Posted by:
SEcular Priest
(
)
Date: November 23, 2021 03:16PM
The people that missionaries teach now are no longer called investigators. They are now called "friends." We were told the work is moving forward at a great speed due to the missionaries and members using social media. Yet I must admit I have not seen any new members join the Church in the last year and I have been traveling all around visiting wards all over North America. I have been told of lots of wards closing. But then maybe I am not a friendly person and I am just not seeing any new friends join the Church.
We were told that its easy to talk to people about your life and how easy it is to bring the gospel into to conversation. I find that concept to be manipulative.
They had a missionary report on his mission. What I did not hear was any deep spiritual experiences or any deep conversion stories like I heard when I was a kid and missionaries returned and reported. He never said how many people he baptized. He did say the Church was true and Dusty was a true prophet. He also talked down to us as if we did not know anything and he was a bundle of knowledge and experience.
Most of the speakers including the GA that was attending told stories from the BoM as if they were events that really happened. The GA talked about a couple of great battles in the BoM and how the soldiers were dressed in helmets and armor and had weapons of war. I wanted so much to ask him were are the artifacts but that would take away from the spirit of his talk and message.
Back to the friends concept. I watched people leave the building. They were the most least friendly, unhappy group of people I had ever seen. And why was I there. I had to give the closing prayer and no one said a word to me on the way out. The GA did say to me as I was leaving the pulpit "that was a sweet prayer." So I guess I could call him "a friend." The rest of the congregation were not even friendly to each other. Maybe they were there because of duty.
Bottom line, we were told get our act together, repent, stay on the convent path and be prepared for more temptations and evil around us. Get to the temple and you will get inspiration and spiritual strength. Same old, same old.