Deseret News | Mormon Twentysomething: BYU singles ward dispensing Sunday school dating advice

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Mormon Twentysomething: BYU singles ward dispensing Sunday school dating advice

Date Committees | 8:11 a.m. Nov. 13, 2009

Awesome. We had a ward date committee in two of my student wards in college. Yes, there were people called to pretty much set up dates. The first one, they drew a guys and girls name every week at ward prayer, then they had to walk down to Hogi Yogi for a smoothie (they called it the Walk And Talk Smoothie).

In the second one, I actually got hooked up with my husband. They did a tie date. All the guys who wanted to turned in a tie, then the girls picked a tie without knowing whose it was. When they found out whose it was, we did service for the guy, then he took us on a date at the end of the week.

This was all fun, but I'm glad it was outside of the regular Sunday meetings. I'm not sure a dating Sunday School class it appropriat.

Ela | 8:31 a.m. Nov. 13, 2009

Seriously! This is silly stuff. Life is more serious than this nonsense. How about talking about what a pain it is to change diapers, how difficult it is to get a baby sitter and have an evening out. Oh yes, how hard it is to finish school with two parents working, taking classes and being a stay at home MoM and giving your children what they need to grow into a healthy adult, a caring and appropriate citizen without government help. Come on now! Touching the elbow to show affection? Show affection by being you for the good person you are and not an actor with a lure. Be considerate and MANNERLY. Open doors, walk your lady down the street with the man on the street side to protect her from the horses or I should say CARS. Stop showing off and being someone you are not. Learn to be ladies and gentlemen with goals for skills to grow in spiritual and ecomonical strength. A mission is a starting place not the end results. Marry a growing person and remember that going on a mission is only a step and we all know we can step backward.

Anonymous | 9:01 a.m. Nov. 13, 2009

This is one of the many reasons my children will not be attenging BYU.

Comments continue below

Joshua | 9:16 a.m. Nov. 13, 2009

Spin the wheel of fortune! What's love have to do with it?

And BYU students wonder... | 9:24 a.m. Nov. 13, 2009

why people make fun of them. Good grief.

@ anonymous | 9:41 a.m. Nov. 13, 2009

Do you really think that this is a reason to preclude your kids from attending BYU?

I suspect the other "reasons" include the fact that your kids can't make the grade to get accepted. Your attitude is also known as sour grapes.

Hugh Morris | 9:44 a.m. Nov. 13, 2009

I attended a singles ward here in the SL Valley and the Disney/90210 (Tv show) mentality really did a number on my psyche.

To this day, I am happily & willingly single.

Nathan | 9:49 a.m. Nov. 13, 2009

Are you kidding me! This has to be a joke, please tell me it's a joke.

Andrew | 12:24 p.m. Nov. 13, 2009

I do not see anything wrong with a Sunday School class that teaches about dating. My wife and I attended a Marriage class during Sunday School. It still focused on the teachings of the Lord as well as what our General Authorities have taught about marriage.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk at a Church Educational Fireside on May 1, 2005 at Oakland, CA. in the talk he encouraged young adults to get with the program. Elder Oaks quoted “ Elder Earl C. Tingey of the Seventy who referred to an article in a recent issue of Time magazine. It states that the years from 18 to 25 have become “a distinct and separate life stage, a strange, transitional never-never land between adolescence and adulthood in which people stall for a few extra years, [postponing] … adult responsibility.” The article describes these transitional individuals as “permanent adolescents, … twentysomething Peter Pans.” Putting this analysis in terms more familiar to his audience of BYU graduates and their families, Elder Tingey spoke of “the indecision some college graduates have in … accepting the responsibilities of marriage and family.” Elder Oaks gave some more advise on dating and courtship. Read “Dating vs. Hanging Out”

Sarah | 12:32 p.m. Nov. 13, 2009

Whoa. And the reasons keep piling up why I avoided the Mormon cesspool, oops singles ward. And why I avoided dating LDS men at all. Luckily I found a decent one (far far away from awful BYU). Shockingly he's Mormon, not shallow and NOT on a mission to find his eternal cookie-baking companion. And he doesn't lift weights for attention.

So really it boils down to being incredibly shallow to get dates. Explains why I was single for so long in good ol happy valley.

WhiteEyebrows | 1:01 p.m. Nov. 13, 2009

People are so relationship-stupid nowadays.. Txt messaging and the Internet have destroyed (or never developed) peoples ability to have real human-human interactions that lead to healthy relationships, dating, marraige and family. I suspect classes like this will become more and more necesary as we roll on.

ramper | 5:28 a.m. Nov. 14, 2009

Be your natural self. Not some packaged actor/actress.

BYU Grad, 1993 | 7:53 a.m. Nov. 14, 2009

I really hated this aspect of attending BYU. I seriously doubt I will encourage my daughters to attend BYU.

Anonymous | 5:07 p.m. Nov. 14, 2009

Single people trying to teach one another about how to have solid relationships.

Well that's the blind leading the blind!

Sleuth | 10:10 p.m. Nov. 14, 2009

Wow! Do people really need to be taught how to date? Good grief! Have their hormones been bred out of them? At my college, there should have been a class taught how not to date too much, or too much dating is bad for your college career. No one needed to tell anyone I know how to be attracted to and how to approach and be with and have fun with the opposite sex.

Well, “each to his own,” right? Of course, however to the idea of needing or having to be taught in a class how to find a companion seems plain pitiable. Perhaps there should also be accompanying the first class entitled, "Please, Get a Life!"

I guess all the Alpha Males and Alpha Females have already come and gone and only those "servants that need to be commanded in all things," are the only ones left in this mortal sphere.

Anon | 6:33 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009

I agree with Ella. However, she kind of makes it seem like that kind of life sucks, which it doesn't, with the right attitude. However other than that, I fully agree with her comment.

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