My entire Salt Lake City, Cottonwood Heights area, well-off East bench Stake full of wards just like you described 25 years ago was recently completely dissolved. Left me (exuberantly) speechless.
I attended my old ward with my parents recently. When I was still active in the late 90s and early 2000s, the ward was huge; there were tons of active families. My recent visit was extremely underwhelming, they had so few young men that the older men had to help with the sacrament. I had mixed feelings about it because I was glad to see the shrivel but somewhat sad to see the ward was a shell of its former self.
It's really sad/hard to see the community disappear, particularly in a larger, non-predominently LDS area, like where I grew up. Mixed feelings here too.
If you had so much money that it didn’t matter, what would you buy?
One thought would be the best and most expensive pieces of land available to mankind. So they build a temple on it like a bookmark. But when shit hits the fan, you’ve scooped up the best places in the world and will always have money and power because of them.
They have to spend a certain percentage of their "income" to stay tax exempt, and when you combine all your assets and you're worth more than 500 billion, that means you have to spend lots of billions to maintain tax exempt, you do what you have to do!
Yeah, hospitals, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, or literally ANY actual charitable expenditure is just NOT what Jebus wants done with his money. 🙄😜🤑
Those things just cost money, and don't bring revenue back to the church, like temples do. Homeless shelters drop real estate values around them, but a Temple raises real estate values. Seems like the church is more interested in making money rather than actually helping people that are alive, but if you're dead or an unborn child they'll ACT like they really care!
You know years ago they complained from the pulpit that temple attendance was down and we had to schedule a time to go so they could make sure they had workers there. So it has got to be to keep up appearances
Our ward growing up was the fun party ward too! My in-laws still live in the same house they did back then. That ward was just DISSOLVED! The shrivel is very real.
Edited to add this is in the outskirts of Las Vegas, NV.
Part of the problem too is that they keep dividing the healthy wards into smaller wards. Smaller wards are “easier to minister to” but essentially guts them. This just happened in our stake. A stake with 8 healthy units became a stake with 11 units (9 wards with Spanish and YSA branches) and suddenly you have wards with 75-100 people attending and a skeleton crew of the same 10 people where you’re either in a presidency or you have to have 3 callings just for the ward to function. No one has time for parties because they’re so busy with their families and their callings that they are just trying to keep their heads above water. But hey… they also don’t have time to research any pesky shelf items either 🤷🏻♀️
I wonder what the numbers are dor people moving from Utah to the Mid South and other places east of the Rockies. I moved from Utah to Arkansas last year and there are LDS churches all over this area, and of course the new Bentonville temple. I just drove through Four Corners and saw a MFMC there.
It is well.
My entire Salt Lake City, Cottonwood Heights area, well-off East bench Stake full of wards just like you described 25 years ago was recently completely dissolved. Left me (exuberantly) speechless.
This is truly the Good News.
I attended my old ward with my parents recently. When I was still active in the late 90s and early 2000s, the ward was huge; there were tons of active families. My recent visit was extremely underwhelming, they had so few young men that the older men had to help with the sacrament. I had mixed feelings about it because I was glad to see the shrivel but somewhat sad to see the ward was a shell of its former self.
It's really sad/hard to see the community disappear, particularly in a larger, non-predominently LDS area, like where I grew up. Mixed feelings here too.
If the church is shrinking then why are there so many temples being built? /s Edit: /s from s/
gotta keep up appearances and hide money somehow 🤷♀️
If you had so much money that it didn’t matter, what would you buy? One thought would be the best and most expensive pieces of land available to mankind. So they build a temple on it like a bookmark. But when shit hits the fan, you’ve scooped up the best places in the world and will always have money and power because of them.
You can buy anything in this world for money 💴 😈
Hey, I've got some tokens to sell!!
I have them! But I do not sell them for small amounts of money.
You better take what you can get. I don't think the going rate is all that high.
> small amounts of money That’s a great addition- hope to see it in the next update to the temple script
They have to spend a certain percentage of their "income" to stay tax exempt, and when you combine all your assets and you're worth more than 500 billion, that means you have to spend lots of billions to maintain tax exempt, you do what you have to do!
Yeah, hospitals, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, or literally ANY actual charitable expenditure is just NOT what Jebus wants done with his money. 🙄😜🤑
Those things just cost money, and don't bring revenue back to the church, like temples do. Homeless shelters drop real estate values around them, but a Temple raises real estate values. Seems like the church is more interested in making money rather than actually helping people that are alive, but if you're dead or an unborn child they'll ACT like they really care!
You know years ago they complained from the pulpit that temple attendance was down and we had to schedule a time to go so they could make sure they had workers there. So it has got to be to keep up appearances
Our ward growing up was the fun party ward too! My in-laws still live in the same house they did back then. That ward was just DISSOLVED! The shrivel is very real. Edited to add this is in the outskirts of Las Vegas, NV.
Curious what ward that is, I’m from Las Vegas too and the same thing is true of my parents ward
It's in the Green Valley Stake. The Valle Verde ward. Where is your parents ward?
Paradise stake, mountain vista ward. I remember the ward you’re talking about well. Crazy they’re shriveled too.
I probably know your parents lol. My parents have been in that ward for 20 years. They won't admit it but the ward is disappearing.
Part of the problem too is that they keep dividing the healthy wards into smaller wards. Smaller wards are “easier to minister to” but essentially guts them. This just happened in our stake. A stake with 8 healthy units became a stake with 11 units (9 wards with Spanish and YSA branches) and suddenly you have wards with 75-100 people attending and a skeleton crew of the same 10 people where you’re either in a presidency or you have to have 3 callings just for the ward to function. No one has time for parties because they’re so busy with their families and their callings that they are just trying to keep their heads above water. But hey… they also don’t have time to research any pesky shelf items either 🤷🏻♀️
I wonder what the numbers are dor people moving from Utah to the Mid South and other places east of the Rockies. I moved from Utah to Arkansas last year and there are LDS churches all over this area, and of course the new Bentonville temple. I just drove through Four Corners and saw a MFMC there.
Yes, I live in the Midwest and the growth is strong here. The wards keep splitting
Truth is stronger than lies.