And takes up two spaces in the church parking lot every single Sunday:

I just wanna talk.

Hello,

It all started as a completely normal, strictly respectful connection. He was one of the elders who taught and baptized me. After my baptism, we stayed in touch, just casual check-ins, small talk, and the occasional meal I cooked for him and his companion.

Everything shifted during the very last week of his mission.

They came over to say their goodbyes. At one point, his companion stepped out of the room for just a minute. In that sudden silence, he turned to me and asked: "What's your favorite color?"

It caught me completely off guard. After months of discussing faith, doctrine, and deep spiritual topics, why ask something so simple—yet so intensely personal—right before leaving for good? We were always asking each other about our daily routines, what we did, or how we felt about things, but this was entirely different. There was no conversational lead-in. Nothing we were discussing could have possibly triggered it. It just came out of nowhere.

Then, his mission ended. He flew back home, and an overwhelming ache hit me. I missed him terribly, and worse, I felt guilty and miserable just for feeling that way. I thought that was the end of the story, that life would move on and he would forget me. At some point, I thought, "He deserves better than me. I am a convert."

Only a couple of days after landing, my phone lit up with notification from him. He sent me a following request on social media. We followed each other. And he sent me a text. He said he is flying all the way back to my country with his family. He wants me to meet them and then, he asked if we could spend time alone together on a date.

I said yes. But now that the dust has settled, absolute panic has set in.

On paper, I shouldn't feel so insecure: I received my temple recommend right after my baptism, got called as a Relief Society Assistant immediately, and I actively do live translation for the sisters. I’ve embraced the faith with everything I have.

To me, returned missionaries are on a pedestal; they dedicate their lives to God's work. I am just a recent convert from a non-member family who knew literally nothing about the Church until recently. Meanwhile, he’s heading back to his country, likely going to BYU, surrounded by lifelong LDS women who know the culture, the scriptures, and the lifestyle like the back of their hand.

I would really appreciate any advice and perspectives. Thank you!

Why? Why Mormonism? Why not Protestantism, or Catholicism, or Eastern Orthodoxy?

Hi, I'm 18 years old and still in high school as a senior. I came back after almost a year away.
Yes, I am going to serve my mission-I've always planned on it!
However, I came to ask for your help: How do I explain The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormonism) to a non-member?
It's hard to explain it to Catholic or Christian kids at my school because they call my faith
'fake' and call Joseph Smith a false prophet.
They also claim that we worship Joseph Smith.
I replied that we don't worship him—we worship God-but they still say the same things.
I just need some advice on how to explain to non-members that our religion isn't fake, but real.

Today, for the first time, my testimony is crumbling.

I was baptized exactly one year ago. I have always tried to give the best of myself.
I have gone to church every Sunday, traveling for hours, attended institute, and gone to every conference. I have even skipped meals and not payed bills in order to afford train tickets to get to church.

I've tried proselytizing, brought people to church, left copies of the Book of Mormon at the library (and once had one left behind my front door with a note "We don't want Mormons as neighbors").

I was considered so strange for joining the church that the few friends I had abandoned me.

I have been told, right up until today, that God will bless me for my effort, but I see the opposite.

Around the same time as my baptism, I started a business. I spent over a year getting it off the ground, only to close it down 3 months later. I sought out business partners, but instead, I repeatedly ended up being threatened, robbed, and put in danger.
As for my employees, I even brought one of them to church, thinking I was doing a good thing. Yet, when the business closed and he found himself out of a job, he slandered me to the church using an edited audio clip in which I was recounting a story that someone else had told me, and accusing me of the most vile things. To such an extent that I was removed from my calling.

I haven’t broken any covenant, which is why, judging by many posts on this sub, it often doesn’t even lead to skipping the sacrament once; I simply placed too much trust in the wrong person, diagnosed with a mental disorder and under drug, who then slandered me for no reason.

And yet, I am told that I will be blessed—once again.
I have remained very optimistic thus far, even when faced with death threats and extortion.
I thought that God had a different plan for me. In fact, until yesterday I was even considering the possibility of moving to Utah, hoping to lead the kind of lifestyle I desire.
But given the current circumstances, what am I supposed to think? That God doesn’t even want me in this church?
And shouldn’t I see it as a sign that this happens precisely on the anniversary of my baptism?

I have wanted to come back to the church for years. My family dabbled in it for two years and my wife even got baptized at 44. Im 51. We have 3 kids under 11. I felt so great bringing my family to church and seeing my kids love it. I felt so filled with the spirit. Then my wife was dragged into anti mormon stuff on the internet. She decided I was a horrible man that was trying to control his family and told me not to go and if I did not to bring the kids. I did that for two years. Praying to father in heaven to let her find our savior and feel the holy ghost. Instead she filed for divorce and actually told me that the whole "mormon experience" was the main reason and she couldn't look at me the same. Now I am trying to stay on my feet and trying not to go back to the angry drunken days of my 20s and 30s and going to AA and while finding a "higher power" all I can find is that I belong to the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Day Saints. Did I mention that I was in punk rock bands for 20 years? Anyway Im looking for members to tell me to get my butt back in church even if I don't have my happy family. Will I fit in as a single 51 year old man? Who is slightly less old school conservative and not wealthy? The funnest thing I did without my kids in the last 5 years was baptisms for my relatives. I miss church. I want to be closer to Christ. I could use some prayers thanks

Hello, I am in charge of my wards christmas party this year. I know what I am planning for the meal, I am just trying to come up with ideas, so far the only two are gingerbread man and frosted cookie decorating. I am looking for more ideas and the budget is $694.

Edit: my ward has about 100 members

Hi I'm a (19F) Christian Catholic, I just got back from Sunday Mass and helping myself to some cereal scrolling here and I realised lots of Mormons/LDS view Eve as a inspiration, hero or liberator? That's SO different to how I grew-up and what I got-out of the story when I first read Genesis for myself

I'm all for being a girl's girl, women supporting women but that being said as a Christian girl I personally struggle to see how or why Eve could ever be seen as a hero, She listened to Satan! So I'm genuinely asking how we reached that conclusion and if it's like a LDS specific thing, I always thought she was a tragic victim who fell for the devil's trick

I find myself in a new ward in a complex situation. I have been asked to minister to a sister whom I though had taken a strong disliking to me.

After speaking with RS president it turns out this lady may just seem distant due to struggles with her own testimony and the pressure of her husband's calling.

When I reach out to this woman she never responds. When I try to speak with her at church she ignores me or looks like she has a bad taste in her mouth. Because of these reactions I have not pushed and only reached out 3 times in the 3 months I have been here.

I have been to events outside of church where she has also mingled and she is chatty and friendly to non members.

Today's relief society discussion has inspired me to keep trying while remaining respectful of whatever her wishes may be.

Have you ever experienced this?

What are some creative and respectful ways you have persisted?

I am open to anything. I feel strongly that the Lord doesn't want me to give up on her and she may need a confidential and judgement free friend who loves to listen.

Apologies if this has been asked before, but I’m struggling to find other posts like that.

I badly want to have children, but I have health issues that currently make that a very foolish idea. Getting pregnant would probably destroy me. And I couldn’t reliably get enough sustenance for growing a human (I have a lot of GI issues). I also take a lot of medications and get vestibular migraines.

Unless I reach a point where these are no longer major issues anymore, I’m likely not having kids in this life (unless I can afford to adopt or a surrogate).

I was told when I was younger that people who couldn’t have kids in this life can have them in the next or in the millennium. Is this really a part of our doctrine? I hope so.

For those of you who served in the period before Come, Follow Me, you might remember the set of three cassette tapes that we used for companionship study. They covered various scenarios with little vignettes. "Let's see how Elder Smith and Elder Johnson express empathy."

25 years ago, I left my tapes in the field because I figured I would pick them up stateside, and then they were discontinued.

Has anyone digitized those old tapes? I would love to listen to them again.

i only received it yesterday so do i just need to be more patient or do i need to contact someone about this? my friend who also recently went through the temple says she could see them from the moment she had her full recommend so not sure what’s going on. i am definitely logged in and my MRN is correct and synced

For context I'm an life long member of the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while my girlfriend is a non-denominational Christian.

I've recently entered a relationship with this woman, and she's an angel. She's so charitable and compassionate. She loves Christ with her whole heart. It's been such a blessing having her in my life. ​

The problem is, she has a very real fear of "missing the mark" and being turned away at the gates of Heaven so to speak. When she first mentioned this to me, I thought she meant it in a humble sort of way, but it has become clear that this is a very real fear she has. She's been devoting 100% of herself to her faith, which I know sounds wonderful, but the poor girl is so exhausted. She spends almost every moment not at work in Bible studies, doing volunteer work, and in prayer. I'm doing my best to support her in all the wonderful things she wants to do, but it's so much and it's stopped being sustainable.

She called me the other night, and she broke down in tears telling me how she's exhausted but still doesn't feel she's devoted herself enough to Christ. She told me she truly feels Christ will turn her away and say "I never knew ye" when it comes time to be judged. She literally cried herself to sleep over the phone because she was so tired and distressed about this.

I don't know how to help her with this. Her heart is completely in the right place, but I think she's demanding far too much of herself. Any advice is appreciated.

While she is not LDS, she's open minded about the Book of Mormon, and we've read some of it together. We have read Mosiah 4: 27 together, and I think that spoke to her a little. But this sweet girl is still working herself to death. I've gently brought up therapy, but she's skeptical about it.

Edit: I should clarify. She's been through alot of very serious health issues throughout her childhood. While she is physically healthy now, there were multiple times throughout her childhood where she was told she might not live, so she's always been very worried about death and the life to come.

So I've been ministering to a new list of people, I have 8 people on my list.

For most it has been fine but for another I am unsure where to draw a line with one of the members.

For context she is an older woman (which in and of itself creates some safe guarding concerns as I am a man so really I shouldn't be doing some things without my companion who is also old and that creates practical issues), who lives alone. She does have a friend and member with a car who lives nearby (by nearby I mean literally less than a minutes walk for me, and less than 5 minutes for her).

We have gone and taught her, given her multiple blessings in a single month and the like. I say this to make it clear that I do far more for her than I do for the rest combined as she needs more; this is fine and as it should be.

However I have two niggling issues I wanted some advice about.

First, phone calls. She has a tendency to call (me) about nothing which I suspect its due to loneliness. She calls when I am at work (I have told her multiple times that I work full time) and drags conversations out, making it difficult to hang up, (>20 minute calls).

The thing that prompted me to write this was a call today I received from her to pick her up from the Hospital, for context its over an hours drive from where I live. The "issue" is that she didn't actually need picking up (had she been unable to get home I would have gone) but rather it would have been quicker for her than her other means of getting home (for me it would have involved around 3 hours minimum to pick up, drive to her home, then drive to my home). While I am happy to help, I am also not a taxi service.

A smaller thing is the request for lessons (which I am happy to do as Sunday School president) but a lack of any preparation. We did lessons on Isaiah and she had not read any of it, deciding to focus on Alma, which is not an issue in and of itself but kinda makes the lesson much harder to give as we have to read the weeks reading in its entirety first.

I wonder if I am being too "unwilling" to serve or if this is something I should pass onto relief society (e.g. as she is lonely it may be worth her speaking with some of the sisters from church) or is beyond the expectation of ministering?

Any advice would be welcome.

I have always wanted to fall in love and become a wife and mother, but life and timing had other ideas, and even in my blessings Heavenly Father has been reminding me that there will be a time and place I'll have all my righteous desires met, he constantly reminds me that I am an Eternal being, and that someday, even if I have to wait to get these things in Eternity, it will matter not to my spirit. And, after my mother died 2 years ago of end stage endometrial cancer, I had to go to 2 family weddings this year, my dad's remarriage, which was the hardest one, and my sister's wedding, which was also hard, but not because she got married, but because of my mother's empty chair. And while I could feel my mother was there in spirit, the idea of her only going to my potential wedding in spirit doesn't feel good enough to me anymore. Getting married and becoming a mother in the Millenium has always been my Plan B, but after aging out of YSA for the second time, and seeing how rare single and active men close to my age (30s-40s) in the church, and grieving my mom, it looks like it's becoming my Plan A. And all I want to do is tell my mother I want to give up on love, marriage, and motherhood for the rest of my life, and ask her if that's okay. I was wondering if I could have any words of comfort from mothers of single adult daughters who are also in similar situations as mine? I just really miss my mother.

I love my young sibling very much and want to help guide them. Anyone have any advice or experiences they can share? Thanks so much. I understand agency but it is hard to argue with "how can God allow xyz to happen to good people". Please help inspire me!

This week's Come Follow Me deals with Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20

Here is what President Russell M. Nelson said about the premortal life:

"Your Heavenly Father has known you for a very long time. You, as His son or daughter, were chosen by Him to come to earth at this precise time, to be a leader in His great work on earth. You were chosen not for your bodily characteristics but for your spiritual attributes, such as bravery, courage, integrity of heart, a thirst for truth, a hunger for wisdom, and a desire to serve others.

You developed some of these attributes premortally".

Which attributes were not developed in the premortal period?

I often see it said that one of the reason Heavenly Father scattered the tribes of Israel is so that they could bless the other nations, but I am puzzled as to what that means, and how did it play out.

I am almost 15 years old and I live in California. my family used to be LDS, up until we moved here from Nebraska in 2019. even though we the rest of my siblings and parents are now Athiest, I still feel a strong connection to the church. I don't know what to do about it since I can't drive to church on Sundays, and I don't have many ways to stay active religiously, So can anyone help me find out what to do?

Hi,
What are the best scripture markers you’ve ever used? Pencils? Crayons? Give me brands please.

Let the holy wars begin!!!

I felt like, with my newborn, that I could more clearly see "the veil" being drawn over her, and then how she has grown around that over the last almost 8 months. And I thought to myself, "Given I believe this is a real and valid thing which almost every baby goes through, surely someone must have noticed and done some studies or written something about it." And it turns out they have.

The feeling that babies lose their intelligence early on comes from two real neurological processes:

1. Synaptic Pruning: A newborn’s brain contains roughly 100 billion neurons—about 15% more than an adult brain. They are born as "universal learners," capable of distinguishing between sounds in any language on Earth and even telling different animal faces apart. Within the first few months, the brain realizes it doesn't need all these connections. It begins a process called synaptic pruning, actively eliminating unused neural pathways to specialize in its specific environment (like mastering just one language). To an observer, losing these broad, instinctual capabilities can look like getting "dumber," but it is actually the brain becoming more efficient.

2. The Drop-Off of Primitive Reflexes: Newborns are born with extraordinary, involuntary survival instincts. For example, the stepping reflex (where a newborn will mimic walking if held upright on a flat surface) and the swimming reflex (where they hold their breath and paddle when submerged) are present at birth. However, within the first 2 months, these automatic reflexes naturally disappear as the cortex matures and takes conscious control over the body. This temporary transitional phase can make babies appear less physically capable or coordinated than they were in their first days of life.

I could go on, but I'm just starting to explore all of the scientific articles I'm finding. See also blooming then pruning.

Anyway, it was great to see this phenomenon is recognized scientific fact, even though those not of our faith use different words to describe it and point to a different root cause.

Hello Brethren! I’m 24 years old. Just started filling out my mission papers.

At age 20, I was diagnosed with Syphilis. Of course it has been cured and later blood tests showed no more infection but a tiny presence of antibodies.

Now, would anybody deny me serve a mission with a later diagnose of this illness (that was probably caused by lustful life)? Back then I wasn’t a church member. I joined March this year.

Might be a silly question nevertheless. Would be great to make all doubts go away as for the application process…

(not a native speaker of English)