I learned in church today

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yup. I love filling in there. There's still some nonsense in there, but it goes right over the kids' heads.

Yesterday, I decided for the first time in a while to give the adult Sunday school a try. I try to sit in the back, so when the discussion goes off the rail, I can discreetly read something else. Well, the SS president makes the usual request to move up, which I ignore, because i figure he'd rather have me in the back than in the foyer or home watching football and i could hear just fine. The instructor then takes over the mic and starts her lesson whispering, "I'm whispering because I want you all to move up." I can hear her just fine so I again stay put. Not being obnoxious as there are probably ten of us on the back two rows. She then says, "the Lord doesn't give up on people, and I won't either...I'll wait....brother ERC, I mean you." So I roll my eyes and move up a few rows while the rest remain where they were. She then proceeds to go off about how the Lord requires a willing heart and she wonders how willing we are to accept his salvation when we won't comply with simple requests. She even compared herself to "a hen gathering her chicks" (matt 23:37--i guess she did inspire me to search my scriptures). This whole diatribe lasted a good 5-10 minutes.

Lesson learned. Foyer for me.

Good grief. That is amazing.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Yup. I love filling in there. There's still some nonsense in there, but it goes right over the kids' heads.

Yesterday, I decided for the first time in a while to give the adult Sunday school a try. I try to sit in the back, so when the discussion goes off the rail, I can discreetly read something else. Well, the SS president makes the usual request to move up, which I ignore, because i figure he'd rather have me in the back than in the foyer or home watching football and i could hear just fine. The instructor then takes over the mic and starts her lesson whispering, "I'm whispering because I want you all to move up." I can hear her just fine so I again stay put. Not being obnoxious as there are probably ten of us on the back two rows. She then says, "the Lord doesn't give up on people, and I won't either...I'll wait....brother ERC, I mean you." So I roll my eyes and move up a few rows while the rest remain where they were. She then proceeds to go off about how the Lord requires a willing heart and she wonders how willing we are to accept his salvation when we won't comply with simple requests. She even compared herself to "a hen gathering her chicks" (matt 23:37--i guess she did inspire me to search my scriptures). This whole diatribe lasted a good 5-10 minutes.

Lesson learned. Foyer for me.

The Lord won't give up on you, even in the foyer.

[PaloAltoCougar]

We had the primary program yesterday. Best sacrament meeting of the year.

After our kids grew out of Primary, I was in the DDD camp, but yesterday turned me around. The current leaders had all the kids singing with considerable gusto and the spoken presentations were really good, especially the ones the kids wrote themselves. I was about to applaud at one point but then remembered we don't acknowledge the occasional greatness in our meetings.

[byu71]

Yup. I love filling in there. There's still some nonsense in there, but it goes right over the kids' heads.

Yesterday, I decided for the first time in a while to give the adult Sunday school a try. I try to sit in the back, so when the discussion goes off the rail, I can discreetly read something else. Well, the SS president makes the usual request to move up, which I ignore, because i figure he'd rather have me in the back than in the foyer or home watching football and i could hear just fine. The instructor then takes over the mic and starts her lesson whispering, "I'm whispering because I want you all to move up." I can hear her just fine so I again stay put. Not being obnoxious as there are probably ten of us on the back two rows. She then says, "the Lord doesn't give up on people, and I won't either...I'll wait....brother ERC, I mean you." So I roll my eyes and move up a few rows while the rest remain where they were. She then proceeds to go off about how the Lord requires a willing heart and she wonders how willing we are to accept his salvation when we won't comply with simple requests. She even compared herself to "a hen gathering her chicks" (matt 23:37--i guess she did inspire me to search my scriptures). This whole diatribe lasted a good 5-10 minutes.

Lesson learned. Foyer for me.

Oh my gosh. Frankly this is why I fear women getting the Priesthood.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

We had a woman speak in sacrament meeting yesterday describe that when her daughters were dating, they'd invite the young man picking up their daughter inside and sit with the two of them, reading through the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet so that he was well aware of the standards the daughter adheres to.

She also related an experience she had over the summer where she went home to New Jersey for ten days for a wedding in the family. Since she's the only member in her family, the only part of the trip that she enjoyed was staying over night at an old BYU roommate's house before flying out early the next morning.

[clackamascoug]

Yup. I love filling in there. There's still some nonsense in there, but it goes right over the kids' heads.

Yesterday, I decided for the first time in a while to give the adult Sunday school a try. I try to sit in the back, so when the discussion goes off the rail, I can discreetly read something else. Well, the SS president makes the usual request to move up, which I ignore, because i figure he'd rather have me in the back than in the foyer or home watching football and i could hear just fine. The instructor then takes over the mic and starts her lesson whispering, "I'm whispering because I want you all to move up." I can hear her just fine so I again stay put. Not being obnoxious as there are probably ten of us on the back two rows. She then says, "the Lord doesn't give up on people, and I won't either...I'll wait....brother ERC, I mean you." So I roll my eyes and move up a few rows while the rest remain where they were. She then proceeds to go off about how the Lord requires a willing heart and she wonders how willing we are to accept his salvation when we won't comply with simple requests. She even compared herself to "a hen gathering her chicks" (matt 23:37--i guess she did inspire me to search my scriptures). This whole diatribe lasted a good 5-10 minutes.

Lesson learned. Foyer for me.

One of things I like about being clackamascoug is my ability to go about my business without manipulation from others. If a good sister said that to me in front of a group I would have said "Leave me alone, you're not my wife." Or, I would have walked out. The last thing I would do is the walk of shame of actually moving "up."

I'd rather have peace in my soul and be considered the weird duck, rather than worrying about meeting the expectations of others through mirroring their behaviour with my own.

[TripletDaddy]

After our kids grew out of Primary, I was in the DDD camp, but yesterday turned me around. The current leaders had all the kids singing with considerable gusto and the spoken presentations were really good, especially the ones the kids wrote themselves. I was about to applaud at one point but then remembered we don't acknowledge the occasional greatness in our meetings.

I'm not anti-Pri program I just think it is the most overrated sac meeting. Given the paucity of "rated" sac meetings, I feel like my observation is reasonable.

any sac meeting that limits talks and encourages singing is always going to be good. By definition, PriDay falls into that category. However, the "best" Sunday of the year? No. I guess I don't get as much of a charge out of a hundred little kids screaming off key or laughing at the kid that breathes heavily into the microphone.

I think PriDay would be improved dramatically if the kids gave their banshee wailing a rest and the adult teachers were given time to stand at the pulpit and address the parents of misbehaving or disruptive children, outlining the prior years cumulative misdeeds. Also, a list of parents names could be read, identifying people who habitually arrive late after the block to pick up their kids from class.

[RC Vikings]

best one is Xmas, all you do is sing songs and then leave.

It's also a nice change to have a Christ centered sacrament meeting.

[shoganai]

If you tire of being close to two airports and downtown...and your excellent school district, you can always move back. They have broken ground on a new ward chapel that is more convenient to your old neighborhood. On Stacy road across from the Sonic. Will be different attending church in a new building. As you probably know, the area has grown from 2 wards to 8 wards plus a YSA branch in my time here. Endured four ward changes but have always stayed in the same original building in the area...until doors are opened on the new building. But one thing will be certain, gospel doctrine will be held in the gym in the new building even though there will be a total of four people, including the teachers, attending gospel essentials in the RS room.

The awkward moment when you realize you live in the same stake as a random CS poster...

Those of us currently banished to a building in Plano eagerly await the completion of the new chapel - but I'm pretty sure Sunday School will still be in the RS room where it is now.

[Walter Sobchak]

Thank you DDD, thank you... a sane voice crying in the wilderness! I wouldn't go so far to admit "I hate" the primary program, but, yeah, I wouldn't miss it.

Also primary sharing time... ugh. I'd rather sit through a dozen pr0n 5th hour presentations than sit through one Primary sharing time, senior or junior. I don't mind subbing in for a lesson if it's my kids' class. But please, dear God, no more sharing time.

Speaking of overrated Sac Mtg stuff... pretty much any musical number. I'd like to hear a speaker honestly assess a previously performed musical number, for once! "Well, you are a collection of 3 dozen or so unprofessionally trained voices, singing in a chapel that was not designed with acoustics in mind. But other than that, nice effort!"

[Uncle Ted]

Speaking of overrated Sac Mtg stuff... pretty much any musical number. I'd like to hear a speaker honestly assess a previously performed musical number, for once! "Well, you are a collection of 3 dozen or so unprofessionally trained voices, singing in a chapel that was not designed with acoustics in mind. But other than that, nice effort!"

One of the last times I gave a talk it was right after a guy played a hymn on an accordion. I made the comment that it was very nice and how it reminded me of one of my favorite songs from Weird Al Yankovic.

[lambdacoug]

I learned on Facebook, in a comment to a post yesterday sharing the NYTimes article on JS polygamy, that "Mormonism is the only religion that is actively trying to be eradicated from the earth by the rest of the world." Impressive sentence structure aside, that guy is a tool.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Fantastic sac meeting talks today on the attributes of Christ. Specifically, love and charity. Speakers really hit it out of the park.

Dude that assigned those talks must be a genius.

[Topper]

Katy it sounds like you heard a memorable talk.

[wuapinmon]

High Councilman tells a joke about a woman who lives next door to an 'atheist neighbor' and she's always praising God anytime anything good happens. It comes to pass that she loses her job; she praises god for free time. The neighbor decides to convince her god doesn't exist. She runs out of money and has no food. He puts a cart full of groceries he bought on her front porch. She sees them and throws her hands up and praises god. He comes over and tells her he bought them, it wasn't god, and she should thank him (her neighbor). She throws her hands up in the air and says, "THank you, God for buying with groceries with the devil's money."

Priesthood is lesson 24. Women in the Church. Right out of the gate, Kate Kelly, "That woman" gets bashed on, with the HPGL saying, "I know that even if women had been given the priesthood, she wouldn't have been happy and would've started agitating for something else." When I challenged him with a Napoleon Dynamitish, "How can anyone know that?" He looked puzzled at first that anyone would disagree with the sentiment, and then said, "Well, that was my impression from hearing her speak." I don't think the dude ever 'heard' what she said, but what others said about her. I didn't bring that up.

Later on, someone said, "Why do they want to change the system that works so perfectly?" Another bluehair added, "Yeah, they are already ruled over at home, why can't they accept it here too?" I responded to that one with, "Yeah, he talks big now when they're not in here, but I'm guessing he'd sing a different tune if Sister X were sitting next to him." The teacher went on to point out how the RS is led by women, that they get to make their own decisions in their meetings. I refrained from pointing out all of the flaws in that way of thinking, but this meeting was a joke. I stayed mostly to see how deep the poor logic would get, but I should've just left. Now, I'm hopping mad about willful ignorance.