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  3. Sounds Interesting, and though PG, it seems like it may not have too much of anything (language, violence, etc) on my list of things not to watch. Interesting subject matter as well.
  4. The Washington County Attorney’s Office released a lot of its evidence in the case last week, and gave interviews to 20/20, which did an episode on it. First ten minutes are on YouTube: Incidentally, Ruby’s “torture journal” mentions that Hildebrandt had met with Brad Wilcox (counselor in YM General Presidency) and Elder Jaggi (of the 70). Which has the Reddit and exmo crowd gleefully offering all kinds of speculation and conspiracy theories. Glad I’m not doing PR for the Church this month.
  5. We testify to all the world, as did the Apostles of old, that this same Jesus taken up into heaven as men watched, will return—will return in power and great glory, attended by the hosts of heaven. At that day “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” But prior to that day, as foretold by the prophets, there must be a restoration of all things in the last days, the fulness of the gospel with all its saving powers to be returned to earth. We proclaim with knowledge and power as witnesses of heavenly events that the final great restoration has taken place, that angelic ministers have been sent from heaven, that God’s voice has been heard declaring its truth, that the gift of the Holy Ghost and the priesthood powers with blessings and promises have again been given to man. - David B. Haight For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. - Matthew 24:27-31
  6. Just finished Season One. Curse you, Backroads!
  7. Yesterday
  8. Finally got around to watching "The Poseidon Adventure" this morning.
  9. This is a rewatch for me, but it cycled back around into another viewing: tv series The Booth at the End. Consists entirely, and I mean entirely, of watching people chat in a diner booth. Guy hangs out there, and people that want something come to him, and he tells them to do things, and they report back. Kind of twisted at times, but really a fun watch if you like character-driven stuff.
  10. I always say that if there's an animal larger than your dog, but smaller than a horse, your dog isn't big enough. Great Dane seems like the right size for a dog to me. Congrats! Nothing more annoying when you want to just chillax than a hyperactive baby. Hope she has a high perch from which to look down in disdain upon the inferior creature. Klaw adjusted faster than I thought he would - I was sure it would be longer before I could let them interact and weeks before I could let them be alone together. Smoke came home with me on 21 March (last Thursday) and he and Klaw mostly made friends on the 25th (Monday) - they were mostly kept separate prior to that, but Smoke is an escape artist and knows no fear! This morning there was a cuddle puddle and mutual grooming between my arms and between me and the keyboard. More adjustments will follow, but I'm not worried any more. It's interesting to see parts of Klaw's personality that I haven't seen before / in a long while. He and Smoke are polar opposites from polar opposite beginnings. I'm hoping Smoke helps Klaw be more brave.
  11. As I read through this, I found that my family and I are already doing most of these. A few still need a little more effort.
  12. "allowed" a town militia? Any town can have a militia, it is called the second ammendment.
  13. We have a new "puppy". Yes, very young, in the same way baby elephants can be very young too. When she gets zoomies the house shakes and the furniture gets rearranged. We also have an elderly cat who is so utterly disgusted at the new arrival, she can't even. We thought she might be reaching the end of her life and not make it through the winter, but she seems to be running strong on her endless hatred of this doggo.
  14. Some people wonder why the three degrees were not preached in earlier dispensations.
  15. The Antics of Klaw and Smoke on TLF*. *The Living room Floor
  16. I'll get screwed out of about 60% of my SSN because I will have a public safety pension. There are currently efforts to change the laws that take away my benefits. Not really holding my breath.
  17. The fam went and saw One Life last night. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Life_(2023_film) I can highly, highly recommend it. Everyone should know the story. Inspiring and important reminder of how average folks can rise to the occasion. Anthony Hopkins and all the other actors did an amazing job. Easier to watch and less traumatizing/extreme/violent/shocking than Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan. Excellent movie for older teens on up. In my life, as the son of a WWII vet, I've felt the pressing need to preserve and pass along the lessons my dad's generation learned. This movie really really helped me forward that goal with my older daughter.
  18. @Deseretdog Are you meeting with missionaries or considering baptism? Also, just in case you haven't already been told, the weekend after Easter is our next General conference. You can stream it through the Church's website. You could even invite the missionaries over to watch it with you.
  19. I really like the scripture that specifies, "All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence." The "gap", so to speak, is the mind and heart. The reward, the significance is the glory added upon. In that sense, yes, the gap is very significant. An individual needs to be quickened by the Spirit in order to see God. Does a person need to be "quickened" to see an angel (where glory has not yet been received)? My personal opinion, the gap between Terrestrial and Celestial isn't that wide, but the gap between Terrestrial and Telestial or Celestial and Telestial is much wider. They rejected both the Son and the Father, and thus live without the Son and the Father.
  20. Many profess to be Christians and yet do not believe that Jesus Christ is the literal Son of God, indeed, the eldest son of God the Father. Men are willing to follow some of his teachings but do not recognize the divine, eternal purpose and the significance of his life to all mankind. “What think ye of Christ?” and “Whom say ye that I am?” These were questions asked by Jesus to make men think, so that he might teach them who he was, that they might use their own free agency, come to their own conclusions and commitments, follow him, and gain a testimony that he is the Son of God, our Redeemer. Using the sacred scriptures we can know Jesus Christ. He is more than a great teacher; he is the Messiah. He was willing to lay down his life for us; he is the only one who could. - Robert D. Hales While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. - Matthew 22:41-46
  21. Last week
  22. Sad but true. In the case of global economic collapse, the downfall of our nation, or zombie apocalypse, our 401ks may or may not continue to generate 4-7% yearly returns. I mean, I get what you're saying. I was raised by a child of the great depression, and I'm aware that 3 generations of Americans have grown up in the greatest bunch of successful economic expansion ever experienced by humans. The rest of human history is hardly as rosy. And I'm sort of a similar mind that we're overdue for a massive Great Depression-like reset. But Imma keep my 401k as central to my retirement planning, and Imma keep training my newly-employed kid to do the same.
  23. Th I brought it up because when we are in theological discussions we need to be careful about the statement- "I'll believe what the Prophets have said." as a sort of trump card- because the mortal men who have served as prophets and Apostles have said lots of things. I'm glad they don't really speculate or relate the personal musings from the stand anymore.
  24. 401K's have only been around since the late 1970s (1978??). We haven't had a big enough crash in the US to actually test how vibrant they are yet. WE have been fortunate. We have not had that once in a century crash (some think 2008's recession was it, but it was no where close. We have been blessed thus far to be able to get our way out of things before they get too bad). WE haven't had an economic crash such as the Great Depression (or after that, the aftermath of World War 2 in Europe and parts of Asia, one reason why the US economy was so robust in the 1950s-1980s). Those literally took a decade or two to get out of for each area. Social Security is a result of one of those Economic crashes. It's not a good look to have your elderly starving to death and dying on the streets (and worse than that). Going back there have been other crashes similar to these in history, but nothing really recent. If we had a crash like that, I would not gamble that the stock market would actually even necessarily survive. If it did occur, we could be several decades before someone gets out of it. It's not like a 40% crash (or even 50% which wasn't unusual for some accounts in 2008), but something like a 90% crash (how is that possible? Some go down to 0 in worth, others are barely in subsistance, etc, but the big kicker are the big brokers and those who handle the retirements go broke and disappear which cause 99% of investosrs, the small investors, lose everything). The stock market might survive and many come out on top, but it could also be that many of the financial services that HANDLE the stocks for the common person and those 401K and other accounts (another thing that came out of the Great Depression was insuring your bank accounts, but that's only to a certain amount which in no way would give me enough to survive my retirement today, much less future generations) go bankrupt and all your investments disappear with them (meaning most of the public lose their retirements, even if the more wealthy may actually get wealthier). This was what they were afraid could happen in 2008 (and may have happened to a large degree with at least a minority of the population without the interventions the government did) but managed to avoid. Which means, until it's actually tested by a REAL and LARGE economic crisis in the US (which also normally means people are literally starving on the streets, the homeless are quite visible, not just those tent cities, but people walking commonly, going door to door, etc), I don't know if the current ideas of 401K will actually survive and be good ideas. We are due for one in the next 30-40 years, but I don't know when it will hit or if we will actually be able to postpone it. Maybe it will hit at the same time SS crashes? That could be a stimulus to push us over the edge into one.
  25. There are rather strict cutoffs if we are to believe in section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Telestial - Those who rejected the gospel but did not deny the Holy Spirit. As We know, every knee will bow and all will eventually accept the Lord, but these did not accept the Lord in their mortal or spiritual probation, but only later (probably). In my opinion this basically means all those who were baptized (mortally or in proxy). As long as they accept the Lord and the ordinances, they will be saved in a glory that surpasses our understanding in mortality. Terrestrial - These are those who rejected the gospel in this life, but accepted it in the spirit world. They are also those who are hororable but blinded by the craftiness of men. They could also be those who had the gospel but were not valiant in their testimony of Jesus (in my opinion, this could also be those who accepted the gospel but did not follow the teachings of Jesus or put the ideas and morality of men above that which the Lord teaches, such as caring for the poor, helping the sick, loyalty to one's spouse and fidelity in marriage, the Law of Chastity, Charity, and other items covered in the Scriptures and ideas such as the 13th article of faith...etc). Thus, though short, not being valiant could be a lot larger and harder than I may even imagine it to be. Celestial - These accepted the gospel and received all the ordinances thereof. They overcame by faith and their blessings were Sealed upon them by the Holy Spirit of promise. They are members of the Church of the Firstborn. They are priests and have the Melchizedek Priesthood. They overcome all things. These are pretty clear cut dividing lines in some ways. In some ways it could be seen that you are either on one side of the line or the other. In looking at it, the ONLY for use to even get the Telestial is through the atonement, and it is absolutely far more true with us being able to achieve the Celestial. Without the atonement and the ability to repent and be cleansed from our sins I don't see a way for any man (because no man is perfect except for the Savior, and thus could not overcome anything without him) could even dream of making the Celestial Kingdom, much less the Telestial.
  26. I'm not so sure I agree with the idea of either you are progressing or regressing. There is a very damaging idea in corporatism today (not to be confused with capitalism, which is the ideal, corporatism and monopolist are probably the counter of capitalism in the opposite direction of socialism if one thinks about it) that you must always be increasing your profits. Each Quarter needs to be better than the last and you must always be expanding. However, sometimes the best course is to simply stay where you are at. An Empire is normally the precursor to a nation's fall. Sometimes that fall is greater than what they would have been had they merely been content with existing. This also goes along with what the Chemist writes above, and IS problematic. As per his own statement, things progress until they reach their zenith (like an Empire) and then regress after that. This would indicate that once we reach the zenith in eternity, we automatically start regressing. That's a TERRIBLE idea and one that is ignored after he talks about it and forgets to apply THAT principal to his ideas in what follows as well. I think there could be eternal progression, there can also be regression, but I also think there are those that can just be existing. They are neither progressing or regressing, but have an end to their progress and regress in the glory that they receive.
  27. Heh - two choices: 1-The government will take care of you and make all the decisions. 2-People take charge of their own futures and some of 'em will screw up and ruin their futures. 401ks have been providing tax-advantaged reliable 4-8% returns since they were invented. If you started investing at age 20, and then there's a massive crash when you reach age 65 and your account suddenly dropped 40% in value, you'd still have more money to pull out of it than you'll see back from social security taxes of the same amount over the same timeframe. Investing in the stock market is no more a gambling scheme, than sticking cash in a coffee can, or buying gold, or investing in real estate. Gambling is gambling. There is no risk until you decide to gamble, then the odds favor the house. Having money and doing something with it is not gambling. The risk exists no matter what you do, you have say in increasing or decreasing your risk, but you can't eliminate the risk.
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