Why is that lady crying?

[Linked]

FATM yesterday we had a cryer. My 6 year old son looked up from his workbook and said, "that's funny, it sounds like she's crying". "She is crying," I responded. He looked confused about why an adult woman was crying in front of everyone at church. I explained that people cry for lots of different reasons, and that she was crying now because she was feeling emotional, and that I cry when I get emotional sometimes too.

I don't know how he got to 6 years old without thinking bawling for the ward is normal, but I'm glad we got to have that conversation.

[RubinHighlander]

Isn't it interesting that only the adults cry when they get up there? If the spirit was a real thing, testifying, etc., it would be more like the day of Pentecost in the NT. Kids would get emotional and testify too and get all emotional. Yes, sometimes that happens, but mostly what we get from them is the repetitive regurgitation chanting of the indoctrination. Meanwhile, most of the adults apologize for their blabbering and shortcomings, saying they didn't want to get up there but were compelled to do so by the spirit, then proceed to cry or provide their travelogue. So many cringe-worthy moments in FATM!

[JustHangingOn@57]

It was TSM reflection hour at our F&T meeting yesterday. Several members got up and related Faith inspiring stories such as "a friend of a cousin who's next door neighbor once ran into President M at the airport and saw him buy gum". "Juicyfruit" (congregation laughs). Lots of tears shed. It was excruciating. For the love of Allah can't we be through with this?

[2bizE]

New GD teacher and she is a cryer. She spent half of the lesson crying on Sunday. My TBM wife said she couldn’t take it any more and was going to find a different class...tender mercies

[MoPag]

It was TSM reflection hour at our F&T meeting yesterday. Several members got up and related Faith inspiring stories such as "a friend of a cousin who's next door neighbor once ran into President M at the airport and saw him buy gum". "Juicyfruit" (congregation laughs). Lots of tears shed. It was excruciating. For the love of Allah can't we be through with this?

Ugh! Same in my ward. I caught the tail end of it. I cringe to think that if I was still TBM I might have been up there balling with the rest of them.

[Corsair]

Perhaps it's my cynicism, but the emotional outpouring for Thomas Monson seems more infrequent and less earnest than with Gordon Hinckley. I'm sure that Monson engaged with the people he directly served, but he did not build quite that personable connection with the general membership. He's not a bad speaker, but he feels generic and less inspiring.

I expected interesting things out of GBH back in the 1980s and certainly ended up with interesting things like the interviews with Mike Wallace and Larry King. He also introduced the Family Proclamation, the Conference Center, the Perpetual Education Fund, and the new temples. TSM seemed like just a caretaker president who was not going to change much. And then TSM "revelated" the notorious November 2015 policy which does not improve this record. I did not see any tears in my F&T meeting and would have been a bit skeptical if there had been any.