Confidence in church leadership

[cowboy]

That's right, we do owe you a breakfast. I hope you make it near us again so we can make up for it.

I appreciate your encouragement. I'm sure that I project my own hang-ups about doctrine/policy at times -- heaven knows I have plenty of them. I'm sure many GA's are awesome in person, but my more important point is that the GA's, as an organization, come across as authoritarian. I don't get the sense that they're in tune with the average member of the church (not that I'm the usual member). There are no real avenues of providing feedback or ideas to them. Only on rare occasions do they admit they may have been wrong about something. Dissenting opinions either do not occur or are not allowed to be publicly made known. These things come across as authoritarian to me. Clearly, though, they don't to others, so at least some of it relates to my views and experiences. I think if what they said matched better with my personal experience of life, then I'd have more faith in the system and could give them more leeway. There is a real mismatch between what they say the church/God etc. has to offer me, and what I feel I have received.

I don't believe the church or its leadership is perfect, and I think God does what He can with who He has. This means that prophets and apostles sometimes have to learn by trial and error just like everyone else. But to keep the organization from descending into doctrinal anarchy, and to keep doctrine from being interpreted or established by popular vote, the church has to be somewhat authoritarian in nature.

However, I believe that this is still God's church, that TSM is a prophet, and that we will be blessed for our obedience. God may let us as a people learn as we go, but He will still manage to get the important stuff to us through the church, so don't let the little stuff cloud your vision of the big picture.

In my mind, what matters is the fact that I can be with my family forever, that the Savior can help me overcome my shortcomings, and that peace and happiness come from serving others and living a Christlike life. Everything else is just noise around the mean.

Some doctrines and teachings seem illogical, I agree. Still, I can't deny that I feel better when I follow the core teachings of the gospel, so I just figure it will all make sense for us in the end. Until then I guess we just have to be patient.

[LA Ute]

I don't believe the church or its leadership is perfect, and I think God does what He can with who He has. This means that prophets and apostles sometimes have to learn by trial and error just like everyone else. But to keep the organization from descending into doctrinal anarchy, and to keep doctrine from being interpreted or established by popular vote, the church has to be somewhat authoritarian in nature.

However, I believe that this is still God's church, that TSM is a prophet, and that we will be blessed for our obedience. God may let us as a people learn as we go, but He will still manage to get the important stuff to us through the church, so don't let the little stuff cloud your vision of the big picture.

In my mind, what matters is the fact that I can be with my family forever, that the Savior can help me overcome my shortcomings, and that peace and happiness come from serving others and living a Christlike life. Everything else is just noise around the mean.

Some doctrines and teachings seem illogical, I agree. Still, I can't deny that I feel better when I follow the core teachings of the gospel, so I just figure it will all make sense for us in the end. Until then I guess we just have to be patient.

I am Cowboy's co-pilot.