This comment is gold. Once upon a time I was a naive 26 year old who assumed I would do basically what you describe above (well, minus the open relationship part because I used to be really staunchly against that). 

But now that I'm older, I'm fucking tired. It's a struggle enough to maintain my own shit now, but to also keep a partner happy and maintain that ideal heteronormative life? Fuuuuuck. 

"I don't get what the fuck is in it for them?"

Had this same thought about a POMI mission companion of mine. Like he has all the downsides of the church (wears ugly underwear, doesn't drink, etc) but doesn't even get the social benefits of mormondom? And I've even heard him bitch about the GAs but he still believes.

I dunno, I'm just glad I'm not in his shoes.

I feel like Davis County is really patchy in that regard. One neighborhood or street might not be too bad, but another is full of uber TBMs.

Granted I don't have to live there day-to-day, but I don't feel like the mormon vibes are oppressive in Davis County when I'm in the area. 

Username almost checks out 

I don't disagree with this, but it's tricky if you're a non believer (or dare I say - gasp! - atheist). 

I kinda attended a liberal church congregation that catered to queer folks, and it was nice in some ways, but in some ways I felt like I just wasn't going to connect mentally with some of those folks due to my lack of belief. 

Last time I attended I went to this discussion group after worship services where this guy spent the whole time lamenting he didn't know what God wanted him to do. I sat there and listened, but was perplexed and just wanted to tell him "dude, do what YOU want to do."

Oooof, a million years ago I worked at a company with a bitchy manager who ended up giving a bad reference for a former employee (who everyone seemed to like and was a good employee AFAIK). Owner caught wind of it and ended up demoting said bitchy manager for giving the bad reference. 

Agree, if I see a show at RR I want it to be 1. a reserved seat and 2. further back for maximum enjoyment.

"...sit past row 30 to see the skyline with the concert"

Yup, some might disagree and it seems counterintuitive, but Red Rocks shows are more enjoyable further back IMO. Better views (of the skyline and the rocks), and less likely to deal with dooshcanoes trying to squeeze in close up front. 

I stayed the full two years, kinda half-assed it, did some "disobedient" things (but not so disobedient that I'd get sent home), and was generally a little depressed about the whole thing. Good thing I was serving in one of the nicest cities in the U.S., so that made the experience more bearable.

Oh definitely. My understanding is that when my grandpa was a missionary in the 1940s, you might occasionally go do something without your companion, or read the newspaper. You know, stuff any normal adult would do. 

"The old playbook that a mission indoctrinates forever members, is gone."

I've been toying with the idea of writing a detailed post exploring the ways in which the full-time missionary program is likely not a net positive for ChurchCo anymore. 

IMO even lots of exmos give the missionary program too much credit for "cementing young men to the church." A lot of young men would have stayed in the church anyway due to cultural/social inertia, while the program itself is ironically driving a lot of youth out of the church.

Before the latest doubling down on missions, I thought maybe they'd quietly dial down the mission pressure, but everybody is clearly too invested in the idea of a mission as a rite of passage. It's so baked into the mormon experience that people (including exmos) can't conceptualize mormondom without it. 

He came to my elementary school in the mid-90s. I asked him what the deepest point on earth was. What a softball question! 

"...you get treated with all of the autonomy and respect of a child in kindergarten."

This can't be overstated enough. I left on my mission "late" (I was 20.5 years old), but had already done two full years of college, signed a couple leases, worked different jobs, etc. Becoming a missionary and being treated like a kid was jarring, especially since you're told you're so special and have an apostolic calling. What a crock.

Fiestaware can look really nice. One of these days I'm going to splurge and get me a nice set.

I'm glad you survived!

So definitely not the same thing, but what cured me of caring about stuff was moving too many times over a 5 year period (long story). I've been in my house now for almost five years and it still feels empty because I don't buy stuff I don't need. Hell, I'd be happy if it was even emptier. 

Yup. Regardless of whether they're spending it on this or something else, you really can't flush several thousand+ down the tithing toilet every year when surviving late stage capitalism is rough enough already.

Same here; I see "must be torn down" repeated often on this sub even though I know of several buildings sold recently that weren't torn down. 

I live near one and my rule of thumb is I only visit TJ's after 8 pm if I'm driving. 

I'm not vegan or vegetarian, but those vegan breakfast burritos at bonfire are scrumptious.

Yeah, I heard someone the other day talk about her 18 year old son and his friends doing a graduation trip to Dominican Republic. WTF? I don't think even the well-to-do kids at my high school in ye old 2005 did that. 

Oooof, I can think of a restaurant in Aurora that smells bad and I wonder if that's the problem.

Hasn't that teriyaki place been there forever?

Ooooof, how did that happen, especially to an elderly person who's presumably been a homeowner for a while? 

Bad decisions with HELOCs? Bad timing (e.g. someone overpaid in Florida in 2021 and are now effed by insurance and HOA increases)? Highly specific regional price declines? Discovered leaks at a nearby chemical plant? 

I know things have cooled down with interest rate increases, but $200K seems like a huge amount to be upside down.

That's a good point. I think some people assume vanilla = boring, but I don't think that's the case. You can be "vanilla" but still be very sensual and connected. 

Not to go off on a tangent, but I suspect this is part of the reason why we're seeing a decline in public transit use. Even with Google maps showing route itineraries at different times of day to theoretically make it easier to figure out which bus to get on and when, it's still too much work for some people to figure out where to walk to to get on the bus/train, where to transfer etc. vs. simply punching in an address in your GPS or rideshare app.