Today is Sunday morning about a quarter past eleven. Back when you were deeply mired in mormonism, what you have been doing at this very moment? I most likely would have been teaching the 14-15 year olds, and then going to sacrament meeting after that.

What would you have been doing then, at around quarter past eleven?

In about 1964 I was teaching a Sunday school class of 5 years.....or about that age.

The kids were bored & restless & antsy....
I tried to entertain them.

Not sure what lessons I had to present....but I'm pretty sure I kept it on a "be a good human being" level....

I don't remember teaching Joseph Smith or Book of Mormon...

That was a lifetime ago.

My kids didn't have to go thru that. So I'm thinking it helped me sort out the stupid teachings.

Tutu

I would probably be saying the sacrament prayer.

I would have been bored sitting in Sacrament probably thumbing through the hymn book playing "under the bed" with the song titles, ie: "Israel, Israel God is calling - under the bed" "The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning - under the bed" "Come, Come Ye Saints - under the bed" "Praise to the Man -under the bed" etc, etc.

If you ever find yourself in church without your smartphone to entertain you, give "under the bed" a try.

I just can't. I was done by the age of twelve.

I'd be leaning back in my pew, happy that technology allowed me to see ALL of the day's sports offerings.

Probably pretty much the same thing I was doing today at around 11:15--writing my grocery list--only I would have been sitting on the first row, just below the organ, waiting to play those awful dirges with the non-truthful, illogical lyrics. "Under the bed" would have been an improvement.

I used to write my grocery list on the program, and make plans for fun with the kids, and ideas for the work week, etc. I didn't dare bring my Franklin-Covey planner, or blackberry--remember those? A lot of the men brought theirs to church, and somehow that was OK, if you were a man. It made them look important. The women and kids would bring regular books inside their scripture covers. My daughter used to draw cartoons. I did have my pager, though, on vibrate, because I sometimes did business on Sundays. I was out, before cell phones were invented.

I'd be wearing my Sunday best, sitting in boring 3-hour meetings, drawing on the program or passing notes to my friend to pass the time. After the boring meetings I'd have to attend a boring leadership meeting. I'd be in church for 5 hours of boring meetings.

On fast Sundays I'd be looking at the clock, wondering how many more hours of stomach growling and hunger/thirst pangs I'd have to endure before 24 hours of fasting were up.

Deeply mired?...ah nope...at that time of the morning I and some like minded apostates would been out joyriding in my VW Beetle.

Sitting in Sunday School, watching the clock, hoping for the time that I would get to go home.

I went to church because I was supposed to. But I can't say that I ever enjoyed going to church.

I did feel good about going, because I was being a good, obedient girl. But I would have been much happier with an hour-long meeting.

I was always teaching. If I was sitting in SM, I'd be in agony because the benches would cut off the circulation in my legs and so I'd have to sit on the chairs at the back. I'm just the wrong height. I've had neuropathy in my legs since my twin pregnancy.

Just waiting to go home and crash and burn.

I haven't done that since about 1994 or so. I actually had my now son-in-law in my primary class. That was the last calling I had accepted and my "husband" shared the teaching with me, but we just switched off every other week so that we both didn't have to go. The kids were staying at home with the parent who was home. After that calling, we were done.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2020 09:27PM by cl2.

Glancing at my watch.

As best I can remember, probably I would be partway into an RS class. That was the one I enjoyed the most, because the ward sisters tended to let their hair down when the menfolks weren't around, gossiped,shared stories, and generally enjoyed hanging out - at least until called to order.

I know when I had a chance to teach a lesson, I would spice it up with additional (kosher, please!) other church materials related to the topic, to add extra (occasionally unexpected depth) which many sisters seemed to enjoy hearing about.

But wasn't that about it? Sacrament at nine, Sunday School at ten, and RS/Priesthood at eleven? That's what I remember.

and I would use only Ensigns and have women give their own experiences, etc., and every single time, one of the presidency would tell me I couldn't use anything but the manual. I got a lot of praise from the women about my lessons, but I consistently got in trouble for using anything other than the manual.

I just continued to do it. I thought of just standing up in front and reading out of the manual and sitting down.

They also wouldn't release me. I finally said, "This is my last lesson." We were basically inactive and they weren't going to release me.

During Sacrament Meeting I'd be watching the kids in the front row pew wiping their snotty noses on the fabric of the pews while they stood watching the congregation behind them. The parents NEVER stopped them and I always felt like barfing. I still cringe when I see church pews. When I was giving a talk one Sunday I watched while the dad pulled out his nail clippers and started clipping his nails during my talk.

I would have gone to Sacrament meeting, went home, taken a long walk along the Patuxent Trail, then ended the night watching TV.
Even when I was "active" in TSCC, I still watched TV on Sundays. I couldn't spend the whole of the day reading scriptures like I was told I should...

My ward was squeezed into the stake center with 3-4 other wards during a 5 year church building remodeling phase. My bishop preferred the late worship schedule (he liked to sleep in). So I was still at home enjoying my day before church wrecked my afternoon.

I really despised attending church late in the day. The 8 am slot (though early) was a dream to me as church would be over by noon and I had the rest of the day to relax (the Goop household was very lax about keeping the sabbath day holy). I was very depressed to get out at 6pm and stumble in the parking lot during winter (the church only turned on the outdoor lights for mutual-wed and stake mtg-thurs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2020 11:24AM by messygoop.

getting ready for church, wishing I didn't have to go, or be a mormon.