My fourteen-yr-old daugther has had to put up with her fair share of nonsense growing up non-mormon in Utah. About 10 days ago, while driving down the road, I asked her if her Mormon friends lived in devout families. She didn't really know, and didn't express much interest in the conversation beyond that. I mentioned in passing that my guess was that if it weren't for the moms, the dads would likely not want to be involved and probably hated going.

So we're driving down the road tonight, and she says with no context...."five out of six." What sweetie, what are you talking about? She proceeded to explain that she asked six of her friends (all girls) if they and their family would be Mormon if their moms weren't into it, and that five of her six friends said that their families probably wouldn't be Mormon if their moms didn't insist. The fathers of four of the six don't go most Sundays. The funniest part: "Dad, one of the two dads that goes is the bishop. But the rest of his family hasn't gone in six weeks."

The best thing about it....the question has empowered my daughter in a really simple way. She's gotten a small glimpse behind the curtain, so to speak, by sizing up the commitment of the families around her.

posted a picture of her husband on Facebook, sound asleep in Sacrament meeting. She said it was his "usual church pose". She got a lot of responses from other friends saying that was how their husbands got through church too. I posted "Why don't you just let him stay home and sleep?" After all, this guy works 2 jobs. She replied "Oh, he wants to be there - he just always falls asleep."

Really?

Actually, I guess I have to believe her because my DH says he feels better when he attends church but is rarely awake for all the meetings. I made a crack about more husbands attending if there were single beds available, instead of folding chairs, which he didn't find at all funny. But it's true.

You know, as tired as I am by the time Sunday rolls around, I'd have a helluva time getting up for meetings too. I used to hate Sunday mornings (when I was TBM). I now relish the slow, easy routine of my Sunday mornings...and the time with my family, whether it's going for a walk, cooking the kids breakfast, whatever it is. I value my Sunday mornings as much as my Friday nights...they're the two best times of the week for me.

I just got back from Utah and my 4 brothers seem totally disinterested in the church. Their wives otoh, are very into it. They are all sahms. They are very into the social part of church. Church is their life! My brothers all have good jobs, college education, are very ambitious, in their 30's and 40's and have never been in any leadership positions. They are all RMs and I thought they would be high priests by now, but it's pretty clear they don't really care...they just love their wives and want to keep the peace.

Yes, it seems there's two distinct types of active LDS guys: 1) the "let's get this over with" crowd, and 2) the guys that always include their middle initial in their name. Sounds like your brothers are in group #1, which is not a bad thing!