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Hi all. I’m happy to be a part of the StayLDS forum. I’ll try to introduce myself a little. Let’s see… I joined the LDS church two years ago knowing much of the controversies regarding church history and doctrine. I am the only member in my family, and my husband is not LDS. I chose the LDS church because I feel that it is the church that best speaks to my soul, it is my way of communicating with God. I believe that everyone has their own faith path that leads to the same clearing in the forest (God/ the great diety/ etc) and the LDS path is my path in the forest. I see things as multi-faceted: our church can be the one true church, yet other churches and faith paths can be equally as valid and helpful; or that the temple ceremony depicts more than the creation story – it is an allegory of how we relate to God. It is not being wishy-washy, it is seeing things in many different ways, seeing things as multiple Truths. Yet I can feel closer to one of those truths and align myself with it. (Sorry if this is confusing – it is hard to explain.)
Sometimes I feel like I do not fit in very well at church. I don’t pray aloud in the “right” way, I don’t have an LDS family, I’m not interested in converting my husband nor do I want to drag him to church, I don’t do all the things that a ‘good’ Mormon “should” do. I’m ok with all of this (I’m just being me after all) and I’m not particularly vocal about it, however I feel like it tends to throw people off a little bit. Things seem to work out once people get to know me a bit better and then everyone becomes a little more friendly.
While I feel very comfortable with my faith and my relationship with God, I still have trouble integrating my new way of thinking about faith into my already existing persona. (Although that has gotten better over the last 2 years.) I want to bounce ideas off of you guys regarding that but I’ll post more about it later in a different thread.
Sometimes I feel very lonely at church (both because I attend by myself and because of being different), and I enjoy reading the posts on this board because they affirm that I am not alone. They remind me that it is ok to understand things differently than the standard interpretation dictates. I look forward to getting to know you all. Let me know if there’s something unclear or if you have questions about this intro and I will try to explain it better.
sparrow wrote:I chose the LDS church because I feel that it is the church that best speaks to my soul, it is my way of communicating with God. I believe that everyone has their own faith path that leads to the same clearing in the forest (God/ the great diety/ etc) and the LDS path is my path in the forest. I see things as multi-faceted: our church can be the one true church, yet other churches and faith paths can be equally as valid and helpful; or that the temple ceremony depicts more than the creation story – it is an allegory of how we relate to God. It is not being wishy-washy, it is seeing things in many different ways, seeing things as multiple Truths. Yet I can feel closer to one of those truths and align myself with it. (Sorry if this is confusing – it is hard to explain.)
Welcome! I agree with you about the many paths and also do not think it is wishy washy, but a different way to view it.I think you’ll fit in here nicely! Thanks for joining.
Welcome Sparrow. It sounds like you will fit in just right here. You are not alone. Welcome to the board! 
Welcome! I know it sounds trite at times, but you really do fit in here at stayLDS. We’re all pretty passionate about the personal spiritual journey.
Welcome sparrow. sparrow wrote:I chose the LDS church because I feel that it is the church that best speaks to my soul, it is my way of communicating with God. I believe that everyone has their own faith path that leads to the same clearing in the forest (God/ the great diety/ etc) and the LDS path is my path in the forest.
sparrow wrote:Things seem to work out once people get to know me a bit better and then everyone becomes a little more friendly.
That’s great. It must be a bit of a challenge with the often “you’re all in or there’s something wrong and you need to improve” attitude that Mormon’s often have. It’s good you are upfront with people. It would be so good if the church was more open to people joining it on their terms like many other religions do.
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