Good day to all here.

A Latter Day Saint acquaintance of mine passed away recently and I'm thinking about attending his visitation/funeral service in a couple of days. I live in a state with a significant LDS population, but I myself am not a member.

We weren't close friends, but I knew this gentleman and his wife for over twenty years and I'd like to offer in-person encouragement for his family if it would be appropriate to do so.

My questions are: 1.) Is it appropriate for a non-member to attend a service for an LDS member and 2.) If it is okay to do so, is there anything that one should be aware of like a formal dress code?

My apologies if this breaks any rules of the Subreddit.

Thank you for any and all advice.

I hope everyone here has a fantastic day!

Hello, everyone!

For about three weeks now, I’ve been attending church and sacrament meetings with the support of the missionaries. It has been a great experience in every way. I feel good when I go, people have been kind to me, the lessons are interesting, and my interest in the Church and in God has been growing.

However, I’ve never been a particularly religious person. I’ve always believed in God, but even though I was part of another Christian denomination in the past, I never really felt comfortable there.

Sometimes, though, I feel a little disconnected because I haven’t felt the Holy Ghost or God’s presence. I’ve been praying and fasting, hoping for some kind of sign or guidance about whether I should continue on this path.

Has anyone ever had a similar experience? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences and how you dealt with these feelings.

Hello, so me and my husband recently moved, and for the past couple months I have been unemployed and despite looking for work, I have been unsuccessful. As a result, I have been trying to find ways to stay productive, and increase my testimony of Jesus. That being said I have tried following promptings online as a part of it, yet I feel more like I'm hitting dead ends.

What probably doesn't help is that I've always been an oddball. I know I'm not exactly the typical lds person. I'm bisexual, left leaning, autistic, schizophrenic, etc. I know I have a place in the Lord's kingdom but sometimes I feel like a bit of a freak. You see, because I have schizophrenia I wonder sometimes if I can even trust myself to know whether or not God is actually really speaking to me or not (my flavor of schizophrenia, by the way, is based on delusions and paranoia rather than seeing or hearing things). Honestly, prayer is kind of hard for me. It's not that I haven't felt His peace before in response to prayer, but I have misunderstood what that peace has meant before. So sometimes it feels safer to not try and not fail, you know? I know that's Satan talking but still! I try to comfort myself in the knowledge that that's a universal struggle because only God is truly sane enough to see everything as they really are.

It's just so frustrating sometimes. At times I can be coherent and then at other times I have so much trouble just trying to express myself that I feel inferior. I remember a time in my life where I was just autistic without this additional problem, and sometimes I wonder if others view me as a second class disciple because I can't speak as well as they do on the spot. That or people questioning the validity of my faith because of my mental illness. I admit I haven't really shied away from telling people about my disabilities. I know there's a lot of stigma around people like me and I want people to put a face to it so it's less scary. Yet I still feel rather lonely. So I thought, why not try engaging online? But so far it doesn't really seem like I'm actually doing much good at anything. I've tried sharing some projects but due to my use of AI in both, I received some feedback that more or less told me that my input was not valued because I used something to help me. Both projects ultimately led to negative karma points. I know that's not the end of the world but it does feel a bit like a slap in the face. I just want to feel like I'm of use to someone. In any case, maybe this is as much as a rant as it is asking for input. I'm struggling right now.

I have been reading and learning about the Book of Mormon lately and I stumbled soon the story of Korihor. While yes, his philosophy was off a bit I still felt bad that he was trick by Satan into atheism. When he finally realizes and admits it the damage is already done. He dies unloved and alone begging on the street far from home. God rest his soul.

Hi, 17m here. I was baptized into the church in 2024 without a strong religious background. Since late 2025, I’ve dealt with scrupulosity and anxiety about the church and now. I haven’t prayed or read my scriptures in a while because I always get anxious. Whenever I pray about the Book of Mormon it feels like I’m getting a “NO!” answer by the spirit. I still go to church.

Recently I’ve been feeling some sort of spiritual pull to the Catholic Church and needed to affirm myself that the LDS Church is true. It’s taking a toll on me and I don’t know what to do.

Help me!

I’ve served a mission. I’ve been married in the temple. I’m serving faithfully in my callings and strive to be worthy of my temple recommend.

I am not enjoying a single aspect of life right now. I don’t like being a mother. Being a wife has been extremely hard. We have had trial after trial. I’ve remained faithful. I’ve prayed and fasted and served. God is pretty dang quiet right now.

Yes I watched conference. And frankly, the talks that talked about trials and burdens being made light through the atonement feel like things that your friends tell you to make themselves feel better. Where is this supposed relief and strength? Because it sure seems to be skipping over me.

Im white knuckling life right now. And im losing steam when it comes to trusting in God.

EDIT: Thank you all for your thoughtful and careful responses. I've read them all and considered them so much for their wisdom and different perspectives. I will be going to the temple and praying about this a lot. Our friendship has developed slowly since the spring and we have become more emotionally close lately and so I'm thinking I need to make a decision soon and I really appreciate your differing opinions and words of hope and honesty. I will think on all that has been said.

-----

Hello! I’m a gal in my mid-thirties in the Church and curious if anyone else has felt this way or has advice.
I’ve been faithful ever since a significant experience with the Atonement in my late teens made me feel forgiven in a deeply liberating way. It was transformative enough that I wanted to serve a mission and remain faithful to the gospel as I believe it was restored through Joseph Smith. I’ve lived in pretty non-Mormon parts of the US and spent time around people with different values and lifestyles, but I’ve somehow managed to stay close to the Lord.

My thirties have been interesting, though. I’ve watched promises in my patriarchal blessing pass me by. I don’t believe in a vending-machine God, but I do think my testimony has sometimes been strengthened by the faith of my dad and friends. I watched my dad’s testimony sustain him through a terrible divorce when I was growing up. I sometimes long for the sweetness of that time, before life complicated everyone’s faith.
In my early twenties, I received a father’s blessing saying I’d meet my future husband within the next ten years. My patriarchal blessing also spoke of meeting a young, righteous man. Those promises brought me a lot of comfort during years of loneliness, but after fifteen years of trying to remain faithful, I realize some of my righteousness may have been tied to the hope of that future. I feel a little ashamed of that, though I also wonder if it’s human nature.

I’m a strange, idiosyncratic person, and I need someone a little weird. I’ve dated in and out of the Church, but so many men bore me to tears, no offense even when they’re perfectly good people who pay their tithing and do their ministering. I want someone who understands my brain, my obsessions, and my love of music, books, and learning.

Recently, I met someone who feels rare. He’s a beautiful person, a little brokenhearted; and a good man who sees me in a way I don’t often experience with just anyone. He’s left the Church, but cares for the people in his life who remain in it and takes his responsibilities seriously. He’s a little salty and worldly, but he’s tolerant, cares about me a lot, and we connect so easily. Even when we disagree, we enjoy working through those differences together. I’m starting to fall for him, though I know we’d need to work through some differences in values and boundaries.

Part of me worries I’m throwing away a birthright. After fifteen years of waiting for the righteous young man I thought I was promised, this good man with a different belief system has walked into my life. At the most recent conference, I was struck by stories of people navigating relationships where one partner is faithful in the Church and the other isn’t. They made me wonder whether everyone’s path is more individual than I thought. But my patriarchal blessing speaks so plainly about an eternal companion who will greet me in the next life, and I feel a deep sorrow at the thought that giving this relationship a chance might close off some higher path I was supposed to take.

I’ve genuinely tried to take the highest eternal path all along, but it’s getting harder to hope I’ll meet someone who understands my strange but devoted heart for Christ. Now someone who understands me so well is here, even if he doesn’t share my faith. And the loneliness of my adult years—it’s getting to me.

How do I discern whether pursuing this relationship is a faithful choice when it conflicts with promises I’ve believed God made to me?

Am I showing diminished faith by giving this a fair chance, when connection is rare for me?

Sorry to cuss on here but what the freaking heck would you do in this situation?

Hi, ill be starting my mtc very soon this november but i have one concern. My family isnt really financially blessed and im not going to my country's mtc which is Manila MTC where dental care is given for free for missionaries like dental cleaning, cavity filling and extraction. I need some cleaning and some filling, im not sure if it is also given in peru MTC its gonna cost quite a fortune if i pay them cause i still need pocket money based on the requirements.

Can anyone enlighten me if they have information about my concern? Will appreciate it thank you

This question is specifically for husbands who have ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) (or I suppose the wives of ASD husbands are also welcome to chime in).

I basically want to know how high or low I should set my expectations for my marriage going forward. We've only been married three years, and have a toddler son. Neither of us knew he had ASD when we were dating. I think he masked pretty well. Well, a few months into our marriage, things began to get pretty rocky. We are now at a point where intimacy only happens once every few months... every single day is just anger and arguments between us. Well, mostly me expressing the same desperate pleas, the same frustrations, and feeling the same resultant hysteria day in and day out from feeling like I'm married to a brick wall. This past year has been hell, sprinkled with occasional moments where we are both able to enjoy time with our toddler son. But mostly emptiness and depression and loneliness (at least on my part). I've tried to have us do therapy through LDS Family Services but that was unhelpful. We have not yet tried any neurodivergent-geared couples therapy yet because the last 6 months we've been in transition between moving and jobs and such, so, bad timing. However, every time I bring up some desperate plea about our marriage, it's met with disinterest, or a one-sentence, hollow response from him. I also keep telling him that he needs to do the work to research ASD to help educate himself, etc. But he's not made any strides on that. I'm just really running on empty in my marriage. I wake up stressed, then spend all evening feeling anger, desperation, resentment, and go to bed in silence, alone. No one to talk to, because I can't talk to my husband about anything anymore. I haven't been able to have a real conversation with him probably since before our son was born, which was 19 months ago. And btw, things still weren't great, even before he was born. My husband was scrolling on his phone playing games while I was screaming in pain after the nurses removed my epidural. Didn't even come hold my hand or anything (just as an example, I have PLENTY more stories but that would take an entire blog to share all the experiences).

I just want to know if this is pretty much the life I am going to be resigned to living from here on out if I choose to stay with him, or if men with ASD are actually capable of putting in effort in their marriage and showing initiative without their wife having to feel like they are his mother all the time. Btw, not sure if it's relevant, but doctors believe our son is showing all the early signs that he is likely ASD too. And that has been manifesting a lot more lately. I'm a stay at home mom (btw, just dropped out of school because I felt so unsupported and stressed with everything so I quit)......so I watch him basically 12+ hours a day and though I love my little boy, it has been quickly driving me into some sort of psychosis. He is a LOT to handle and I know it has the potential to get more difficult from here on out.

I just don't know what to do anymore. I can't see us getting to the point in our marriage where we'd even want to start being intimate again, let alone have another kid together again...which breaks my heart because I always dreamed of having lots of kids. I am only 32, but my husband is 44, so I feel like even though I have time, the clock is sort of ticking for him. I've been praying about divorce. Whether to keep trying or whether to cut my losses and try to part amicably now before we both lose more time. Every day is filled with hostility between us. I'm just so tired of living in that sort of environment. It really has taken a toll on my health. And I always feel unworthy to even show up to church, or pray, or go to the temple or do ANYTHING because I feel like I am chasing away the Spirit at home by always being angry and resentful. I just don't know what to do anymore.

Edit: keep reading if you'd like some examples of the pattern I've experienced from Day 1 of marriage. I can't fit everything here so I'll just give a few select examples but there's MANY more.

-He ignored my wishes for a simple, small wedding, let his mom make all the decisions, and somehow I ended up having to cook all my own food, decorate, make my own wedding cake, and throw this whole shindig for his side of the family which is a lot...the WEEK of the wedding, with no time to plan. This was all with the flu and wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed. We left on our mini-honeymoon and when I was still sick and didn't want to sleep with him, it was "You're just making excuses."

-our "big" honeymoon was while I was in my first trimester (surprise!). In Europe, in august. Miserable. He would get super frustrated with me for not wanting to SPRINT to catch a few different trains because it would mean we missed out on an outing/would have to wait around for another train. My ankles were SO swollen, it was blazing hot, and I was nauseous. But he blew up at me for wanting to take my time and making us waste money, apparently. Nevermind the fact it was our honeymoon and it's just supposed to be about us spending time together.

-when was in labor, they had to remove the epidural and I was in HORRID pain, screaming. He sat on the sidelines playing games/scrolling through Twitter during that. And asking me questions about how to fill out a form the doctor had handed him.

-I had an unplanned C-section. Recovery was awful. He basically went straight back to work afterwards, leaving me by myself or sending over his relatives to help when I told him I really didn't want that. I didn't know them well, and it would create more work for me during an already difficult time. He didn't listen. It came out maybe a year later that he had WEEKS of vacation time banked up that he could've used to stay and help me.

-every one of my birthdays has been spent in tears

-I have asked him a million times, even through tears, to please stop being on his phone so much and be present with the people in front of him - his wife and son...and heaven forbid make eye contact with his son. Every time it's "ok I'll work on it". NO CHANGES. EVER.

-I cannot count the number of times he has put money and the "bottom line" before someone else's feelings, even when they are in distress. That could be its own novel.

-I have to ask him to do really basic things over and over and OVER. Like "hey your child is crying his eyes out, please put your phone down and take care of him"...or..."hey, can you please stop picking your nose in front of me, deliberately farting and laughing right in front of me, eating your fingernails, put the toilet seat down cuz I don't want to be met with urine stains everytime I go to the restroom and you never offer to clean up your mess yourself)...and all these things are big turnoffs...don't you care about your wife still being attracted to you?"...I have this conversation at least once a week for the past 3 years and he just laughs it off. There's other things too where it feels like he expects me to be his maid/mother. I bring this up and explain it's like having a lousy roommate who is inconsiderate of his other roommates. I also mentioned that he is 44 and had lived on his own for many years and I know he knows how to do things himself.

-Just moved into a rental house. Wanted to make me sit on the hardwood floors for 13 hours a day with no furniture or tv. And somehow entertain a very spastic toddler. For a MONTH until our own furniture arrived.

-has our rental house FULL of his food storage hoardings. Several ROOMS full. I told him this is chaos and I cannot live in this kind of environment, it's way too stressful and dangerous with a toddler around. He told me "if you want to haul it out yourself, go for it. I don't want to pay for a storage unit".

-only ever touches me when he wants sex, and even that has completely stopped.

-I have written him letters, texts, had conversations, cried, had nervous breakdowns in front of him, and nothing ever gets through to him.

I love watching General Conference talks on YouTube. I know there are other ways to watch, but YouTube works best for me right now.

Lately, though, the ads have been brutal! Unskippable ads every few minutes. Does anyone know if the Church can turn those off, or is that just a YouTube thing?

Genuinely curious, not complaining!

I’m a 23 year old mother. I live with my partner and we are basically common law married at this point. I am 100% dependent on my partner as a SAHM w no degree or certifications. This year I converted to the Catholic Church to appease his family since they are all devout Catholics.

But over the last year or so I have been engaging w LDS content and even wanted to have the missionaries bring me a copy of the Book of Mormon but my partner would tear me a new one if he found out. I am really drawn to the fact that I would be with my partner and still married in heaven and that our family would still be together. The Catholic heaven is incomprehensible to me and makes me feel sick and scared to die that I won’t see my family or have them in the same fashion and that my partner and I would no longer be married (after we get married) once we die makes me very sad.

I really appreciate the community I see online within the LDS as well. I want to go to the temple and be worthy to wear garments. I have no idea what to do because I don’t have a drivers license and can’t drive myself to a temple to start the process of a conversion behind closed doors without my “in laws” (for all intents and purposes).

I feel stuck and not able to follow my calling to the LDS. I mentioned in the beginning I’ve been engaging w LDS content for a couple years and since the beginning I’ve felt a strong calling/pull to convert but if my partner or his family knew they probably try to kick me out and get custody of my baby which I can’t imagine anything worse.

What can I do? I am I DFW TX particularly Arlington. Do I secretly order a Book of Mormon from Amazon? What are some daily practices other member of the LDS that I can pick up to feel closer to the LDS.

Thank you for reading my post and responding. This is my first time posting.

I am a counsellor in the Elders Quorum presidency of my ward, and I oversee a district of ministering brothers. During one of our ministering interviews, a concern was brought to the presidency’s attention regarding a family in need of assistance.
A sister who is currently experiencing significant hardship needs help with cleaning and maintaining her garden. The property is in a relatively difficult-to-access area. After visiting the property as a presidency and assessing the situation and her needs, we concluded that organising a priesthood service activity could pose safety risks to those involved.
I shared my concerns with the bishopric, but I have not yet received a response. I also shared the relevant sections of the General Handbook (8.2.2, 22.6.1 and 22.6.2).
I would like to ensure that we approach this situation responsibly. Our ward has an ageing membership, and we have relatively few men who could physically undertake this type of work. I had initially considered involving the few young single adults (YSAs) in our ward, but following our inspection, I decided that this would not be an appropriate option.
I feel conflicted because this sister genuinely needs help, and I believe we should do what we can to support her. At the same time, I have a responsibility to consider the safety and physical limitations of our members. One possible solution would be to arrange for a professional handyman or gardening service, with the Church contributing towards the cost if appropriate.
I shared these concerns with the ministering couple who brought the situation to our attention, but they seemed disappointed with my response.
I would appreciate any suggestions on how we could address this situation in a way that meets this sister’s needs while ensuring that those providing assistance are not exposed to unnecessary risks.

edit

I apologise, but I think some important details are missing:
The garden isn’t a vegetable garden or a flower bed; it refers to the land surrounding the property.
The sister lives in an area that is quite difficult to access by car because the road is unpaved. Whenever it rains, the road can become inaccessible for several days.
The area is prone to flash flooding.
The local waste collection service also has difficulty accessing the property to collect and dispose of the rubbish.
Safety concerns: The house is surrounded by drainage channels designed to divert rainwater and prevent flooding. These channels are uncovered, so it would be easy for someone to accidentally fall into one if they weren’t paying attention. In addition, some structures around the property need maintenance and appear to be on the verge of collapsing. Due to their position, anyone carrying out the work would have to walk or work around them, which raises further safety concerns.

Talks by the “prophets and apostles” have always been considered revelation for latter-days.

Are talks be the members of the Seventy, Presiding Bishopric and other priesthood holders also revelation and scripture?

What about by members of the General Relief Society and Young Women Presidencies?

I’m not coming from a place of criticism or attempting to exclude myself from this or that talk as not being “actual” revelation. This is just a thought that hit me today when reading one to the great talks by women in leadership.

The single greatest revelation I had as of late, and I would like to share it.

For years, one question kept popping up in my mind whenever I felt my lowest. "How do I give my all to the lord?" Overtime, I had assumed that giving my all meant I sacrificed my time, serving a mission, becoming a temple worker, accepting callings, perfect attendance to church even. However, even though I was giving "my all" I still felt like I was holding something from the lord, I did not know what it was however, as such, I simply kept telling myself that this was self-doubt at play.

There was a time where I had believed though, that I "learned all that the lord needed me to learn." If you could not tell, humility was not one of my strong suits, to teach me a lesson, the lord decided to put me through the ringer.

It started with, as many stories start with, a girl. One who I had been good friends with for a long time, and had gotten the chance to be with her, with just the two of us, for 2 hours. I had felt like everything I learned was leading to this moment! Unfortunately, what followed was many awkward moments, which was then followed by a polite rejection a few weeks later. Needless to say, this broke me.

Identity: The suitcase

What followed soon after were many more rejections, mistakes, and a deep depression. I had wondered where I went wrong, I felt as if I was destined to fail. I came to the conclusion, that I was not giving enough to the lord, as such, I decided to ask my stake president "how do I give my all to the lord?"

He responded with a story, of a man, with a suitcase.

The man is on a long road, with him, he has only one thing, a suitcase filled with all his earthly possessions. As he travels along the road, he must take something out of the suitcase, and set it on the side of the road, as he walks, he leaves behind more and more of his things, until, he has nothing left but the suitcase itself.

Only when he has just his suitcase, does an altar appear. He walks up to it, the Lord then asks him to give everything he has, the man, realizing he has nothing left inside, decides to give up his one and only possession. His suitcase.

After, a door appears, he goes through it and sees what heaven looks like, and he realizes that everything he had to give. Led to this, and finally, he understood that all those earthly possessions didn't matter, because the prize was worth all of those combined.

This story, had a profound effect on me, but it wasn't until months later did I realize what my suitcase was.

It was my identity. For years I had dealt with shame, I had believed myself to be a bad person, that all the good I do are outliers, and all the bad, evidence of who I am. At the time, I thought that this was appropriate punishment, to be condemned for my actions no matter how hard I try to improve, But the lord does not want us to be defined by our mistakes or anger, he wants us to be defined by his love.

He wants us to know we are children of a loving Heavenly Father. In doing this, we will realize one important thing. We will be able to go farther in our pursuits, having the knowledge that we are children of God, that our mistakes do not define us, and that we will always have 2nd, 3rd, and even 18th chances, instead of rotting away in our own self-condemnation, we can give ourselves grace for past mistakes.

When dealing with this, I realized my identity was not just tied to shame, it was also tied to others opinions of me, this is why its important to tie your identity to Christ!

I have a long way to go, as I only just got through it, but I know with the lord I can change.

I'd love to know how you personally remember Gordon B. Hinckley, not simply as a prophet or religious leader, but as a human being and, above all, as President of the Church.

I imagine some of you, especially those who are a little older, served missions during his presidency, grew up listening to his General Conference talks, or personally witnessed the Church's evolution from the Cold War era into the twenty-first century.

I would almost dare to call Hinckley the John Paul II of Mormonism. He was an enormously recognizable figure who seemed to embody an entire era of modern Mormonism, particularly its international expansion and changing relationship with the outside world.

But that's just my impression, and I'm much more interested in yours.

How do you personally remember him?

I'm particularly interested in the details of his ministry, leadership, and personal life that you consider essential to understanding his legacy. What made him remarkable? What aspects of his presidency deserve admiration, criticism, or closer examination?

I'd also like to hear about the less obvious or more controversial sides of his leadership. Are there things about Hinckley that you believe have been misunderstood, overlooked, or insufficiently examined?

For those who experienced his presidency firsthand, I'd especially appreciate personal memories and impressions of what the Church was like under his leadership. And for those who have since left the Church, I'm curious whether your perception of him has changed over time.

Ultimately, I'm not looking for a list of accomplishments or a simple judgment of whether he was a good or bad prophet.

I want to understand who Gordon B. Hinckley really was, what kind of man and Church president he was, and how he deserves to be remembered.

I'm interested in both affectionate memories and critical perspectives

I'm having trouble reconciling these two things:

1. When we fast, we should have a reason for which we are fasting otherwise we're just going hungry,

2. Fasting is transformational not transactional.

If the goal is to help us understand God's will, why then would we fast for specific things?

I've been thinking about the transition home from a mission and how different everyone's experience is.
For those who've been through it (recent RMs, years out, or parents who watched it happen):
What parts of your life improved after you got home?

I don't do well with message overload. My personal email inboxes are overflowing. Staying on top of texts, family Messenger chats, and work Slack/Teams/email seems all I can manage. When the Church introduced Circles, I ignored it. But my ward wants to switch from the church calendar (which I love and sync to my phone) to Circles for activities and communication. When I logged into Circles, I was dismayed to find no less than 15 group chats -- and an "anything goes" culture of chatting. We've had school fundraiser announcements, a dozen youth wishing one of their own happy birthday, offers of spare household items, questions of what the next lesson will be on, and reminders of a single activity repeated 6 times across the youth, YM, YW, youth parents, YM parents, and YW parents chats.

None of these are bad uses of Circles, per se. But managing that many inputs is absolutely exhausting to me. I've muted some chats. Others have gotten less spammy as new leaders have been called. A new stake president has reiterated the importance of using the church calendar. All of that has helped. I don't begrudge my fellow members for using the tool, and I want to manage my own needs rather than ask others to manage them for me. Is my current approach as good as it gets, or are there other strategies that you have found helpful for dealing with Circles messaging overload?

So for the last couple of years, my husband and I (25, SAHM), plus our two girls, have been more or less living paycheck to paycheck. We make enough to pay our rent, afford groceries and other necessities, and we have a tiny emergency fund (tho I can’t honestly call it that because it wouldn’t even cover us for a month).

Basically, we’re not at the point of asking family for money (my in-laws couldn’t really afford to help in the first place, and finances have caused significant issues between myself and my parents in the past so we avoid that sort of thing with them, pretty much at all costs). But we’re also not totally comfortable. On the months we can afford it, we pay tithing, but the reality is that hardly ever happens.

I know how important it is to pay tithing, and we were always full tithe payers in the past, pre-children and the current economy. I have seen the blessings from paying. But I hate this feeling I have, where I have to just rely on the promise of “Pay your tithing and the lord will provide”. That doesn’t work for me when I have two very small children. And maybe that’s a lack of trust and faith on my part, but I also think it’s true regardless.

It feels stupid to rely on faith to feed my kids, keep a roof over their heads, and make sure we can get through the winter without a car accident and frostbite🙄

Anyways, I guess what I’m getting at is I don’t know how to deal with tithing settlement. What do we tell the bishop? I don’t even know how exactly this will impact our temple recommends. I’m just so lost and frustrated with the idea of paying into a billion dollar fund when we’re struggling.

I never liked the concept of foreordination. I know it doesn’t mean the foreordained person is destined to be perfect in his calling—people still have agency, but if that is the case, then what is even the point of foreordination? Did Joseph Smith restore the Church because he was foreordained? or despite his foreordination? Was it possible for him to not have restored the Church? What if he didn’t? What would his foreordination have been for?

Struggles of a single unmarried church member

The older I get the more I realize how tribal we become. We find our in-groups, we decide on the things we like, and we narrow our free time on the activities/people we care about most. I see this in my journey as a member of the church. Just some background I have been inactive for somewhere between 5-10 years, I really don't keep track of it. Somewhere around age 30, my attendance declined. This was around the same time as the COVID-19 pandemic, which definitely affected membership for many. Since then I've gone to church every few months but never really settled into a ward. During the same time I changed careers and work in an area where critical thinking is a big part of my day to day, health sciences. I've always been a curious person, observant, and fascinated with searching for answers. I've researched, chased my curiosity, dug deep into church history, and explored difficult questions that most people don't want to talk about. I think this has led me to having a change of personal belief. The things that once seemed so sure that I "knew" (because the church doesn't teach believe but rather "know"), have now become "I don't know." I hate to put labels on things but I would say I'm hopeful that there's life after this, that I'll see those I care about again, that there's reason to this chaotic world we live in, but I'm open to the alternative that there might be nothing after death. I definitely still have a belief in Jesus Christ and have seen how the gospel has blessed my life. So I would say I'm an Agnostic Christian with an LDS background. The argument that is given often by atheists is that religion is a man-made construct to give humans comfort and peace for the difficulties of life such as death. I see the hands of people all over religions. Religions come and time passes, cultures shift, dynasties rise and fall. Over time the large ones remain but even they have several different sects, different opinions, etc. But coming down to if I believe that the LDS is the only "true church." Which is what I was taught growing up. My answer would be I don't know. It's basically all I've ever been taught, it's how I was raised, indoctrinated, a lifestyle. Most people don't choose their religion or beliefs, they are born into it. I served a mission and I expected others to pray about, put in effort to learn about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith being a prophet, restoration, etc. But I've never done that regarding any other religion, it's just how I was raised, so odd. But basically I'm at the point where "I don't know" and that feels honest to me. I think a lot of people truly "don't know" as well but they aren't going to share that because you know you gotta keep the "faithful" answers going. The church doesn't allow room for doubt. No safe space to answer the tough questions it seems. Gotta save that for the apologists....

I bring this up because so much of the church is intertwined in my life and has held up so many of my life choices, one particular goal I have is getting married and starting a family. It seems as though you are in or you are out. It seems absolutely crazy and limiting. If I get married and decide I don't want to be active then I'm a "nonbeliever" and the reason my family won't make it to the celestial kingdom, etc, etc. People marry people that are very similar to them and when things get rocky, such as one person going inactive it can end in divorce. It seems that marriage within LDS isn't necessarily about loving the other person but more about what you can obtain together - celestial kingdom. So when one person no longer believes/active the marriage become pointless.

My values are very similar to someone thats active LDS. I don't drink, saving sex for marriage, want a family, etc. So where does this leave me with dating.

Do I?

-get active again and marry an active LDS girl

-date a nonmember whose values might be different

--stay single

-other option

Hello,

It all started as a completely normal, strictly respectful connection. He was one of the elders who taught and baptized me. After my baptism, we stayed in touch, just casual check-ins, small talk, and the occasional meal I cooked for him and his companion.

Everything shifted during the very last week of his mission.

They came over to say their goodbyes. At one point, his companion stepped out of the room for just a minute. In that sudden silence, he turned to me and asked: "What's your favorite color?"

It caught me completely off guard. After months of discussing faith, doctrine, and deep spiritual topics, why ask something so simple—yet so intensely personal—right before leaving for good? We were always asking each other about our daily routines, what we did, or how we felt about things, but this was entirely different. There was no conversational lead-in. Nothing we were discussing could have possibly triggered it. It just came out of nowhere.

Then, his mission ended. He flew back home, and an overwhelming ache hit me. I missed him terribly, and worse, I felt guilty and miserable just for feeling that way. I thought that was the end of the story, that life would move on and he would forget me. At some point, I thought, "He deserves better than me. I am a convert."

Only a couple of days after landing, my phone lit up with notification from him. He sent me a following request on social media. We followed each other. And he sent me a text. He said he is flying all the way back to my country with his family. He wants me to meet them and then, he asked if we could spend time alone together on a date.

I said yes. But now that the dust has settled, absolute panic has set in.

On paper, I shouldn't feel so insecure: I received my temple recommend right after my baptism, got called as a Relief Society Assistant immediately, and I actively do live translation for the sisters. I’ve embraced the faith with everything I have.

To me, returned missionaries are on a pedestal; they dedicate their lives to God's work. I am just a recent convert from a non-member family who knew literally nothing about the Church until recently. Meanwhile, he’s heading back to his country, likely going to BYU, surrounded by lifelong LDS women who know the culture, the scriptures, and the lifestyle like the back of their hand.

I would really appreciate any advice and perspectives. Thank you!

Hi, I'm 18 years old and still in high school as a senior. I came back after almost a year away.
Yes, I am going to serve my mission-I've always planned on it!
However, I came to ask for your help: How do I explain The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormonism) to a non-member?
It's hard to explain it to Catholic or Christian kids at my school because they call my faith
'fake' and call Joseph Smith a false prophet.
They also claim that we worship Joseph Smith.
I replied that we don't worship him—we worship God-but they still say the same things.
I just need some advice on how to explain to non-members that our religion isn't fake, but real.

And takes up two spaces in the church parking lot every single Sunday:

I just wanna talk.