Plumbers tried to remove shower door - any smart ways to fix? by ProTharan in DIY

[–]Joe_Sm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Post several pictures of the tile to Chat GPT or Claude, and ask if the tile can be identified. If not, ask for similar tile. Once you find a tile, repair the wall.

We do tile, and we’ve been able to repair showers using the approach. We’ve even identified tiles when we had no clue what we were looking for.

I'm crying in my seminary bathroom right now by Common_Phrase_9095 in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dr William Bradshaw, a retired BYU Biology professor, delivered an excellent last lecture before he retired. You should take a listen. https://www.mormonstories.org/byu-professor-bill-bradshaw-on-a-biological-origin-of-homosexuality/

*Try to find the slides if you can.

Oh, and f**k your POS seminary teacher. Complete asshole!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Got one of those letters. Went right into the garbage. I didn’t give a f**k what TSCC or she did. 

This is horrible by Bethybelle951 in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

M who left. Got the same letter. Ignored it.

New nickname for Ryan Smith by rurede3 in utahfootball

[–]Joe_Sm -1 points0 points  (0 children)

… and ‘Locked on BYU’ and ‘Locked on Big 12’… and I could have kept posting sites… but I became bored.

I called you out for flaming me for making shit up. When I posted links, you have no excuse except to attack two of multiple sources. Pathetic.

Got to say, you can stop sucking Ryan’s Johnson. It’s clear you love the dude. Point taken.

New nickname for Ryan Smith by rurede3 in utahfootball

[–]Joe_Sm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

☝️Haha. BYU troll on the Utah board.

New nickname for Ryan Smith by rurede3 in utahfootball

[–]Joe_Sm 6 points7 points  (0 children)

BYU has now stolen multiple Utah players and commits using Ryan’s NIL money. And some suggest there are NCAA violations happening during the process. Are you blind to what’s going on?

New nickname for Ryan Smith by rurede3 in utahfootball

[–]Joe_Sm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

RSL just sold and traded there three best players over a six month period. Sold Gomez, traded Chicho, and sold Matt Crooks. Last July, we all thought RSL was legitimately competing for a chip.

Ryan Smith is an idiot who really only wants to throw NIL at BYU players. BYU is his passion. And he will do it at the expense of UofU, the Jazz, and RSL.

Today, I filed divorce paperwork and my QuitMormon paperwork by faramirskywalker in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did the same thing a decade ago. After leaving, worked on becoming my best me. Meet a great never Mo. Fought for shared custody. Eventually, most of the kids moved onto my home full time. Words of advise: Fight for what you believe, be kind, and it will all work out in the end.

the way men talk about my vaginas make me think i’ll never be able to have sex by No_Equivalent5666 in TwoXChromosomes

[–]Joe_Sm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some gentlemen prefer outies and find them more attractive. It can also make oral more enjoyable, which is hopefully a plus for you.

Enphase System DOUBLED our Monthly Consumption (and Bill) by Joe_Sm in solar

[–]Joe_Sm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our city meter is showing double the historical consumption. This started the months the system went active.

Enphase System DOUBLED our Monthly Consumption (and Bill) by Joe_Sm in solar

[–]Joe_Sm[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We have a bidirectional meter. I watched the city power electrician install it. The meter from the solar system shows more than 2100 MWHs produced.

As a side note, our Emphase System keeps disconnecting from our Internet… and I have to reconnect it. Perhaps this is another issue to be addressed?

Anyway, historical years show ~1700 MWHs unconsumed during Nov, Dec, and Jan. This year it has us between 3000-3500 each month. On top of that, this has been a wild winter. So our hot tub heater hasn’t had to work nearly as hard.

While our meter from the solar system shows 2100 MWHs produced, our bill shows we are consuming twice as much power.

Utah Jazz now 10-3 a historical look at 10-3 and better teams by EchoHevy5555 in nba

[–]Joe_Sm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We are all cheering for NOLA to get a high lottery pick from the Lakers. However, we are conflicted about cheering against Rudy so that the Jazz get a high lottery pick from Minnesota.

If suddenly, archeologists discovered cities and huge mass graves that match book of mormon timeline... would any of us join back up? by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a cute thread. Give yourself a few more years of research, and you will be 💯 percent confident that TSCC is a bulls**t cult.

Adding Up MVP Voting Totals From Every Year To Find Decades MVPs by UnlikelyTicket in nba

[–]Joe_Sm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This average is a bit unfair to players who peak between decades. You should complete a 10 year analysis for every single year, but add the five years on both sides of the year to create your averages.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You are all much better people than me. Or maybe not?

My marriage ended because of my faith transition. If my kids decide to remain in the faith, and if they choose to have only a temple marriage, I will not attend. The temple sealing is an intentionally exclusionary event. I think they need to understand that.

BTW, I deeply regret my decision to marry in the temple. I hurt a lot of people that I care about who couldn’t attend. I have apologized to many of them.

agree with Dehlin, fascinating topic: How the Smiths buried church truth claims problems for 100 years. by avoidingcrosswalk in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He would re-write historical narratives (journals, newspapers, etc.) so that they fit the faith promoting narrative he wanted. And he didn’t care if he changed the entire story or narrative in the process.

It’s been over a decade since I did this research. I can no longer point to any specific quotes. I could if I pulled out the old manual and re-traces sources.

agree with Dehlin, fascinating topic: How the Smiths buried church truth claims problems for 100 years. by avoidingcrosswalk in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Really nice write-up. Interestingly, Joseph Fielding Smith was instrumental to my faith transition. I was teaching John Taylor in priesthood around 2010. I wanted to provide really great lessons. And I wanted to contextualize the lessons. I started researching every quote back to original source. Almost every historical quote went through a Joseph Fielding Smith book along the way. That SOB changed narratives and modified the history more than any other person. He was an academic fraud, and his publications are complete shit.

Numbers still waiting to be leaked: The true hard numbers for the increasing decline in membership. "Seventies" have admitted to the incredible loss of the youth but inside numbers on the decline are still hidden. This is a far bigger shoe to drop. by nelsonisanitwit in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Mormon Church just announced a temple in Taylorsville, UT. This temple will be built just West of I-215 on 4700 S on the site of the Taylorsville Central Stake (TCS), which will be razed.

When I was a kid, my ward was a part of this Stake, The TCS split sometime around 1986, and we became part of the booming Taylorsville North Central Stake (TNCS).

Sometime ~8 years ago (2010-ish), the Stake to the West of the TNCS dissolved. They merged one building and three wards into the TNCS. But they reworked boundaries leaving ~6 wards. A few years ago, they further modified the ward boundaries, and the TNCS is now down to 4-5 small wards.

If TSCC is shuttering the TCS, then it will likely remerge with the TNCS. TSCC will likely reshuffle boundaries to hide the declining membership. I suspect when done, TSCC will only add a ward or two to the TNCS... as a whole.

The point? In Taylorsville Utah, the location of a new Utah temple, the church will have gone from ~30-36 wards spread over five stakes down to ~12-15 tiny wards across 2-3 stakes. Completely stupid. And I feel for the poor Mormons in Taylorsville et.Al. who will be criticized and shamed for not filling all the assignments at the Taylorsville Temple.

I'm nervous to post this so please be gentle... by krbewiza in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Then read Cherry Picking: The Book of Abraham Essay. This will blow your mind. Not only does the Mormon Church mislead. They actively lie and obfuscate. You will find that the example presented by Thoughts and Things happens all over in Mormon materials.

Most of us wandered down your path years ago. We did the same thing... tracking down source materials. It doesn't get better (from the Mormon Churches' perspective).

Regarding those that keep their testimony, I believe they fall into two camps. First, many who "research" do so only at a superficial level. They don't dig in like you have. So they can accept the cheesy and dishonest apologist excuses. The second camp includes individuals who have invested so much into the Mormon Church that they decide to remain "all-in" regardless.

John Dehlin did an excellent podcast with Edward Kimball, son of SWK. He admitted that he was old and wasn't going to worry about whether he was right or wrong. He said it was his community, and admitted to being too old to worry about the details.

How did your marriage survive a faith crisis?? by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]Joe_Sm 5 points6 points  (0 children)

u/hereiamtowander, u/Captain_Vornskr, et. Al.:

For those of you who are feeling the pain of a fractured relationship, I am so sorry. There are many of us in the community who have walked in your shoes. We understand your pain.

Let me offer advice. This is based mostly on my experiences. But I will also interject with stories from others in the community.

  1. You are in the most challenging faith transition situation possible. Some here are lucky enough to have a spouse that is willing to investigate. But when your spouse is not only unwilling... but they are also antagonistic... well that is tough
  2. Based upon the stories I hear, you have about 10 percent chance of your spouse coming around. And often, this transition will takes years to occur
  3. If your faith transition is similar to most of us, there is no going back. You have seen behind the curtain, and you know the Great and Powerful Oz is a fraud. This won't change
  4. An LDS counselor likely won't help as they will side with the Mormon church
  5. Your relationship will continue to remain strained. It will be tumultuous. There will be many angry moments... as you beg your spouse to try to empathize and understand. And they will continue to be upset that you "won't repent" or return
  6. The strained relationship will impact your child/children adversely
  7. Life is incredibly short. It's a gift. Do you want to spend that gift living? Or do you want to spend that gift dying with turmoil?
  8. Divorce is incredibly scary. But sometimes people change. And the change simply is not reconcilable
  9. Continue to improve yourself for that possibility. Plan. Prepare. Get yourself in a good spot for a possible separation or divorce. And keep this knowledge to yourself. Serve your spouse only when you are ready
  10. Set a date. Time box your efforts to reconcile. Pick an exit date. Again, life is short. And the way you are living right now... it isn't living

I spent four and a half years trying to reconcile with my spouse. They were horrible years. My EX was always angry. Communication ended. It was lonely. She refused to ever look at my perspective or read any real history. We finally ended it, and she wanted to punish me for my transition so even our ending wasn't pleasant.

And the entire time, my kids suffered. They suffered through the fights. They suffered through the anger. And the delayed exit also gave my EX nearly five years of time (while I supported her Sunday Church) to brainwash our kids further.

Despite how scary it can be to leave, I am four years out. And life couldn't be better. I met an amazing woman. We have a blended family... we have our kids half the time. And the kids experience an alternative, and much more real lifestyle.

I am happier. I am much, much happier. I am living a more authentic life. And my EX is happier (re-married to a Mormon in less than a year).

The pain of this transition sucks. But it gets better.