Wow, a story about how the LDS church is working to try and meet increased demands in HELPING people find a job and the SECOND comment is negative against the Mormons.

Go figure.....

Well, cry all you want but I'm confident that "Not Really" failed and not the LDS church. Why do I say that? Because it is true that EVERY real man always has a job; they either have a job that pays them for their work or their job is to find a job that pays them for their work. Thus, it is not the LDS church that failed this man but he alone failed himself.

Second, the Church is true and, whiners or not, the Church as a whole will stand approved by the Lord when He comes again.

The caravan moves on!

(P.S. - "Not Really", I hope you've found a job now, it pays you well and you enjoy it and I sincerely mean it).

I am an active LDS member who graduated from BYU, served a mission, married in the temple, etc. It's comments like these that make me glad I don't live in Utah.

If you don't like the service offered go somewhere else, it is your choice. No one is forcing you to use their service.

As a former Bishop and now a humanitarian missionary, I can tell you that there is no other organization that I know of that is able or is willing to do what the LDS church does to help people all over the world. If you donate funds to help people in most organizations, little of it actually makes it to the place it was intended (overhead). Not so with our church, virtually 100% gets exactly where it was intended; to the poor and needy. Miraculous in itself! If you doubt it, volunteer for a mission yourself! Or are you too busy complaining about things? Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words and criticism!

To Former Bishop,

I HAVE volunteered for LDS humanitarian projects and missions. They are inefficient, unprofessional, and a lot of "good intentions" that barely help people for one meal or one day. The Church's welfare programs are a VERY SMALL percentage of the Church's total annual revenue/donations! You are fooling yourself and others if you think there are no other organizations that do what the Church CLAIMS to do! You need to get out more!

In Oregon from whence I came, when the Presbyterians sponsored a free Christmas dinner they invited the Mormons and anyone else interested in helping. No one complained that the food was unprofessional or blamed anyone else for the inevitable glitches that occur in a volunteer effort. People would come together and get the job done the best they could. Perhaps you all could take a deep breath and start contributing to the solutions instead of finding fault. It seems that there is a lot of "perfectionism" out there: in the form of anger toward the LDS Church for being staffed by imperfect humans, as well as defensiveness by Mormons who believe in their system. If you want to solve problems quit finding fault or taking too much credit and start contributing your talents. Utah would be a much more pleasant place to live if people would be more tolerant of each others imperfections and act more like neighbors.
As for finding a job, when I needed one I used every resource I could find including the internet. For several years I had to work out of state every other week. You do what you have to do.

I was unemployed and job-hunting a while back, and while the people at LDS Employment Services were certainly well-intentioned, they were pretty worthless. Their "help" pretty much consisted of, "Well...have you checked the want-ads in the paper?" They were nice people and all, but they must have been called at random.

Needless to say, I've been working for six-and-a-half years in a job I love. My family receives no assistance and our credit card debt is less than $2,000, so you can't really give me a well-it's-our-fault spiel. I know it comes as a shock, but the people in the Church aren't perfect and maybe Not Really has some valid points.

(I'll also second the guy who's glad he isn't living in Utah...)

yeah right! I wish I was at liberty to tell you the total figure of the humanitrian aid the church distributed last year, but I know you wouldn't believe it. Believe what you want! The church doesn't CLAIM to do it, we just do it! "let not your left hand know what the right hand doeth."

I earned an MBA and found it almost totally worthless by itself (so-called counselors in high school or college won't tell you that). Disgusted, I went back to school and got my MS along with a professional certification in a related technical speciality that was in demand. After that, several good employment opportunities opened up; and this was during a period of widespread economic duress. At no time did I use the Church or other agency for assistance, but took responsibility for my own welfare.

To Former Bishop

I am certainly not Catholic but Catholic Charities is far advanced in this area. The LDS Church even refers people to them for certain things. I know because I was referred to them for adoption help. When I drive to church each Sun. I pass their schools, colleges, cemeteries, hospitals, elderly residence, and a mentally challenged school. All within a seven mile trip. Their worldwide network is huge. The Lutherans are also noted for a high degree of social and charitable work as are most well known religions. As we grow our work will grow also. But the stats from independent sources do not rate us all that high overall in comparison. I do applaud your efforts of helping to improve that.

I don't have a problem with the imperfections of LDS people. They fumble around doing the best they can, and they get a lot of things wrong. So what? Who doesn't? What I have a problem with is the fact that these fumbling, imperfect, sinful people claim that they are God's chosen people, and that they, and only they, have the one true Church of God! Think about how silly that is. To claim such a thing is to claim that no other Church is endorsed by God. It is to say that ONLY the LDS Church and leaders have autoritative access to God. That is essentially saying that the LDS Church Leaders have the one and only "patent", "copyright", "license", on God!

How blasphemous is that?!