Today is the movie premier of a new movie, Meet the Mormons. As a Mormon myself, this might seem odd, but I continually question how to meet other Mormons who were of a certain age and life status. (In other words, single and a lot of other adjectives) As with most of my scientific research I turned to good old social media to ask other people. The responses I received were, if nothing else, entertaining. For your own reading pleasure all responses have been included below.
The prompt was, “Where do you meet potential dates? Where should you avoid meeting them? Please include stories or experiences illustrating your response”
The results are in:
No matter how hard, or not hard I try, they always run away… I’m not a good piece for your research
I can’t help you there either look how mine turned out.
In da club.
Be set up
Depends what common ground is most important to you: church, choir, sports, food, etc.
You should avoid them at family reunions.
Avoid dating your home teacher.
I actually really enjoyed dating people from Tinder and similar places. I met a lot of people I otherwise wouldn’t have and even have a friend from it, besides my husband. That being said, there are still a lot of weirdos.
You could meet them at the temple, but just don’t do what Bro.Witbeck (from my ward) said he would to his daughter: he said he was going to leave her on the temple steps with a sign that said “will marry for food”. Seems too forward to me….
Hrm…Most dates I got were just from running into people. Like I’d have a game night and the friends I’d invited would bring non-mutual friends who, by the end of the night, wanted to date me, that happened to me a few times…or one guy at the BYU bookstore when I was trying to buy a movie.
Of course, who I ultimately married was the guy I met in my physics class whom I annexed into a friendship for the purpose of passing the class. Clearly you just need to pick a guy and annex him into a marriage, this is a great idea.
You can meet people anywhere besides your room. Your friend is right on, but sometimes in school we put our hobbies on hold because we are so busy. If you love sports but cannot commit to a full-time team because of your schedule try intramural teams or getting people together on Saturday mornings to play an ultimate Frisbee games in the park. People are attracted to confidence, adventure, and passion. Having the confidence to try new things will give you opportunities to meet more people and doing something you are passionate about will make you happy and introduce you to people who share your interests.
Russia
There is an LDS single’s travel group in California – I hooked up with them once….took a trip to Hawaii with them, via San Francisco on the way, and Utah on the way back…to end up moving to Utah against my better will and judgment….to accepting a calling I didn’t want….to meeting my husband. Yeah, the Lord always enjoys taking me on the long road to China in answer to prayers. Oh, and did I add, I was almost 30 and had decided I was just not getting married – that is usually when he pops in!
But seriously….Google! There are all kinds of single’s groups created that share interests. There is the LDS Single’s travel group – sorry, don’t recall the name. There are single hiking groups. And there is always on-line – I’ve had some friends who’ve had wonderful experiences – my niece met and married her husband through on-line – and other friends who’ve had terrible experiences. What do you like to do? Then look for a group in the area that does it. There are also adult education college courses, like art, investing, etc. There are restaurants who have cooking classes. So many good way to meet people. Enjoy!
To read more of Ashley’s articles, click the picture.
After rummaging through the data it seems the answer is clear, no one knows! At least no one knows what will work for you to meet your Mormon companion. What is magical for one person will likely not work for another. However, one thing is clear. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Dallin H. Oaks reminds us that, “As we consider various choices, we should remember that it is not enough that something is good, other choices are better, and still others are best.” It is my personal quest to meet the Best Mormon for me to date. It is also my quest to give a solid review of the methods of selection. So, I have determined to try most of the things suggested and let you know how it goes. (The biggest exception is Russia; unfortunately, that one costs too much money.) If you have further suggestions, or things you would like me try, just comment on this post. As long as it is not against the laws of God, or the laws of the land, I am pretty willing to try anything. (Even it goes badly, it makes good blogging material right?!)
Find out what happened on her first attempt to find a great LDS man.
Ashley Dewey is extremely talented at being single. Hobbies include awkward conversations with members of the opposite sex, repelling third dates, talking to boys about their girl problems and to girls about their boy problems. In her spare time she also has a very fulfilling school life, work life, and social life.
Besides being a professional single, Ashley is also a BYU graduate with a degree in linguistics (Aka word nerd). She enjoys studying other languages, particularly American Sign Language, and finds most all of them fascinating. She is currently pursuing a masters degree in Teaching English as a Second Language.
Ashley works most of the time and has often been accused of being a workaholic. Currently she works full time as a merchandiser and supervisor in a retail store, and part time doing social media work. On her day off she works (really it doesn't feel like work) in the Provo LDS temple. The only kind of work she finds difficulty focusing on is house work.
Her favorite activities in her free time are reading, writing, creating social experiments, and spending time with great friends and family. Specific activities with those family and friends include: going to concerts, plays, dance recitals, BYU basketball and football games, and watching sports on television.
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I’d suggest looking at service projects or signing up with an organization that uses a lot of volunteers. Being in Utah, they’re likely to be filled with good LDS men who love helping others–and those men make great husbands. Watching how they serve will tell you a lot about them.
Try talking to those you served your mission with. They are a huge group of people that will all have their own circle of men that they know. That means they probably know them, which may eliminate the creepers and other scary situations you could make up in your mind. I love this idea by the way! Good luck!
Terrie, excellent suggestion. There are several service opportunities around here. I will look into ASAP! Brittny, mission buddies are awesome! That is how I met a previous boyfriend. Thanks for the reminder! I will add it to the list!