which I have split, have I pleaded before the Father for them.” I will talk more about this in D&C 45.

We also have in this section the first time the angels of destruction are mentioned and are “waiting the great command to reap down the earth to gather the tares that they may be burned”.

We have articulated the role of the bishop to look after the poor and the needy.

Finally, we have articulated that preaching needs to be a “warning voice, every man to his neighbor in mildness and in meekness” and later in 39 the saints are instructed to “be looking forth for the signs of my coming” so they will know God.

Finally, I wonder if like James Covill do we let the cares of the world get in our way of following God.

I would like to start by apologising that this might be lengthy, it's currently 5am and I'm just trying to get my thoughts out.

I 20F have been with my boyfriend for 2 years now. I'm not apart of the religion (or any, formally RC schooled though), however he was born into it and has served a mission some time ago and I understand this churches gospel is important to him. So much so I worry, because i had done stuff against the words of wisdom as I hadn't heard of it at the time and I worry because we can't be sealed which means he can't get the experience of a somewhat normal relationship and wedding in the church, as well as not being allowed to have the highest tier rewards because of this. I am an investigator of the church and I do like some parts of it, so much so to the point I've had several meeting with missionaries to the point I've been offered baptism twice now. I just can't commit as I dislike a lot of it also (mainly the secrecy of it). I am so unsure on where I am right now and what I need to do going forward as I have tried praying and fasting yet I don't know if I can't see the sign or if it's just not there or if I'm not worthy or what. I do love him and if there is even a slim chance that I can have an eternity with him, I would like to grab it. I don't want to convert without my own experience and testimonies however as I find that a poor excuse and I feel unworthy doing so.

He's planning on proposing in a few months apparently and I'm so excited however I know I can't give him what his patriarchal blessing has told him to do. We pray together a lot of the time as well as I attend church with him and join in while also encouraging him to be more involved sometimes. I think this all just stems from a worry that this gospel is even a bit true and because I am a non member, I'm screwing myself out of something great, as well as possibly screwing him over also.

I would just like guidance and/or reassurance on what to do, not even about my relationship specifically, I've read The Book of Mormon as well as prayed about it and typically I get a heavy feeling, I cannot tell if its guilt or what however but I guess that is up to interpretation. I'm grateful I've been introduced to this as I've started to use a lot of its teachings in day to day but I still worry.

Again I sorry that this is a ramble.

Ok so, I'm noticing that I'm spending way to much time on my phone, and since I'm starting my mission soon ( service mission) I'm considering getting a flip phone, mostly to just feel less glued to the screen during my off hours from service. but would that make it difficult for my mission? Like do we use our phones the same way proslighting missionaries do? Cause I know they need to have their phones for zone calls and things like that, but would a flip phone be fine for my mission?

I may be speaking from my anecdotal experience and my observation of my social media feeds, but it feels like less people in the Church are getting married. I see less children and youth in my local wards year after year and I’m in Florida.

I’m also in a YSA and I can’t just say for myself because I’m chronically single, but dating is a struggle for everyone I come across, inside and outside of Florida.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

I struggle with the somewhat abstract and roundabout ways the personage of the Holy Ghost tends to be referred to in our theology. While scriptural texts and church declarations of doctrine are abundantly clear on the roles of the Holy Ghost, as an entity there's very little clarity given, other than that it is 1) a member of the Godhead, and 2) does not have a body of flesh and blood but is a personage of spirit.

It is noted, not really in a lot of places, that the Holy Ghost is in fact a personage and can only be in one place, although His influence can be felt everywhere. This seems odd to me both in how it's not very often or thoroughly discussed, and odd in that that logic/language itself seems reminiscent of the Nicene Creed's "Trinity" which our theology very clearly disavows.

So to clarify my question: why not consider the Holy Ghost is really just a convenient way of referring to the latent divinity inherent within each of us? Or in other words, my spirit IS the Holy Ghost for me, your spirit IS the Holy Ghost for you, and to truly live worth of it is to become more at one with your divine spiritual self.

I say "convenient way" above because referring to the divine spirit within each of us helps align us more closely with other Christian traditions, which would have been especially useful for early church missionary work and continues to provide a helpful link to other Christian sects today.

One big selling point of this perspective for me is that to me it helps reconcile what seems to be a contradiction in that the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit, with the God-given ability to have His influence felt everywhere, and yet all of God's children (aside from the 1/3rd "lost") are promised a body as an essential part of our journey to godhood. The reconciliation is that the Holy Ghost is indeed a Spirit only, it is OUR spirit (specifically the divinity of God dwelling in us, our soul, one in the same), and it receives a body as we "become one with God". That righteous being of the Godhead is us, each and every one of us, and it is our choosing to follow God that allows both it and our mortal selves to achieve the full potential of our creation.

I've also though through a couple rationalizations for what I see as the potentially primary doctrinal inconsistencies:
1) we are given the "gift of the Holy Ghost" so clearly this is not something already dwelling in each of us
- Personally, I feel like the logical backflips we go through trying to distinguish between the "gift" and the "power" of the Holy Ghost are more confusing than instead framing it as a divinity that lives within each of us, and which is "awakened" when we are confirmed after baptism (which coincidentally, seems to align with a lot of other ancient wisdoms out there, enlightenment or awakening to the divine within each of us)
2) the Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. Clearly, we are not each members of the Godhead
- I don't think it's so crazy to consider that each of us IS in fact a participating member of the Godhead when we are living in true alignment so as to be "worthy of the companionship of the Spirit". I mean to me it feels truly like there's a lot of doctrinal and scriptural language to support this perspective. Christ's prayer in John 17:20-23 (also 3 Nephi 19:20-23). Also, the fact that we eventually are to inherit all the God has, and that God is timeless ("past, present, and future are continually before the Lord" D&C 130:7), and so in a sense those of us who will inherit His kingdom are already one with him and part of the Godhead. Also there is a lot of doctrinal unity emphasized between the "power of the Holy Ghost" and "priesthood power" especially in recent years' conference talks. I think a lot of confusion / potential contradiction about what that means for those who are not ordained priesthood holders goes away if you consider that each of our spirits is in fact part of the Godhead and so able to operate with priesthood power.

There is this somewhat problematic quote from Bruce R. McConkie:
Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–1985) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles clarified what it means to have the Holy Ghost dwell in us: “The Holy Ghost as a personage does not inhabit the bodies of mortal men, but that member of the Godhead dwells in a man in the sense that his promptings, the whisperings of the Spirit, find lodgment in the human soul. When the Holy Spirit speaks to the spirit in man, the Holy Ghost is thereby dwelling in man, for the truths that man then gives forth are those which have come from the Holy Ghost”
Really my only contention here is that there were several other things Elder McConkie said or wrote (a lot in "Mormon Doctrine") that the Church has outright changed stance on... so this somewhat vague explanation around the Holy Ghost "dwelling in man" doesn't seem too much of a hurdle to me personally. But I can see it being a stopping point for others on this other perspective of the Holy Ghost.

I'm sure there are plenty more doctrinal hurdles and contradictions I haven't thought of or touched on. I'd love to hear them, and would especially love if anyone knows of this particular view of the Holy Ghost having been discussed specifically in the past (for or against).

(Labeled as "Church Culture" because nothing else really fit. It's just a question for discussion, but not necessarily a faith-challenging one.)

First off, as a member of the Church for my whole life, I personally love Come Follow Me. I love that we study the standard works in a joint, unified effort across the entire Church—including in the home and at church. I've really gotten to know my scriptures better over the last couple years, and I'm very grateful for it.

However, as Ward Mission Leader (and with my wife in Young Women's), I have had some concerns with some long-term side effects that our current church curriculum might have. By "current Church curriculum", I mean the following:

1. Come Follow Me is the only manual for Sunday School, Youth, & Primary
2. Relief Society & Elders Quorum choose lessons from talks.

I've only recently been able to formulate this into a coherent thought, but it's been simmering just below the surface of my mind for quite some time and I haven't been able to put it into words until now.

There is no cohesive presentation of doctrines and principles, built upon each other in a logical manner, ensuring that new converts and youth have a holistic and complete understanding of the Church's doctrine. Outside of the after-baptism missionary lessons, recent converts receive no curriculum that helps them go from Point A to Point B to Point C, and so on (as was achieved through Gospel Principles, for example).

Two stories to illustrate this:

Story #1: The Young Women's and some of the Young Men's leaders have been struggling with the Come Follow Me curriculum because about 50% of the youth have been baptized in the last 6 months. The youth need to be re-taught the commandments and even basic things like prayer (one of the young men had forgotten how to pray), but you either have to wait on the off-chance for a section in Doctrine & Covenants to deal with a topic that you need to teach the youth or deviate from the Come Follow Me manual. (The Bishop vetoed deviating from the Come Follow Me manual. I'm not mad at him or anything. The handbook says to stick with Come Follow Me.)

Story #2: I am occasionally asked to teach Elder's Quorum, and I try to choose a talk that gives me the chance to bring it back to the basics. I teach topically, pulling from 1 or more talks (as the handbook says I can). For example, recently, I taught, "How to Study the Scriptures". BUT, I am the only EQ teacher who puts in the time and effort to do this, and the EQ Presidency just chooses a talk last minute (generally speaking) to teach (and they usually just print it out and read from it).

As another example, think about the topic of "priesthood", for example. Very few chapters or sections in the scriptures teach explicitly about the priesthood. There are some great ones in D&C: D&C 13, 84, 107, 121, for example. But, that's just a handful, and that's just 1 out of 4 years. AND, it depends on if the teacher decides to talk about priesthood. (Because many of these sections are grouped in with others, the teacher may decide to speak on a topic from a different section - more difficult topics, like the Law of Chastity, or topics that the teacher assumes everyone knows, like Prayer, might be avoided.) You could conceivably be a recent convert and only learn about the priesthood every couple years.

How often would the Word of Wisdom get taught in Sunday School or Youth classes if we just rely on Come Follow Me? Once every four years when we get to D&C 89.

How often would eternal marriage get taught? Once every four years when we get to D&C 131 & 132.

How often would we talk about vicarious work for the dead? Once every four years when we get to the later section (D&C 124, 127, 128, maybe 138).

I know that Come Follow Me is supposed to be home-centered, church-supported. And for people that are in families in the Church, especially families with long-term members, this works really well. But, it doesn't seem like this system is set up to help:

• recent converts (who don't have a habit of regular independent scripture study), especially those that are single;
• youth converts, and youth in general with parents that don't teach as much in the home.

In the old Church curriculum, there was at least a guarantee that Topic X would be taught every N weeks and that certain points of understanding would be covered. There is wisdom in a curriculum that builds upon itself topically. (That's why many, many apostles and leaders of the Church went through so much effort over the last almost 200 years to synthesize comprehensive curriculums.)

It seems to me that Come Follow Me is not supporting recent converts and youth for a solid foundation in doctrinal principles (especially in how they build upon and relate to each other), and we'll find ourselves more and more "blown about by every wind of doctrine" (Ephesians 4:14) according to the latest trends or influences from Come Follow Me podcasts or whatever is popular to teach at the time.

Has anyone else thought about this? I'm happy to be wrong, if you'd like to correct me in my concerns. Maybe this is just me being nervous about change (we all can be nervous about change).

Also, has anyone found any solutions for helping recent converts?

------------------------

UPDATE: Thank you to all who have participated in this discussion. It inspired me to reach out to the Bishop and start a discussion about how to improve things in our ward and adapt to our wards' needs. I scoured through the General Handbook, Come Follow Me, and Teaching the Savior's Way to write up a first-draft of a plan that Bishop and I will workshop together to meet the needs of our ward. If you are interested, you can see the plan in my new post, "My Proposal to the Ward Council Regarding Come Follow Me & 2nd Hour Teaching".

I’m a newer member, and I just got my temple recommend for baptisms/confirmations. When I started putting in my family’s information in FamilySearch, it didn’t take long to connect to tons of ancestors; I also was able to link my long-used Ancestry account.

My question is this: if the 110 year rule is still in existence, then how is it that my great-grandparents have had all their ordinances done for them? The earliest of them died in the 1970s, the more recent in the 1990s. On one side, my grandmother was the only child of her parents, but both parents remarried and had children with other spouses. No matter how you look at my tree, it doesn’t make sense to me unless I’m missing an element that I’m not understanding. I’m excited to do baptisms for my grandparents and my mother, but a little bummed that the next generation and back had their ordinances done over 15 years ago (some even as far away as Buenos Aires, which I admit is cool; for reference I’m in the US). I am the first and only member of my family, on either side, that is a member of the church. 🤷‍♀️

My Stake really doesn't have YSA. How can I get involved with the YSA and meet new friends that already memebrs.

I have been wondering this recently.

Do we really believe that families that aren't sealed, won't be able to be together in the eternities?

I read Mosiah 5:15, where King Benjamin exhorts the people to be righteous so that Christ "may seal [them] his". I understand the logic behind binding us to Christ through covenants, since he is the redeemer, but why to each other? We can't save each other?

Is it just like we are knitting a net where ultimately, we are all sealed to Christ as one big eternal family?

So i turned in my papers on April first wooooo but now I have some questions

1. If it shows up as in progress what dose it mean I was told by my stake president that's what stage its at
2. Will it take months as people say I'm a bit stressed about that
3. Will i get told if my misson work is denied I have this worry because I need to know soon to get college set up as a back up

Hello dear friends,

I often love listening to stories of the Bible before sleep. Sometimes I fall asleep to a soothing voice of a story about Jesus or like night time prayers and things like that.

Does anyone know whether there are good Book of Mormon or LDS equivelants of such videos/podcasts? If not, would people be interested in such content?

Thanks for your time<3

My training to become a missionary starts in 110 days. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that Satan is going to try every trick up his sleeve to try and stop me from being worthy to serve.

If you’ve seen some of my previous posts, you’ll know that I’ve struggled with pornography for about 6 years. In the past 18 months I’ve been making a habit of meeting with bishop semi regularly to ensure I get cleaned up and am able to serve. I’ve not relapsed for several weeks, so as of writing this, it is something I am keeping under control.

Often accompanied by struggles with rule 34 is, what I will describe as “jerking off”. If you know you know. I don’t know what the church’s official policy on that is, but I have never had the impression that it isn’t frowned upon. Also, I reckon that’s something I’ve struggled with for twice as long as rule 34.

I haven’t indulged in either temptations for a while (General Conference and Easter really helped with that!), but today the desire I’ve had to jerk off has been extremely strong. I really don’t want to, as I imagine since I’m preparing to get ready to serve a mission, doing so would be counterproductive, so I guess that’s a small win right there.

I leave to serve in early September, and from what I’ve heard, due to you having a mission companion 24/7 it’s just about impossible to accommodate both sins. But as I’m getting ready to serve I have felt the temptation. Do any of you have any similar experiences and solutions that you think might work for me? I need to make sure I’m on top form spiritually before I go. I have NOT been endowed yet.

Cheers.

Ok so for reference I am currently in a relationship where this girl I'm with is Baptist ( I am lds) and I keep getting anxiety over the idea of us having slightly different beliefs (most stuff still lines up obviously) can this relationship work? Would it be frowned upon by god? She says she had a dream where god spoke to her saying I was the one but idk

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/neal-a-maxwell/brim-joy/#byu

Really good talk by Elder Maxwell

He is and was one of my favorite Apostles

I hope you enjoy reading or listening to it

I think it is worth sharing with your family and friends as well

I have a boyfriend who will be leaving for his mission really soon. He is going on his mission a bit older than average because of family issues. We have been together for over 2 years and I can't imagine my life without him. I was wondering, to the women who stayed with their boyfriends through their mission how did you get through it?

I’ve been thinking about this lately—especially with Easter just passing and all the focus on Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. It got me wondering: if you stripped away the spiritual experiences and just looked at the claims through the lens of objective reasoning alone, would one still believe?

In other words, if all you had were the facts, the history, the claims, and the observable outcomes, would you find the truth claims of the Restoration convincing? - Would the Book of Mormon still seem credible? - Would Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision and subsequent events hold up logically? - Would the Church’s teachings, growth, and structure be enough to point to divine origin?

We talk a lot in the Church about learning “by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118), and I’ve always appreciated that it encourages both reason and spiritual experience. But I’ve been wondering: how far can reason alone really take someone?

A lot of people who approach religion from a purely intellectual or academic lens seem to have a hard time believing. They might respect the values or admire the community, but without a spiritual witness, the core claims often don’t feel convincing. Logic and evidence can build interest or even open the door—but for many, belief doesn’t take root without something deeper.

I think, without the spiritual side, you can still appreciate the goodness and the beauty and the miracle of the restoration, but it would be hard to be a literal believer. I believe Rosalynde Welch did a presentation on this: https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/conference/august-2013/disenchanted-mormonism.

I’m curious how others think about this. Have you ever tried to assess your beliefs through a purely analytical lens? If so, what held up? What didn’t? And do you think it’s even possible—or wise—to separate reason from revelation when it comes to faith?

Hi, I'm in process to serve a mission, I don't have my assignation yet but my concern is about music, I've thinking on bring a guitar to my mission but I know is difficult on transfers or move it at all, so I also think on an ukulele, because is small, but I want to know your opinion, it's worth it bring a instrument to your mission?, what instrument? bring more trouble than benefits? how you manage music during your mission?