A Brief History of me as a gay Mormon: Last 24 Hours edition;

or, How I tried to attack The Family most recently:

Sunday 9am: Went to church. One of the talks was about the newish Primary song “The Family is of God.” Speaker was good, empathetic, told a story of how he was reminded that God also loves the speaker’s son when said son was having a rough time on his mission. Was reminded of song lyrics that say “Our Father has a family, it’s me, it’s you, it’s all others too.” Liked that part of the song. Got into a bit of a funk when I remembered that “The Family is of God, except the one you want, because that one is apostate.” Couldn’t sing the closing hymn.

Sunday 10am: Co-taught Primary class about Nephi and his goodly parents.

Sunday 11am: Sharing Time in Primary. We’re learning a new song about the scriptures and revelation. Catchy tune. Chorus goes “If I listen with my heart, I hear the Savior’s voice.”

Sunday afternoon: Shoveled the walk. Made dinner for the week in the crockpot, built an IKEA bench, worked on my New Year’s puzzle.

Sunday evening: Read for a while. Texted a friend about a guy she thinks I should meet. Went to bed early, because it is going to be a long week.

Sunday night to Monday morning: Woke up once in the middle of the night, thinking about a brother from the ward who hasn’t been there since the policy change. Don’t know him well, but know his kids from Primary, spoke briefly to his wife yesterday as we walked into church. Wondered if I should reach out to see how he is doing, considered writing a note in the morning.

Monday morning: Wake up to see that By Common Consent has posted suicide prevention hotlines on its twitter feed again. Scour Twitter and Facebook to see why. Know it is going to be a long day. Again.

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For more on my personal journey and how I believe as a gay Mormon, please read the following Medium articles:

- Angels to Lift Me Up
- How I Believe as a Gay Latter-day Saint
- A Constantly Renewed Stream
- Starting with Why
- The Wrong Side of the River

Follow me on Twitter: Brady Emmett