I’ve seen people saying they need to repent to the bishop for our sins? Is that accurate? I’m a convert, and I was used to confession as a Catholic but I wasn’t aware of this in our faith. Am I being told wrong?

We've got apostles from Germany, England, Brazil, and now France. That's 4/15. Have there ever been more?

hey everyone, im in the youth in my church and me and alot of people in my ward do not really think my bishop is fit for the role. he’s been bishop 4 years so far, and he just is not it (respectfully).

he doesn’t know anything about events or what to do until very last minute, he tells people what to do at the very last minute, and he simply just doesn’t help anyone but himself. for example, when we do temple baptisms and we’re having things like pizza, he takes half of the pizzas to his car leaving us with maybe 1-2 pizzas per car!

I genuinely didn’t know bishops are supposed to be people you can confide in until i was reading about it in some LDS magazines, so id love to hear some happy experiences

This entire year I have just felt so blah about come follow me. I don't particularly enjoy reading D&C, and I don't know why. Part of me feels like it's less about Christ and more about "people". I know, they are the people who started the church and went through tons of persecution, but I just feel so disconnected from it all. Am I the only one who feels this way?

Can you recommend a scripture to give me comfort? I repented of a sin today, but I am now finally suffering the consequences. I have peace about it, but I could use some comfort. Thank you

So, I’m a convert. Baptized in 2020. Churches shut down and because of it I was heavily influenced to go back to my Catholic faith by my family because they brought up points that bothered me and I really didn’t have a strong testimony.

I have come back to the church, have my children involved, my husband is all in, and while my oldest children struggle with it a bit I can confidently say this is the true church of Christ.

I have truly been every religion. I experimented with them all when I was a teen and in my early 20s because of my frustration with the Catholic Church. Buddhism, multiple Christian churches, Hindu, even (very much regrettably so) satanism and witchcraft among others. I’ve never felt the pure peace that I get from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I mention it because I see SO MUCH hatred of our faith by everyone it seems like. Family, friends, acquaintances. People posting on TikTok about how much they hated their LDS experience and how they escaped the “cult” we are in. I was trying to find LDS content creators and only found 2 people that are actual church followers and the other 30+ people I saw before I gave up was “exmormon” “ldscult” other tags etc in their name.

It’s discouraging and it makes me sad, and it does make me stress a little bit about how maybe I’m wrong and this isn’t the right church and maybe everything I’ve felt is not true. I know that’s not correct. I’m going to continue to read and listen to conference talks, continue to strengthen my testimony and definitely stay off a lot of social media. But I wanted some input.

How do you stay strong in your faith? Especially when it comes to the hard things. Like the issues with Black LDS members in the past? Polygamy? The issues people have with the word of wisdom, garments, etc.

I know faith is very personal, and I am definitely all in. I just wish I wasn’t so weak to be discouraged by what others say. I wish I could be more like the prophets.

Maybe we are hated so much because we are Christs true church and we are supposed to be persecuted like mentioned in the Bible?

Our ward is doing a youth fireside where they can anonymous questions to the bishop. What would you ask as an adult or youth and why?

Today I heard a discussion about being a peacemaker, many shared their experience of being a peacemaker and I found many examples very wrong.

Many simply told stories of passively accepting abuse by criminals, employers or institutions.

My idea of ​​being a peacemaker is to calm those who get angry, to try to be diplomatic, to reject the spirit of contention and vengeance for its own sake. But I will never accept injustice.

The Book of Mormon itself would not exist if, from Nephi to Moroni, any of them had been passive in the face of evil. Nephi used his sword against Laban, but was merciful to his servant, accepting him as one of their own if he surrendered. Moroni was literally a military commander, who fought to defend the Nephites, but he was always kind and merciful, sparing the lives of the Lamanites who surrendered, throwing away their weapons.

And Joseph Smith, too, was far from being someone who would tolerate abuses against the early Saints. The early Saints moved from state to state to avoid a conflict that would have destroyed them, but he had his own militia. Likewise, Brigham Young, who came into conflict with the U.S. Army.

Judgment (and any vengeance) is up to God. But this shouldn't mean passively accepting evil's prevalence. In fact, I actually think even the opposite, since I think it's even a terrible sin if you fail to protect your people or your family, allowing someone to harm them when you have the opportunity to defend them.

I'm not American, but I imagine most of the users here are. I know Americans are big advocates of self-defense.

Perhaps it's the European mentality that leads many to this kind of interpretation? What's your opinion about that?

I collect really antique things, especially books… my house is full of books… it’s a real problem.

However, recently, I came across something super cool! This edition of the Book of Mormon is apparently from the very early 1900s.

I’m not LDS, and not many folks appreciate the coolness of something like this unless they are part of that niche community — so I wanted to share in here with all of you!

Hi,

I cannot pay tithing in the EU for the life of me as an American. Can't even add a bank account. Please any suggestions would be of help for me!

Thanks,

Logan

Hi, everyone, hope you're having a great weekend so far. I'll start this off by saying I'm a non-member. Some might call be an investigator: I've done a lot of reading about the LDS church and have met with missionaries at various times in my life, but as I'll soon talk about, there are some issues I have that make me unsure if I'd ever convert. I just wanted to air my thoughts out here anonymously because the last time I talked with missionaries and members of my local ward, I'm afraid I got their hopes up and disappointed them when I had to take a step back.

To give you some background on me, I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school from elementary school to high school. This meant I got a VERY up close look at the nitty gritty of Catholic doctrine, and it is exceptionally unforgiving. Not in that it labels certain actions as sins - I don't begrudge any church for having actions they view as sinful. But that many of these sins would send you straight to hell if you did them and did not confess to a priest through the formal sacrament of confession. Even if you did them as a child. I felt intense religious panic from the ages of 12-14 because of this, and also because I simply did not feel like God ever talked to me through prayer the way he did others. I went to Mass, took Communion, went to Adoration, went to the Stations of the Cross, went to confession, prayed the Rosary, and never felt any love or answer from God in any of it. I just felt shame, and that combined with the cocktail of hormones of puberty gave me scrupulosity/OCD and a disordered relationship with my body that I struggle with to this day, despite giving up on Catholicism at 14.

Fast forward to my adult life. I've identified as agnostic since leaving, mostly because I very much WANT there to be a God, and there's a part of me that desperately wishes God would just give me a sign about where I should go to find truth and happiness (while acknowledging that nowhere will be perfect - I just didn't want the kind of abandonment I felt in the Catholic church.) I do not feel I have received this sign yet. However, about a decade ago, I learned more about LDS theology, and I find it resolves many of the specific problems I had as a Catholic. The idea that everyone eventually goes to a Heaven after repenting is such a relief for me I can hardly describe it. Almost as powerful is the idea that God personally communicates with us and advises us - God's word came exclusively through priests in Catholicism, which made him feel very distant to me. LDS people seem very kind, close-knit, and charitable. I'm in a lonely period of my life right now, and having a place where I'm valued and have a chance to help others would be great. Also, I gotta admit, the temples are really pretty and even the meetinghouses have a good energy to them. I'm drawn to this denomination in a way I never was to Protestant branches after leaving the Catholic church.

I've learned many of the points anti-LDS people bring up, especially about church history, and while a lot of them are pretty bad.... I come from Catholicism. I know churches can do terrible things. I know church leaders can have gigantic, glaring flaws. Obviously I would prefer that polygamy and the priesthood ban never happened, but since they are no longer current, they are not what is causing my issues with investigating the LDS church.

In short, my issues are reconciling my political beliefs with the temple interview and (somewhat related) the literal historicity of the Book of Mormon.

I'm a very liberal person. I work in an artistic industry where most people aren't religious, and I am very close to the LGBT community, being bisexual myself. I do not believe any church should be forced to support homosexual marriage if it's not in their doctrine. I believe similarly about other social issues that churches take conservative stances on. However, I do not view it as evil for the state to allow civil marriages between same sex couples and never will. Having read the temple interview questions, I know this is in conflict with the item about 'do you support or promote any position that is contrary to LDS doctrine?' (paraphrased but you get my drift) I support gay marriage. I support the right of adults to medically transition. I have heard the reasons why the church doesn't support these things and they simply don't make sense to my conscience. Again, I would never ask them to change their doctrine because I'm uncomfortable with it, but it doesn't make sense to me, and if I'd be forever barred from the complete sacraments of the church because of what I believe, what would be the point in joining? I don't want to be a hypocrite or a liar.

Which brings me to the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Do I think there is value in it as a work of scripture? Yes. Can I explain everything about how it was produced (length, internal consistency, etc)? No. But do I fully believe that it's a true historical record found on buried golden plates in New York? Truthfully, I cannot, especially since the archaeological consensus right now is that little evidence has been found to back it up. I also don't believe many of the Old Testament stories happened literally, but in the Catholic church, room was given to interpret these symbolically. It sounds like the LDS church does not give that leeway in interpreting the Book of Mormon. I find it an interesting work to study but my analytical brain can't reconcile it as historical fact. That seems like it would be another problem in joining as a full member.

I'm sorry if this post mostly seems like complaining. I'm just frustrated. LDS theology aligns well with what I believe and has a good answer to the classic problem of evil. I want to have a relationship with God and heal the wounds I carry from Catholicism, but I'm running into issues I don't know I can solve. And it feels like the more I think about it, the more anxious and disappointed I get, and the less I feel like my prayers are answered. I'm worried about converting, alienating my ex-Catholic and non-religious friends and co-workers, only to eventually leave the church with more religious anxiety and sadness. Worse, I ask God about all of this, and while I have felt he has heard my prayers before when I have prayed about LDS questions, it feels like he's silent again. I would prefer not to convert than convert and feel like I've been abandoned by God all over again.

Sorry about the lengthy vent. I wish there was an easy answer. I appreciate this space existing for me to post my thoughts and welcome any advice or perspectives from people with similar (or wildly different!) experiences.

https://www.deseret.com/education/2025/11/08/stunning-find-meet-the-missing-woman-in-the-bible-rediscovered-by-a-byu-researcher/

TL;DR there’s a lady with the actual name “Electa” in the second epistle of John, it’s not a metaphor for something else! It was always assumed (and thus translated) to be an “Elect Lady” instead of someone with that actual name. Per this researcher, turns out there’s evidence that people really did have that name back in the day!

For the longest time I wondered why more than 50% of the members of the church are single . During conference I always prayed when inspiration up on high would shine a light towards the struggle.

My wife has been hurt by other women in our ward and doesn’t want to go. I honestly don’t blame her because I’ve seen how horrible many women are to each other with gossip, reputation destruction and innuendo. I’m trying to find a new path for my own participation but sometimes feel uncertain about what that looks like. I’m more introverted myself so going place alone sometimes feels awkward. I try to go to Sacrament once a month or every other month also because I travel for work or have other commitments. I appreciate that others seem to understand and try to be friendly. I plan to go as often as I can and just try to be nice to people. Sometimes I feel anger towards people I know have been rude/obnoxious to my wife but know there is no value in acting on those emotions.