Who are Molly Mormon and Peter Priesthood?

If you're Mormon, you've heard of the Molly Mormon and Peter Priesthood stereotypes. You can probably think of a few people who fit those stereotypes. Perhaps you want to be just like them, or perhaps you want to have nothing to do with them. But when you ask Mormons who Molly Mormon and Peter Priesthood are, some can't really put their finger on it, but they know one when they see one.


Who are these people, really?  And should they be shunned or emulated? Let's start  with some descriptions of the stereotypes and see if they sound familiar.

Molly Mormon
- Painfully shy girl. She goes to church dances but is too shy to talk  to anyone. Consequently she is often overlooked and often is neglected to be invited to dance.She is plain, neither gorgeous nor ugly. But she can be quite stunning if she has help with makeup and dress

 - She adores church and everything church related. This is a good thing, but some people are bothered by the fact that Molly ONLY does church stuff: she doesn't have friends outside of church; only goes to church sponsored activities, only reads books sold at Deseret Book, only listens to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and other LDS artists (and listens to Disney when she is particularly daring)

- Avoids R rated movies and caffeinated sodas like the plague and feels uncomfortable around people who indulge in such practices

- Believes BYU is reserved for the righteousWhen she starts looking for a husband, she won't talk to you unless you served a mission

 - Has a few weaknesses: when she finally finds romance, she can't find balance. She knows she shouldn't get carried away, but can't help herself making out with her first boyfriend. She goes back and forth between enjoying all the kisssing and feeling remorse for kissing too much (and sometimes she overcompensates by refusing any kind of touch, even a simple hug)

- Some people feel like she's rubbing it in when she brags about how many scriptures she memorized, her perfect seminary attendance, her thorough genealogy research, and her apparently daily attendance at the temple

- But she also has admirable qualities: if you ask her for help, she will get right to it. She keeps you in her prayers and knows when you're down and need a friend. She also goes the extra mile when participating in church activities.

Peter Priesthood
- Is against swearing but loves pretending to swear, using irksome substitute swear words like "fetch" or "oh, my heck"

- Always has a big smile on his face, which bothers some people because they don't think it's genuine

- Likes to brag about his churchy accomplishments, such as being the quorum president, having perfect seminary attendance, memorizing 100 scriptures, etc.

- Can relate EVERYTHING to his mission. He can connect even the most random topics to his mission (which is quite a skill, if you think about it). If you're around him for 15 minutes, you'll know more about his mission than you can remember about yours

- He'll make you feel welcome at church and diligently comes to your house for home teaching, but you don't really hang out with him aside from that.

- Instead of sticking with basic, core doctrine, he loves debating "deep" doctrine. For example, whether Adam had a belly button, sightings of the three Nephites, the location of the 10 lost tribes, etc.

- Doesn't appear to have any original ideas and has a painfully corny sense of humor (he's choc full of Mormon jokes, especially the ones that have been in circulation for decades)

- Loves to show off his mission language, even when no one understands him. If he finds out you speak the same language, he'll never speak to you in English ever again (which can be embarrassing when your acquaintances suddenly get left out of the conversation)

- Further, if you say a word in that language that is different from what he learned on his mission, he'll have a hissy fit, saying that he learned more in two years than you did in two years (it doesn't matter if you're a professor or professional translator; he'll insist that what he heard people say on his mission is the right way)

- But Peter also has many good qualities: he is usually the first to volunteer when someone needs help moving or making friends with new people in the neighborhood. He also notices Molly Mormon standing by herself at the dance and asks her to dance, and talks to her, making her feel special.


Overall, Molly and Peter are good people. They just have some quirks that bug some people (but not everyone) .


So should we emulate Molly and Peter? They're human beings just like every other person. As with any person, their good qualities should be emulated and their bad qualities shunned. In any case, they deserve to be loved and respected. The Savior said to love everyone, whether or not you get along with them. So show them love and kindness. Odds are, they are already trying to show kindness to you.

You know you SHOULD quit looking at porn, but did you know you COULD?

Let me start with this statement: pornography is evil!

For the most part, I would be preaching to the choir if I went on about why pornography is bad. This blog post is for porn addicts who want to quit but honestly don't think they can.

You've been told that porn is bad since you were little. You've tried many times and given up. You know full well that pornography is damaging, and you feel terrible every time you do it. You want to stop it and you know you should.

But did you know that you CAN?

Your problem isn't that you think porn okay. Your problem is that you subconsciously believe in other false ideas that you possibly didn't realize that you believed. The devil is tricky; he helped you believe in these ideas and you didn't realize they were part of his vast arsenal of pernicious lies.

Here are some thoughts you've had that have kept you from dropping this habit:

"I'm just incapable of quitting."

That, my friend, is despair. Despair is totally different from guilt.

Guilt is exactly what you should feel when you sin. That shame you feel is what motivates you to repent and make things right.

However, you should NOT despair. Despair makes you feel like repentance is pointless ("I messed up, always have, always will"). It's unfairly pessimistic on yourself.

Worse, it's the devil's substitute for hope. Yes, that's right. If you despair and give up on yourself, you're doing exactly what Satan (the same trickster whom you let get you into this mess) wants you to do!

Remember what Paul (1 Corinthians 13) and Moroni (Moroni 7) said the 3 greatest virtues are? Faith, HOPE and charity. Yes, believing in yourself is right up there with being nice to people and obeying the Lord.

Believing you can quit (and working hard to do so) is as virtuous as successfully quitting.

And remember this: It's normal to revert to a bad habit before quitting for good.

I'm not gonna look at it, I'm not, I'm not.

Your problem is that your focused on NOT looking at porn. I've heard of people who can truly stop their minds from thinking, but only after years of practice. I'm not like that, I doubt you are, and, besides, you don't need that skill to quit porn.

Focus on replacing it with a positive habit. There are millions of positive hobbies and activities that can make it so that porn never even crosses your mind. Pick one. Pick several.

Additionally, you should set boundaries for yourself to avoid situations where you're tempted to watch porn (i.e. shut your computer off after a certain hour)

I sure miss it. I wish I could just do it again.

This mindset guarantees that you will eventually revert. Have to become disgusted with pornography. You have to remind yourself of the harm it does to you and your family.

When you genuinely despise something, it makes it easier to stay away from it.

If I talk to my bishop about it, he'll be disgusted with me, and he'll embarrass me by telling everyone I know.

He won't be disgusted with you. On the contrary, he'll admire that you had the courage and humility to honestly deal with this problem and seek help.

And bishops are sworn to secrecy. They judiciously maintain confidentiality. They would be in serious trouble if they didn't.

Refusing to see your bishop for fear of embarrassment is like rejecting a lifeguard when you're drowning and saying, "Letting you help me will make me look bad." Even if you did look bad (which you won't) the reward is worth the effort.

CONCLUSION: I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Pornography is a nasty evil. But I'm being equally blunt when I say that you are capable of escaping pornography's snare for good.

You know you SHOULD quit looking at porn, but for you know you COULD?

Let me start with this statement: pornography is evil!

For the most part, I would be preaching to the choir if I went on about why pornography is bad. This blog post is for porn addicts who want to quit but honestly don't think they can.

You've been told that porn is bad since you were little. You've tried many times and given up. You know full well that pornography is damaging, and you feel terrible every time you do it. You want to stop it and you know you should.

But did you know that you CAN?

Your problem isn't that you think porn okay. Your problem is that you subconsciously believe in other false ideas that you possibly didn't realize that you believed. The devil is tricky; he helped you believe in these ideas and you didn't realize they were part of his vast arsenal of pernicious lies.

Here are some thoughts you've had that have kept you from dropping this habit:

"I'm just incapable of quitting."

That, my friend, is despair. Despair is totally different from guilt.

Guilt is exactly what you should feel when you sin. That shame you feel is what motivates you to repent and make things right.

However, you should NOT despair. Despair makes you feel like repentance is pointless ("I messed up, always have, always will"). It's unfairly pessimistic on yourself.

Worse, it's the devil's substitute for hope. Yes, that's right. If you despair and give up on yourself, you're doing exactly what Satan (the same trickster whom you let get you into this mess) wants you to do!

Remember what Paul (1 Corinthians 13) and Moroni (Moroni 7) said the 3 greatest virtues are? Faith, HOPE and charity. Yes, believing in yourself is right up there with being nice to people and obeying the Lord.

Believing you can quit (and working hard to do so) is as virtuous as successfully quitting.

And remember this: It's normal to revert to a bad habit before quitting for good.

I'm not gonna look at it, I'm not, I'm not.

Your problem is that your focused on NOT looking at porn. I've heard of people who can truly stop their minds from thinking, but only after years of practice. I'm not like that, I doubt you are, and, besides, you don't need that skill to quit porn.

Focus on replacing it with a positive habit. There are millions of positive hobbies and activities that can make it so that porn never even crosses your mind. Pick one. Pick several.

Additionally, you should set boundaries for yourself to avoid situations where you're tempted to watch porn (i.e. shut your computer off after a certain hour)

I sure miss it. I wish I could just do it again.

This mindset guarantees that you will eventually revert. Have to become disgusted with pornography. You have to remind yourself of the harm it does to you and your family.

When you genuinely despise something, it makes it easier to stay away from it.

If I talk to my bishop about it, he'll be disgusted with me, and he'll embarrass me by telling everyone I know.

He won't be disgusted with you. On the contrary, he'll admire that you had the courage and humility to honestly deal with this problem and seek help.

And bishops are sworn to secrecy. They judiciously maintain confidentiality. They would be in serious trouble if they didn't.

Refusing to see your bishop for fear of embarrassment is like rejecting a lifeguard when you're drowning and saying, "Letting you help me will make me look bad." Even if you did look bad (which you won't) the reward is worth the effort.

CONCLUSION: I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Pornography is a nasty evil. But I'm being equally blunt when I say that you are capable of escaping pornography's snare for good.

Anger is bad, right?

True or false: anger is a bad thing. Yes? No?

I'll answer that question later.

Your whole life you've probably been taught, "Don't get angry, don't get angry, don't get angry."

That's actually good advice. No one can feel angry for very long before they explode. The easiest way not to act in anger is not to feel angry in the first place.

The problem with being told not to get angry is that people often misunderstand it. Many people get angry, but they suppress it (on the surface it may look the same as someone who is genuinely not upset). That's not any wiser than being the grouch who goes on an angry rampage. Their suppressed anger becomes a time bomb that blows up eventually. How many times have you heard of a shooter on a killing spree whose acquaintances had thought he was peaceful? That's suppressed anger rearing its ugly head.

Most anger management techniques you've been taught deal with how to decrease the intensity of your feelings at the moment (i.e. take a breath, go for a walk, count to ten). But those techniques often don't deal with the real cause of your anger. So you're bound to get angry all over again next time.

Here's a story to illustrate: I used Orajel on my toothache, but it turns out I had a deep, severe problem: I needed my wisdom teeth removed! I could have ignored the pain or continued taking medicine so that I didn't feel the pain. But none of those would have solved the serious problem I had, nor would they have stopped worse consequences (i.e. the destruction of the surrounding teeth).

The root of my problem would never be solved until a professional went in an fixed it.

You may need a professional anger management specialist to discover the root of your anger and help you extract it. Even if the problem does not require special help, getting to the root of your anger is by far the best anger management technique.

Everyone gets angry (even God gets angry). Denying anger's existence is not the key to healthy anger management.

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons people mismanage their anger is an incorrect religious understanding of anger.

There are  indeed passages in the Bible (i.e. Psalms 37:8) commanding us to not be angry. But as I stated before, not being angry is different than suppressing anger.

It should be noted that the Book of Mormon does not specifically command us to not be angry. (3 Nephi 11:30 explains that causing others to argue in anger is bad, but it does not condemn anger itself).

For more passages on anger, see: http://classic.scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/a/113

One misunderstood passage  is when Jesus warns that he who is angry with his brother is in danger of hellfire (Matthew 5:22). But this does not mean you shouldn't be angry.

First of all, being "in danger" does not mean that this punishment is automatically guaranteed for those who feel angry. Second of all, Jesus follows this statement with one of the best anger management techniques known to man: talking it out with the person who offended you (Matthew 5:23-25).

Even the philosophy of "turn the other cheek" does not mean ignore or suppress your rage. It simply offers an alternate reaction. (Matthew 5:39)

I've read literature on anger management (including "Anger," and "Anger Management for Dummies"). They all have some common themes:
When you're angry, acknowledge your anger. Don't call it by a euphemistic name.
Do something about your anger. The most important thing to do is:
Get to the bottom of what makes you angry.  Be honest with yourself.
Are you angry that you got cut off or are you scared that you'll die, or that you'll get fired if you're late? Are you angry that your child destroyed your electronic device, or are you afraid you won't be able to pay the bills and provide for the family?
Your value as a human being is constant no matter what you do or what you have to suffer at the hands of all those idiots.

You don't always have to change your way of thinking (for example, you should always have a healthy fear of death or injury behind the wheel). But an awareness of the cause of one's anger can help one to act rationally while responding to their anger.

However, the cause of most anger is an immature, self-centered, short-sighted worldview.

As I said before, the easiest way not to act in anger is not to feel angry in the first place. Not feeling angry is the result of a mindset that is mature and is aware of what matters and what doesn't. For example, your relationship with your family is important and truly lasts forever. Money vaporizes (at least for you) when you die.

Back to the first question: is anger bad? No, in and of itself it is not. How you handle your anger is what's good or bad.

Obtain a mature worldview so that you hardly get angry in the first place. When you get angry, do something constructive, such as getting to the root of your anger.

And don't forget to be kind!