r/lds

I was asked to be a part of the yw stake presidency in January and along the way up to now I was in a car accident and cannot pay to fix my car at the moment, so I can’t drive to meetings, other places that I’m needed, also, all the places that I would be needing to drive are 40 + minutes away and I am poor haha, I can’t keep up with the gas money and money to fix my car. I am also in the process of trying to move out of my parents house and in with my sister so I’m not really home much at all. I just think I am very unreliable and not the person I need to be for them, which was the opposite when I first was asked if I wanted this calling but life happens unfortunately. Should I be going straight to the stake president to ask for a meeting? Or should I be going through my bishop and he gets in contact with the stake president? I’m a little unsure of how this goes. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you!

I have no doubts that the Church is true.

Part of my family and I joined the Church over 20 years ago, and I've been active ever since.

It has been a good and meaningful part of my life, and I'm grateful for it.

Over the years, I served a full-time mission, and earned my education. I've had just about every kind of calling, and to be honest, I've become somewhat burned out. Those of you for whom Sundays often felt like a full workday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. will probably understand what I mean.

One thing that never happened for me was finding my person. Part of the reason was that there were very few Church members in my country, and we all lived in different cities, so dating usually meant long-distance relationships. After my mission I went on plenty of dates with women in the Church. Sometimes I liked them, sometimes they liked me, but nothing ever developed into a lasting relationship.

I never made a tragedy out of it. I just kept living my life, working, and moving forward.

But then life happened, and now I feel like I'm entering an early midlife crisis.

Lately I've been rethinking my entire life. When I'm at church on Sundays, I still feel the presence of the Holy Ghost, but inside I feel empty. It's like I'm dead inside, yet I keep smiling, fulfilling my calling, and doing everything that's expected of me in what is, frankly, a pretty challenging ward if you know what I mean.

I'm not losing my testimony. I'm just exhausted, and I honestly don't know what to do next.

I have been experiencing this deafening spiritual silence from God for as long as I can remember and Its so debilitating going to church anymore. Anytime I hear a testimony or tall it now feels like a slap to the face. Why not me too? Why can't I feel this love or peace? Believe me I can tried all the advice I can find whether its priesthood blessimgs, daily scripture reading, multi daily prayer, temppe visits, service, fasting, donating, perspective changes on maybe he answers in different ways Im not seeing, my hobbies. I'm at a loss and desperate to the point I'm super burnt out, I cant try anymore. I guess Im hoping some people might know why? Or what I am doing wrong or not doing enough of?

Does anyone possibly have the lesson schedule for July RS? Does it follow EQs schedule?

Hi everyone, I’m in the bishopric and I’ve had interviews and chats with some members and they’ve raised the question with me about getting tattoo’s. I’ve tried to research but I don’t really understand what the church’s stance is on tattoos anymore.

Can anyone please help? Please respond with current church leader teachings or guidance.

I’m still trying to make sense of something that happened recently, and I’d appreciate honest perspectives, especially from people who have experience with LDS youth programs.

I have four teenage adopted/foster sons. Two are Latino and two are Persian/Italian. They’re energetic, loud, and sometimes push boundaries like a lot of teenage boys do.

We attended a Young Men’s camp near a river. Early on, my boys started butting heads with some of the other youth. At first it wasn’t entirely clear to me whether it was normal teenage banter or whether it had crossed into bullying.

Eventually things escalated. Another youth got into a confrontation with my oldest Latino son and, according to my son and two of his brothers who witnessed it, called him inappropriate ethnic slurs. My son reacted by slapping him.

When I was notified, I found my son crying alone in the bathroom. His brothers were with him and all three consistently described the same ethnic slur comments being made.

The other boy reported the incident to stake leadership. He claimed my son had been harassing him and denied making any ethnic slur remarks.
The leaders told me they take ethnic slurs seriously, but because the other youth denied it, they said they couldn’t conclude that anything inappropriate towards my boys Latino heritage had happened. They also told me they couldn’t rely on my three sons’ accounts because they were all from the same family.
Initially, the decision was that everyone would remain at camp.

Then, around 9 p.m., I was informed the decision had changed. My oldest son had to leave immediately because he slapped the other youth. They also told me my other Latino son had to leave because he had been disruptive during the evening devotional. The example they gave was that a leader had seen him toss a small rock at another youth.

I asked whether the other youth involved in the confrontation was also being sent home. I was told no, because he denied making the ethnic slur comments.

What hurt even more was being told my two sons were being sent home so that “everyone can feel safe.”

As we packed up in the rain around 10 p.m., several stake leaders stood silently behind my car while we loaded our things. It honestly felt like we were being escorted out. Because I had responsibilities leading an activity the next morning, I had to drive my sons all the way home and then immediately turn around and drive back to camp overnight in bad weather. It was exhausting and, frankly, felt unsafe.

The practical inconvenience isn’t what stays with me, though.

What hurts is the message my sons took away. From their perspective, one of them was called ethnic slurs, they reported it, weren’t believed because they were family members, and then the two Latino boys were the ones removed from camp while the other youth stayed.

Whether or not that was the leaders’ intent, that’s how my sons experienced it.

This camp was supposed to strengthen their relationship with Christ and with the Church. Instead, they now associate the experience with ethnic slurs, exclusion, and not being believed. As a father, that’s heartbreaking.

I’m not writing this to attack the Church. I know many good people serve in youth leadership, and I don’t believe most members would want something like this to happen.

I’m writing because I’m genuinely struggling to process it. I’m trying to figure out whether I’m missing something, whether this was simply poor leadership under difficult circumstances, or whether I should be addressing it more formally.

Has anyone experienced something similar? How would you move forward after something like this—for your own sake and for your kids?

I understand that Reddit might not be the first place I should go with a struggle like this, but I am curious about whether other people have the same feeling.

I like to think that I have faith in the gospel, the godhead, the plan of salvation, ordinances, priesthood, all of it makes perfect sense to me and I believe that I have a loving Heavenly Father, however, for the past year or so I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that despite all that, I am alone in my trials.

It’s been a particularly hard year in my personal life, and I’ve had a period of seeming silence from God, and I wonder, why not? Aren’t we here to learn and grow? Why shouldn’t I feel alone in my time of need in order to be more self sufficient?

But I feel little comfort in that and it doesn’t sit quite right with me for some reason. It’s not how I was raised to think of God I suppose. I just wish that even if I had to go through everything I’m going through, I would at least have confidence that I would have someone watching over me.

Anyway, just curious if anyone else has ever experienced this flavor of loneliness.

My mom passed in November. I’m having such a difficult time. I feel lost and need a massive change in my life. I requested missionaries over to talk. Not sure if this is a good idea or not. Do you think this visit would be beneficial? I am very open minded and feel myself gravitating towards a community. I worry that my lack of religious knowledge will make the visit awkward. I’m 30f.

I recently was having a discussing with my roommate about just religion in general. Somehow he always takes it there and not in the most great of ways usually. He and I both are RMs and while I am active and a big fan - he is not. I wouldnt classify him as anti at all nor active either. He now describes himself as just religious but his views on "doctrine" is quite out there. Just wondering what everyone things if someone has or theoretically told you that Jesus Christ while a young boy (assuming young means like 8-ish), killed someone because he did not understand his own power.

Off the bat I do not believe this, because from my pov/understanding that could change the nature of Heavenly Father, not to mention Christ himself. He was citing some reading that the Pharisee named Nicodemus had written this down at one point. Being the curious guy I am but while not caring, I asked chat GPT to do the heavy lifting for me and what it noted was that this was not really written but more compiled after centuries and likely was not written as fact but rather a super early version of fan-fiction.

I am sure those that have served and also who know people that started to look at everything as "sitting in the grey" has ran across someone who has said this or something similar. How do you even grasp that concept and try to run them back to the sanity corner?

I(25F) and my husband(25M) have decided to divorce after being married for 2 1/2 years but together for 4 1/2. We had been working through some issues and going to counseling for a while but decided a divorce is what we feel is best for us. He is no longer an active member as he only believes some Doctrine but doesn't agree with some of the others, and that did have a strain on our already struggling marriage. We have no kids, and we just have tried for so long and the differences built up. We tried therapy and counseling together and individually but I just think this route is what I need. I have prayed on it over and over and asked for advice and just help knowing if this is the right decision. I never felt any guidance or nudge or direct like sign for what might be best decision to make but I feel in my heart this is right for me. But obviously Im facing the fear internally of making a decision Ill regret, or worrying I can never find love in the church again, find someone to want to have kids with me one day, etc. As I'm going through this, I have been praying and reading my scriptures but have been struggling to feel anything or any comfort that I've been praying for. I just want advice and stories of other members who have gone through divorce. How did you navigate? How did you rebuild your life? Is a future with remarriage and the possibility of having kids a thing that I could have? Did you get a chance to get revealed to someone else to spend eternity with? How did you find peace with your decision and comfort in your life?

Hi everyone! I am 19 years old and my boyfriend and I have been dating for most of high school (him one grade above me) and through his mission and our first year of college together. I truly feel that our relationship has helped me grow closer to the Savior. I love him beyond words, and he brings out every bit of the best in me.

Recently when I was with my parents, they brought up that my boyfriend had just talked to them to ask their blessing to propose. I wasn’t completely surprised, since we’ve talked a lot about our future together, including marriage, family, and building a life centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I really didn't realize it might happen this soon.

My parents and his are, of course, elated, as we all are very close, and I think they discussed us possibly being married and sealed within a few months (near the end of the year).

I’ve been praying extensively trying to seek guidance from the Lord, and I do feel peace about him and our relationship, and I'm truly certain that he is my partner for eternity. I just feel a little uncertain about the timing. I don't really know if this is normal? I'd love to hear some of your advice/life experiences!

hi i just had a few thoughts in my head that really are making me kinda question things. i was asking my parents about if he has ever made a mistake yk? it doesnt have to be big but like even just something tiny. My mom got very defensive on how he would never!!! make a mistake because yk he is jesus, but idk it makes me feel like it’s more of a fabricated thing then. i don’t mean to feel like that because i truly believe in him. but i can understand why people don’t too. because your telling me a baby was born on earth and grew up never fighting his parents, never did anything wrong. ever? it makes it hard to relate to in my eyes… i understand he has died for us and has felt all of our sins. but not once he never made a bad judgement about something.
i just want to feel more comfortable with jesus because i’ve made plenty of mistakes. but how am i supposed to feel good about it knowing jesus when he was here on earth never made a single mistake.

By homeopathy I mean specifically homeopathic medicines and practitioners, not a general term for natural health. I'm studying to become a certified homeopath, which is alternative medicine to allopathic and pharmaceuticals. This is not a question about personal opinions but rather actual church doctrine or philosophy on the subject of health. Curious if anyone has any info on this.

Hi everyone, today I came across D&C 132:39, which says that David did not sin against God in his polygamy except as it related to Bathsheba (and his murder of Uriah, it would seem):

>39 David’s wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and, therefore he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord.

I can't remember coming across that before now, and it immediately brought to mind Jacob 2:24:

>24 Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.

I genuinely want to hear some faithful interpretations of how these two verses can both be in our canon, and furthermore, in the canon that is directly linked to Joseph Smith. There seems to be a contradiction here, and I'm happy to believe that I don't understand yet, but it's hard to see how. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Anyone else want to share what touched their hearts today at church? How did you feel the spirit today? What did you learn? Share as much or little as you want.

I'll go first. Church was lovely today.

1. The last speaker in sacrament meeting shared the message "you belong". It was a beautiful message about everyone belonging at church. A story was shared about an older sister who was very different but showed up and participated in everything, enriching the ward. I think it was from a conference talk but didn't catch the reference.

2. Our class lesson today was about Elder Bednar's talk from the recent general conference about becoming charitable. I appreciated the things shared by others about following our Savior's example and that enduring can be carried out by becoming more like our Savior.

3. I felt renewed by the opportunity to take the sacrament today.

If you were to give me any advice what would it be? Whether the advice is tailored to me or not doesn't matter.

Hello,

I need to rant and also gain a gain some fresh perspective on how to deal with my relationship with my father from a gospel perspective. This got taken down from a different group so hopefully I can get some insight here.

I always had a solid relationship with my dad. Growing up, he was always a pretty strict parent and as I got into the teenage/more observant years, I saw that he can be quite a difficult man. As he proudly puts it himself, he's a "hard man to love".

Although I am full of my flaws, growing up and especially coming home from serving my mission, I have noticed cracks in our relationship as I developed my own personality and came to voice my opinion more often. He is pretty "old-fashioned" by which I mean he at times says things that I find sexist and ableist (and others forbidden to be mentioned by community standards). For example, he can be pretty bossy with his wife/my mom but he won't do any of the house chores although she works full-time and he only works part-time.

As I went off to college, our views parted ways even more, most of it comes down to politics but I bring it here because I do think he says things that are not in line with the gospel. He speaks against certain religions, races and sexual orientations very strongly. Recently we had a conversation and he derailed and ended up comparing gay marriage to something horrible! I asked what he would do if one of his kids or many grandkids came out and he outright said he couldn't love them any more.

I love him, he is my father. But it's hard seeing the man who joined the church and brought us up very strictly following the gospel, talk scripture and love so little.

I sometimes help him with his social media account that he rushed for business and recently I noticed he follows A LOT of younger women accounts, specifically Asian, and that he DMs them quite regularly. Nothing overly sexual, simply comments on their "looks", their smiles, hair and how they are beautiful. To my horror then, I found that he follows some of my closer friends that he meet only a couple of times and he's been messaging them out of the blue, as in, "Beautiful princess, how is your day? My wife is busy with work so she doesn't have time for me" etc.

This was a drop too much and I don't know what to do. Our relationship was good so far - we were always able to discuss our differences openly and maintained honesty. If I felt strongly about something, I would tell him and vice versa. Most of the times he gets offended and ghosts me for some days but then we get back to talking.

I want to talk to him about this but I don't know how or if it's my place. The worst thing is that my mom does so much. She has been the hard worked and brought all of the kids up. I have so much love and respect for her that this really broke me. He also holds a significant-ish calling jn our ward.

I want to talk to him but I don't know how. I know if I don't talk about it, it will simply boil inside me until I erupt at some point. I also feel horrible because he had a falling out with most of my siblings at some point and I always tried to remain a good daughter and not mix up other people's issues with how I view a person. He only really talks to me and another sibling kind of. I am really struggling with walking the fine line between setting boundaries and not judging right now.

I’m 36F and I’ve been a member my whole life.
I served an amazing mission (2015-2017) and met some incredible people there

Everything declined when I got home. I’m not kidding it was one thing after the other - job loss, sickness, family death - I mean everything.

I moved to the US to attend BYU thinking being in a church centered place would reignite my faith. At this point I was still going to church but I was exhausted (mentally, spiritually and emotionally)

The adjustment to the States was harder than I could manage and I too feel into the worldly ways.
Fast forward to now - I have a child (yes out of wedlock) and I can genuinely not see a clear path back to church.

I felt most fulfilled at church it’s such a big part of my identity. I love the structure and purpose you have as a member.

I feel I’ve been aimlessly kinda drifting on and I know the solution is repairing the relationship with God but how.

I have also fallen on hard times now (financially) and I hate for that to be the reason I return (because I’m low). I had no idea being less active and going back to church would be this hard

So my question is - how do you get back into it?
I mean the literal steps to take because just going to church still feels empty to me