Why blog at StayLDS.com?

[Anonymous]

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– What brought you here at first?

I was here from the start with Brian and Ray, as part of the admin team.

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– What keeps you coming back?

We felt the mission of this site was very important. I have always felt drawn to people who are, like me, more unorthodox and questioning.

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– Why do you like to blog online?

Well, technically, StayLDS isn’t a blog (since we don’t do OPs here), but I do also blog. Basically, I learn a lot as I write about things.

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– Has blogging changed you (good or bad)?

That’s hard to say. I think blogging reveals you to yourself.

[Anonymous]

I know I’m a “regular” but I’ll chime in.

* What brought you here at first?

It was a process. I was just going through the motions at church, slowly dying on the vine. I was still attending and doing what was expected of me but in a zombie like state. I was resigned to my fate. By pure chance I listened to the Saturday morning session of the October 2013 general conference (by this point I had set up limits to how much conference I’d listen to, devoting an entire weekend to conference wasn’t going to happen). I was doing my typical thing, being in the room but not of the room but then Uchtdorf gave his Come, Join with Us talk. I only had half an ear dedicated to the conference but this talk reached out and grabbed me. I had never heard anything quite like it during GC.

I was already well down the path of my FC but that talk got me caring about my spirituality again. From time to time there were lulls at work so I decided to find an online forum with church members to interact with. I wasn’t intending to beat the war drum, I just wanted to reconnect with the saints because I had divorced myself from them mentally a long time ago. I typed “lds forum” into google search and StayLDS came up in the results. It stood out because of the name so I tentatively joined.

I found more than I bargained for. I was just looking for church members to interact with, just something to pass time during lulls at work. I ended up receiving healing and rediscovering purpose, a path forward.

* What keeps you coming back?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KtAgAMzaeg” class=”bbcode_url”>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KtAgAMzaeg :angel: Not that anyone shouts “nibbler!” when I walk through the door but there’s something about sharing time with people with shared experiences… especially when you’ve spent some appreciable time alone with your experiences.

The people here add perspective. I appreciate hearing from everyone and the comments help expand my heart, might, mind and strength… and of course I achieve my original goal of filling the lulls at work with something.

Another aspect, I want to pay it forward. Like I said earlier, interactions in this site either outright saved my soul or significantly shortened the time it would have otherwise taken. I can’t offer much – more often than not it’s going to be a simple “ditto” to what someone else said, but I hope that simple ditto can show that there’s at least one more person that understands, that cares, and that would like to help in any way they can.

* Why do you like to blog online?

Well hawkgrrrl already pointed out that this is a forum, not a blog so that’s already been taken care of.

I think all people have a need to feel like they are understood and people seek approval. We’ve got to communicate in order to do that. I think StayLDS fills in some of the gaps that exist in my overall church experience. Both in creating friendships and in challenging me to grow.

* Has blogging changed you (good or bad)?

I feel like the same old me for the most part. It’s helped me see where I need to change but I’m a little lazy or paralyzed, change is still on the back burner.

[Anonymous]

Nibbler!!! Glad you’re here. And also…ditto.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Anonymous]

Several years ago, a friend in my ward became very upset about what they learned on the Internet about Mormonism.

http://richalger.blogspot.com/2011/02/truth-will-prevail.html

It triggered me to look closer than I had before. I was able to process through it. This site was part of that. I knew Ray from elsewhere and his influence soothed my sensibilities. I felt safe here. I see myself as a TBM. What I truly believe in has shrunk but I hold it more dearly.

[Anonymous]

As one of the long time lurkers, I figured I would come out of the shadows and answer a couple of these too.

– What brought you here at first?

I honestly don’t remember how I found the site. I know that when my questioning / doubting started, I spent a lot of time reading apologetics on the internet. I felt like there absolutely had to be answers to my questions that would show me the TBM way was correct and that my questions were easily answerable and completely blown out of proportion. But most apologetic answers left me with a bad taste in my mouth and a feeling of “you’ve got to be kidding me”. During one of my searches, I happened across StayLDS and started reading. Over 5 years later, I’m still lurking and reading (almost every day).

– What keeps you coming back?

I keep coming back because of all of you (regular posters and fellow lurkers alike). You are my tribe. We share things in common. We question. We doubt. We hope. We can empathize with each others suffering. We know that we are not alone in that which we have in the past or are currently going through. Knowing that I am not alone in my situation is incredibly important to me.

Probably the most important thing that keeps me coming back is the non-judgmental tone of everyone here. It’s hard to imagine expressing doubts to anyone at all close to me and not feeling as if I would be judged, shunned or, worse still, viewed as a project. This is the only place that I have found that questions and doubts posed to the group are usually met with love, compassion and understanding. Kind of how I like to think the Savior would have responded.

– Why do you like to blog online?

Obviously, I don’t!

And I’ll add an additional question here that might have interesting responses if more lurkers are willing to answer it:

– Why do you lurk instead of actively participate in the conversation?

For me the answer to my question changes from time to time.

There are times that I feel like someone else will answer the question or add to the conversation better than I can.

Sometimes, I feel like all I could do is say “Ditto” (and that’s Nibbler’s job ). A “like button” would go a long way around this group, I think.

Some times, I don’t post out of fear. Not necessarily fear of giving the wrong answer or that someone will disagree with me, but rather fear that my response would be personal enough that someone reading it that knew me would be able to point me out at the next Sacrament meeting and report my apostasy to the bishop. I know that it is an irrational fear, but being irrational doesn’t make it less real! As an aside, that irrational fear / desire for anonymity has been along for the ride ever since I started reading here. My account handle is SMiLe. SML are my initials. I wanted to remain anonymous but still feel like I owned what I had to say the few times that I’ve said it.

I’ll end by saying, thanks for being here. From the admins to the regulars and all of the rest who contribute in any way at all, you are what makes this a great community.

[Anonymous]

Richalger:

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What I truly believe in has shrunk but I hold it more dearly.

Because it is hard earned! Well said.

[Anonymous]

SMiLe –

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I’ll end by saying, thanks for being here. From the admins to the regulars and all of the rest who contribute in any way at all, you are what makes this a great community.

Thanks for stepping out of lurking. Lurkers are very important to us. We discuss the fact that many more people exist on this forum then we see. I presume among those unseen souls we have a gamut of people. From that group, there are homes and families connected, too. Everyone of these people is important to us and to life. We love our Lurkers and you too SMiLe.

[Anonymous]

RichAlger and Hawkgrrl wrote

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What I truly believe in has shrunk but I hold it more dearly.

Because it is hard earned! Well said.

Isn’t that what a real testimony is?

[Author]

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