Single LDS members — where do they fit

[Anonymous]

I was around when SWK was president, even enough to have actually hear him speak in GC. He suffered greatly from various health issues, some of which were very painful. My own take on SWK is that he thought suffering was necessary to salvation. But he also recognized his fellows in the Q15 and many other good people didn’t seem to have the same type of suffering he did. He may have concluded that their suffering was just less obvious and less physical – but nonetheless he perceived they suffered. I think that was part of his message. Perhaps were I one who suffered great physical/medical challenges while seeing others don’t, I might also have some notion that others must suffer also – if not, then why does God do or allow this for me? I’m probably not communicating this very well, but I’m trying to say that SWK may have desired all of us to suffer in some way as he had because he thought that without suffering salvation was not possible. I think also think he may not have understood mercy and grace. (I know blasphemous that sounds and would never say such a thing in SS! 😈 ) This is all just my opinion, of course.

[Anonymous]

I think we put in our own spin on things, but I think that God teaches in the way that will make us learn what we actually need to learn. If you want someone to learn how to run into burning buildings and rescue people, you don’t teach them to have panic attacks when there is smoke or fire. Okay, that analogy didn’t work well, but God knows where we need improvement and those areas are different for everyone even if they have similar problems. Maybe for some souls suffering is needed, while for other souls they need something else to encourage the changes/improvements to make. Someone that is good at making people happy by interacting with them doesn’t work well when dumped somewhere they can barely interact with anyone because they don’t use their skill as much or maybe they need to be dumped like that because they need to learn to use their skill at making people happy in a better fashion or with more wisdom.

Not all difficulties in life have to look difficult, for some having everything going so well can be challenging in its own right.

[Anonymous]

Rob4Hope wrote:

I have a friend who is single (WOW!…I am as well at the moment,..go figure). This friend HATES the discussions and preferences geared at family, getting married, being associated with “family culture” because he has a big jagged hale inside. It is a problem for him.

I was told by another member that over 1/3 of the adult membership in the LDS church is single. And,…unless you are married, you sometimes can feel like you are a second class saint.

Any comments on this?

This isn’t quite in keeping with the discussion so far, but my comment is that it’s a problem for me, too. And I married at 23 and had children. It’s a problem for me, especially now that I’m conscious of my faith journey, because flogging the topic of family with the typical church-y script is boring. Fortunately, there are a lot of good speakers who breathe life into their speaking and teaching assignments. And then there are the others who just…flog.

My stand-by suggestion lately is always to read something interesting, have real friendships, discussions, etc. with people (LDS and non-) you enjoy and try to let some of the annoyance go. Easier said than done. 🙂

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