"The Mormon Candidate"

[Garden Girl]

It is true, I have spoken with a person tasked with tracking down the whereabouts of members.

Hello DavidB...

I can tell you like to make this statement sound as sinister as possible... when in reality, it is a sensible approach to finding and determining which members may or may not wish to remain members, or whether or not they wish to be contacted. Just because someone is inactive doesn't mean they aren't considered members... they are members until they request their names be removed. Only they can do that. (Thank goodness for my HT and VTs who continued to check on me and my choice... and after just over 30 years I did reactivate... my records were in my ward and I simply started attending again.)

As KevinG pointed out, many inactive members do not want their names removed... "tracking" someone down gives that person the chance to remove their name or leave it on the rolls. Cleans up the ward lists, and the responsibility of HT/VT if desired. I always told the Ward Clerk, or whoever was assigned the task, just to leave my name on the rolls.

Now here I am, reactivated for 17 years and stronger than ever in the faith...

GG

[KevinG]

You know this gives me an idea. We can strengthen the home teaching program by having people claim they don't want to be contacted. This seems to increase the regularity of visits from home teachers and missionaries.

[Tacenda]

Hello DavidB...

I can tell you like to make this statement sound as sinister as possible... when in reality, it is a sensible approach to finding and determining which members may or may not wish to remain members, or whether or not they wish to be contacted. Just because someone is inactive doesn't mean they aren't considered members... they are members until they request their names be removed. Only they can do that. (Thank goodness for my HT and VTs who continued to check on me and my choice... and after just over 30 years I did reactivate... my records were in my ward and I simply started attending again.)

As KevinG pointed out, many inactive members do not want their names removed... "tracking" someone down gives that person the chance to remove their name or leave it on the rolls. Cleans up the ward lists, and the responsibility of HT/VT if desired. I always told the Ward Clerk, or whoever was assigned the task, just to leave my name on the rolls.

Now here I am, reactivated for 17 years and stronger than ever in the faith...

GG

Forgive me if you've stated it before but I was wondering what brought you back to the church after so many years of inactivity?

[KevinG]

Forgive me if you've stated it before but I was wondering what brought you back to the church after so many years of inactivity?

The strengthening the members committee.

[Tacenda]

The strengthening the members committee.

Right....

[Garden Girl]

Ha Ha, KevinG...

Hello Tacenda...

When I married my non-LDS husband, it was difficult to remain truly active because he would want to go places on weekends (we both worked full time), etc etc... this often happens when one marries a non-member be it LDS or another faith... particularly when the spouse is not active in any particular faith.

However, because I had what would be termed a strong testimony, those things stayed with me. I continued to pray and study my scriptures, etc. I did food storage... and somehow the Spirit continued with me. I still had a testimony,,, and would be prompted from time to time through the years to return to Church. But my life "in the world" was very nice and comfortable... a good life... almost charmed... I was happy and didn't want to upset the "apple cart" so to speak. My mom used to tell me that she feared that one day something would happen that would bring me to my knees.

And that is exactly what happened... in August of 1995, my husband and I went down to So Cal to pick up my folks and bring them back up to Oregon for a vacation from the heat wave they were having. The first night out we were just north of San Francisco... mom said she felt tired and went to bed early. About 11:00 PM my dad called our room and said something was wrong with mom, he couldn't wake her up... I rushed to their room and when I saw my mom, I knew it was serious. I took her in my arms... I could hear the ambulance coming. As I held her I saw the light go from her eyes and I knew she had passed through the veil... then the EMTs were there working on her. We went to the hospital, but they couldn't save her... I knew they couldn't...

My dad was beside himself... the hospital called the local bishop who came down to the hospital to be with my dad.

I went into the little hosp. chapel to wait for the Coroner, paper work etc. As I grieved, I prayed and suddenly my mind was opened and I saw my mom... just her head and shoulder area... she appeared younger and was looking upwards like toward something in the distance... the look on her face was one of absolute joy... and then the image was gone. It's hard to explain in words, but I knew that was a gift to me from a loving Heavenly Father who knew I had to have strength to deal with the coroner, with my dad, with the funeral home, and getting my dad back to So Cal and dealing with the funeral... and so during all these things, I remembered how I felt when I saw my mom and how joyous she was... and how I felt when I knew she had passed through the veil.

I spent a month with my dad, and then returned home... and literally ran back to the Church. I started all over again at square one, reading, studying, fasting, praying... and my testimony came back stronger than ever... and the rest is history.

So Tacenda, that is how I returned... and I never looked back.

GG

[Walden]

So, I guess I now know how it is that the LDS church tracked me down after several moves and having not attended for well over a decade....it's those modern-day Danites!

As an ex-member, it was a somewhat annoying to have the home-teachers drop by unannounced once or twice a month (what is it with the LDS' refusal to use a phone to call ahead and schedule something....you guys are masters of the drop-in, and somehow find the most inconvenient times to do so), but I never had any thoughts or fears that I was somehow being tracked by clandestine, LDS henchmen. And even if I was, who cares? What authority would they have that would cause me to have any fear.....they witnessed me drinking coffee or wearing clothing that could not possibly conceal garments underneath?

After being annoyed by my home teachers for over a year, I simply wrote a letter to SLC to remove my name from the church records. Of course, they thought that I couldn't be serious, and had to have the bishop (whom I'd never met) stop by seevral times in an attempt to convey how serious my decision was, for both me and my family, but after that, the only time I have contact with the church is when our old home teacher drops off cookies and baked goods for X-mas, which I gladly consume without the slightest pang of guilt or nostalgia.

[Bernard Gui]

As KevinG pointed out, many inactive members do not want their names removed... "tracking" someone down gives that person the chance to remove their name or leave it on the rolls. Cleans up the ward lists, and the responsibility of HT/VT if desired. I always told the Ward Clerk, or whoever was assigned the task, just to leave my name on the rolls.

Now here I am, reactivated for 17 years and stronger than ever in the faith...

And this is exactly the reason we keep membership records as accurate as possible.

As ward clerk it is my responsibility to identify every member of the Church in my ward, active or inactive.

Every person is assigned a home teacher because by covenant we LDS take Mosiah 18 seriously:

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; 9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life. 10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

[Bernard Gui]

So, I guess I now know how it is that the LDS church tracked me down after several moves and having not attended for well over a decade....it's those modern-day Danites!

As an ex-member, it was a somewhat annoying to have the home-teachers drop by unannounced once or twice a month (what is it with the LDS' refusal to use a phone to call ahead and schedule something....you guys are masters of the drop-in, and somehow find the most inconvenient times to do so), but I never had any thoughts or fears that I was somehow being tracked by clandestine, LDS henchmen. And even if I was, who cares? What authority would they have that would cause me to have any fear.....they witnessed me drinking coffee or wearing clothing that could not possibly conceal garments underneath?

After being annoyed by my home teachers for over a year, I simply wrote a letter to SLC to remove my name from the church records. Of course, they thought that I couldn't be serious, and had to have the bishop (whom I'd never met) stop by seevral times in an attempt to convey how serious my decision was, for both me and my family, but after that, the only time I have contact with the church is when our old home teacher drops off cookies and baked goods for X-mas, which I gladly consume without the slightest pang of guilt or nostalgia.

But in extremity those same bishops and home teachers would be there at your doorstep to help

in any way they could.

[Tacenda]

Ha Ha, KevinG...

Hello Tacenda...

When I married my non-LDS husband, it was difficult to remain truly active because he would want to go places on weekends (we both worked full time), etc etc... this often happens when one marries a non-member be it LDS or another faith... particularly when the spouse is not active in any particular faith.

However, because I had what would be termed a strong testimony, those things stayed with me. I continued to pray and study my scriptures, etc. I did food storage... and somehow the Spirit continued with me. I still had a testimony,,, and would be prompted from time to time through the years to return to Church. But my life "in the world" was very nice and comfortable... a good life... almost charmed... I was happy and didn't want to upset the "apple cart" so to speak. My mom used to tell me that she feared that one day something would happen that would bring me to my knees.

And that is exactly what happened... in August of 1995, my husband and I went down to So Cal to pick up my folks and bring them back up to Oregon for a vacation from the heat wave they were having. The first night out we were just north of San Francisco... mom said she felt tired and went to bed early. About 11:00 PM my dad called our room and said something was wrong with mom, he couldn't wake her up... I rushed to their room and when I saw my mom, I knew it was serious. I took her in my arms... I could hear the ambulance coming. As I held her I saw the light go from her eyes and I knew she had passed through the veil... then the EMTs were there working on her. We went to the hospital, but they couldn't save her... I knew they couldn't...

My dad was beside himself... the hospital called the local bishop who came down to the hospital to be with my dad.

I went into the little hosp. chapel to wait for the Coroner, paper work etc. As I grieved, I prayed and suddenly my mind was opened and I saw my mom... just her head and shoulder area... she appeared younger and was looking upwards like toward something in the distance... the look on her face was one of absolute joy... and then the image was gone. It's hard to explain in words, but I knew that was a gift to me from a loving Heavenly Father who knew I had to have strength to deal with the coroner, with my dad, with the funeral home, and getting my dad back to So Cal and dealing with the funeral... and so during all these things, I remembered how I felt when I saw my mom and how joyous she was... and how I felt when I knew she had passed through the veil.

I spent a month with my dad, and then returned home... and literally ran back to the Church. I started all over again at square one, reading, studying, fasting, praying... and my testimony came back stronger than ever... and the rest is history.

So Tacenda, that is how I returned... and I never looked back.

GG

GG thanks for sharing that story! I lost my mom and dad within months of the other and wish I'd had that experience of knowing they passed through a veil and maybe seeing the younger version of them both. It's weird that my testimony sort of came to a stand still and went downward, the opposite of went you went through.

Btw, I think that you hanging out with your non member husband was a good thing. If you had left him each Sunday to go to church you may have regretted it later after losing him so soon.

[Garden Girl]

GG thanks for sharing that story! I lost my mom and dad within months of the other and wish I'd had that experience of knowing they passed through a veil and maybe seeing the younger version of them both. It's weird that my testimony sort of came to a stand still and went downward, the opposite of went you went through.

Btw, I think that you hanging out with your non member husband was a good thing. If you had left him each Sunday to go to church you may have regretted it later after losing him so soon.

Tacenda...

My dear one and I were married for 38 years... he passed away 3 years after I reactivated... oh, but it was soon after I reactivated...

GG

[USU78]

Tacenda...

My dear one and I were married for 38 years... he passed away 3 years after I reactivated... oh, but it was soon after I reactivated...

GG

These kinds of encounters [i've had at least one, probably two, with my late wife] are important to the individual affected, but are of no particular value to anybody else. I haven't even told my elder daughter yet about it/them. For a while there I was experiencing quite a bit of "thinned veil syndrome," and not only the good kind, after her death.

My nearly 20 years of living with faith that somehow we'd all get through the long, miserable trek through adult day care and suffering the outbursts of an agony-wracked patient prolly have more to do with those experiences than anything else. I needed the affirmation: I had been lying back in somebody else's strong arms for so long I didn't have the practiced strength to try my own wings.

Death needn't be faithkilling. I've found it to be the opposite . . . prolly because I needed it to be. My strength had been insufficient. His strength carried me through.

[Damien the Leper]

Hmph! The church isn't that good or smart. They have never been nor will ever be anything close to what Big Brother is.

[DavidB]

Hmph! The church isn't that good or smart. They have never been nor will ever be anything close to what Big Brother is.

LOL, I thought something similar when I met a particular person on my mission, He kept going on and on about Danites, Raven Feathers being their calling card and people escaping etc etc etc.

I wanted to say to him "Do you really think an organization that brings in over 5 billion a year *this was my estimate just based on missionary payments* would leave a calling card when it wanted to get rid of someone, or that it would be daft enough to let someone escape?"

[KevinG]

Hmph! The church isn't that good or smart. They have never been nor will ever be anything close to what Big Brother is.

LOL, I thought something similar when I met a particular person on my mission, He kept going on and on about Danites, Raven Feathers being their calling card and people escaping etc etc etc.

I wanted to say to him "Do you really think an organization that brings in over 5 billion a year *this was my estimate just based on missionary payments* would leave a calling card when it wanted to get rid of someone, or that it would be daft enough to let someone escape?"

You just can't get that kind of seamless service out of a volunteer organization.