Crying day, folks

[_Maksutov]

Step up to the mike and tell us what's twoo. Let the spirit move you, c'mon.

[_Lemmie]

I read somewhere that you now have to be invited to speak at f and t meeting. Is that true?

[_candygal]

I'll bite. Let's just say I was invited. The only thing I know that is twoooo is my own core values and I my experiences have taught me. I can say "I think" to a lot of questions and yet remain open which is a gift of my own spirituality. If I cry it is because of loss of time in my realization that love is unconditional...that works are not always redeemable..but that service, kindness and devotion to charity is all I need. And this is my postimony in the name of my womanhood, humanity and hopefully an example of my own life. Amen.

[_Jersey Girl]

Step up to the mike and tell us what's twoo. Let the spirit move you, c'mon.

A cynic steps up to the mike...

The only thing that's twoo is love and you can't even trust that most of the time.

...knocks over the mike and walks away.

[_Dr. Shades]

I'd like to bear my testimony that I know this church is myth. I know Joseph Smith restored the true myth, and through this we may mythologically return to our heavenly father.

Amen.

[_Meadowchik]

I have found a way to mentally structure the concept of human worth in a way that satisfies me yet also allows me to remain uncomfortable, and this human worth is inherent. Each one of us is of value to ourselves because each of our Is and MEs are the only ones we have. And then, kindness is simply the extension of that awareness to others, to each person as their own I and me. For me, the Atonement can help us feel valued and also to value others. After a long wrestle in my life with how it applies to relationships, I have instead turned to healthy boundaries. I give myself permission to draw and undraw my boundaries with people at will. A boundary determines level of intimacy and trust, and any given boundary that I draw can be dependent on what I want or can give and also what I esteem that other person wants to or can give. And they get to draw their boundaries, too. What results is a type of Venn Diagram with everyone else (some lines more consciously made than others) and where those circles intersect is where the wanted relationships happen. Instead of obliging forgiveness that implies less boundaries with someone I have hurt or who has hurt me, I honor consent, theirs and mine. Finally, the Atonement was also a way to feel hope in the approach to Love, and Truth. I find that, when I value my self and other selves, Love happens, and also robust epistemology develops, which is Truth as ever it can be, and that is where I find the Sacred. Amen.

[Guest]

Monthly confirmation bias meeting.

I love the stories of how marketing e mails are the spirit prompting people to do X, Y, Z church-related thing, all of which confirms the Church is true.

I recall a testimony from a member about going through passport control. They were so worried that they would be stopped and not allowed in to America. So they prayed about it as they stood in line. When it came to their turn they were waved through passport control with a cursory glance at the passport and the usual thumb/face routine. That they got through passport control (along with the thousands of other people who also had completely valid passports and paperwork) was God answering that prayer and confirming the Church was true.

Stories of how they couldn't find X, Y, Z, so they prayed and suddenly they find X, Y, Z in the place they had been looking all along. But it definitely wasn't there before so God put it there for them. That was God giving them a little sign that He's there and He knows them. The Church is therefore true.

For the most part testimonies are eye roll worthy tales of "magic" and "specialness". Self-absorbed emotional outpourings of guilt, grief, neediness, anecdotal confirming bias or smug self-importance. People seem to bear their testimony because they have one of those holes to fill. Testimony Bingo is when you get the full set in one meeting.

[_moksha]

The Papyri as a Catalyst Theory - A controlled experiment with a catalyst would be something like placing Dr. Daniel C. Peterson in a 95 F vat of water with 20% Epsom salts and a palladium rod as a catalyst while playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons in the background. The experimental part would be looking for increased emissions of methane and sulfur dioxide.

[_I have a question]

In listening to Bill & Ted’s Consiglieri’s great adventure through the Renlund’s devotional, I picked up on the seeming contradiction in how they (the Renlund’s) talked about doubt being something to be avoided yet without ‘doubt’ they’d be no need for a Church.

The Church is a school that teaches the curriculum known as The Gospel. Once you reach a place where you “know” the Church Gospel is true, then you no longer have any need for the Church. Think of it like learning to speak French. You go to school and learn French from the teachers. Once you know how to speak French, you don’t need the lessons or the school, you can simply go off to France and practice speaking French.

Those members who know the Church is true, are wasting their time at Church, Church is a place for those who don’t know it’s true, Church is a place for doubters. The Renlunds have it exactly wrong.