JustServe
A few years ago, I sat across from my midsingles' ward bishop. He was newly called, and (I would find out years later) exactly what the ward needed: someone to organize and utilize the immense...
View ArticleI'm Watching You
So this would have been more appropriate in October, with the creep factor and all, but I didn't think of it then. With my diminished interest in commenting online, I have found myself prioritizing...
View ArticlePrivilege and a Testimony of Polygamy
In watching various people address the new publication of information by the Church on Joseph Smith and his wives, I feel similar to the way I did when watching the reaction to 9/11*. Because I'm a...
View ArticleObjectivity, Subjectivity. Fear and a New Year.
Most of the time, I try to live as objectively as possible. Of course, actual objectivity is impossible, but I generally try. I want to be fair to others, and most of all I want to invite the Spirit,...
View ArticleHow I Stay
It's not exactly a secret that, while I defend the Church online, I often struggle with it personally. I am a divorced, still and probably endlessly single mom. I am an opinionated and outspoken...
View ArticleHow to Help Me Stay?
There are no comments here on my previous post, but I have observed some Facebook conversations about it which made me think I definitely need to clarify. I didn't write "How I Stay" so that I could...
View ArticleOrdain Women, Midsingles, and the Trouble with Agency
Have you ever wondered why a third of the hosts of heaven left God to follow Satan? I have. I've spent hours of time wondering why, when presented with God's eternal Plan, some shouted for joy, and...
View ArticleThe Liberal Mormon
Why, when those who agitate, prod, question and demand call us "TBM" as though belief is something shameful, do we turn around and label them as "Liberal Mormons," mock them with "clever" poetry, and...
View ArticleA Marriage Contract
You might wonder why I, as a woman who was single longer than I was married, and whose life as a divorcee is now longer than as a wife, might come and talk about what marriage should be. As a failure,...
View Article"The Spirit said...Slay him."
The first truly troubling passage in the Book of Mormon comes when Nephi, the hero of the book so far, is commanded by God to kill someone. Now, I have never killed anyone or any thing larger than a...
View ArticleAbomination of Desolation and a Little Fig Tree
Before you try to read into what I'm about to say, and boil my words down to a "HATEZ TEH GAYZ," I'm going to fully admit that my words are about the legal ratification of gay relationships (vis a vis...
View ArticleStill Waters
When you don't know me, my life seems peaceful. I have a good house, a good job. Children who love me. When you don't know me, you see the bread I bake, the quilts I make. You see my knitting, cooking,...
View ArticlePower to Change
"For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved."—1 Nephi 6:4 I've been thinking a great deal of...
View ArticleBehold Your Little Ones
When I was a young teenager, I sat on the ground at the edge of a large pavilion. It was dark, and I was surrounded by other girls and women. It was Young Women's Camp, and it had been pouring rain for...
View ArticleForgotten Grief, World Without End
"And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is...
View ArticleGrief and Redemption
Let's imagine for a moment that you see a child reaching for a pot of boiling oil. You know you can't stop the child from severely burning himself, and he will probably die. But in that instant, you...
View ArticleA Perspective of Joy
Twice I have stood on the ground of Dachau, closing my eyes as the horrors of history reached into the present to sanctify through suffering. I have spoken to survivors of Auschwitz, and read the...
View ArticleFaith Unto Joy
Not long after the events which eventually led to the final end of my marriage, I had the opportunity to receive a blessing from my father. It had been years since I received a blessing, because my...
View ArticleMormons are Hypocrites
I mostly grew up outside of the Mormon Corridor. When I was fourteen, my family moved from Germany to a small town in Idaho. The culture shock was the greatest we had ever experienced. I went from a...
View ArticleThe Right Ways to Criticize Church Leaders
This talk dates from nearly thirty years ago, but it is just as relevant today. Throughout our history we have had members who have criticized the Church and its leaders. Church disciplinary action...
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