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Hi, my name is Eric. I’m very glad to have bumped into you folks here. I was browsing for LDS podcasts and came upon Stay LDS. I was amazed (in a good way) to find a group of Brothers and Sisters who had the same questions and concerns as I did. Let me tell you a little about myself and you’ll see why I’m glad to be here. I was born and raised in NY and raised Catholic. Only Mormons I knew growing up were Donnie and Marie and Danny Ainge. I was happy being Catholic, but always thought there was something else out there for me. My first interaction with a church member was when I moved to AZ. Two of my dearest friends were LDS. I’ve always been in awe of their genuine kindness and associated it with their families and LDS upbringing (I’ve found out that they are very liberal when it comes to church doctrine, which helps my thinking.) I moved from AZ to WA. Still Catholic, but intrigues by the LDS church. I met another friend who was LDS. Another incredible kind soul who was a member. I had to discover what the deal was with this church. I started asking questions and attended my first church service and felt connected. I was “golden”, took my discussions one after the other, and was baptized on 1-6-1998.
It was an amazing feeling, that I just couldn’t hold on to. When you have your discussions, you are told the basics, which are pretty easy to accept. The two major reasons I started to question my decision where 1. My ward was a singles ward at an institute. These kids knew it all, no questions asked. You where either in or out. I also wasn’t prepared for all these new doctrines and teachings (Celestial Kingdom, baptism for the dead, Adam is Michael, etc… 2. The first class i took at institute as a new member was a” Pearl Of Great Price Class” Talk about Mind-blowing over your head stuff. The More I learned, the more I had questions. Problem was, your either in or out. I was so confused and overwhelmed, after 6 months, I became inactive. For the next 8 years, I went back to the catholic church, explored eastern religion, didn’t care, but the LDS church was always still in the back of my mind.
To make long story short, after 8 years of being inactive, I had an awesome experience with the Holy Spirit in the Visitors center of the St George temple (weird considering yoou have to be “in” to recieve that I thought). I decided to go back to church. I recieved my Patiarchal blessing, went to the temple, baptised my wife, but I still have questions, concerns with stuff I don’t like. This last year, we lost our house to foreclosure along with other events to make this a crummy year and I’ve just been going back between “in” and “out” over and over. I hope to gain some inspiration and guidance here. Heavenly Father wants me in this church for some reason and I want to be here, but there’s alot in the buffet, and I don’t want to have a allergic reaction to the food. I hope this made sense.
Welcome! I hope you find some of the support you seek! For what it’s worth, with us you will always be “IN” …no matter if we always agree or not.
some_guy_in_va wrote:I hope this made sense.
Totally!
The “in” and “out” thing is all part of cultural mormonism and doesn’t really reflect the theology which actually enourages questioning and allows for individual spiritual progress and enlightenment. I’m sorry you had to go through that.
But I’m glad you found this place.
Great way of putting it Orson — you’re “In” here. About the only requirement I can think of is we are people who want to explore or find value in some part of Mormonism, on some level, and enjoy it.
There’s a lot of nice things in the Mormon religion, some truly awesome and inspiring ideas. It’s a great community most of the time (some people end up in dysfunctional wards at times though). But you really don’t have to believe every single speculation of doctrine that has ever been taught. It isn’t even possible to do that, not really.
Actually, I would think coming from a Catholic upbringing, you might have some good perspectives. The Catholic Church has had all kinds of positions on various topics over their long history. They don’t burn witches anymore, and they no longer imprison people that teach that the sun is the center of the solar system. To me, Adam-God theory and polygamy are similar types of issues. We’re just such a young religion. We haven’t had enough practice at being wrong yet
Welcome to the community! Glad to have you here with us, no matter what dishes you like or don’t like at the buffet. Grab a plate, it’s all you can eat. You can go back for seconds, and you can skip the stuff that looks gross.
BTW, I live in the DC area. Also had a rough trip with the economy the past 2 years or so. We’re moving to VA this year.
Glad you joined us. I understand some of where you are coming from. I think god truly wants me to stay in the church, but it’s like putting a round peg in a square hole. It’s been a long tough row for me, and I’m not done yet either. Hi Eric, I was wondering if your complete screenname was going to be “some guy living in a van down by the river?”
Welcome. This year has been a hard year for us as well, I was recently laid off and we are hoping to get a far away job we know of that pays less money. So I guess I am trying to say that I can relate.
I can also relate to the in and out thing. My wife was talking to some other moms from the ward and one suggested that we pray about where God wants us to look for work. DW replied, “That would be difficult as my husband doesn’t believe in an intervening God.” After some explaining the other mom said “but I though he was doing so much better, I heard the talk he gave where he said he knew he would be with your deceased daughter again.” To which DW replied, “Yes, but he thinks we will as be together again regardless of the church we attend.” “Oooooh,” was the response.
When DW recounted this to me I asked her not to explain my views to ward members in the future, not because she is not describing them accurately but because I worry that some people might treat me differently if they no longer see me as on their side of the fence. So if we do get this job and move, I am hoping for a clean slate
I’ve had all kinds of people telling me religious solutions to solve my employment problem. I finally just decided to tell people “Look, I will be more than thankful if God finds me a great new job, but he doesn’t seem to be doing any better at it than me. So i’m going to keep solving the problem myself until he gets his act together.” Quote:=”some_guy_in_va”=Hi, my name is Eric.
Eric from VA. Good to have you here. Is it okay to call you Eric? My screen name was too long so I was abreviated by Brian Johnston, that made me feel accepted. I look forward to hearing more about you.
f4h1
Welcome. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better. Hi, Eric. I think Catholics are cool. For all we know, the LDS Church is exactly where you belong. I hope this site continues to be supportive for you as you explore that possibility. Feel free to start some threads about issues that are on your mind. Tom
Some of your experiences are very similar to mine Eric (except I have no RC background). I was baptized fast, but fobbed off when I had questions, and went inactive for a while. I too have had Holy Ghost experiences, something I struggle with as I find some aspects of Mormonism questionable, and I have also had similar experiences OUTSIDE the church. I used to go to a Pentecostal church, and although some odd things happened there, I did “feel the spirit” on a number of occasions. For what it’s worth, RCism vs Mo’ism, RCism is more established. However, both have some very odd beliefs (odd to outsiders anyway) and some violence in their history. Both also put a high premium on following the leader.
some_guy_in_va wrote:Heavenly Father wants me in this church for some reason and I want to be here, but there’s alot in the buffet, and I don’t want to have a allergic reaction to the food. I hope this made sense.
Welcome Eric. I think this is a good place to relax, feel welcome, and open up to ask questions and work through the things you find don’t sit right with you. I have found it a safe place to open up.There is a good quote from CS Lewis that I think applies here:
Quote:If our religion is something objective, then we must never avert our eyes from those elements in it which seem puzzling or repellant; for it will be precisely the puzzling or the repellant which conceals what we do not yet know and need to know …
the truth we need most is hidden precisely in the doctrines you least like and least understand.– CS Lewis Perhaps there is growth for you by exploring some things that you struggle with, and finding out why they bother you. While doing that, you can also hold on to the beautiful things of the gospel that attracted you to it…and still call you to want to be a part of it.
Despite what others may make you think…it is not about black and white or you have to be “in” or “out”, in my opinion. There’s lots of room for variation in the church, and Ray has a great analogy about how much better an orchestra sounds when there are different instruments playing to all compliment each other. You might find the following thread something you want to read over around this topic (surprise, surprise…you’re not the only one in history to have such questions!! I find that realization comforting.), check this out when you have time:
http://www.staylds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1146http://www.staylds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1146” class=”bbcode_url”> If you truly feel Heavenly Father wants you in this church…that is a strong statement. There must be some thing behind that. Do not downplay those thoughts and feelings.
Those are my thoughts from reading your Intro. Glad you’re here. I look forward to learning from your posts.
Hi some_guy or Eric! So glad you are here. I think converts are the most interesting people. I find the whole concept of accepting a new religion fascinating. I hope you can find peace and your place at church. You already fit in here just fine.
Wow, thank you all for being so nice and welcoming. I was very nervous posting that intro, I was afraid the EQ police had my computer wired 
In regard to my growing up Catholic, I would love to give any insight I can (I’m not an expert in canon law, but I do know the basics). This community is helping me to continue on a path I believe Heavenly Father has led me on, especially now that I feel somewhat comfortable knowing I can question ideas and take this walk at my own pace, not somebody elses. If anybody has any questions of me, please feel free to ask. My first question is, where do I go to get started?
some_guy_in_va wrote:I was very nervous posting that intro, I was afraid the EQ police had my computer wired
Sorry to tell you, but they do. Expect a call later this week for an interview…as penance, they will be expecting you to put time in on the chain-gang…aka…they will need help moving somebody’s furniture somewhere
some_guy_in_va wrote:My first question is, where do I go to get started?
You’re in charge of that!
🙂 There are lots of topics you can search for or browse through the Board Index sections…or you may just want to use that button at the top that says “View Active Topics” and jump in where ever you see something of interest.If you haven’t checked out the StayLDS.com library, that is also a good start for reading things…Fowler’s Stages of Faith or “HOW TO STAY IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS AFTER A MAJOR CHALLENGE TO YOUR FAITH” essay.
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