What do we think inspired calling means?

[bluebell]

2 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

I think we have misunderstood culturally then the reality of what inspired means.  

Sort of like the way we often attribute the term blessings as being money related. 

That totally could be.  What has your experiences with the spirit taught you about what inspiration is?

[Stargazer]

2 hours ago, JAHS said:

Yes I agree with all this. I just get annoyed when people say that all callings are inspired of God. 

Well, yes, I suppose that's true.  But I would say that if you get called to something, whether or not inspiration was at the root of the call, "What e'er thou art, do well thy part."

I was once branch president over a rather small branch with a LOT of Primary children (a serviceman's branch in Germany).  We needed a good Primary President almost more than we needed a good EQP or RSP.  Shortly after my call as BP, I needed to call a new PP.  I called my wife.  She performed admirably.  I do not know if I were inspired to call her in particular, but I felt good about it.  And she was well-supervised in her calling.  I had to release her because I was leaving the Army and we were going to be gone.  Rather than let my successor have to deal with needing a new PP immediately after being called, I called the next PP.  There was only one mother in the branch that wasn't already doing something else important, so I called her to be the new PP.  She questioned me about whether her call was really inspired, or was I just handing it out more-or-less to the next sister in line.  It was a fact that I didn't have a lot of choices.  Nevertheless I had prayed about her, and felt good about her being the one that should be called.  So I told her that I felt that she was the one the Lord wanted, but told her not to take my word for it.  "Pray about it," I told her, "and if you feel the call isn't for you, or that you don't think the Lord wants you to do it, let me know and I will find someone else."  She phoned me the next day and accepted the call.

Were either of these calls to the Primary Presidency inspired?  I believe they were, though I didn't get a vision or voice from heaven about either.  The fact was, there wasn't a lot of choice available.  One can say that there was little room for inspiration, under the circumstances, but IMHO there really ought to be.  It might be true that ALL the available candidates are good.  And it might be true that the Lord would be happy with any of them.

I do know that my call as Branch President was inspired.  Even though there weren't many who were available to be called.  I shan't get into why I know it was inspired.

[CV75]

1 hour ago, Stargazer said:

Well, yes, I suppose that's true.  But I would say that if you get called to something, whether or not inspiration was at the root of the call, "What e'er thou art, do well thy part."

I was once branch president over a rather small branch with a LOT of Primary children (a serviceman's branch in Germany).  We needed a good Primary President almost more than we needed a good EQP or RSP.  Shortly after my call as BP, I needed to call a new PP.  I called my wife.  She performed admirably.  I do not know if I were inspired to call her in particular, but I felt good about it.  And she was well-supervised in her calling.  I had to release her because I was leaving the Army and we were going to be gone.  Rather than let my successor have to deal with needing a new PP immediately after being called, I called the next PP.  There was only one mother in the branch that wasn't already doing something else important, so I called her to be the new PP.  She questioned me about whether her call was really inspired, or was I just handing it out more-or-less to the next sister in line.  It was a fact that I didn't have a lot of choices.  Nevertheless I had prayed about her, and felt good about her being the one that should be called.  So I told her that I felt that she was the one the Lord wanted, but told her not to take my word for it.  "Pray about it," I told her, "and if you feel the call isn't for you, or that you don't think the Lord wants you to do it, let me know and I will find someone else."  She phoned me the next day and accepted the call.

Were either of these calls to the Primary Presidency inspired?  I believe they were, though I didn't get a vision or voice from heaven about either.  The fact was, there wasn't a lot of choice available.  One can say that there was little room for inspiration, under the circumstances, but IMHO there really ought to be.  It might be true that ALL the available candidates are good.  And it might be true that the Lord would be happy with any of them.

I do know that my call as Branch President was inspired.  Even though there weren't many who were available to be called.  I shan't get into why I know it was inspired.

I think that sometimes the Lord is aware of and even sets up the circumstances. This is partly why I think there's a difference between "all callings come from the Lord" and "all callings are inspired of the Lord." In either case, as President Eyring taught, the Lord "is watching over the daily details of His kingdom [and] makes no mistakes in His calls." https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/the-lord-leads-his-church?lang=eng

[Bernard Gui]

23 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Also, thank you all for thoughts.  

I personally don’t believe in divine intervention with most callings. 

Do you mean callings you have received or are you projecting this onto everyone else? How do you come to this conclusion?

[MustardSeed]

32 minutes ago, Bernard Gui said:

Do you mean callings you have received or are you projecting this onto everyone else? How do you come to this conclusion?

Just an opinion.  Too many times I’ve been told something was inspired when it is actually not. 

[JAHS]

On 2/20/2019 at 6:27 AM, CV75 said:

On 2/19/2019 at 7:11 PM, JAHS said:

I have come to find that inspiration from God is not the result of some callings. I knew a member who was a doctor and was called as a stake president who was molesting his female patients under the guise of being necessary medical procedures. He was later found guilty of this and put in jail and lost his membership over it. No way was this guy "worthy" to fulfill the calling, although he did manage to convince many people that he was a righteous priesthood holder. He hurt a lot of people from the things he did and the lawsuits that came from it.  A Stake president is usually selected by a general authority. I can't believe that GA was inspired by god to call that person to the position.
 

As I noted above, in order to constitute a bona fide calling from God, it must meet several criteria, none of them necessitating the authority issuing the calling to have any divine inspiration, though that is typically the case and a reasonable expectation.

 

I’ve heard it said that no priesthood authority stands between us and the Lord, and I believe this to be true. They stand beside us and point the way to the Savior*. So probably the most important criterion for a calling to be of God is that the calling is accepted (or not) in faith and real intent. This is part of the covenant we make with God when entering the straight and narrow path through baptism. When we act in hypocrisy, “Amen to the [calling] of that man…Hence many are called, but few are chosen.”

 

* Oddly enough, the GA may well have been inspired to call the doctor as an opportunity for him to repent, but there is no way of telling.

Here's another recent example of a calling that may not have been inspired: 
"A bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) was removed from his post after he was arrested during a human trafficking sting in Lehi, Utah.
David N. Moss, 51, is accused of contacting online women he believed to be prostitutes and claiming he could manage them. Moss, a former police vice squad lieutenant, was arrested on Tuesday for exploiting a prostitute, patronizing a prostitute, two counts of lewdness and sexual battery."
“The behavior alleged in this incident is completely unacceptable and unbecoming of any member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and especially of someone serving in a position of local leadership,” spokesman Eric Hawkins said in a statement to the Deseret News. “Upon learning of this situation, local leaders took immediate steps to relieve him of his role and to identify his replacement.”
LDS BISHOP WHO WAS FORMERLY ON A POLICE VICE SQUAD ARRESTED IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING STING

[MustardSeed]

I just remembered....My husband was called once to be the young adult male rep.  We had been married 12 years at the time. 

I’m almost Certain that was not inspired .

[MustardSeed]

17 hours ago, bluebell said:

That totally could be.  What has your experiences with the spirit taught you about what inspiration is?

I believe in personal inspiration.  I don’t believe in it applying to other people. I know the line is thin there, but ****for me**** whenever someone else has “received inspiration” that I need to do something, my spidey senses start looking for motivations. 

I have had powerful moments of clarity that I attribute to God as a parent many times.  I think it saved one daughters life and I also think it improved my relationship with all my children.  Also I have very sacred experiences in marriage and at work.  I also have been inspired and made mistakes not to take heed.  

 

[Bernard Gui]

5 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Just an opinion.  Too many times I’ve been told something was inspired when it is actually not. 

So, it’s limited only to your experience. Fair enough. How did you determine things were not inspired?

Edited February 21, 2019 by Bernard Gui

[Bernard Gui]

4 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

I just remembered....My husband was called once to be the young adult male rep.  We had been married 12 years at the time. 

I’m almost Certain that was not inspired .

There must be more to the story?

[MustardSeed]

34 minutes ago, Bernard Gui said:

There must be more to the story?

To this day we look at each other and ask “what WAS that? “ 

at the time, my husband was not really aware of what was being aaked of him.  He mentioned it to me and I was like “yeah.... I don’t think so”.  

[MustardSeed]

More later... I’ll return to this

[CV75]

7 hours ago, JAHS said:

Here's another recent example of a calling that may not have been inspired: 
"A bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) was removed from his post after he was arrested during a human trafficking sting in Lehi, Utah.
David N. Moss, 51, is accused of contacting online women he believed to be prostitutes and claiming he could manage them. Moss, a former police vice squad lieutenant, was arrested on Tuesday for exploiting a prostitute, patronizing a prostitute, two counts of lewdness and sexual battery."
“The behavior alleged in this incident is completely unacceptable and unbecoming of any member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and especially of someone serving in a position of local leadership,” spokesman Eric Hawkins said in a statement to the Deseret News. “Upon learning of this situation, local leaders took immediate steps to relieve him of his role and to identify his replacement.”
LDS BISHOP WHO WAS FORMERLY ON A POLICE VICE SQUAD ARRESTED IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING STING

Maybe, maybe not; who knows.

[CV75]

2 hours ago, Bernard Gui said:

There must be more to the story?

YA advisor maybe?

[Bernard Gui]

7 hours ago, CV75 said:

YA advisor maybe?

I’ve been In 5 bishoprics. Something’s odd.

[MustardSeed]

1 hour ago, Bernard Gui said:

I’ve been In 5 bishoprics. Something’s odd.

Well of course something is odd! Lol. 

11 hours ago, Bernard Gui said:

So, it’s limited only to your experience. Fair enough. How did you determine things were not inspired?

Besides the obvious  ysa issue... my husband was also called to teach institute. Was told specifically it was directly inspired.  I know the man well who called him, we were business partners.  He uses that term often and I believe he is generally manipulative in many ways so I don’t take him seriously... besides, institute requires a few qualifications my husband doesn’t possess but doesn’t advertise.  So he said no. Besides that, his work has him travel all week long. That’s non negotiable, but the person calling him didn’t know. Not insured imo.  You can dice that up but there was no way my husband was going to quit his job to treach a class he wasn’t qualified to teach , because brother brother had said that God wanted this to happen.  We had a clear personally inprired answer that it wasn’t our path. 

Another questionable calling- or releasing, both just different sides of same coin: I worked in nursery for some time and the leader was not nursery material at all.  She was an older professional woman who craved attention, wore very expensive clothing and was annoyed by children.  She was very vocal to me about her deep dislike for her assignment and threatened to stop coming. I MAY have mentioned it one week to my husband who mentioned it immediately to his very close friend who was Bishop.  She was immediately released and the next Sunday was fast Sunday .  She got up and cried in dramatic fashion about how God had known exactly what she needed exactly at thT time.  I get it, God works through people- but that’s not how she was experiencing that and I had to leave the chapel as she carried on about the bishop’s outer world revelation. 

There was a primary president last year in my ward who was having an affair.  No one knew or knows about that - she served her term. I don’t think God endorsed that calling the same way we as a people culturally tend to believe inspiration works. (I THINK culturally we believe inspiration involves worthiness to some degree) 

and my best friend married a general authority after he told her that God told HIM  to marry her.  She was vulnerable. Her husband had died and her next husband abused her and she escaped in dramatic fashion.  When GA came on the scene she was a mess and so “god said “ was convincing.  He ended up being a dishonest hot mess and the 1st presidency helped her annul.  It was all done quietly, obviously.

These are a select few reasons I find the idea that inspiration is used often enough as a form of manipulation to get people to agree to do things. 

Let me reiterate, I’m a believer in accepting invitations to serve whenever and wherever it’s possible. We get a lot, and need to give to keep the ball rolling. 

[rchorse]

The reasons a leader may be inspired to call someone are not always clear cut. In one case, I received very clear spiritual direction to call a woman to a leadership position. It was one of the most clear revelations about a calling I received in my whole time as bishop. I was unaware that she was unworthy at the time, and she accepted the calling. Interestingly, it was serving in the calling and participation in ward council that caused her sufficient spiritual awakening/discomfort to come to me and confess and begin the repentance process. She was immediately released when she confessed, but I know that calling was inspired. I believe God inspired me to call her to help her repent.

And just FYI, no innocent parties were harmed as a result of that calling.

Like I said, I think some callings may be uninspired, but I don't agree with blanket statements that no callings come from God. I also disagree that a large percentage of callings are uninspired. I think the vast majority of callings are inspired and a small minority may not be.

Edited February 22, 2019 by rchorse
Clarified some wording.

[MustardSeed]

1 hour ago, rchorse said:

The reasons a leader may be inspired to call someone are not always clear cut. In one case, I received very clear spiritual direction to call a woman to a leadership position. It was one of the most clear revelations about a calling I received in my whole time as bishop. I was unaware that she was unworthy at the time, and she accepted the calling. Interestingly, it was serving in the calling and participation in ward council that caused her sufficient spiritual awakening/discomfort to come to me and confess and begin the repentance process. She was immediately released when she confessed, but I know that calling was inspired. I believe God inspired me to call her to help her repent.

And just FYI, no innocent parties were harmed as a result of that calling.

Like I said, I think some callings may be uninspired, but I don't agree with blanket statements that no callings come from God. I also disagree that a large percentage of callings are uninspired. I think the vast majority of callings are inspired and a small minority may not be.

Good post

[HappyJackWagon]

Do we really believe in inspired callings in the church? I think we do...when it's convenient. When it's inconvenient I think there tends to be a lot of backtracking as if it's unreasonable to truly expect that an inspired calling means that God wants a certain person serving in a specific calling. That becomes very problematic when you get stories like the bishop in Lehi who was arrested last week for human trafficking and prostitution. It turns out he also had issues years ago in St George when he had to leave his law enforcement job for sxual misconduct. Yet, despite that past misconduct, I am fairly sure that when he was called to serve as bishop in Lehi it was touted as an "inspired" calling.

Inspiration suggests that there is some kind of heavenly help in revealing the person who should serve. It implies that while the individual isn't perfect, they are at least a decent person. Yet again, we have a high profile example of a person with an "inspired" calling behaving badly, both before and during his call as bishop.

https://fox13now.com/2019/02/20/former-vice-squad-cop-arrested-in-valentines-day-prostitution-sting-in-lehi/

[Bernard Gui]

7 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Well of course something is odd! Lol. 

So, what's the rest of the story? My experience in bishoprics tells me this is out of the ordinary. Not being familiar with marital status would be way out of the ordinary. There must be more to what happened.

7 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Besides the obvious  ysa issue... my husband was also called to teach institute. Was told specifically it was directly inspired.  I know the man well who called him, we were business partners.  He uses that term often and I believe he is generally manipulative in many ways so I don’t take him seriously... besides, institute requires a few qualifications my husband doesn’t possess but doesn’t advertise.  So he said no. Besides that, his work has him travel all week long. That’s non negotiable, but the person calling him didn’t know. Not insured imo.  You can dice that up but there was no way my husband was going to quit his job to treach a class he wasn’t qualified to teach , because brother brother had said that God wanted this to happen.  We had a clear personally inprired answer that it wasn’t our path. 

I would not be inclined to project that on others that give callings.

7 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Another questionable calling- or releasing, both just different sides of same coin: I worked in nursery for some time and the leader was not nursery material at all.  She was an older professional woman who craved attention, wore very expensive clothing and was annoyed by children.  She was very vocal to me about her deep dislike for her assignment and threatened to stop coming. I MAY have mentioned it one week to my husband who mentioned it immediately to his very close friend who was Bishop.  She was immediately released and the next Sunday was fast Sunday .  She got up and cried in dramatic fashion about how God had known exactly what she needed exactly at thT time.  I get it, God works through people- but that’s not how she was experiencing that and I had to leave the chapel as she carried on about the bishop’s outer world revelation. 

Perhaps Heavenly Father was providing an opportunity to grow that she did not take. Again, I would hesitate making this the default position for callings and releases.

7 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

There was a primary president last year in my ward who was having an affair.  No one knew or knows about that - she served her term. I don’t think God endorsed that calling the same way we as a people culturally tend to believe inspiration works. (I THINK culturally we believe inspiration involves worthiness to some degree) 

She certainly had the option to confess her infidelity and make things right when she chose to lie about her worthiness. 

7 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

and my best friend married a general authority after he told her that God told HIM  to marry her.  She was vulnerable. Her husband had died and her next husband abused her and she escaped in dramatic fashion.  When GA came on the scene she was a mess and so “god said “ was convincing.  He ended up being a dishonest hot mess and the 1st presidency helped her annul.  It was all done quietly, obviously.

These are a select few reasons I find the idea that inspiration is used often enough as a form of manipulation to get people to agree to do things. 

Let me reiterate, I’m a believer in accepting invitations to serve whenever and wherever it’s possible. We get a lot, and need to give to keep the ball rolling. 

No one should take advantage of people in distress. Are you willing to out the General Authority? Not asking you to, but just wondering if he was bad enough that he should  shamed publicly.

Are all callings and releases suspect, or just those that we find questionable?

 

[MustardSeed]

Not here to debate point by point or to call out a GA who was handled appropriately.  

Thanks for sharing an alternative point of view. 

Edited February 22, 2019 by MustardSeed

[Calm]

3 hours ago, Bernard Gui said:

Not being familiar with marital status would be way out of the ordinary.

I got called in by my second BYU branch president to see if I would like to be taught by the missionaries given my obvious interest in the Church (obvious since I had attended weekly for three months).  He was quite surprised to find out I had been raised and baptized in the Church.  I have no clue what was on membership records at the time...perhaps little enough that a blank baptism date might lead to an assumption of not a member (I assume at that time----76----records were handcopied to send to BYU from home wards, but maybe if xeroxed the copier was low on toner and it was so faded that a quick glance read blank or it got smudged), but I suspect someone made up a list for him of nonmembers in the dorms and my name was put on it because of careless reading.  I assume even with computers transferring the data these days that when new info gets out in, errors happen, so something similar could have taken place...though I am assuming Mustard Seed and her husband were relatively new in the ward, can't remember if she specified that or not.

The inspiration might have been "he is a good, responsible person who cares about others" which would be perfect for most callings imo, while there was an typo or other mistake that had placed him in the wrong category that made him a possible candidate for the calling.  I don't think one has to assume there was no inspiration involved (though I don't rule out the possibility), just not that specific.  Maybe God was enjoying the humor of it or maybe he thought it was a good opportunity to create an impression in the leadership's minds as they likely would not be forgetting Mustard Seed's husband in the near future due to embarrassment.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Calm

[MustardSeed]

5 minutes ago, Calm said:

I got called in by my second BYU branch president to see if I would like to be taught by the missionaries given my obvious interest in the Church (obvious since I had attended weekly for three months).  He was quite surprised to find out I had been raised and baptized in the Church.  I have no clue what was on membership records at the time...perhaps little enough that a blank baptism date might lead to an assumption of not a member (I assume at that time----76----records were handcopied to send to BYU from home wards, but maybe if xeroxed the copier was low on toner and it was so faded that a quick glance read blank or it got smudged), but I suspect someone made up a list for him of nonmembers in the dorms and my name was put on it because of careless reading.  I assume even with computers transferring the data these days that when new info gets out in, errors happen.

The inspiration might have been "he is a good, responsible person who cares about others" which would be perfect for most callings imo, while there was an typo or other mistake that had placed him in the wrong category that made him a possible candidate for the calling.  I don't think one has to assume there was no inspiration involved (though I don't rule out the possibility), just not that specific.  Maybe God was enjoying the humor of it or maybe he thought it was a good opportunity to create an impression in the leadership's minds as they likely would not be forgetting Mustard Seed's husband in the near future due to embarrassment.

I like this

[BlueDreams]

On 2/19/2019 at 12:18 PM, MustardSeed said:

1.  What do we as a people believe about inspiration in callings—meaning, what are we expected to believe? That God finds us worthy of a task? That God knows what will occur and wants us to experience whatever that is? That there is a plan set and we have to follow the plan or upset the universe? 

2.  When we pray about who to marry or where to live, (two common prayers among members) seeking inspiration, what do we believe God is telling us? That our intended spouse or residence is safe for us? Won’t hurt us? Is our soul mate? Is what they say they are? Holds a promising future? 

I recently read Steve young’s autobiography and am curious about his and other people breaking engagements because it didn’t “ feel right”.  I read between the lines and tend to assume that when people say this they are suggesting that The Spirit is warning them, and that they heeded the warning, end of story. 

I know what I have come to believe about these things. I also know that while true to the faith, my faith looks a whole lot different than mainstream thought. 

I know there's been other answers that have been really good, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. 

1.) I don't have experience with issuing a calling and on the recipient end, I've had a variety experiences with how I've received a calling that tells me that the simplest methodology (prayer-seek out-issue to a person) may not be the best way all the time. Several callings I've volunteered for or asked for specifically (temple, teaching an ARP class in my ward, etc). Others I've reached collaboratively with leaders to have. I've had at least one calling issued in the regular way that I also felt a spiritual reassurance that I needed to have even though it wasn't a natural calling I'd gravitate to. I don't know what is expected for me to believe about inspired callings. I know there's often cultural expectations around callings that can view it as quasi-fate oriented. For myself I believe it's an open opportunity for learning in one way or another...and likely in a few that we could not anticipate 

2. This one I have more personal experiences with. Since I work primarily with married people who are LDS, I get to hear many of their stories about coming together...including the spiritual experiences leading up to it. Note, if they're seeing me something isn't going well in their marriage (usually s*x....but not always just that). There are people who received clear answers to marry this person. THere are people that didn't feel God saying no and went for it. There are people who didn't really take much spiritual consideration period. And there are a few who felt like they shouldn't go through the marriage emotionally or spiritually. Receiving an answer about marriage partner doesn't seem to heavily correlate to outcomes in marriage. Some really struggle, some don't.  I do notice that the ones who did receive an answer feel more motivation to stick through difficult times...so that could be a reason in itself. But there's also the opposite, where when the marriage is beginning to show signs of dissolution that they begin to question why they felt that prompting (especially if it was a strong one) or the Spirit/God in general (especially if the marriage is ending on really bad terms). It's interesting to watch them navigate these answers and experiences. 

Sometimes I can tell that the "answer" they received was in part more of an assumption based on their personal desires and cultural contexts. So for example, for a number the sense of urgency to marry period often can cloud really obvious problems or concerns. They've check-listed Jesus (as in here is the expected and appropriate formula to eternal life/happiness), marriage was the next step on their check list, and their partner at the time fit their marital partner checklist. When their marriage isn't  easy or hits hard times, they're often the ones to end up really really questioning the marriage and struggling to understand why this was happening.

I think the majority I meet have good intentions with asking. THey want to make sure they're making the "right" decision, to some level. They know marriage is a big step and have a pattern of taking things to God to know what to do....so why wouldn't they ask God about this? I think assumptions as to what that answer means can vary. I think, due to the nature of what most people are feeling pre-marriage (high infatuation) there's an assumption that a positive answer means they're about to live happily ever after or be fulfilled in a way they couldn't prior. For the rest, I think it gives them confidence to work through things when they do get tough. 

Personally I definitely prayed and received answers in my dating life and to marry. 3 specifically come to mind when thinking about this topic. The first was an answer to be with a guy who had several issues and didn't make sense to me. I really believed I would inevitably marry him, if he cleaned up his act and was simply waiting for him to do so. I received STRONG answers at times to stick with him. It sucked....like signing yourself up to be yo-yo'd around and to have an emotional gut punch every 6 months or so.... For about 7-8 years. Fun times. But the experience gave me knowledge, patience, and compassion in ways I never could. It chipped off some of my worst traits. And brought me closer to God and able to recognize the spirit in very personal ways. It ate up most of my 20's relationally, but expanded me spiritually in ways I couldn't have without walking in the "wilderness" as BB described it. By the end of the experience, I had come to a point in my faith that if God asked me to walk off a cliff I would ask "which one?" Oddly, the journey that was confusing, tiring, painful, etc gave me a rooted and deep relationship with God.

The 2nd was short and came after that guy. I knew we were a mismatch spiritually and I was definitely done wasting my time on dead end relationships. I remember chatting with God and saying, "he's not the one right" and God said "No." Then saying" THen I should probably drop it" and God said "Not yet." So I dated him some more, learned and grew, and we both quietly drifted apart.

The 3rd was my husband. I won't go into details about this one because it would take a lot of a back story and sharing a few things I wouldn't on a public forum. But coming to the realization that I would marry him was strongly spiritual (and rapid....we were seriously planning our marriage after 13 days of knowing each other). Though the answers were clear and indicated that what I'd just received was a bit rare and a gift, I never took it to mean that we would from then on live problem free. Like any spiritual gift, it needed to be cultivated. That what we would become was still our choice each and every day. 

All of these answers, to me, were tied to figuring out where I needed to go to learn and grow and become as God would have me. It was part of my Walk with Christ and healing. Often in the moment I don't know exactly what it is that God's getting at. But my experiences align me to the idea that it is worth it.  As I mentioned, I know there are others whose seeking inspiration for marriage is not on this same line of thought.  

 

With luv,

BD

 

Edited February 22, 2019 by BlueDreams

[Bernard Gui]

3 hours ago, Calm said:

I got called in by my second BYU branch president to see if I would like to be taught by the missionaries given my obvious interest in the Church (obvious since I had attended weekly for three months).  He was quite surprised to find out I had been raised and baptized in the Church.  I have no clue what was on membership records at the time...perhaps little enough that a blank baptism date might lead to an assumption of not a member (I assume at that time----76----records were handcopied to send to BYU from home wards, but maybe if xeroxed the copier was low on toner and it was so faded that a quick glance read blank or it got smudged), but I suspect someone made up a list for him of nonmembers in the dorms and my name was put on it because of careless reading.  I assume even with computers transferring the data these days that when new info gets out in, errors happen, so something similar could have taken place...though I am assuming Mustard Seed and her husband were relatively new in the ward, can't remember if she specified that or not.

The inspiration might have been "he is a good, responsible person who cares about others" which would be perfect for most callings imo, while there was an typo or other mistake that had placed him in the wrong category that made him a possible candidate for the calling.  I don't think one has to assume there was no inspiration involved (though I don't rule out the possibility), just not that specific.  Maybe God was enjoying the humor of it or maybe he thought it was a good opportunity to create an impression in the leadership's minds as they likely would not be forgetting Mustard Seed's husband in the near future due to embarrassment.

Thanks. I don't want to assume anything. The more information, the better we understand what happened. I've sat around bishops' offices many an hour discussing and praying about callings. It seems odd that no one in the room would know if a person was married. That's all. I think there must be more to the story, but for some reason that has not been forthcoming. Oh well.