I'll provide a little background about myself. I was raised in a Methodist church. Only heard about Mormonism a handful of times, the first being in about the 6th grade when I was walking into a friend’s house, and another girl that was there said something (I didn't hear that part) to my other friend. What the other friend said, it was a comment about their next door neighbor, "Oh, they're Mormon, they believe in having more than one wife." I thought nothing more about it, but I vividly remember it. It was a good while, years later, before the topic of Mormonism came up again. I remember seeing the little blue books sometimes and I even think there was one on the bookshelf at home gathering dust. More years pass by, and by then I had a general understanding of the basic doctrines of the LDS church.
Approximately 2001 or so, some LDS missionaries knocked on my door. We talked for a bit, pretty much with them telling me that we believed the same thing. I knew enough about the doctrines of the LDS church to know we didn’t believe the same thing (provided they believed their church doctrine). The very moment the door closed and they went on their way, I decided that I should learn what the LDS church teaches and learn it from Latter-day Saints, go to the source. So, around 2002, I'm driving down the street and see two bicycles resting against a stop sign. I remember thinking, “Count the cost.” Did I have it within me to invest the amount of time it may take to take on this endeavor? If I set out to learn from LDS what the church teaches and what life is like as a LDS, I would need to invest my time and myself in the life of others. Was I willing to do that? So, I stopped and talked to the elders.
The next couple of years were wonderful (that is a story for another day). I spent a
lot of time in the teaching pool and then, one day, I was ejected from the teaching pool. The day I was ejected from the teaching pool was the day the two elders came, but this time, brought the AP and his companion. We met that day in our church. I was asked would I be baptized into the LDS church. When I said no, the AP started firing off questions like, “Have you ever wondered why you have to pay your preacher to preach, when Jesus never charged anything to teach?” Another one was, “Have you ever wondered why they make you give money to your church?” Yeah, that one was priceless! This sort of dialogue went on for maybe ten minutes. Biblical answers were given to the questions. I guess when it was apparent that I was not a candidate for church membership, all four guys gathered and stood around me, I was sitting, and they pulled out their missionary hymnbooks and sang Called to Serve. AP opened the door and said, “We won’t be teaching you anymore, ” and held the door pointing the other three out the door. I stayed in touch with the other missionaries, some more than others. I got to meet a couple of missionary’s families. Once the ones I knew best had gone back home. I, then, set out to find out what life was like for those who were questioning Mormonism, left the church, or the various scenarios in which one may find him or herself. Somehow I came across Analytics and asked questions. Analytics posted a question on my behalf on ZLMB and invited me to read the responses. Then, ZLMB, fast forward to M D B. Somewhere in the ZLMB to MDB time, I also participated on Mormon’s in Transition, an online group for LDS who question the truth claims of the LDS church, and want to explore biblical (Bible alone) Christianity. I met someone on MIT who was raised in polygamy group and who left the polygamist group (Kingston's), became a biblical Christian, and explored a little bit into what life was like for polygamist groups that sprang out of early Mormonism, and leaving the polygamist lifestyle, etc. I participated on RfM some and also on Mormon Dialogue (i'm afraid to see what the will be changed to after I hit submit). Sorry that was so long, but this is the Cliff Notes version.
I always wonder when I read things like this. I enjoy this board as a source of ongoing friendship and interaction with people, many of whom seem to have similar backgrounds or a pretty solid understanding of the common, born and raised LDS background. There seem to be similar ongoing experiences such as interacting with family members still LDS, and similar interests in topics, plus a lot of new topics to find interest in. Of course these are online interactions, but given where I live and work, there are literally almost no people, and certainly no large group of people, with similar backgrounds to mine that I can interact with regularly in person. Nor is anything as remotely convenient or even possible as the opportunity of taking a few minutes here and there, at any time of the day and almost anywhere, to engage.
I can understand this, but from a different background. Being an evangelical and interacting with LDS missionaries, and having some of your fellow believers not share your enthusiasm for LDSs, or even sometimes even scared of you because you interact with LDS and you because they think you’ve got one foot in the edge of Hell about to get sucked in due to the vast doctrinal differences. There are also those who understand and provide support. It can be a lonely place when you care for a people group who you’ve come to love, while others would just as soon shut the door in their faces or view them beyond God’s love and saving grace. Couple that with living outside the LDS corridor. So, yes, I understand this, but in a little different way.
In that sense, how does one “reach the end of any benefit” to a discussion board? I’m not so introverted that I can imagine deciding to keep living but that it’s time to stop having interactions with other humans, whether in person or online.
I think maybe it could be the topics discussed, sometimes over and over, or maybe getting to a place where you just move on, find a new community, or move on to focusing more time on other things, interacting with humans outside an online discussion board. Many here have taken breaks from the board, vowed to leave and not come back, some leave and come back, etc.
Sigh. I have a deep desire for you to KNOW, deep within your brain, that no one can KNOW this thing that you feel. I really want you to understand the difference between knowledge and feelings. However, that’s really none of my business, is it? So I won’t continue to press you on it. In fact, I retract saying it at all, and out of respect for you I won’t bring it up again, unless you’d like to discuss the topic (as opposed to just evangelizing or witnessing.) You know, now that I think about it, maybe that’s what you meant when you said one may have reached the end of the benefit of a board like this. If one sees it only or primarily as a place to “witness” then yes, I can see how the benefit might end.
Honestly, I am a part of this community and feel at home here. Our feelings are faulty, but you can know, you just haven’t found that out yet, but I totally understand where you’re coming from, and how you would view me saying that. Maybe you can forgive me for now. I wouldn’t be here if I thought people were beyond God’s saving grace, and I think that what people long for is found in Christ.
Please don't view this as a cop out, but, I may be better prepared to have a meaningful topical discussion around July when I will try to get off of a medication that causes me extreme mental and physical fatigue. Right now, I don’t think I have the wherewithal to participate in such discussion since I’m totally wiped out after my workday, sometimes even before the workday is over. I can explain in a PM, but I’m not going to post any more about that on the thread. It takes energy to post here and engage persons with views opposed to your own and in a way they will halfway accept.
Okay, I'm wiped out. More later. I'm not ignoring anyone's posts, just haven't gotten to it yer. And, maybe ya'll can forgive me if I don't reread this post to alter what may be taken as offensive. If the gospel part offends, that is the one area for which I do not apologize, however.