It just passed one full year since I have attended a Sunday meeting in an LDS chapel. My wife and family have one by one left as well. For several months after I left my wife still attended weekly. I did my best to respect her, support her and give her the space to come to her own decisions, especially since she was so patient with me.
Anyway, I guess it was about six months ago she bumped into the bishop in the hall. I think they were discussing a calling or something, but he firmly told her that, “It is time for you to get off the fence.” I am so grateful that he said that. Now she spends her Sundays with me. We give blood together. We go walk the dog together and we sit in the living room reading and taking it easy, together.
I want to send a thank you letter to the bishop and give him a little bit of advice. “Bishop, In my experience, when somebody gets pushed off of a fence they typically end up on the other side of the fence from whoever was doing the pushing.”



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2012 02:35PM by peregrine.

Lol! The same thing happened to me, except it was my GF who did the pushing. I also came down on the opposite side of the fence to what she was expecting. Its funny how she's the one who pushed me to make up my mind, then she dumped me for doing just that!

Yes indeed! He was there for a good reason evidently and it always works out the way it's suppose to.
I'm happy for you both and really like how you spend your Sundays. Giving blood? What can I say? I think this is tremendous! I guess more people should get off the fence -- the Red Cross would love it too.

sistertwister Wrote:
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> > I'm happy for you both and really like how you
> spend your Sundays. Giving blood? What can I say?
> I think this is tremendous! I guess more people
> should get off the fence -- the Red Cross would
> love it too.

I have a very high platelet count so I donate platelets twice a month. I started doing it about ten years ago. Then my niece was diagnosed with Leukemia so it became personal. She's in full remission now but it feels so good to help out that I just keep going. My wife can’t give platelets but she gives whole blood as frequently as they’ll let her and keeps me company.

How long does it take to give platelets?

start to finish, about two hours for me. But it varries from person to person based on how big your viens are and your platelet count. I donate what they call a triple product. Which takes a little longer. One thing about platelets is that they rebuild themselves pretty quickly, like in 36 hours. I could give every week if I wanted to.

peregrine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I want to send a thank you letter to the bishop
> and give him a little bit of advice. “Bishop, In
> my experience, when somebody gets pushed off of a
> fence they typically end up on the other side of
> the fence from whoever was doing the pushing.”


I love this. A couple of years ago, Bishop Jackwagon knew about my doubts but didn't know to what extent I'd shared them with my kids. The kids knew everything but were still attending church about half the time, because we hadn't convinced DH yet. I told the kids that, to be fair to their Dad, they really should go to some stuff at church but that they could pick and choose the funner events. Well, one of them was a campfire/cookout/Bishop talk thing and one of the things BJ said was "Your testimony cannot depend on what your parents believe. You have to know for yourself the church is true and not just listen to what your parents say." It was a pretty pointed barb at me and a stupid piece of advice anyway. Can you imagine if some Baptist minister was telling one of BJ's daughters not to listen to her parents about Mormonism?

Anyway, it completely backfired and my son came home and said "Mom, I'm not going to church any more." I asked him what happened and he said "I'm only going because you said Dad believed and he deserved the right to teach us those beliefs but the bishop says we should attend church NOT based on what our parents believe but what WE believe and I know the church is a crock so I'm not going any more."

Thank you for giving my son that shove off the fence, Bishop Jackwagon.

Did you ever let Bishop Jackwagon know this?

No, but I did write a list of similar things in my journal - like how he assigned the pushiest woman in the ward to be the YW leader to my daughter who HATES being pushed, thereby making her want to attend church less. There are almost a dozen times where Bishop Jackwagon did exactly the right thing to help me get my family out of the church. Almost to the point where, looking back at it objectively, I don't know how I would have done it without him. At critical times, he always made the right move for me and the profoundly wrong one for him. I may have to turn that journal entry into a thank you note once he's released.

That's awesome! It's funny what the final push is for different people. Haha, that will teach the Bishop to be "pushy"!!

peregrine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I want to send a thank you letter to the bishop
> and give him a little bit of advice. “Bishop, In
> my experience, when somebody gets pushed off of a
> fence they typically end up on the other side of
> the fence from whoever was doing the pushing.”

PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!

On second thought, if he continues his unenlightened pushing, more people might end up on the other side of the fence.

I had a couple of arrogant bastard young missionaries show up while I was working in the yard one day, wanting to know why I haven't been attending church. My wife and I had been hum-hawing around about sending in our resignation letter and these two little assholes pissed me off enough to make me do it.

I can't thank them enough! : )

Nothing annoys me more than mormons showing up while working out in my yard. I have to stop what i'm doing and go inside to get rid of them. Otherwise they'll just stay and stay. They're more than happy to stand there while you mow your yard.

Your comment about being pushed off the fence to the other side is very true.

Exactly!!!
Last year my son was invited back to church by his Sunday school teacher. This kid was only two years older than him and was about to leave on his mission. So my son wanted to be polite and also say goodbye to a guy he considered a friend. The teacher publically embarrassed him during a lesson, comparing him to Alma the younger. After the lesson my son started to walk home and the teacher confronted him and told him he was being stupid and throwing away his salvation just so he could sin. This kid is also the SP’s son. So I wasn’t the least bit surprised to her almost the same words come from him that that I’ve heard from his father.

Your bishop was clearly inspired to say those words. It just proves how important it is to always listen to the still small voice in your head advising sisters on the fence to spend their sundays with hubby at home rather than in church. (LOL)

They say come as you are...oh wait, no they don't.

I attempted the "NOM" approach my first year as a nonbeliever.

It was Holland's OCT 2009 talk "Safety for the Soul" that shoved me off the fence...into inactivity-

"I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work—and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times—until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies. If anyone is foolish enough or misled enough to reject 531 pages of a heretofore unknown text teeming with literary and Semitic complexity without honestly attempting to account for the origin of those pages—especially without accounting for their powerful witness of Jesus Christ and the profound spiritual impact that witness has had on what is now tens of millions of readers—if that is the case, then such a person, elect or otherwise, has been deceived; and if he or she leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make that exit. In that sense the book is what Christ Himself was said to be: “a stone of stumbling, … a rock of offence,” a barrier in the path of one who wishes not to believe in this work."

Then, a TBM told me that I'm "still in" even though I said "I'm out", because I hadn't resigned...so I resigned.

They push you off the fence...but this is what they WANT. They are fulfilling prophecy by widening the divide between the righteous and the wicked (actually this is a perfectly natural phenomenon that occurs in all sects that collide with reality...you truly DO have to choose to either further indoctrinate yourself or face reality).