So, I was on another thread and it was mentioned that the VT's were coming by,so I looked up the message. Look how insulting and self-righteous this message is!!!! Evidently we are all like drunkards that just need a little mormon help, and people just need to learn how to tolerate us until we see the light.



"Our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, has encouraged us to “reach out to rescue those who need our help and lift them to the higher road and the better way. … It is the Lord’s work, and when we are on the Lord’s errand, … we are entitled to the Lord’s help.”1

Many years ago LaVene Call and her visiting teaching companion visited a less-active sister. They knocked on the door and found a young mother in her bathrobe. She looked ill, but they soon realized her problem was alcohol. The visiting teachers sat and talked with the struggling young mother.

After they left, they said, “She is a child of God. We have a responsibility to help her.” So they visited often. Each time, they could see and feel a change for good. They asked the sister to attend Relief Society. Though reluctant, she eventually attended regularly. After encouragement, she and her husband and daughter attended church. The husband felt the Holy Ghost. He said, “I’m going to do what the bishop suggests.” Now they are active in the Church and have been sealed in the temple.2"


Helping those who have gone astray come back to the gospel of Jesus Christ has always been part of being a Latter-day Saint and a member of Relief Society. President Brigham Young (1801–77) said, “Let us have compassion upon each other, … and let those who can see guide the blind until they can see the way for themselves.”3

Eliza R. Snow, second Relief Society general president, gratefully acknowledged the efforts of sisters in Ogden, Utah, USA, to strengthen one another. “I am well aware that a great deal is donated [in terms of service] that never reaches the [record] books,” she said. But recognizing that a heavenly record is kept of the sisters’ work as they reach out to those whose hearts have grown cold, she said: “President Joseph Smith said this society was organized to save souls. … Another book is kept of your faith, your kindness, your good works, and words. … Nothing is lost.”4"


<Vomiting sounds>



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2013 11:33AM by daughterofperdition.

What are their names and what ward do they attend?

Don't know - I was just reading the thread "I feel like I can never move on." - They aren't coming by my house - I'd eat them alive. They are coming by that poor woman's house.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2013 11:44AM by daughterofperdition.

Church promoting stories don't necessarily have to be true. Little details like who what when and where aren't important. ;-)

I literally hate the entire world view that people must have in order to be inspred by a story like this.


That's right. All of us "in-actives" have just been lead astray. We've lost our way. We turned from our eternal salvation because we love alcohol more than God. We're confused and delusional. If a nice neighbor will just visit me and pester me enough I can be saved.

They left out that the "less-active sister" had black skin too, and as she became more mormonish, her skin turned lighter and somewhat delightsome along the way.

Right?

It bothers me soo much that however consciously or unconsciously my friends and family read this and view me as this cold hearted person who is lost and is ruining her family. I think they spend time with me and probably forget about me being an evil apostate. Then they read crap like this and are suddenly reminded that I need to be saved and pitied.

It really makes me want to avoid them. I hate being a project and knowing that my family is being discussed. My two close friends were assigned to be my visiting teachers and I just had to tell them I was done with the scheduled visits. It bothers me that this is the message they're getting about me. I'm happier than ever but they'd never in a million years believe it because of articles like this!

I just want to go somewhere where no one knows me as a former Mormon. Just a fresh start. Ugh.

My thoughts exactly. My TBM daughter reads this, and transfers all these thoughts to me. The apostate mom, who drinks, is blind, and needs to be loved more. Gag!!! This article makes me want to write my daughter or say something to her, but I always hesitate in order to maintain the relationship. Even though our main topic of conversation is the weather. I am so conflicted after ten long years of frustration over this issue.

I know what you mean. It is like having a pillow on your face.

Ana

My wife just went and gave this message to her visiting teachees :(.

This article could have been written about me and my family. They started visiting me when I was at my bottom of the barrel, and all the rest of the story too. This is probably why it was so difficult to accept the real truth about the church.

I know there are many good and sincere Mormons. They don't have any idea that they are serving God under a false church. As a former "LaVene" myself, my wife and kids were truly grateful for the second chance I was given.

No, this article is gagworthy, but it really is the way things are supposed to work.

The church is still false.

You are right. *nod* There is nothing wrong with this story from a human prospective. I think the problem is actually undermining the actions of the ladies that helped this woman get out of her rut by attributing everything to "The Lord's Will" or whatever bs the Mormons want to call it. Instead it should be friends,family, neighbors, ect wanting to help someone who needs it because it is what we all should be doing. Stupid Mormons :/

Everybody needs help, and some mormons are helpful people, but that really has nothing to do with this article. Think who the intended audience is. This article is about casting inactive mormons in a particular light - idiocy and weakness of will specifically - that whips mormons into a proselytizing frenzy and makes them just fall in love with their own awesomeness. And it makes them believe the old lie that people only leave the church because of their own weaknesses. There are so many revolting messages tucked into this "lesson of love".

Remember this isn't at all about an alcoholic - she is a stand in for a non-member or less active. We are told almost nothing about her except for her bathrobe, her drunkenness, and her motherhood, her marital status, and of course, highlighted, her inactivity. Her role in this literature is a stereotype to stand in place of a real person. Her husband is even represented as more thinking and responsive and obedient than she is. Look at the words chosen in this article: "entitled to the lord's help (code for give Mormon lessons - not money!), rescue, lift to a higher road, responsibility to help (as opposed to desire to help), guide the blind, her reluctance contrasted with his obedience. An ugly picture is being crafted in words.

Yes, and this ugly picture my TBM daughter sees is of ME! I'm getting more pissed by the minute!

Now she can use that bath robe as cleaning cloths for the ward bathrooms. Isn't the lord special!

^ That is the most insulting part of the whole thing - the assumption that someone who is less active or has left TSCC has transformed into a cold, unfeeling person.

I suppose this is for Anagrammy, who has been around long enough to accept that this actually did happen. The very last time I went home/visiting teaching, my older partner and I went to the home of a single mom about 30 and her young son not yet in school. We did the routine stuff following the plan, and then asked if she had any problems. Just then the little kid yelled, "clit!" nice and clear. The mother's face went beet red, and my partner and I kept the stone face and he managed to say some kind of prayer and we beat it. I thought about this later: Of course little kids love to scream out slang or obscene words they hear to notify everybody that they are learning about the secret world of adults. But where had that little kid heard that word? Not his mommy, surely; or maybe his mommy. Whatever. At any rate, that woman never had to suffer through another team of VTs again. Thank goodness for small favors. Hope the admin doesn't give me a knock for language.

Of course we believe that actually happened. Half the stuff that's posted here we can hardly believe and they happened to US!

:)

Ana

Oh I think the church does work for some. In some instances it has been a force for good and has brought about a change for the better in the lives of individuals and families.

HOWEVER

That is not always the case, and if we value truth we need to admit that the church is not all things to all people. When you don't admit that, it confirms that you are either a liar, or incapable of reasoned thought...in either case that is a harmful place to be which proves the rule.

Aside from "helping a drunk" the point of this story is that if you don't attend the organization's meetings you are somehow not righteous. Attending all the meetings somehow makes you "good" in the sight of God and the church. That's all Mormonism, and many religions, are. You could be the most Christlike person on the planet but that doesn't matter to the religious minded. If you weren't attending their meetings or proclaiming belief in their God, you're f****d. Why is someone righteous just because they attend meetings???!!!

What bothered me about this was the two unspoken messages:

One, help people not because you care about them but because you want to set yourself up as some sort of Savior. We looked into adopting a special needs kid some years back and one thing we heard over and over again was not to think of yourself as some sort of Savior - don't do it for the feel-goods - because you'll be putting a burden on the child to live up to your expectations. This wasn't our intent so it wasn't a problem but other things came up financially that made it impossible for us to adopt. However, it was an interesting lesson in the difference between doing things for the right reasons and doing things for the ego reward.

Two, anyone who doesn't agree with your religious choices needs to be saved and is in a pathetic place in their lives. The implied "look down on them" is dripping from every line of this story when the message should be of compassion, of noticing and becoming friends without it having to be assigned, with wanting to help without thinking of it as necessary for fulfilling your calling. The emphasis isn't on helping equals because you love them it's about rescuing the pitiful because you are better than them.

I don't want my kids to have this attitude, reinforced looking down on those who are different. I'm so glad I got them out of the church before this sort of thing could influence their character. The sad thing is, most people think it's the Mormons who have been duped, conned and need help to rejoin humanity. Except most people are respectful enough to let Mormons be bat-crap crazy if they want to be so they don't encourage this level of intrusion. Which is good, because more than anything, this article is a good example of Mormons treating people in a way they'd never tolerate being treated. Remember years ago when a bunch of Baptists came to Salt Lake from somewhere in the south and tried to save Mormons? Passed out DVD's and everything. That was viewed as an attack on Mormons, anti-Mormon hate and who knows what else. Yet it was as sincerely motivated and from a similar point of view as what their precious Ensign recommends.

was in the dumps, drinking in the morning, etc.

Why couldn't it be about the exmo lady who has moved on, who is doing things her her life that she loves, and has a great family? Oh . . . but THAT wouldn't do. They have to show that without the church, people get really messed up.

The kernel of truth in this story is that someone who is really down CAN be more receptive to anything that promises change. Whereas the happy exmo lady will probably say "Thanks, but no thanks."

Thank you for the daily dose of Mormon arrogance.

I was on the verge of withdrawals and you know how horrible it is not to have the Mormons around to tell you that they are better than all of us but we can be too if we do what they say.

Quote from the article:
We have a responsibility to help her.” So they visited often. Each time, they could see and feel a change for good. They asked the sister to attend Relief Society.

Yes, dropping in on someone unannounced more often is a great way to help them. That and inviting them to attend Relief Society is all that needs to be done to make this world a better place.

I would have been more impressed if the VT had helped even if the woman and her family decided to not 'come back to church'.

+1 quabec

That is exactly what I thought! Most people have problems of some sort regardless of their religious beliefs. Alcoholism is the tip of the iceberg, and who doesn't need a few good friends and a community?

The problem I had with this article wasn't in that the lady in question found friends and a community, but that they somehow managed to twist this to be about the church. This VT message continues to promote the fantasy that those who believe in Mormonism are partaking of a cure-all for life's ills.

By this flawed logic, every bad thing that happens to those who leave are a punishment for their disobedience, and every bad thing that happens to those who stay is simply a trial (and may even be viewed as a reward by some). It is distorted thinking to the highest degree.

In today's politically correct atmosphere, any kind of "help" for an alcoholic is seen as acceptable in most cases.

The use of a higher power is part of how AA works.

People who are ready to receive help with their alcoholism will take it anywhere they can get it.

I don't know enough about this "story" other than it's presented as an example of how VT can be helpful.
Hopefully, if the person got help for her alcoholism and she found the LDS Church to be part of her process, it may have worked for her. It's my view she would need a lot more help than going to the LDS Church. But if it was part of her heritage that she wanted to accept it could be a helpful adjunct to her progress.

I don't find that kind of VT message to be helpful, however! I didn't find many of them helpful even when I was a member and presenting the message. Most of it was just busy work.

So, when the VT's drop in on me unannounced and i'm in my bathrobe, they'll think i'm a drunk that needs to be saved.

Maybe I just got out of the hot tub and wasn't expecting them to just drop in unannounced.

Makes you wish for the old days (or new days, if you're rich) when your butler would open the front door and say "Madam is not in for visitors."

The Morg CAUSES alcoholism...

Just look at all us ex-mos...


:)

But at least I'm a happy alcoholic ;)

So now it's President Smith? Not Prophet Smith? Wow...careful word selection there. Ugh. They're de-legitimizing their past so that people can't blame the past. That's just so...ridiculous.