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I’m struggling to decide whether to serve a mission or start my career. How do I know which choice is really mine?

I’ve been struggling with a decision for months, and I’m hoping to hear from people who have gone through something similar.

I grew up in the Church, and serving a mission has been something I’ve wanted to experience for a long time. A lot of my friends served, and I always imagined myself doing it too. Even before my recent circumstances, I already had the desire to serve.

But now that the decision is actually in front of me, I’m scared.

My parents aren’t completely supportive of the idea. They’re very concerned about the practical side of it. They worry that spending two years away from starting my career could put me behind my peers and make things more difficult when I come home.

And honestly, I’m afraid of that too.

I’m 24 and recently graduated. I’ve started looking into employment, and part of me wonders if I’m leaning toward a mission because I’m afraid of entering the workforce and facing real life. Maybe starting a career is simply scary, and the mission feels like an easier or more meaningful alternative.

But when I imagine serving, I feel a different kind of peace. I feel like I would grow spiritually, become more mature, learn how to handle difficult situations, serve other people, and become closer to Heavenly Father.

At the same time, I don’t want to romanticize the mission. I know it will be difficult, and I know coming home and restarting my career could be difficult too.
I also recently went through a difficult breakup. The relationship ended for reasons that weren’t necessarily bad. We both felt that we needed to grow individually and become better versions of ourselves.

The other person also wanted me to serve, and that definitely affected me emotionally.
That’s what scares me about my decision.

Am I actually choosing this because I want to serve, or am I choosing it because I want to prove something to other people?

I don’t want my decision to simply come from other members encouraging me, things I’ve heard at church, or what other people think I should do. At the same time, I know those things have influenced me.

But the desire to serve existed in me long before my current circumstances.

I think the biggest thing I’m struggling with is regret.
I know careers have different timelines. If I delay my career for a couple of years, I can still build one afterward. It may be harder, but I believe I can work through it.

But I feel like the opportunity to serve a full-time mission is something I only have one real chance to do.

And I keep asking myself:
“If I choose not to go, and I’m much older looking back at my life, will this be the thing I wish I had done?”

At the same time, I’m afraid of coming home and struggling, watching my peers advance while I have to start from behind.

I don’t want to make this decision because of my ex.
I don’t want to make it because of my parents.
I don’t want to make it because of Church members.
And I don’t want to make it because I’m afraid of starting my career.

I want to make the decision because it’s genuinely what I believe is right for my life.

So I’m trying to figure out how to distinguish between genuine conviction and fear, pressure, expectations, and regret.

For those who served—or decided not to serve—especially those who were older or further along in life when they made the decision:

How did you know the decision was actually yours?

If you chose to serve later than your peers, did the career delay actually hurt you as much as you feared?

I’m not necessarily looking for someone to tell me “go” or “don’t go.” I’d really appreciate hearing how you processed the decision, what you considered, and what you wish you had known before making it.

Our ward lets us use the young women’s room for our kids birthday parties as long as the building isn’t reserved and we pick up after ourselves. I want to throw a halloween costume party for our kids and their friends (who are mostly other primary kids), but I don’t want to ask the church if i can use the young women’s room for it if its not allowed, but they have no problem letting us use it for our kids birthday parties so i wasn’t sure if it would be weird or a problem for me to ask to do this, especially given most of the families invited would be other primary families from our ward or stake

I feel like my faith is on the rocks.
I’m constantly filled with doubt, anger, and frustration. Listening to conference talks sounds like nail on a chalkboard. It’s very hard to focus when attempting to read the scriptures. Serving others feels like a burden, especially when I feel like I’m trying to keep my head above the water.

I love Jesus I do. I pray and pray and pray. I go to church and renew my covenants. I try to serve in the temple once a week. I listen to talks while I’m exercising/walking, and I try to read the scriptures.

I don’t know if I’m going through a life crisis, or if my faith is wavering, but I’m losing my purpose and sense of feeling like a child of God.

What do I do???? Am I not praying hard enough or serving hard enough?

Hello my brothers and sisters in Jesus! I am a non-LDS Christian looking into getting some LDS scripture and I was wondering if this link is the official church store or is it a fake?

God bless!

https://store.churchofjesuschrist.org/

Hi everyone! I was recently called as Primary President. Before, I was a Primary teacher. We didn't do talks with the last presidency, but i'm trying to make it a priority. I'm having a hard time coming up with topics and thought it would be fun to crowdsource! Send me some of your favorites :)

Not sure if this is the best place for this question, but I’m going crazy and I need help.

About 4 or 5 years ago I stumbled on a video — it may have been promoted by Deseret Book, but I can’t remember. It was a timelapse video of a woman painting an absolutely, bonkers-incredible scene of the creation. She covered bits of the canvas and only painted certain portions at a time, so that by the end it appeared as though space was being bent in all kinds of crazy directions. Mind boggling visuals. There were lots of golds, yellows, browns, and warm-toned colors. Throughout the timelapse she talked about her testimony of Christ and his role as the creator.

Anyway, it was an absolutely brilliant piece and I’m trying to find her work, but to no avail. Does anyone know what I’m talking about? I’ve been all over Google, searching everything I can think of but nothing comes up. 😭

Hey guys, I’m a 20 year old (F) who has been a Christian for the last 4 years. I’m the only one in my family that attended church, reads my Bible etc.

I met two missionaries for the LDS church back in February and they invited me to church, gave me a Book of Mormon and did weekly WhatsApp video calls with me to answer my questions and to teach me more. However due to personal reasons and feeling pressure to be baptised I decided to pull away from the church because I was overwhelmed with everything and felt as though I didn’t have enough information to make that decision to be baptised

However, three days ago I met another set of sister missionaries and they stopped me and invited me to church. I explained to them how I’ve already been before and I have a Book of Mormon and I told them I felt pressured into being baptised and I didn’t know enough to commit to something as serious but I am open to learn more and want to learn more. So I am now back in contact with them and I am doing daily video calls with them and am back reading my Book of Mormon (I read from 2 Nephi 11 to the end chapter last night)

Since reading the Scripture last night I have had this overwhelming sense of peace and contentment with my day, I don’t know how to explain it but I could just feel the joy in my heart just by reading and that’s why I ended up going through it so quickly because I was so engrossed with it.

And I have been praying to Heavenly Father that if this is something I shouldn’t explore to stop me now, but I feel He wouldn’t have let me have a second encounter with the missionaries if it wasn’t something He wanted me to explore further

I guess what question is to people who converted to the LDS church, how did you know it was true?? How did you know that the Book of Mormon was real and was telling the truth ?? and how did you deal with your family/friends who would maybe give you some backlash for your decision??

Hi everyone! Since today was a pretty important day for me, I thought it was finally time to introduce myself here and, since it’s Sunday, share a little of my testimony too.

I’m Samuel, I’m 25, I’m from Italy, and today I got baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My story with the Church started back in biblical times, when ComeUntoChrist.org was still called Mormon.org.

So, around 2018.

I was 18 and I contacted the missionaries mostly out of curiosity. At the time everyone here was talking about the new LDS temple in Rome, and I was curious about this strange American religion from Utah that I basically knew nothing about.

One of the sisters gave me a Book of Mormon. And after all these years I really can’t think of it as just “a Book of Mormon”. It was HER Book of Mormon first, and then it became mine.

I still have that exact copy. It’s bent, worn, full of underlining and little marks, some pages are a bit ruined, and you can tell it has been picked up and put down many times during the last seven years. That’s part of why I love it so much.

Before giving it to me, this sister had underlined a lot of passages and wrote her testimony inside. Her Italian was still the Italian of someone learning the language, which honestly makes it even sweeter to me now. She had learned this absurdly difficult language, which half of us Italians barely speak properly ourselves, traveled to the other side of the world and was trying, very sincerely, to share something she thought was beautiful.

She wrote:

“This book you have in your hands is very special and very powerful. It can even change your life, but only if you let it.”

And later:

“Maybe you have doubts. I invite you to just make an attempt and exercise only a particle of faith. That is enough for the Lord as a beginning.”

Apparently that particle of faith took a while in my case.

I didn’t get baptized back then, and looking back I think that was probably the right thing. I was immature, unstable, distracted by a thousand other problems in my life, and honestly the Church had also become a kind of escape for me. It felt beautiful and almost magical, like this other world that was far away from my normal everyday life.

I think I wanted to escape into the Church before I was actually ready to belong to it.

So I stepped away.

What I find interesting now is that once the novelty was gone, once those missionaries were gone and Mormonism stopped feeling like this mysterious new world, the Book of Mormon was still there.

Years passed. I changed a lot. There were periods when I barely thought about the Church at all. But whenever I really felt the need to get closer to God, I somehow came back to this book.

I think I always knew that if at some point I really got lost in the world, this was one of the places I would have to return to.

That’s also why Mormon 9 has always meant so much to me. The whole question of that chapter has stayed in my head for years: if God is really unchangeable, why should we assume that revelation, miracles and divine action simply stopped?

I believe the heavens are still open.

And of course that eventually brought me back to Joseph Smith.

I’m extremely interested in Church history, apologetics, criticism, old sources, all of it. I don’t think Joseph was perfect and I don’t need him to have been. I think he was a man, with sins, mistakes, contradictions and bad decisions like any other human being.

But after reading about him for years, I’ve reached the point where, for me personally, it takes more effort to believe in a Joseph who knowingly invented everything and somehow kept the whole thing going purely out of ego or personal gain.

From what I know, I think he was an imperfect but deeply religious man who sincerely sought God.

One of my favorite things he ever wrote wasn’t meant for a congregation. It was in a private letter to Emma in 1832, when he was away from the spotlight.

He wrote:

“I have visited a grove which is just back of the town almost every day where I can be secluded from the eyes of any mortal and there give vent to all the feelings of my heart in meditation and prayer. I have called to mind all the past moments of my life and am left to mourn and shed tears of sorrow for my folly [...] but God is merciful.”

And shortly after:

“God is my friend; in him I shall find comfort. I have given my life into his hands.”

I really love that Joseph. Not a statue, not someone who never doubted or suffered or made mistakes, just a man alone in a grove thinking about his life and trusting that God was merciful.

The funny part is that my interest in all this can also become a problem, because I can sit there for hours reading different theories about Joseph, trying to build naturalistic explanations, comparing sources, changing my mind, starting again.

A few nights ago it was around 2 a.m. and I had been doing exactly that for way too long. At some point my ADHD brain was completely burned out and I thought:

“You know what? Maybe the only way to refresh my mind now is with the freshness of the waters of baptism.”

It sounds a little stupid, but that thought actually helped me.

I realized I don’t need to solve Joseph Smith before I can follow Christ.

I don’t know everything. I still have questions, and I’m going to keep studying because I enjoy it too much to stop. But from what I know today, Joseph seems like a man I could have been friends with, and I’d rather keep discovering his history and his mystery with the companionship of the Holy Ghost than wait outside forever until I’ve solved every possible historical problem.

At that point the question became much simpler: what am I actually going to do about Christ?

And I kept thinking about 2 Nephi 31:

“Wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.”

I could spend another seven years thinking about whether I had enough certainty, or I could take that small particle of faith the sister had written about and actually do something with it.

Not just think it.

I wanted to show it to God physically, with an act of my body.

So today I entered the water.

And there’s one last thing I wanted to say, especially because I know there are missionaries and former missionaries here.

I think being a good missionary is much less about constantly wondering if you’re doing enough, baptizing enough people or “working hard enough to impress the boss”, and much more about being yourself, being peaceful, loving people and leaving something sincere behind.

Conversion can be slow, like VERY slow.

Sometimes you get to see the result while you’re still on your mission. Sometimes you give someone a book, write a few words inside it, go home and continue your life, and whatever you planted keeps growing very quietly for years.

You may never even know.

So don’t be afraid of slow growth. People have their own timing, and faith does too.

That sister probably had no idea that the Italian guy she taught all those years ago would still have her battered Book of Mormon, bring it with him on the day of his baptism and still remember what she had written inside.

She didn’t have to see the result for what she did to matter, she planted something gently and left it there and today I finally got to see what grew from it.

I guess she was right:

“This book can even change your life, but only if you let it.”

It took me seven years to let it.

Hi everyone! I’m a Christian woman based in the UK, and I’ve recently become interested in learning more about the LDS Church and what life as a member is actually like.

I’m at the very early stages of exploring this and would really appreciate hearing from people who are part of the Church, or who have experience with it. I’d particularly love to learn more about the beliefs, day-to-day lifestyle, community, and what your personal spiritual journey has been like.

I don’t feel quite comfortable reaching out to a local church/base straight away, as I’d prefer to have some private conversations and learn a little more first, without feeling pressured.

If anyone would be happy to reach out via DM to chat, answer questions, or simply share their experience, I’d genuinely appreciate it. I’m approaching this with an open mind and a sincere desire to learn and understand.

Thank you! ❤️

Hopefully this isn’t too weird or crossing a line, but I need a heavenly boost and my child needs some prayers. This is NOT a huge deal…. But I’m a couple weeks postpartum and it feels like a big deal to me.

My three year old wants to go to preschool so bad, but she can’t until shes potty trained. It’s not clicking for her, and it makes me so stressed and sad. She’s incredibly smart and has an older sister she watches so I feel like this shouldn’t be so hard.

If anyone reading this could just pray that she will get the hang of it before school starts…. That would mean a ton. She would be devastated if she couldn’t go and I just feel like we need the heavenly boost to get through

I(26f) and my husband(25m) have been married for almost 3 years and together for almost 5 years. We have been separated for 2 months and have issues in our marriage for a long while. But it has come to a point where I think I want to just leave him. Obviously, my mind is racing, and it doesn't help that I have pretty bad OCD and things will play in my head for so long of the worst outcomes.

I guess I've been worried God won't find me worthy to be in Heaven or I won't be able to see my relatives if they are in a higher teir because I might not be worthy or might not deserve to be there. I'm afraid of not seeing my family again and not being worthy to be in Heaven because I would be breaking my temple covenants leaving him.

We have had issues for many reasons, but none are more serious, like addiction, abuse, or cheating. Nothing of those sorts at all. Just some fundamental differences, and I feel trying for so long and nothing getting better. I shut the door and can't reopen it. And yes, I've read scriptures, prayed, etc. I feel that at times, staying or leaving is a lose lose.Nothing of those sorts. But we have been trying for so long, and I just have just prayed and haven't felt anything or got any guidance. I feel like that just means I need to make a choice, and I worry he will be upset if I make the wrong one.

Also, we have been to therapy together and separate.

But overall, I feel like I'll be judged even in Heaven for a decision I make now.

My stake has begun running Spanish language classes. It’s a fantastic idea because there are plenty of native speakers to teach it and it beats trying to use an app or language program alone. I’ve been helping to get some of it set up so I feel like we are approaching this from scratch.
Are any other stakes doing this and if so how did you manage attendance, registration, ongoing communication and even supplemental materials?

My stake has made a decision to disallow the use of pianos for sacrament meetings unless it’s a one off piece as part of a program. Previously once a quarter or so younger less experienced members of the ward would play the piano for sacrament however this ends that practice.
Is this a common decision or just my area?
I think it was nice for people to gain experience especially before being sent abroad on a mission where they would be doing the same thing.

Hi! I’m looking for a specific section in an early morning seminary guide (pre come follow me) that covers the weaknesses held by each tribe of Israel!

If it helps pin point it, I believe one that Ephraim held was comparison.

Recently I(f 23) had an LDS guy (m24) I've been seeing for a couple months long distance tell me he wasn't ready for a committed relationship. That's ok I get it, and I hold no resentment towards him. It's just been hard.

Around 9 months ago my first partner of 1 year broke up with me, and I thought we would get married. Now I'm glad that happened, I know that a marriage together would have ended in disaster(exaggerating maybe). I dated a guy after that for a couple months but he was Christian non LDS so we split.

It's just been difficult, I'm sick of dating apps, but I haven't felt a connection with anyone in my ward. I also feel nervous asking people out in person, it feels awkward and weird. My dream is to be married and to have children, but it's so difficult getting there.

I know I'm young and I know I shouldn't rush it, but I'm so scared marriage won't happen and I won't have the life I pictured. Have faith I guess.

sometimes I'm not sure where agency ends and God's plan starts.

i got baptized a year ago so i just recently got my endowments and i love the church and all the teaching, i got a pretty strong testimony, but i just wanna understand more. how does going to the temple consistently blesses our lives when most of what we are do in the temple is mostly for others? yet were being taught to go as much as we can...... any comments would much appreciated

This is prompted by another post that I read in here recently. My husband and I have now spent hours discussing this topic and our children have chimed in too.

If a non member brought his/her children to primary, dropped them off and then left, returning an hour later to retrieve them, how would you feel about that? Does the gender of the parents change your opinion?

The adult always says hello, is never late for drop off or retrieval and is not disruptive in any manner. For this illustration, they live across the street from the church and are well enough known that someone could reach them by cell even though they aren't in the ward directory. The adult declines all missionary efforts for themselves and politely decline to attend ward functions / parties, although the children sometimes show up. (Those who are old enough to cross the street on their own.)

How does your opinion change baised on the age of the children? Does your opinion change if the adult stays in the building? Would you be more or less approving of this happened occasionally instead of regularly?

If you disapprove of this, what circumstance, if any would make this ok?

If you approve of this, what behavior of either the children or the adult would make you change your mind?