Posted by:
forestpal
(
)
Date: December 13, 2011 06:14PM
The Mormon church is using her, just like they use senior couples. They will come after her tithing money (they don't care if people can't afford tithing) and, like many old widows with just one child, the Mormon church will try to get her house signed over to them, and her son's inheritance, too, eventually. Her son should be very worried! You can't tell your sister anything, though, because she is already indoctrinated.
Talk to your sister, gently. By that, I mean LISTEN to your sister. Ask her what she feels is her mission in life--then let her tell you. As she tells you, you can repeat some of her words, to solidify things in her own mind. This will help straighten out her thinking.
This is not criticizing her religion. Actually, if you, too, are spiritual, you could bring God into it.
Your sister is a mother, first and foremost. How does this extreme devotion to the Mormon church effect her son? Will it drive a wedge between them. As one poster stated, Friday and Saturday nights are the prime times druggies get together. Will her dedicating her free time to a dead people show her living son that she cares about him?
The idea of back-door blessings is absurd! Our neighbors went on a mission, so that their children would be "blessed" by God. Instead, they could have stayed home and helped their daughter through her divorce, babysat the grandchildren, and the husband would have made sure his business partner didn't run off with all the money and bankrupt their business. The missionary wife would not have gotten an embolism in a country far away, and died shortly after.
One of your sister's goals is to start her psychology practice, right? Will this temple stuff help here there? No talking allowed in the temple. No friends or contacts made. No planning, or writing down ideas for her business, no overlapping of tasks. If a patient--or her son--calls her while she's in the temple--forget about it. Standing up for hours will sap her energy. The sour atmosphere of death will depress her. She needs to let go of death, and live her life with her son!
Not to mention, that 50 is young, and she might meet another good man--it happens! There would be no dates for your sister, because her weekends would be taken. A woman can't have a second temple marriage, anyway, so the Mormons prefer to keep her a widow, for the rest of her life.
Your sister is going through a very rough time in her life. In my own experiences, when I was the most down-trodden, that was when the Mormon church was the most abusive. A good policy with Mormons is, "Never let them see you sweat." As a woman on her own, your sister must be very careful to not become a victim.
She should not be apologetic in her tone, when she tells them "no." There's an old Swedish saying, "Never complain. Never explain." If your sister complains, the temple president will tell her a story about some widow who did her calling, who had 6 children, and two jobs, and an incurable illness. If your sister explains, every explanation will be countered with an argument, such as, "But God is commanding you to do this." or the bearing of his testimony. As your sister tells them, "No" she will find out for herself how the Mormons bully widows. It would be a good idea for you and/or her son to go with her on her interviews. She should not have to stand up to the authoritarian priesthood alone. You don't need to speak, but just be there to witness the whole thing.
My condolences to your sister. Thank goodness she and her son have you looking out for them!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2011 06:15PM by forestpal.