[amethystmoons]

I just spent two weeks working at an evangelical Christian summer camp (long story) and I'd like to share my thoughts.

First off, the good things. I met so many wonderful people and was able to have a lot of really good conversations about God and also just life in general. At the daily worship services I felt the spirit more strongly than I have in a while. The music was so good and seeing the kids and everyone honestly grow closer to each other and to God was powerful and really strengthened my testimony in the goodness of Christ. I cried almost every day. It helped remind me that despite differences, He is there for everyone. No one has a monopoly on God. No matter which of us is "right," He loves us the same.

On the flip side, hearing the gospel without the plan of salvation felt incomplete. It felt like I was listening to someone read a book with a hole cut out of the middle. It would be fine for a bit, but then they'd get to the hole in the page and they just skipped over the missing words and didn't acknowledge or even seem to notice it or how some sentences just didn't make sense and the topics seemed to jump around randomly. This honestly strengthened my testimony more than any conference talk or Sunday school lesson. Sometimes you have to take away something to appreciate it. If this week has taught me anything about my church it's that the main difference isn't the book of mormon or living prophets, it's the plan of salvation. Christianity without it feels hollow. Like I genuinely can't wrap my head around why it all happened if the premortal existance doesn't exist, and if we don't have the opportunity to be saved after we die.

All in all I'm glad I did it. They are genuinely wonderful people who's lives have been changed by Jesus Christ, and that's something we have in common. I saw different perspectives, some I'm going to take with me and some that I'm definitely leaving behind. I encourage everyone out there to learn about other religions. Talk to people about their beliefs. Not only is it just a good thing in general but it can help you learn more about yourself and your own beliefs too.

[hiseyeisonthesparrow]

The LDS church's reluctance to hire transgender furries is holding them back from having properly functioning app UI

[aroacelds]

They do, though? It's a widget you can add to the home page.

Like a lot of the UI kinda sucks, but they have made improvements.

[brothermouse]

The only possible conclusion is that the LDS church has hired at least one (1) closeted transgender furry to work on their UI. Let us pray for this unnamed furry.

[aroacelds]

Amen, they also have widgets for the RS/EQ talk for that week and links to the hymns for that week (that pop up on Sundays only as far as I can tell). They even added a feature a month ago where you can search for the ward you're visiting in the app (based on location) and pull up that ward's info. I used it once when I was traveling, so I know it works. The transgender furry is putting in the work 🙌

[hiseyeisonthesparrow]

The LDS church's reluctance to hire transgender furries is holding them back from having properly functioning app UI

[aroacelds]

They do, though? It's a widget you can add to the home page.

Like a lot of the UI kinda sucks, but they have made improvements.

[vendimeyers]

I think that we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really need to heed the prophets teachings be more careful not to treat the name of the church so casually.

I know so many people think it's just a small thing and that it's not a big deal and it does seem like a small thing but that's exactly why to me it is a big deal.

The Lord asks so much of us. His prophets ask so much of us, and so many of those things are really really hard. If someone is an alcoholic and they're trying to become clean. That's hard. My fiance and I work diligently to keep our hands to ourselves until marriage. That's hard. Going to church every week? Not an easy habit to build. Attending the temple regularly? Reading the scriptures every day? Remembering to pray in a moment of temptation? Hard hard and hard. All of those commandments involve going out of our way to build habits that might not come so naturally to us. Even as those acts of faith bless us and strengthen our connection to God, that doesn't automatically make them easy.

But deciding to say the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or the Church of Jesus Christ, or Christ's Restored Church) instead of saying Mormon or LDS is awful inconvenient, but it's not hard. And if we want to follow God and profess our faith like we say we do then we aught to be considering the small and simple things God asks us to do because God doesn't ask us to do something that doesn't matter.

And going further, I know that just because it's a small change it doesn't mean it doesn't have a big impact. The reason that so many people (including the late President Nelson) were emphasizing the full name of the church is because it is the church of Jesus Christ. The Latter-day Saints part is pretty cool and it's in there for a reason but it is secondary to the Jesus Christ. He is the one we worship. He is at the center of the plan. He is the one who saves our spirits and restores our bodies. It is all about Him. And when we casually emit him from the name of our religion we lose SO MUCH. The name of Christ alone has the power to cast out demons, to heal the sick and bring peace to the afflicted. Jesus Christ is the one who sunk below all things so that we could rise above all things. It is His love that propels the plan foreword, gives us strength to resist temptation, become our best selves and do all those other hard things that will strengthen and edify us.

I get how easy it is to fall prey to the convenience of shortening the name of the church, especially when so many others are doing it. But I can confidently say that in an age where so many people will bend over backwards trying to convince us that we are not Christians, there is immense power in always upholding Christ, in proclaiming yourself a member of his church, and choosing to bring him front and center into even the most casual discussions about our faith.

It's all about Jesus Christ. And we lose something profound when forget that.

[charlesoberonn]

Joseph: The client needs this cartwheel replaced by noon. John, bring me my tools. James, make sure the cart is level. Jesus, take the wheel.

Jesus: *chuckles*

Joseph: What's so funny?

Jesus: You won't get it.

[bookofmormonmemes]

Join our religion and get relatable verses like Alma 59:13 (Also free wifi) Original image right here!

—

this submission from @theoneandonlyfangirlofpower is way too real

[loves-em]

Tumblrstake, I was talking to my institute teacher and he was talking about old views on something that's become normal in the church now. It was completely bewildering to me that someone could think PLAYING CARDS could be against our moral standard, even non-casino type games. Hello??? Was that normal a couple decades ago, is it still normal?

Beliefs on Playing Cards

I grew up being taught they're bad and people around me still think that now

I grew up being taught they're bad but very few/noone around me still believe it

I didn't grow up being taught they're bad at all

Didn't grow up in the church/results

Voting ended onJun 28

Comments or reblogs with further explanations are very welcome!

[aroacelds]

I heard someone mention it over the pulpit when I was a youth which confused my whole family, so I know it's A Thing. I don't know anyone who actually adheres to it. My family certainly doesn't. My dad came from a card game family where his parents had poker nights all the time before they got baptized and church leaders said no gambling. Even today, when we're all together we usually end up playing rummy or something.

My dad did end up teaching me and my siblings how poker worked, but that was mainly so we would know for cultural reasons. Like if it was in a movie or TV show (my dad's favorite show is MASH. They play poker a lot). It was a good exercise, too. Since we got to learn firsthand that you lose a lot of 'money' when you play (we always did imaginary points, my mom didn't want us gambling anything real).

[amethystmoons]

AITA for beating my younger brothers with a rod?

Ok guys I know it sounds bad but hear me out.

I (23M) have three brothers, Lemuel (21M), Sam (18M) and Nephi (16M). Recently my father (45M) had a vision that our town was going to be destroyed and he went and preached unto the people. Well they did not like that and threatened to kill him. He says he had a vision where the Lord told him to leave so he wasn't murdered. When we were packing he said to leave everything but the tents??? Which is confusing but whatever I guess. My father is crazy a visionary man. Then when we finally got to the wilderness and pitched our tents, my dad deadass looked me in the eye and told me we needed to go back to jerusalem to get these stupid brass plates "so our posterity would have the commandments." And the real kicker? The brass plates are currently in the possesion of our greedy, blood thirsty relative. Yeah, let's go risk our lives for these brass plates. That makes sense dad. So my brother Lemuel and I were like "dude what? why would we do that?" and he was like "because the Lord hath commanded it." and my younger two brothers were like "yeah stop murmuring come with us to risk our lives for these plates of brass." I went with them so they wouldn't get themselves killed.

When we got to Laban's house, we played rock paper scissors to determine who would go inside and get them. Of course I lost. I went inside to get the plates and Laban was like "no. You're a robber I'm gonna slay you." so I booked it out of there and told my brothers that we tried. He didn't give them back. We can go back to our father's tent now. Then Nephi gave us a little pep talk, saying that the Lord hath commanded this and the Lord will provide a way. It was clear that he was not going to give up so I was like ok, what's the way? And he said (I kid you not) "Let's go back to our house, gather all our riches, and give them to Laban." WHAT? So we went back to our house, gathered literally anything that was even remotely valuble, and brought it to Laban.

Good news is that Laban liked our stuff. Bad news is he took it, didn't give us the plates, and then sent his servant to murder us. Luckily we escaped but I was pissed at Nephi. Lemuel and I said some pretty harsh things to Nephi and Sam that I won't repeat. Eventually it escalated and we smote them with a rod. As we were smiting them with a rod, an angel appeared. The angel said "why are you smiting your little brother with a rod? Don't you know the Lord has chosen him to be a ruler over you because of your iniquities? Go back to Jerusalem and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands." First of all, rude. Second, how was I supposed to know the Lord chose Nephi over me? I'm literally the eldest and Nephi is so annoying. Third, literally how is he going to deliver Laban into our hands?? We've tried twice already. He is powerful and can command fifty, he can even kill fifty, why not us? But this angel is making me question if I was in the wrong for smiting Nephi and Samuel.

So, AITA for beating my younger brothers with a rod?

[holywatermelan]

The thing about those big white passenger vans is that while in media they're associated with kidnapping irl every one I know belongs to a Mormon family with a frightening number of children

[mormonforgetmenot]

if any of you lack whimsy let him ask of god

[wolfythewitch]

I keep thinking about what Eve and Mother Mary would think of each other, and what they said to each other when they first met in Heaven.

In a way they are both each other's mothers and daughters

[aroacelds]

well does anyone have any takes about the lego theft story? my youtube feed has been full of it

[aroacelds]

I don't think we talk enough about how awesome the notes features are on gospel library. You can make your own footnotes with the link feature. You can organize quotes with the notebooks or make your own tag collection. You can just yap about what one word means to you in the notes, with a timestamp included. You can highlight or underline as much as you want. I wish there were more colors, but still. As far as I know, there is no limit to how many markings you can do. And it's free with your church account, and I can access it forever on my phone or computer.

[aroacelds]

speaker today in sacrament meeting snuck in a complaint about the world being confused about gender because he saw 17 different options for gender on some form, and I'm always stunned by only conservatives being able to find these cases. I've only ever seen 3 or 4 options max. where are they getting these from??

[aroacelds]

Me and my sister were the only ones in our ysa branch to show up to clean the church (except for bishop and his wife) last week. She said we did so good that we deserve to do one bad thing now, and I said that was just reinventing Catholic indulgences lol

[brothermouse]

Me when I see someone wish painful death and total eradication of all Mormons: Well golly, they seem awful upset. I'd better pray that they find peace in their hearts.

Me when my phone auto corrects "Deseret" to "dessert" or "desert": What is this hate crime? Why hast thou thrown in with the Prince of Darkness and all his odious ilk? When will my people be free?

[amethystmoons]

It's hilarious to me when someone talks about our view of the godhead as if its peak mormon heresy. That's not even the tip of the iceberg. That's like the most normal thing we believe.