r/latterdaysaints

So I have been struggling In a while about the BoM's literally quality and I know it sounds weird, but bear with me for a second.

The thing is, I'm a writer. A deeply passionate writer and someone who gives real importance to a work being well done. I don't care to defend a movie I watched as child and feel nostalgia if it's objetively bad. For me, an actual goos storytelling is the key, period.

So I have been trying to see criticisms on this part of the Book of Mormon hoping people would aknowledge it's complexity, beautiful stories, details, parallels and mythical value. Faithful members have said and continue to say how it IS a complex masterpiece but critics often put to the repetitive prose, moralyzing, overexplanation, etc and quoting Mark Twain's famous' "chloroform in print"

And I struggle with it. You may ask why? The BoM is made for our edification and doctrinal clarification, and also as a guide for our life. So I expect at least quality, tension, richness in mythical value as I said. Not only because it would make more sense to be the "most correct book" but also because we're talking about an alleged story of a millenium, of wars, prophets and kings in Ancient America. Everyone talks about historical proof here, similarity there, and that's amazing, but if really the book is not actually interesting in that way, what it has to say about it's credibility?

Anyways, I'd love to see what you think about.

I was given a temple dress and a slip by a woman in my ward as her mother has passed on. I like to research vintage LDS things, especially Utah centric as I know y'all tend to hand make certain things and I think that's very cool. The dress and the slip are a satin / silk type fabric, and I'm not going to lie I have used the slip as a night gown as its super comfy and has nice lace that matches some older garments with lace I managed to get ahold of. I researched the brand, its called California Dynasty. I was thinking it was some personal vintage LDS brand, but I guess its an older vintage small business type thing for usually bridal items, night gowns, etc. Unrelated to the faith. I was wondering then, what are the guidelines for approved white temple clothing? (not ceremonial) I figured people who made their own just knew the requirements, but technically can you just buy any white gown? Have I been needlessly suffering in polyester from church made dresses?

1. What exactly are the requirements for white temple clothes?

2. If you know, where can one purchase online vintage handmade style white/ceremonial clothing/accessories, LDS specific or otherwise suitable for temple work? I find they're better quality, more comfortable, personal, and I just like vintage things especially religious paraphernalia. I'm not in Utah, so no in person recommendations please

Also shout out to my temple worker friends in St George who managed to find me lace drisilque garments (I think maybe even a one piece too I haven't gotten them yet), a beauty lost to modernity. I wish there was an easier way to locate old fabrics / styles while still proving membership, if anyone has a know how let me know!

When I was 8 or 9, my mom fell head over heels for an LDS man. Problem was, he was still married. She was still married to my dad who was in the Navy and stationed out of state. My parents weren’t members, just the new man. He convinced my mom he could give her a better life.
My parents divorced, a year later she married the new guy, a few years later she was baptized.

I was more hesitant about the church because at that point the only members of the church I knew were his family, and I did not like him or his family. I started coming around to ask questions when I was 16 and needing some direction in life. My stepdad jumped on the opportunity to have the missionaries over to begin the discussions. I had also started becoming friendlier with my stepdad’s son and his son’s friends who were members and fun to be around. The boys were cute too. I got baptized when I was 16. Not exactly a rock solid foundation.

But I did everything a good Mormon girl does — went to BYUI, married after sophomore year, 4 kids before I was 30.

Stepdad started revealing himself as a malignant narcissist over the years. He’s an awful person. My dad on the other hand, most Christlike man I know.

As I got older, I started putting the pieces together on how my mom met her new husband — adultery. I got introduced to the church through adultery. And my “example” of the church has turned out to be evil and my mom has filed for divorce from him after 25 tumultuous years of marriage. How does my stepdad who holds a bishopric calling feel about his adultery? Last year he told my mom, “You’re so lucky you ended up with me and not that Navy guy.” My mom regrets her decision to leave my dad every day of her life, and I know she has repented. Stepdad? No remorse, just bragging about it over dinner on a Tuesday night.

I just feel gross about it. On top of the adultery, I feel a lot of guilt about my dad too. I joined the church that the “other man” belonged to. My dad didn’t get to see me get married. He wasn’t a witness at my sealing, my stepdad was. As for my mom and stepdad, they “eloped” to get sealed seven years ago. That destroyed me.

Since my mom filed for divorce, my stepdad has been writing these horrible things to my family members including my husband about my mom, calling her mentally ill, damaged goods and how she has no hope of being healed in this life but in the eternities we will all be a happy family. Ew, if that’s what’s waiting for me in the eternities, I don’t want it.

I just want nothing to do with the church now. Does that make sense? It doesn’t bring me peace, it makes me feel sick to my stomach. When I hear “Families Can be Together Forever” it makes me sad. When people ask me about my conversion story, I’m hesitant to share because it really grosses me out now. It also paints my stepdad as a good man/missionary. People in the church often mistake him for my dad. I just hate it. I want out, but I found myself the most True Blue Mormon man to marry 15 years ago so it will never happen.

At this point, I don’t even have a desire to gain a testimony because it feels so tainted for me, I’m in too deep not to have one. I feel like a fake at church. I just feel so unsteady and alone in this. If you’ve read the whole thing, thank you. 🫶🏻

I got baptized into my ward on March 22, 2026. I have been into the temple once so far. I still haven't received a calling yet and my ministering assignment and ministering brothers still are all unassigned.

Does it usually take this long at the beginning or should I ask my Bishop it yet ?

I want a calling especially, so I feel like I'm doing more and not being stagnant in my church and spiritual development...

Just going to speak bluntly.

I have a few people in my life who made miserable decisions and are now dealing with the consequences.

Having a child before marriage, drugs, pornography addiction (like, actual addiction. Spending tons of money pay for it), picking bad boyfriends, etc.

It all stems back to them choosing to not live the gospel.

For twenty years, they were taught day and night that living the gospel brings joy and sinning bring sorrow. For twenty years they ignored it.

Now these people are dealing with mental disorders, single parenthood, homelessness, inability to hold down a job, etc.

For five or so years, I was rooting for them, talking with them about their struggles. But things only got worse. I’ve slowly emotionally distanced myself from the whole thing.

Yesterday, I saw a YTshort of a woman in the similar situation. She was a single mom that had made similar mistakes and was complaining about how hard life was. My gut reaction was “duh! Play stupid games win get stupid rewards”

I know Christ is in a same position with me. I make stupid mistakes and he wants me to stop… but that information has yet to do much for my attitude.

Thoughts?

I've been long distance dating a girl for going on 15 months now. Shes a convert to the church and im born in the church in case thats relevant. For a long time we've been wanting to get married for a while now. Due to external factors I haven't been able to visit her since last year. And my feelings for her have faded, but ive chalked that up to long distance and just getting accustomed to her in my life. Also her testimony seems to be fading and im not sure if she even believes in the church anymore. Im not sure if im imagining problems due to anxiety but I need to vent and I need advice. What would yall do? Cause I have just felt so isolated and cut off from the spirit alot recently.

I just met with my bishop last week about getting my patriarchal blessing, and we also talked about keeping me on track for the Melchizedek priesthood and endowment in several months. Just out of curiosity, I visited the church website to look at white clothing. Mentally adding it all up, it's not an insignificant number for me, and that's not including garments for everyday, and ceremonial clothing. Do you have a sense of the ball park you paid when getting everything you needed to go through the Temple for the first time?

We serve in various capacities, but we are all God's servants.

https://preview.redd.it/r5izj485m62h1.png?width=675&format=png&auto=webp&s=b4cdfee72194b29b8355c0d9587d364d1dda7fab

Just a family historian who likes to know how people are related. In an article in the Liahona supplement this month is an article about Pres Eyring. He comments that then-Elder Spencer W Kimball is his Uncle. So, of course, I have to try to figure it out. Looked at Pres Kimball and Pres Eyring's dad Henry in FamilySearch and used tools there and at RelativeFinder.org to see how they are related and I just can't figure it out. Anyone know?

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2026/05-se/02-president-henry-b-eyring-first-counselor?lang=eng

This is probably going to make me sound like a terrible person, but I’m going to ask anyway. My husband and I just moved to a new home somewhere new in Utah. It’s in a somewhat newer development where we assumed that there would be more families and kids. For reference my husband and I are 28 and 30 years old with a two-year-old and a nine month old baby. When we went to our ward for the first time last Sunday, it was overwhelmingly elderly. We went to Sunday school, and there was only one other person that looked to be under the age of 65+. This is not an exaggeration. I know there are probably some other younger people that have been called in with either that youth or primary and things like that but the vast majority are definitely older. The ward boundaries are really weird where they kind of took the little street that we live on and grouped it in with a street of much older homes that have been there forever and that is where the majority of the elderly people live. Don’t get me wrong. I love the elderly population and I even work with them in my job, but we just moved to a new area and I already have a harder time making friends and was kind of banking on our ward helping me with that. It was just a little disappointing for me because I already have a hard enough time connecting and finding people that I get along with closer to my age. Would it be terrible to see if we could switch to a new ward? Especially since in Utah every other street is an entirely different ward and we just happen to get grouped in with a part that is very heavily and older population.

hi! I got called to Oakland/San Francisco, California, and I was wondering what it's like there? People keep telling me that it's kinda ghetto lol. I am from a rural area, so big cities are kinda new to me lolllll

Anything I need to bring that isn't on the packing list?

Their Facebook page says they only accept up to 30, but I thought the new standard was 35? Have some places just not changed that yet? The ward is also not the one I would be assigned to due to my geographic area, but it is close by, would I be able to join the YSA? I don't really want to join if the age just goes up to 30, I'm a little confused by the mixed messages on that.

I've been looking at joining the Church for several years. Not always seriously, with life happening and what not. Though there's been times I've met with the missionaries and didn't feel.. anything? If that makes sense. And there's times I felt strongly that this Church is true. I feel like the Lord keeps nudging me towards the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has been roughly since 2013. I find the Church fascinating and its history very interesting. Its concept of family, community, callings, and modern-day apostles is very appealing to me and comforting as well.

I'm not too sure what is holding me back from taking the plunge and talking to the missionaries again. I do want to learn more, so if there are any resource(s) or books you'd recommend, I'd love to have them!

Note: autistic doesn’t automatically mean intellectually disability.

Note 2: if you’re ableist or judgmental please keep scrolling. I’m looking for input from people who have dealt with this or similar questions about baptism age vs disabilities.

Our son (turning 7) got diagnosed as autistic about 2 years ago, we’ve since realized we’re autistic too.

My wife recently asked me if we’d be getting him baptized when he turns 8 and I’m like “yeah why wouldn’t we?” (mostly because I hadn’t given it a second thought) and she then brought up some things about him that now I’m like “oh yeah, hmm well now I don’t know.”

- He gets restless in sacrament meeting so he has to wear Bluetooth headphones and just watch like YouTubeKids on a phone.

- he doesn’t cooperate/participate in family prayers, just sits there and sometimes we’ll have to shush him if he starts playing or talking while we pray.

- I don’t know if he is intellectually disabled or not. (Autism is a Neurodevelopmental disorder, not an intellectual disability, some autistic people are both and some aren’t) but he is delayed when it comes to milestones like learning to walk and talk, getting dressed and so on. He can’t talk as fast as kids his age or talk in as complicated thoughts/sentences as kids his age.

Sorry for the tmi but yeah, so to parents of kids who are either autistic and/or challenged in some fashion, did you wait or did you baptize them at 8?

On one hand I’m like wait till he seems more aware of spirituality and prayer etc. but on the other hand, if we’re waiting past 8 and [morbid thought, sorry] I know part of the point is to be washed clean and prepared to meet the Lord so if, heaven forbid, some accident befalls us/him after 8 but before baptism then he’d have to be baptized by proxy by someone in the temple, you know?

I’m 20 so by the time I’m financial stable I won’t be able to do a mission but been thinking of doing a service mission after my one year in the church. I wanted to know more about it.

Mods can change flair if it’s the wrong one

Correct me if I’m wrong but you guys believe that God(the father) was once a man but was exalted into Godhood as Joseph Smith puts it:
“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make himself visible—I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with Him, as one man talks and communes with another.”

Heres some questions I have:

1. Is there a God above Yahweh(Elohim)?
2. If yes wouldn’t that actually be God?
3. If no, how did it happen? Who set up the universe to work like this? Does it go on infinitely?

The Church teaches that God is “God is infinite, eternal, unchangeable, The Supreme Being, and created everything.

“By definition, God (generally meaning the Father) is the one supreme and absolute Being; the ultimate source of the universe; the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good Creator, Ruler, and Preserver of all things” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 317).

“God is the only supreme governor and independent being in whom all fullness and perfection dwell; who is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient; without beginning of days or end of life; and that in him every good gift and every good principle dwell; and that he is the Father of lights; in him the principle of faith dwells independently, and he is the object in whom the faith of all other rational and accountable beings center for life and salvation” (Joseph Smith, comp., Lectures on Faith, 10).

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrines-of-the-gospel-student-manual/3-god-the-father?lang=eng

Wouldn’t God being once a man invalidate these teachings? I don’t see how these are compatible with God being once a man.

Thank you.

I am not Mormon so I’m sure I’ll be wording this wrong probably but my question is what if someone can’t get married for whatever reason can they still get highest exaltation? I am researching and I have lots of questions but this is one.