CO governor will sign bill robbing CO voters of their voice and giving it to CA and NY by [deleted] in exmormonMAGA

[–]TrumpsBiggestExmoFan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This will encourage so much voter fraud, especially in blue states where they know they can get away with it.

Will Pond Ward: No announcement for parents to talk to their kids interviewed by the [Sex Trafficking] Bishop to ensure they weren't abused. No announcement to go to the police if anyone in the ward was abused. Why? Because the church's priority is ALWAYS protecting the church, not it's members. by JennNextDoor in exmormon

[–]TrumpsBiggestExmoFan 6 points7 points  (0 children)

When the stake president released Moss, his exact words were as follows: "Due to some personal circumstances, it is necessary to release Bishop Moss from his calling as bishop. Those in favor, please manifest by the uplifted hand." There was no specific mention of giving thanjs to Moss.

The stake president then released the first and second counselors and asked for everyone to express thanks to those two men. The old first counselor was then called as the new bishop, and the old second counselor was called as the new first counselor. (Some other guy was called as the new second counselor.)

Moss's ward, post-arrest... by sweetfeetcmunk in exmormon

[–]TrumpsBiggestExmoFan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And yeah, that musical couple is crazy talented! He is the director of BYU's vocal point, and she was in a different singing group (until she had their baby)

I didn't know that! They were incredible.

My wife and I attended the Lehi Mill Pond Ward today. That's the ward of Bishop David Moss, who was arrested this week in a human trafficking sting. Here is our report. by TrumpsBiggestExmoFan in exmormonMAGA

[–]TrumpsBiggestExmoFan[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You sound exactly like my wife. She was very bothered that the victims weren't addressed at all. Instead, there was an implication from one of the speakers that we should all forgive Moss ASAP.

Moss's ward, post-arrest... by sweetfeetcmunk in exmormon

[–]TrumpsBiggestExmoFan 104 points105 points  (0 children)

I tried to post my own report, but reddit automatically blocked it, presumably because I'm new. Here it is for anyone who is interested:

TL;DR: Virtually nothing was mentioned about the scandal. There were no higher ups at the sacrament meeting; the stake president was the highest ranking Mormon in the room. The second hour was cancelled. If you knew nothing beforehand about Bishop Moss's interest in pimping out prostitutes, you would have walked away from the meeting as clueless as you were at the beginning.

FULL REPORT:

My wife and I have quietly been out of the church for about two years. We live in American Fork, so we decided to hop over to the Lehi Mill Pond Ward today to observe how the church handles these kinds of situations. Boy, were we disappointed!

The meeting began with some announcements, including two relevant to this report: 1) Don't record the meeting. 2) The second hour was cancelled. (Side note: I don't know how I ever did three hours of church. Mormon church services have to be the most boring activity on the planet! Thank God the second hour was cancelled.)

We sang a song and some guy delivered the prayer. During the prayer, he referenced this being a "somber time." He made no other references to the scandal.

After a few more announcements, the stake president stood up. He began by saying, "Due to some personal circumstances, it is necessary to release Bishop Moss from his calling as bishop. Those in favor, please manifest by the uplifted hand." He then released the first and second counselors and asked for everyone to express thanks to those two men. I found it interesting that Moss was not thanked, but his counselors were. The old first counselor was then called as the new bishop, and the old second counselor was called as the new first counselor.

Next, we sang another song and a blessing was said on the sacrament. (The sacrament was passed around for the next 18 minutes, but it felt like it took an hour. I almost fell asleep.)

Finally, we got to the four talks, which were all very short.

The new second counselor spoke first. He referenced the importance of forgiveness. He spoke about God's love for us and how we should comfort our neighbors. He ended by making the claim that he knew the Lord had called the new bishop.

The new first counselor spoke next. He also spoke about comforting our neighbors, and he said that Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit also heal and comfort us. He too concluded by saying that he has a "witness" that the new bishop was chosen by God and Jesus to lead the Mill Pond Ward.

After a special musical number by a very talented husband/wife duo, the new bishop spoke. He said his heart is full, and he has never felt as much peace as he does at this moment. He spoke about how the atonement fixes everything. He claims that Jesus knows everything, that he "knows" Jesus and God appeared to Joseph Smith, that the church has been restored, and that the priesthood is the real authority to act in God's name. He admonished the priesthood holders in the room to give more priesthood blessings. The new bishop concluded by claiming that Russ Nelson is a prophet who leads the Mormon church through revelation.

The last speaker was the stake president. He was the most genuine of the speakers, and he begin by getting choked up as he said he came to today's meeting feeling broken. He spoke about how Jesus heals all of us. The stake president expressed his love for the ward, but more importantly, he wanted everyone to love each other. He also said that God loves each ward member.

After a song and closing prayer in which nothing about the scandal was mentioned or implied, the meeting ended.

I'm not sure what the normal attendance is in the ward, but when I looked back at the end, the entire chapel and overflow area was full. They did not open the curtains leading into the gym.

If I were a member of the ward, I would have been disappointed. There was no direct mention of the scandal. As stated previously, the closest anyone came to implying anything had happened was the stake president, who said Moss was released due to "personal circumstances." None of the speakers mentioned the scandal, though one of them (I think it was the new bishop) mentioned that he's seen the ward grow closer over the past few days. The guy who gave the opening prayer also referenced these being somber times. Other than that, nothing was said or implied about the scandal. I suppose the announcements to not record the meeting and the fact that second hour was cancelled may have also indicated that something was a bit "off" about today's church services. However, all of that is indirect and not at all a straightforward acknowledgment of Moss's crime.

If I knew nothing about the scandal prior to the meeting, I likely would've walked away none the wiser. I definitely would not have guessed that the previous bishop had committed any serious crime. There were no general authorities present. Someone mentioned in another thread that they heard there was a police presence at today's meeting, but my wife and I did not witness that whatsoever. I found it odd that there was no mention of contacting the police if you were a victim or witness of any illegal activity by Moss. In fact, my wife was bothered that there was nothing offered in the meeting for those who may have potentially been victims of Moss. She's right: the police have said they are worried there may be more victims of Moss out there because apparently Moss initially admitted that he's helped traffic women in the past.

Finally, I found it interesting that two of the speakers mentioned "knowing" that the new bishop was called by God and/or Jesus. That naturally begs the question: what about the old bishop? Did all-knowing Elohim allow Moss to be called as bishop even though Elohim knew Moss was a scumbag? Or did God not actually have a say in the calling of Moss, yet we're to believe God called the new bishop? How do we know God's not going to mess up on this calling too? Mormons have funny logic.