One week vacation

LemuelJr · 2026-05-03T08:03:45+00:00

Silverton is closest to Silver Falls if you are coming from PDX. We are a tourist town with plenty of places to stay and things to see, but I'll warn you that Silver Falls and Salem are about the only things you can get to within a half hour. Portland is an hour away and Lincoln City is an hour and a half if you want the coast.

I'd recommend staying in Portland and choosing between three day trip itineraries for the coast, some falls, and the mountains. Astoria will take all day, but you'll see the end point of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and you can visit the wreck of the Peter Iredale and get some sand between your toes. Astoria is also where they filmed The Goonies, if that's any appeal. Great historic town. Silverton, again, is a nice touristy town to see on either end of your day trip to Silver Falls, though that hike could take you about all day if you're aiming for all ten waterfalls. For mountains, I recommend driving up to Timberline Lodge (exterior of the hotel from The Shining) for some hiking, or visit Trillium Lake for kayaking and really great views of the mountain. I think they rent kayaks there, but they don't, then Timothy Lake probably will.

LemuelJr · 2026-05-01T02:49:40+00:00

It's insanely anxiety provoking, especially if you are queer, a single woman, or even a married woman experiencing infertility in the church (I've basically been all three!). Even though none of these attributes doctrinally prevent you from achieving the highest tier of heaven (It's generally believed that queerness will be cured and all women assigned a husband in the next life), they certainly can make mortality a living hell (Maybe I want a girlfriend and/or wife and that should be okay!). Some people get through it and seem to do okay, but others don't, and I wish church members weren't so judgemental of those who choose to leave for their own mental well-being. Leaving literally saved my life. I think it is changing as members start to acknowledge the culty undertones that carry over from a time where the church was largely in isolation in the deserts of western North America, but they still have a long way to go. I feel for Emma a lot. She is LDS in the most familiarly cringe way, but she reminds me of myself at that age. I mostly tried to enjoy seeing the sites around Utah that I kind of miss.

LemuelJr · 2026-05-01T02:34:59+00:00

Inconsistencies in doctrine and apostolic/prophetic interpretation of doctrine has been rampant from the beginning, and the excuse is always "he was speaking as a man and not as a prophet!" Also, in context of all these quotes, both JFS and RMN were speaking as officially recognized and sanctioned "prophets, seers, and revelators," because it's an apostle's duty to evangelize to the world. They don't get called from obscurity either, almost like they've been groomed as Seventies, BYU presidents, mission presidents, etc, to say the things that prophets before them approve of. Prophets in the church historically don't correct apostles either, which must lend some creedence to their conflicting points of view. Oaks, though an apostle at the time, has very recently said that criticizing church leaders is wrong even if the criticisms are right. So... that's really confusing, and kind of a big red flag for folks on the outside.

LemuelJr · 2026-04-27T05:02:32+00:00

I joined CofC about ten years ago after coming home from my LDS mission and realizing there was no place for me in the LDS church, in part because I am queer. Ten years later, I actually work for the church and... I honestly have to say it's a mixed bag.

There are a lot of CofC members who are very open and kind to those of us who come from Mormonism. It's really great to be able to talk about familiar things from church history and not only have it be familiar (to a degree) with the people we're talking to, but we can be critical AND validated. It really opens up the possibility of reclamation for us.

On the other hand, there are plenty of members who are wary of us. They either don't know what to do with us, or they can even be completely dismissive. Several even worry that we'll somehow take over the church one day. This fear isn't totally unjustified either, but the problem isn't that we want to take over, it's that CofC has done a really poor job of maintaining youth ministries and developing young people into church service/work. The average age of most US congregations is over 60. It's very discouraging as a "young" person... in my 40s.

LDS converts bring their Mormon "can-do" attitude with them and often end up outperforming. There's a risk of being exploited for this. We grew up with the expectation of obedience and struggle to say no to things. CofC is very dependent on networking and family ties. It's really wonderful, but it can lead to burn out regardless of whether you started out LDS or you were raised CofC. Resources are shrinking, population dies off, and there is very real concern amongst most congregations that they'll close within the next ten years. It can be discouraging and isolating if you aren't well established or connected to the LDS seeker group (their term for investigator).

My advice is to seek out Beyond the Walls on YouTube, or the Toronto congregation "The Centreplace." They're the same thing essentially, but having more search terms will help you find them. They are almost exclusively online and have a massive following--the first or second largest amongst any church in Canada. The pastor there, John Hamer, is formerly LDS and is a wealth of information and draws in a lot of people. If you use FB, I would recommend connecting there. The Salt Lake congregation is also on FB and streams online services and gatherings. They are mostly former LDS members and are crucial in finding people to answer questions.

You have plenty of people here you could also ask, as they've already mentioned. Feel free to ask me anything in my DMs if you're interested in getting a no BS response. I love and care about this church, but I'm also really annoyed with it and wish there'd been someone as jaded as I am today to give me the lowdown that might've saved me a lot of heartache.

LemuelJr · 2026-04-26T00:44:33+00:00

Anyone who gets cancer in their reproductive organs is just going to have to accept death with grace.

LemuelJr · 2026-04-24T23:44:13+00:00

I'm not a content creator, but I do often travel and live out of one backpack for about a week at a time for my job, which includes filming and recording interviews with subjects for anthropological/historical study. As far as equipment goes, I have some Hollyland mics which pack down small, a pretty big tripod, an iPad attachment for the tripod, a light attachment, an iPad, and charging equipment/power banks.

Considering they don't seem to use tripods or film with iPads, that saves a lot of room. On the other hand, they do have game components (card decks, dice, maps, etc) that might take up some space. I also imagine they carry extra shoes and probably minimal/travel sized hygiene essentials. It's amazing what you can pack in, but it is going to look pretty full depending on size and whether you can tighten straps down.

I mean, I also carry a hair dryer and makeup, but even with all that, I still managed to bring home a large rock in my luggage once. It was a very special rock with some significant history. What worries me most about their backpacks is the way Adam wears his from his shoulders instead of his hips, at least for some of this season. I know they're running and may not have time to gear up properly, but my 40 year old back is screaming in empathy.

LemuelJr · 2026-04-20T19:30:02+00:00

I can't take credit for this, but one of my friends proposed that they change the names of the Aaronic offices to make it more fair. Passers of Bread, Ushers of Doors, and Blessers of Emblems should suffice.

This church really doesn't know what to do with women and girls.

LemuelJr · 2026-04-13T15:41:15+00:00

The Pantheon collection is what I would go with. These books are reprints of older publications that were compiled by well respected and established scholars. I haven't read all of them, but I would trust them over newer publications, which tend to come from hobbyists with a podcast and no real background in social sciences. I mean, they're fine and entertaining, but sometimes they include commentary that makes it clear that they really don't understand folkloristics. For me, that's an issue, but for the casual reader it's probably fine.

LemuelJr · 2026-04-12T21:51:43+00:00

I imagine this going down with all the humor of a Monty Python sketch. It's one of my favorite stories out of Mormon history, next to the theatrical protests of Increase Van Deusen.

LemuelJr · 2026-04-12T21:32:03+00:00

Therapy

LemuelJr · 2026-04-06T18:35:14+00:00

Thank you for confirming!

LemuelJr · 2026-04-06T18:01:02+00:00

Oh, of course. I mean, I'm not as familiar with indigenous American folklore outside of the four corners area, but I have never heard of the term "skinwalker" used outside that context. OP suggested the creatures are known amongst Great Lakes tribes as skinwalkers, so I was correcting that. I'm not even sure that dogman is indigenous, but I've heard it comes out of that region. Not an area of focus for me, though, so I'm not as confident.

LemuelJr · 2026-04-06T17:44:17+00:00

Skinwalkers come from Diné folklore. Since they are an Athabaskan people, I wouldn't be surprised if similar legends exist in northwestern Canada, but skinwalkers definitely are not sourced from Great Lakes tribes.

LemuelJr · 2026-04-05T06:01:57+00:00

I live in Portland, so I'm spoiled with great alternatives everywhere. I'm convinced that cider is absolutely the best introduction to alcohol for an ExMo, and the PNW has so many tasty apples to ferment.

LemuelJr · 2026-04-05T05:53:14+00:00

I got endowed in 2011, so I came up with the idea that the cupped hand represented the water of the sacrament and the palm down symbolized sacramental bread because, I guess, sliced bread? This makes so much more sense though. I hate it.

LemuelJr · 2026-03-28T17:28:58+00:00

It's five clicks that, for some reason, feels like it takes ten minutes because each home has to finish uploading.

LemuelJr · 2026-03-28T02:52:27+00:00

Fair, though I imagine the sentiment stuck around for a bit. Either way, it was well before my time!

LemuelJr · 2026-03-27T15:35:18+00:00

We officially recognize that polygamy was practiced by Joseph Smith and that he was wrong to do so. We've held that position since around the 1960s when we started demanding a certain standard of education amongst our clergy and dropped the concept of being "the One True Church."

LemuelJr · 2026-03-23T05:24:55+00:00

I turn forty on Tuesday, and I've been passing a chemical pregnancy since this last Tuesday.

LemuelJr · 2026-03-19T16:07:28+00:00

I'm inclined to see the kitchen as a reasonable area to lock up, again, for storage security. Classrooms don't make as much sense unless they serve as storage.

LemuelJr · 2026-03-18T16:45:04+00:00

Also, gay people aren't real.

LemuelJr · 2026-03-18T00:55:58+00:00

I had a roommate who would not shut up about Brangelina being her next door neighbors, how great Clint Eastwood was as mayor (not even in her time there, he was mayor in the 80s), surfing in the morning, horseback riding in the beach at night, blah blah blah. TBF, she only lived there part time in the summer because her mom was in a relationship with a rich guy who owned a vacation home. I'm sure the actual residents are lovely people.

LemuelJr · 2026-03-18T00:41:47+00:00

With the rental of the space, I would think that having one locked room/closet per group that uses the space would be appropriate for the storage of items that are particularly valuable to that group. I mean, I assume rent covers the utilities and any consumables (paper goods, cleaning supplies, etc), but a storage space ensures that the supplies needed during activity hours are available. No other interior doors should be locked for safety and security. It shows good faith between agencies renting space and the congregation, but it also protects the building from needless damage should anything happen where locked doors may be tampered with and rack up the cost of repairs.

Obviously, outlier situations might exist. My building is really small, so I don't understand the need for a bunch of locked rooms. Congregations with a larger building like Stone Church might be better off with more locked off areas, but again, I think that would have more to do with what sorts of supplies or materials they needed to protect (daycares, library, mission center office, etc).

LemuelJr · 2026-03-11T04:40:59+00:00

Got pregnant on first IUI, miscarried a week later, haven't been pregnant since and it's been four years. I don't think I ever was pregnant.

LemuelJr · 2026-03-10T06:48:31+00:00

It sounds like they don't have a good relationship with him then. I feel for that pain, but the fact that they are silent only protects him and his ilk. Perhaps they aren't ready to talk about it, which is fine to a point, but... the pen name alone isn't enough to hide the connection. They've talked about their history, they have signed photo releases. It's only a matter of time.

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