The story explores the crazy rules of homo-vs-hetero public displays of affection among missionaries — and it was written by one of the stars of the last Sunstone Symposium! check it out!
On Monday Aug 23, the President of BYU announced an “office of belonging” to “combat prejudice of any kind.” Sexual orientation was specifically mentioned. That same day, Jeffrey Holland, former president of BYU and member of the Quorum of the Twelve, denounced “flag-waving” and “parade-holding” around “this same-sex challenge.” He…
When my husband went through a faith transition, in the Mormon church we were each raised in, we lost friends and a sense of community. Many of the people we had developed close relationships with pulled back from us. Some of our family members struggled to navigate this unexpected change…
Twenty two years ago this month, Stuart Matis, a Latter-day Saint in his early 30s who was troubled by his attraction to men, pinned a note reading ‘do not resuscitate’ to his chest and shot himself on the steps of the Mormon stake center in Los Altos, California. Last month,…
My guess is that this good sister’s plight was probably exacerbated by the realities of serving (i.e., living) in Asia.
I’m a fairly standard-issue American male and can count the number of times I’ve shed tears on one hand. One was when I returned home from Brazil and realized how cold and uncommunicative the people of my country of birth suddenly seemed to me. The other was after about six months into my first stay in Taiwan. I love my life here, but it is a much less expressive culture than even that of the US. Adapting takes time and, unlike the easy adaptation to the greater warmth of a Latin culture, finding one’s place in a colder society like Taiwan’s can often feel like compromising one’s humanity.
Thank God for my Taiwanese wife, her intellectual curiosity, and her dedication to living a polyglot lifestyle.
Looks like a good book!
The coldness of that relationship where someone who “loved her best” would only allow her to touch his sleeve when he clearly knew she was in real distress is stunning!
Visitor — right, but you have to understand that in that culture, he would see his refusal to comfort her as being a noble sacrifice.
Loved this article, well-written (congrats holly). Thanks for the tip chanson.