Posted by:
coveredhead
(
)
Date: April 19, 2012 08:33AM
During the worst of the recession, my husband and I requested a small amount of financial help. And we WERE helped for a month or so.
I brought my bills to my Bishop and requested a meeting with him to go over them. He handed them back to me and said, "We can't give you any more help."
I was a bit shocked, since I didn't want just financial help, I wanted to speak with my "spiritual leader" and maybe pray with him and get some advice.
So, I responded with the ever-so-succinct, "Huh? You can't help me? What do you mean?"
"The Stake is in the Red and we can't help anyone else financially, if we think they can just help themselves." My husband is currently working THREE jobs to pay my medical bills, so it's not like we were just trying to live off the church.
Now, this is a VERY affluent area and people obviously are not tithing the way the Church says we should (on the gross). Even though I have horrible health insurance, was diagnosed with a terminal disease (2 more years "if I'm lucky") AND the Bishop knew all this...they had no help, neither financial nor spiritual, for me.
I have not been back for over a year and NO ONE has contacted me. No one. Not one missionary, home teacher, visiting teacher (who used to be a VERY close friend) or local leader. Since I'm always hearing about how the Church hunts you down until your dying day, I'm beginning to feel like the ugly girl (oh, sorry, the "sweet spirit") at a dance.
I have since joined another demonination and am VERY spiritually happy, although my friendship support base at the Ward disappeared and it breaks my heart.
I have NEVER heard the Church admit that ANY part of it was losing money...so it must be widespread and BAD.
Stop tithing...now. They can build a mall but not help their members.