The afterglow of General Conference

I have a love-hate relationship with the week following the LDS General Conference.

On the one hand, I can pretty much say and do whatever I like without fear of reprisal or repercussion because everyone’s trying so hard to be christ-like.

On the other hand, I can expect to be love bombed and receive all of the,”Hey, I just wanted to call to see how you’re doing.” phone calls.

I’m not sure if members are aware that there is a discernable difference in the way they act after these events – but I’m here to tell you as an outsider that there really is a difference.

64 thoughts on “The afterglow of General Conference

  1. Rick

    No, they don’t. It’s kind of funny really :) Who do they think Mary is????

    I do know what you mean though about the wrong name. Yes it does happen all the time, but when it’s consistent it makes you think “Hello, learn my name or don’t bother!”

  2. Mary isn’t a very unisex name; Kim is. So it’s more normal to associate the name Kim with a woman than to associate the name Mary with a man.

  3. Doesn’t matter what they think, though, because using the wrong name makes them uncaring hyporites. Right?

  4. Did I say that? No. Actually, when they call me Kim, especially knowing I am a Mrs, it just makes me think they aren’t paying attention very well, and really that’s what it is, right?

  5. Look ltbugaf, it’s not that they occasionally mess my name up. They do not know who I am. At all.

    To then walk up and say how they’ve been ‘thinking about you’ and start gushing about how much they care is ingenuine at the very least.

    The better option in my opinion is to leave me alone. That would be the most caring thing they could do.

  6. Hey Rick, I wonder if I would be able to guess who these people are? I can probably think of a few candidates. Anyhow, I think I know exactly what you are talking about. I may not be an “outsider” but I am also fairly uninvolved in the wards I have been in and don’t usually fit in, and so I have encountered the same insincere attempts to make me feel welcome or whatever.

    On the other hand, you must have SOME Mormon friends in town who really ARE sincere and who really do know you and care about you?

  7. Yes, and strangely enough they’re the ones that never bring up church or say,”We were just thinking about you.”

    Good people don’t require much lip service, because they are just good people.

  8. That was very well put Rick. And I agree with you fully.

    I think the point that we are trying to make here is that perhaps it is only your opinion that the other people who talk to you after conference are trying to get to know you better. Their efforts might be irritating but at least they are trying.

    But then again you could be right. I know that many LDS people here in utah don’t realize what it really means to be a Mormon, or even a Christian for that matter.
    Someone once said that “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”

  9. What! You don’t like talking about church Rick?!:)

    Anyhow, I get what you are saying. It’s like a cheesy Amway salseman calling you up out of nowhere and pretending to be your best buddy when you know they are only calling to bring up Amway. Very tacky.

  10. Apologies for necro-posting. I was just reading through some of the old posts here and this one sparked my memory.

    We LDS seem to have a very short attention span. Rick pointed out a classic example.

    This reminded me of when the Lethbridge West Stake Center was built. The very first meeting we attended in the church, the person giving the opening prayer thanked the Lord, at length, for the “Beautiful Building”.

    All Sunday long… “Thanks for the Beautiful building”. You couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting someone praying for the “Beautiful Building”. I’m surprised we didn’t re-word the hymns to lyrics like “Praise to the Building” or “How Lovely Was The Building”. It was sickening.

    I told my wife after we got home that as soon as the carpet glue smell was gone, we would stop worshiping the “Beautiful Building”.

    About three months later, the smell was gone and so was the adoration of the “Beautiful Building”. No longer do we pray about the building. It’s no longer beautiful. That title has probably been passed on to the new chapel on the south side or perhaps some other building. Now, its just a plain old building that gets used and abused just like any other chapel in southern alberta.

    We LDS are strange creatures.

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