Hi,

I am sorry I haven't written in a while. The Bishop and his wife showed up at our house today. We had written our resignation letters and he heard we sent them.

It was very upsetting because I grew up with the Bishop and his wife. I was there for everything.
My husband was firm in saying we were going to the Catholic Church and that is really was silly for them to be there.

Bishop's wife kept saying she would still be friends with me and stuff but there was a sort of anger in her voice I can't describe. She was happy sounding yet angry.

They tried with all their might for about 3 hours. I am so exhausted. The kids played in the back well we pretty much were told we were being tempted away.

The Bishop said he would like us to keep having home teachers and visiting teachers. Perhaps even the missionaries could help me out (yard work etc.). They think that we are leaving because we are overworked haha where they got that idea I have no idea :)

My husband and I have said we now know we were in a cult

So, you've resigned, & are going to another church, & he still asked you to continue to have HTs & VTs over?!? What kind of intellectual miscreant is this guy?

Did you offer to spend time with the HTs and VTs if the bishop and his wife attended the Catholic church's Rite of Christian Initiation class?

LOL. If you didn't you should have.

I love the aggression of friendship in the cult, don't you?

I WILL still be your friend G_dDa_n it!

3 hours?!?!?

I guess that's a good reminder of what you won't be missing each Sunday...

Don't invite them into the house. Walk out onto the front porch and say this:

In the extremely unlikely event that I ever want to discuss religion with you, I know how to get in touch. So don't call me, I will call you. Now will you kindly get off my property, as I have something useful that I want to do with my time.

GOOD-BYE. (And you walk back into your house).

The Mos will walk all over you when you don't set FIRM BOUNDARIES.

He will be less respectful of your long term association than you are being.

All the above were good comments.

At least maybe you can take some joy in knowing that THEIR three hours were wasted and they achieved nothing ;)

Way to go! Keep up the good work! :)

Maybe you can sign Mr & Mrs. "bishop" up for some Catholic discussions?

Invite them to dinner with your priest.

This sounds great Thanks everyone. I am feeling better.

I mean the Bishop was ticked because we were leaving our callings. I am not kidding you. What a jerk.

Ticked because you were leaving your callings!?

Not concerned for the eternal salvation of you and your family?
Not concerned about your spiritual well being?
Not upset because you're leaving so many friends behind?
Not distressed because you're leaving the one and only true church?

Nope! Now he's got to find someone to replace you. It makes me wonder if he's having a difficult time filling all the empty slots.

I totally know the smiling anger routine. I've seen it many times. They are as transparent as a sheet of glass. Do they really think they're fooling anyone? I can't tell you how many times i've seen that smiling face on someone who really wanted to rip my head off. Oh the love.

Ha! He's just upset that you've made more work for him now!

In a church that's run by corporate executives, members will be treated like employees.

Lucky you......I don't know who my bishop is and I'm sure he doesn't know where I live.

I hope you refused the VT & HTs. What the bishop would like doesn't matter.

You've resigned from the church. You have no reason to have VTs or HTs. The bishop does - for gossip reasons and to continue a sense of controlling you.

Can you even imagine treating a friend like that? I can't think of ANY pretext for going to someone's house to talk to them for 3 hours about something they had no interest in.

LOL

Mormon Jesus loves my money, errr, me, this I know
Because the Profit tells me so.
Pay up, suckas! Daddy needs a brand new mall.

She sounded happy yet angry? Why?

I never understand why people are angry because someone is leaving TSCC. According to the Morg mindset, shouldn't they feel compassionate instead?

Despite their happy face, the TBMs know that down deep they are miserable. When somebody has the courage to leave that misery behind, the TBMs who are still stuck in the misery get angry about it. That's my theory.

I would add to that their problem with expressing anger makes it nearly impossible for them to authentically express anger. Paste that Mormon-smile on, no matter what.

No one likes a frowny face.
Change it for a smile.
Make the world a better place.
By smiling all the while.

If you chance to meet a frown
Do not let it stay.
Quickly turn it upside-down
And smile that frown away.

...even when you are seething with rage under the nicey-nice, candy-coated surface.

A repeated problem I see with this is that many Mo's have so much pent up rage over legitimate wrongs done them that they blow up over a trivial thing that leaves the person on the receiving end of their rage wondering about their reaction that was so out of proportion to the triggering event.

This woman has been trained to be nice, be sweet. Very little is taught of genuine kindness which, to me anyway, includes telling the truth about when I'm upset without attacking the other person.

Let it be said, once again, Mormons are just so "nice!"

that when she first heard that i'd left the church she thought to herself "how come nick gets to leave and i don't?"
=)

Joanne, this is tough. You grew up with them, and I assume they have been friends. They base that friendship on the shared LDS experience, You don't, and the best comeback for this is your family's growth, happiness, and ability to maintain that friendship. Talk to them about the relief, the deeper spirituality and closeness to God you feel being part of the Catholic congregation. Tell them you feel you can truly celebrate Sundays, sometimes with church attendance and sometimes with family outings. Invite them to Catholic rights of passage that your children have. Leaving the LDS church works. You and your family will have some great experiences because you left, your children will grow up with a saner world view. Congratulations on your exodus.

That's probably how a lot of Mormons stay in the Church who should really be out, as they no longer believe.

But they've grown up with these people and they don't want to hurt them.

It took courage to stick to your guns. Good for you. :o)

Just don't let them send over those HTs and VTs. A non-Mormon does not need HTs and VTs. It's like when you try to close a door and someone sticks their foot in it, in order to keep you from closing it entirely.

Hi Joanne...I became Catholic, as well. The Pastor at the Parish I attend already knows me better than the Bishop at my old ward, whom I've known for 20 years!LOL

TWO funny things about becoming Catholic.

1) They sent me envelopes for donations (I ASKED for them...they wouldn't send them otherwise!) along with a page on "how" to donate. They recommended a minimum donation of 6% of your AFTER tax income. You send 1/2 of your donation goes to the Parish and 1/2 of it to whatever other charity you choose...hopefully a Catholic one. I found it amazing, after being hounded all those years for FULL Tithe.

2) I called the "Welcoming Committee" to see what I should be doing...kinda like "what is my calling?" I so wasn't used to just showing up then going home. I'm a lector, now. One of my brethren said that they should try harder to convert Mormons, if this is how hard they work!LOL

Thought you might get a kick out of those. By the way, my old Stake was "in the red" according to the Bishop. My new church GIVES AWAY $100,000 a year, as they make about 10x that and THEY want to tithe, not just the parishioners.

Docia Wrote:
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> They recommended a minimum donation of 6% of your AFTER tax income.

I think I can almost guarantee that most Catholics don't give nearly that much money.

A 2010 study put the average church donation at 2.4% of income (not sure if that is gross or net) with one third of U.S. churches surveyed.

http://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/10/study_reveals_church_giving_at.html

Another 2010 study puts it at 2.6%.

http://philanthropy.com/article/article-content/126931/

From what I've read elsewhere, Catholics tend to be on the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to donations, i.e. a Barna Group study from 2007 -- "The Christian giving was divided between Protestants (mean of $1705) and Catholics ($984)."

http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/18-congregations/41-new-study-shows-trends-in-tithing-and-donating

I just love these "out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire" stories.

I don't think that describes Docia's transition to the catholic faith.

At least, the Catholic church has not forced her to donate, or as far as I know, has not made donation to the church a requirement for exaltation.

In TSCC, if you don't pay tithing, you don't get to have your personal endowment or get married in the temple, which means you are deprived of exaltation.