Jesus was my waiter yesterday at lunch —Dutch

I had lunch at Boston Beer Works yesterday in Boston's Historic West End (near my office). My waiter was a nice Puerto Rican kid named Jesus. He made sure the cheese on my steak nachos was layered the way I like it. I tipped him generously, hedging my bet for salvation.

By a really strange coincidence, God was sitting on the sidewalk outside panhandling. I tipped him generously also, hoping he will find a place to bathe.

ElGuapo:

I need help with my NEW open letter to Monson —Tal Bachman

I recently posted on here an open letter to Monson, but it was long, and seemed to require substantial revision. So I keep trying to re-write it, but all I can get is like two sentences. Here they are:

***

Dear Mr. Monson
.
In your recent LDS General Conference address, you issued an invitation to those, like me, who have left the Mormon church to "come back". My question is: why, when the Mormon church isn't what it claims?
.
Talmage Bachman
.
Former member of the CJCLDS
.
***
.
Everything I write after this just seems lame. I don't know what else to say. Any suggestions? Is this too short?

Tal, you inspired me to take a crack at it:

Response to conference invitation

Dear Mr. Monson:

I am writing in response to your invitation in general conference to come back to the LDS faith. “Change for the better can come to all,” you said. I wish that you could know how that sounds to me. When I think of returning to the LDS faith it sounds nice in many ways. My family would be healed from the hurt my disaffection has caused. My neighbors and family would trust me again, and not see me as an outsider or a danger to their testimonies.

But espousing Mormonism isn’t just a matter of preference. It requires accepting truth claims; believing in Joseph Smith’s mission as translator, revelator, and prophet. And it requires believing in a God who would require that kind of faith in the face of contradictory evidence. I have tried to make that work, wanted it all to be true, and found that I couldn’t make it so.

Life outside the circle of faith can be difficult. It takes fortitude, and there are no easy answers. But just as my ancestors took difficult steps for the cause they believed was just, so must I. Going back would be nice, but leaving was a change for the better for all my generations to come.

DH against anti-mo’s —kylindigo

Hello,

I am new to this site and haven't posted much. I have been reading alot of the posts just to get a sense of everyone. Anyway my exmo DH doesn't seem to like it very much. Says he hates anti-mo's as much as TBM's. I tried to explain that it is not all negative just people trying to relate. I feel like I'm cheating sometimes because if I happen to have this site up on the computer when he comes around I feel guilty and he acts mad. He is exmo but very much not anti-mo. I think he still believes JS is a prophet. If I say anything bad and I say alot he defends instead of agrees. He doesn't go to church because he doesn't believe that you have to be in a brick building to worship. He would rather commune with nature. Just had to get this off my mind. Any advice?

I would suggest trying to find out why he thinks religion should get a free pass. If it's just the term "anti-Mormon" that rankles him I hope he can come to understand what WFS said, that we are not anti-Mormons; we all have Mormons we love. Other "power questions" that are helpful in getting people to apply critical thinking to Mormonism:

If the LDS church were not what it claims to be, would you want to know?

If the LDS church were not what it claims to be, how would you know?

Welcome to the board, kylindigo.

Slowly, slowly I leave the church by TAKING ANOTHER BIG CALLING! —Mantisdolphin

I can relate. I was completely out of the church mentally when I accepted my last calling in the stake president's office. I went over there totally intending to say no, I didn't think it was a good idea, busy schedule and whatnot ... and then walked out a counselor in the EQP. I simply could not say no.

This was a big reason resigning was important for me (not saying it's appropriate for you necessarily). Once I'd sent my resignation letter it was so much easier. The stake secretary tried to call me in for an appointment to talk over my decision, and I just said, "President who?" "No, I'm not interested in meeting with him. Thanks anyway."

But hey, you have a new calling, might as well make the most of it. Maybe bless some people that they will live to see the Second Coming or something.

Mormon Related Survey? —Grant H

I have two questions in this Mormon Related Survey
1. Are you currently a mormon or are you an ex-mormon

2. Where you raised as a Mormon or did you convert to Mormonism

BTW: what's the deal with the magic underwear?
more questions

3. Those of you who are ex-mormons
why did you leave the LDS church

4. Those of you who converted to Mormonism, what brought you to that decision

5. When Moroni spoke to joseph smith, was he an Angel of Light

6. Why do you never see pictures of Joseph Smith with his head inside a hat

1&2. Raised Mormon, mission, temple marriage, callings, etc. Have since resigned.

2a. I wear Hanes, thanks for asking. Some are even colored. ;)

3. Left when I became convinced the church was not what it claimed to be. No longer hold any supernatural beliefs.

5. Moroni was a resurrected personage, not an angel.

6. Why do you never see pictures of Joseph Smith with his head inside a hat? Because it's not faith promoting.

Appropriate gift for Childs Baptism (Mormon)?

I was invited to the Baptism for a Friends Child. They are Mormon and I am not sure what is an appropriate gift. Any Help would be great. —ditka2k7

All good suggestions, and the gift sounds like a nice gesture. You should know though that Mormon baptisms aren't necessarily a gift-giving occasion. The child probably just turned eight, so they just got a bunch of birthday stuff. Just sayin', it's certainly appropriate for you to just show up if that's your preference. It's generally Sunday dress, which for Mormons is almost always dresses for ladies and dress pants with a white shirt and tie for guys. (But no one will care if you wear something different.)