I've come out here to cyberspace to talk to you about your decision to join the LDS Church ( I try not to use the term "Mormon" as it tends to prejudice people right from the start. I am not afraid to be a "Mormon," but "Mormon" isn't my religion. Christianity is my religion, and people need to know that.). For the sake of keeping this short, I'll suspend my word-preference.
I'm not here to attempt to influence you in any way, although I believe your decision to become a Latter-day Saint (OK, I promised), to become a Mormon is something that will change your life. You will discover who your "real" friends are, and who the haters are. Your "real" friends (like the guy on Facebook who had you dancing in in a Smurf suit, or something?) will urge you to caution, but will not attempt to make choices for you. The haters will give you "evidence" of how Mormonism is wrong, and will often place your relationship upon your choice ("If you become a Mormon, you can't be my friend.").
You know what? You're better off without those kinds of people in your life, anyway. You will discover an entirely new network of friends, particularly if you get a good set of Home Teachers. Home Teachers are two (usually) men who have been assigned to visit you once a month, and attend to any needs you might have. Single women fall under the purview of the High Priest Group, so chances are that one of them will be someone your dad's age. These men are assigned so that you can have access to Priesthood Blessings. Cory always felt like they were sent to "check up on us," but he never got the concept. What they are there for, hopefully, is to bring you a monthly spiritual message, to see if you need help with anything, and to encourage your attendance at Church. It's that simple. Home Teachers report a visit, and any pressing needs to a member of the Group Leadership. Usually by the time the Monthly Reports are done, the needs have been seen to. The Church is much more than just the religion. The Church has vast resources that can be brought to bear whenever anyone needs it. You probably didn't know that when FEMA got into New Orleans after Katrina, they found the Church folks making food, housing the flood victims, and already checking for those who needed help? True Fact.
You are joining the Church for the right reason, because you want to. Me, I joined because Mary wanted me to, more than anything. It's probably why I had so many difficulties for such a long time, who knows? It took me a long time to understand what my baptism really meant, and that the forgiveness that was offered by the Savior's atonement wasn't a one-time deal. You sound like you are in good hands with the Saints in Fall River, when I joined, I felt somewhat abandoned after my baptism, and to an extent, I was. You, however, will reap the benefits of my trials in early Church membership. Understand, however, that your relationship with the Missionaries will change, and that once they get you baptized, realistically, you aren't a real priority to them. Hopefully, your Home Teachers will pick up the slack, and if they don't, you will need to forge some relationships with other members of the Ward.
You will probably receive a Calling, something simple, at first. I will not be pretentious enough to even guess what the Calling may be, but be advised, that usually the Calling isn't because you are particularly proficient doing that sort of thing. Most often, they are given to us to "become" proficient at things. I was once given the job of Ward Chorister, just so I would have to be at Sacrament Meeting, but that's a whole different story...
As a "convert" myself, I have a pretty good idea of where you are at right now. You've heard something you have accepted as "truth," you want to get baptized, and you want to learn more. Don't lose that desire to learn more, because you'll have to be very pro-active, to find it. Almost every Stake (a group of six or more Wards, with a Stake President to preside over stake affairs. Confused yet?) has a series of classes listed as "Institute" (short for "Church Institute of Religion") and they will meet somewhere on a weekly basis during the school year (Sep - May). Your assignment, (should you accept this mission), find it. Go to it. Maybe wait until you get through Gospel Essentials, but go.
Learn about the culture of the Church. If you like to read, may I recommend The Work and the Glory, by Gerald Lund. It's a historical fiction that begins around the time of Joseph Smith's vision, and using Church History as a backdrop, tells the story of a fictional family who became Church Members at the very beginning. In the nine volumes we follow the family from Palmyra, NY, to Missouri, Illinois, and finally to the Salt Lake Valley. Remember, this is fiction, not scripture; although sometimes it's hard to tell.
It took me a long time to actually convert. I was baptized in 1973, but I didn't really "get it" until 2004. I kept hanging around, listening to what was being said, and reading the scriptures (if not daily, quite often, more than a couple of times per week). I never had any problems with the Joseph Smith story, if God spoke through prophets of old, why couldn't he do it today? Or in the 1800's? There were, certainly, many instances of my own prayers being answered in some rather random ways. I never had a problem with the concept of a Heavenly Father, or that He would figure out a way of allowing his children to be with Him again.
I made the mistake of thinking of the Atonement was a "one-shot deal," that after baptism, I had to do things "perfectly," and was no longer a worldly person, but a Latter-day Saint, who would rather give up his life than sin... Uh huh! Pardon me? What? I happen to be human, and I make lots of flippin' mistakes. The thing is... so does everyone else... don't ever get the idea that Mormon families are these picture perfect things you see in the videos you've seen. No family is like that; every family has its closets full of skeletons. I went back to smoking; I felt guilty. I started drinking; I felt guilty. Although I never smoked of drank before a meeting, I always knew that I was damned, and being judged by people who didn't know me from anyone. Understand, this is all in my head, and in no way resembles any reality.
When I was the Second Councilor in the Vaca Second Ward Bishopric, I learned that the Word of Wisdom is, in the words of Captain Barbosa, "...more like guidelines...". Not that it isn't important to learn the discipline, but it's not like you're a child molester, because the Church has some of those, too. My Bishop, at that time, was a gentleman named Brent Nation, who would start each meeting (and trust me, the Bishopric has a lot of meetings) with the same question, "Are you better today than yesterday?". That is really the most important things about being a Mormon. If you think your baptism is going to somehow keep the Adversary away, you are going to be sadly surprised. From here on out, that little devil on your shoulder that keeps working on you gets louder. Temptation gets stronger, and a lot more personal.
I've been impressed with your enthusiasm. Maybe a bit overwhelmed, but I understand it, because I've been there. I had "visions" of ways I would help the Church, and important things I would do... Guess what? None of it happened, and I actually feel kind of foolish for how far my fantasies were from reality. None of that had anything to do with my inactivity, other than a source of irony, me thinking that a flawed human being (such as myself) could ever have the faith it would require to accomplish any of it.
This is the point where you need to "idle down". I know you are excited, I know you want to jump in and get going, and I admire and remember the anxiety. Deep breaths, Kim. It's the answer to the question, "How do you eat an elephant?" You can tell me on FB.
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