Last night I was at a relative's house for dinner, and I was unaware that the husband was now a stake president. We had dinner at 6:30, and after dinner and dessert, the husband came in from his church meetings. I asked him how long he'd been gone, and he said he'd been in meetings since 6:30 that morning.

During the week he has a demanding and very high-profile job at the university, so he puts in long hours. On Saturdays, if there is a football game, he's in the sky box schmoozing donors or traveling to speak to local alumni chapters, etc.

Just hearing about how much he is away from home and working made me tired. It made me sad for his wife, who told me that the only way they can spend any time together is to be creative and squeeze brief dates in here and there.

The odd thing to me is that it doesn't occur to either of them that the church is taking so much out of their lives, and doesn't give much in return. They don't question the need to sacrifice everything for the church. In the past, he had told me how much he hated going to church meetings, which he described as "brutal" and "excruciating." Now, he just seems wearily resigned to his fate.

I never had that high of a church calling, but I certainly remember long Sundays with no breaks, weekends spent in training meetings, and missing family occasions in favor of church callings. And that's time with my family, with my kids, that I will never get back.

I'm not even sure it would be worth all that if the church were actually true.

That mans schedule makes me tired...The church makes me tired. No matter how much time you put in, they find ways suck out more.

Family first, really?

No dying man will ever wish for more time spent away from his children.....it's regetable that you have missed so much.

It's as shallow as choosing your friends over your family.

Thanks for this post. It is so sadly true that TSCC sucks us dry! DH and I are finally retired and we enjoy spending our time as we please, sometimes we leave for a weekend or we go and spend a couple of weeks up in our mountain cabin, or we go and visit children. I was just telling our TBM friends how nice it was to be "free" and spend our time as we please. The husband retired about 3 years ago and presto they went on a "mission". They came home... not to be free but to so many more responsabilities that she was bemoaning to me that they have no free time! I sort of feel sorry for them... but it's their choice!

One day, as they see us so prosperous and happy, they might realize that the fault does not reside with them but with their Church that is a veritable vampire!

I am so lucky to be on my way out now, at 29. It must be an awful feeling to only discover the church isn't true in the latter part of your life, hundreds of thousands of tithing dollars, and tens of thousands of church busy work hours later.

I don't believe in a God, but if there was one good reason to create one in my mind it would be to satisfy myself that Joseph Smith will be getting "judged" by him. And hopefully "judged" is a euphemism for many unpleasant things involving pineapples.

This thread makes me think that the church is a bit like Wimpy as regards the afterlife: "I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

Promises.