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I have to be careful, because I've been replying to "new content" here and accidentally intruding on the Relief Society and Women's Issues forum. But your post is in General Discussion, so it's full steam ahead... I taught for a long time and do public speaking now and then. My own opinion: when there is a live speaker present who targets his or her remarks to everyone in the room, then it's rude to do anything except give the speaker your full attention. It's okay for parents to control their children, or for anyone to take notes on what the speaker is saying, but I personally feel that anything else is insulting. I once had to give a speech at a naval college, and I was warned in advance that the students were required to attend and that they commonly read newspapers or magazines while the speaker was speaking. Some did that while I spoke, and I found it very unnerving. I became tongue-tied and all my jokes fell flat. This is doubly or triply important in sacrament meetings, which can bring to the lectern people who are very fearful of public speaking. As a brother or sister of the speaker, I think we ought to support all speakers by making friendly eye contact with the speaker, nodding to show our attention, and smiling often. Others may disagree. I understand and respect Bini's comment above, but in this case I cordially disagree. If you knit or crochet, it would be polite to do so discreetly.

Funniest story I ever heard about a yard sale... probably from Reader's Digest, but I forget. (I remember howling with laughter at the stories from "Life in These United States.") A women was having all the carpets in her house cleaned. The carpet cleaners arrived and saw that it was a warm, calm day with zero chance of rain, so they moved all the furniture out onto the front yard and started cleaning the carpets of the now-empty house. The woman was in the kitchen looking out the window to make sure her furniture and belongings were okay, and suddenly she sees a man on her yard walking through her furniture and picking things up and examining them as a buyer would. She rushed out to tell him her things weren't for sale, but before she could speak the man said, "Nice yard sale, lady. Too bad all the good stuff has already been sold."

I wish I could remember the names of my ward members. Right now I think I have about a quarter to a third of them down, and it's quite embarrassing.

Since 2015 is the Year of the Sheep, should not the followers of the Lamb of God expect great things? Surely, this is a season to be praying, to be sharing our faith, to 'never tire in doing good works, and to always be found 'about the Father's business.' Or...Am I just trying to Christianize an Asian pagan system of fortune telling???

On a personal level, I doubt I would be particularly bothered if people crocheted or knitted while I was speaking. Even if I noticed, I probably would not take offense. On the other hand, there does seem to be something dismissive about engaging in another activity while someone is speaking to you, even congregationally. I tend to agree with PolarVortex that people at Church really should be putting their attention on the speaker and not on their handiwork. (Disciplining children, of course, is another matter entirely.)

I have known a few people who are pretty good artists. They will often times draw a caricature of the person speaking and jot down a few notes of what they said. If someone is knitting or crocheting, no problems on my part. At least there awake and paying attention.

Believe it or not the all doing our bit is a core belief of many latter-day-saints. While we (speaking generally of course) don't agree with mandated wealth redistribution, we do believe in looking after those less fortunate. But again it isn't forced upon anyone. Programs such as home and visiting teaching are in part intended to see to the temporal needs of those being visited in addition to the spiritual needs. Fast offerings (we do actually encourage all members of the church to go without food as part of a fast and donate the money saved by not eating to help those in need) and Bishop's storehouses are much more directly targeted at dealing with feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. The way I see it, this (giving out of love, not force) is the only way the change you seek can happen. Not because of robbing the rich to give to the poor, which most likely trickles back down in some other way to recoup* the losses and thwarts the very purpose of the program, but because the "haves" choose to give liberally to the "have nots" of their own volition. This does require a change of heart that the gospel of Christ is capable of doing, but the whole world doesn't change over night... not even over 50 years or more, but individuals are changed. * when mandated wealth redistribution occurs (say we take 10% of profits from the oil and pharmaceutical industries) then they will simply counter the profit loss by tightening wages on employees, letting people go, cutting hours and increasing prices... so the net effect is worthless.

It's amazing what can be sold in garage sales and yard sales. My neighbor (Monsieur Packrat) once had a garage sale and asked if I had anything to donate. I had an old 7-foot cat tree that my cat had torn to shreds. I was certain nobody would buy it, but my neighbor pressed me to bring it to his garage sale anyway, perhaps to add some extra charm to his merchandise. I got a friend to help me carry the cat tree down the stairs out into the street. He went out the door first and dropped it, and I tipped it upright and swung it up and over and out the door. Instantly I heard the sound of screeching brakes. A pickup truck had stopped in front of my house, and a passenger rolled the window down and asked "How much?" I timidly suggested ten bucks. I saw the driver nod vigorously, so we dropped it into the back of the truck, took the $10, and the truck roared off. The entire transaction could not have taken more than sixty seconds. And this cat tree was simply awful. It was less useful than a hundred pounds of dryer lint. Of course, my house is in a very densely packed city where the front doors are six feet from the street, so these types of sales are very easy. YMMV.

I shot the new Glock 17 today. I must say I really enjoyed it and am more accurate with it than my Sig Saur. Both are excellent firearms, the SIg has a high bore axis versus the Glock which has a low bore axis and is lighter. Not used to the "drop in the bucket" sights on the Glock but they seem to work. Glock perfection? Maybe.

I appreciate your sentiments, Bill. But for the record, the above is incorrect. The Church has "admitted" no such thing. Rather, the Church has clarified that the explanations put forth about WHY the Priesthood ban existed are non-canonical. The Priesthood ban itself remains as it has always been: Something the Church enforced under the authority of God and that required a revelation from God to change. I could not agree with you more in this. Your reasoning here seems sound to me. Why do people "lose" (or give up) their testimonies? I guess because the cost of keeping the testimony seems higher than the cost of giving it up. Keeping a testimony will at some points mean believing your experiences despite what appears to be contrary evidence. If an honest person has not dug deep to establish a strong testimony, this can sometimes seem like dishonesty. The fact that gospel teachings are almost never popular certainly increases the urge to give up beliefs that seem both inconvenient and improbable.

Though this was offered in jest, I have often found myself wishing I had memorized more things that I now find important. A few General Conferences ago, one of the apostles (Brother Scott, I believe, though I may be misremembering -- possibly Brother Perry) suggested memorizing valuable scriptures. I can think of a lot of things I wish I had committed to memory, and that maybe I'm trying to memorize now. Memorization is an important skill, and generally speaking, it seems a skill our recent ancestors had mastered a lot better than we have. Things I'd Like to Have Memorized: The Periodic Table of the Elements -- I can't tell you how many times this would have been useful in various and sundry situations and discussionsImportant scriptures that are meaningful to meScripture mastery scripturesQuotations from Shakespeare's plays and sonnets -- just for fun. Everything the guy wrote was gold, and it sure makes you sound like you know what you're talking about when you quote Shakespeare.My cousins' birthdays. I have my own parents, siblings, wife, and children down, but outside of that, things get a little hazy.My ancestry, at least names and approximate birth/marriage/death years, for more than just four generations back.A whole lot more history than I know, though that's much more "learning" than just "memorization".Foreign language vocabulary! It's hard to speak in a foreign language when you don't know very many words!Some miscellaneous Church-related stuff would be occasionally useful, like First Presidencies, the original Twelve Apostles of the Restoration, and the names of the Nephite Twelve.Local flora and fauna. Again, this may be more "learning" than just "memorization", but it seems like there is a good amount of memorizing which trees have which needles and cones, and stuff like that.What kinds of things would you like to have memorized?

Sometimes the Missionaries in your area might be happy to take them off your hands.

When someone gives me food as a gift, I feel obligated to eat some of it, but I don't feel obligated to eat it all. I leave it around and enjoy it at times and in amounts that I choose, and when the time comes to dump it, I do so with a clear conscience. You're right, wasting food feels wrong, but when it's the last resort, press ahead.

So I've been attempting some deep cleaning and organizing whilst being on break. Some stuff has been thrown out, other stuff donated to thrift stores, and other stuff put up for sale on ksl.com. We've made enough money from the last to purchase an actual projector screen, an upgrade from our redneck bedsheet. I'm also attempting the challenge of getting rid of one thing a day for a year.

I love getting rid of clutter or useless stuff, as well. I am a major minimalist, I hate excess of anything, and feel better with just the right amount of certain things. Having a child has challenged this, however, and I'm finding that the house keeps a lot more "stuff" around than it had pre-child days. Still, my daughter knows that mummy has her limit, and if something is not attended to or maintained after x amount of time, it is gone, and forever.

First. People need to mind more about their own business and less about others. Second, I personally see no issue with it, I think some individuals are able to focus more when they're engaging in a relaxing or comforting activity at the same time. I have a sister that crochets in church and is able to tune in and take everything in at the same time. It's harder for some people to sit, idle, and just listen to talks. Sometimes, something in your hands, helps...

One would think that with the boundless information available online and elsewhere these days would encourage people to dig deep. But that doesn't seem to be reality. Easier to glean information from fancy sites, preaching anti posters, and let's not forget the bandwagon of impressive pseudo intellectuals.

While we're waving the memory wand, let me zap everyone else on the planet. My first name is very common (#16 in popularity in the decade of my birth), but it's sort of similar to #3. Both are common Biblical names. And yet all through high school and college I was addressed as #3, even after I would correct people to #16. In one college class I met someone who started #3-ing me and I didn't have the energy to correct him, so I simply started responding as #3. To my horror, we became good friends as the semester progressed. (The professor called us all by our last names, so my friend was never corrected by external forces.) Finally this deception boiled over one day when my new friend heard me called by my correct first name by other friends. He was very offended. Never saw him again. Later someone suggested this as a way to break up cleanly with a girlfriend. When you're ready to pull the plug, just say, "Sweetheart, you've been calling me Herbert, but my name is really Roger."

My wife will have a Yard sale or Garage sale once in awhile and she will have it on a day when I am gone. She says I gripe and complain too much. Lol!!

In my mind re-purpose = it has another use now (or at least in the next 6 months). Re-purpose does *not* mean "oh, but it might useful someday in some magical unknown way". If I held onto things which might be useful someday then I'd be buried in junk!

But... Google. Who needs memorization anymore?

When Sister Vort was a young woman, she and her younger sister spent time in France, where their mother is from. Her younger sister could not make the nasal sound necessary to correctly pronounce "un" ("one"). So if my future sister-in-law ever ordered croissants, she always ordered two, even though she could eat only one. That way, she could say "deux croissants" and thus avoid having to say "un croissant".

Perhaps not now, but someday you will be a mother-in-law...

Well, if we want to get into specifics, Missouri is a pretty awesome place to be! All the church history, beautiful landscape, and so forth. And for the record, I'm a midwest accountant's daughter...no farming here!

Preach it brother, Preach It!

I believe in repurposing, so I don't throw much out, but instead focus on not letting much more junk come into my house in the first place.

Oh man, I feel like I'm in a singles ward forum

Could you all start speaking English? At least I understood Internet Explorer.

I can't quite tell; but I hope you're being tongue-in-cheek here. I don't think there's a conscious decision amongst most poor people to stay poor. Rather, I think they've bought into a culture that a) tells them they can never get ahead regardless of their own efforts or merit; b ) tells them that they should have more than others regardless of their own efforts or merit; c) actively denigrates self-sufficiency, d) trivializes or even denigrates the importance of self-denial and delayed gratification, e) glorifies sexual and family planning practices that ensure continued poverty; and f) holds education in utter contempt. It's not a fully-informed, knowing and voluntary decision to stay poor: at this point, millions upon millions--quite frankly--don't know any better. Our leading lights in academia and the arts have been carefully erasing the public's understanding of what actually builds wealth; leading those who don't have wealth to throw up their hands and assume that it can only come from corruption or birthright.

I'm pretty sure it's in direct relation to how much money you send to Palerider.

Try harder, but try smarter. My advice would be to set three priorities: 1. Live a life that is pleasing and obedient to God. 2. For the things in your life that you can completely control (education, job, investments, diet, exercise, hobbies, etc) pick things that increase your value as an ambassador of Jesus Christ and your appeal as a husband. 3. Make as many friends as possible of both sexes and be an honorable friend to them. You might not find any spouseworthy people in your circle of friends, but behind each friend is a network of people you may not know, and you'd be amazed at what can pop out when you least expect it. I know many single people who are stuck being single because they seek out and socialize only with people who they'd consider marrying. Big, big mistake. 31 is still young!

I agree, I think the Internet in many ways keeps many from digging deep. Everyone what's a quick "instant gratification" type of answer. Not to mention most Internet searches are alway accompanied with anti-Mormon answers that reinforce their information, which makes a simply slop more akin to a "slip in slid" water toy. :)

The big flaw in your theory of government is that governments are not of necessity charitable and benevolent. Just as unscrupulous individuals tend to dominate the race of accumulation of wealth resources - such individuals also tend to dominate in the race of political influence. Governments tend to have less morals than corporations - both of which are in essence a pyramid structure that maintains a large base to support a tiny top. A few years ago I was working for the top corporation in my field of work. This corporation controlled 80% of the market share. As one of two principle engineers of the company, I was well connected to the projects and the profit margins our company was producing. There was a downturn in the economy and the company announced it must downsize and implement austerity measures in order to overcome a 600 million loss the company had suffered. 20% of the engineers would have to be laid off and the remaining would have to accept a 10% reduction in pay. The management would take a 20% cut in pay to keep the company viable. This was announced at a company wide all hands meeting. Then the company opened up to questions. I stood and explained that I had a very important question that had several parts. First I explained that as one of two principle engineers in the company I was not aware of a single contract that had lost money or that there had been any fall off in contracts in the last two years to account for the losses. I asked for a better accounting for the 600 million loss. I knew well that the loss was a management blunder in borrowing money to buy other companies (that were failing) to (according to management) increase our market footprint. In short a management blunder. I then asked about the necessity for a layoff and reductions in pay. I pointed out that in the past the management had been taking millions in bonuses - and that their bonuses far exceeded the cut backs now taking place. I asked if instead of layoff and pay cuts that the management forgo their bonuses until the company was back in the black. Guess what management did????? And guess what it costs them??????? They went a head with their layoff and pay cut plan. Over 10 years they have run the entire corporation into the ground. They went from a 80+ percent market share to less than 15%. The one good spot in all this is that the consulting company I started when I was laid off; now owns as much market share as they do. Sadly many of my fellow engineers have not done as well and though I have survived; I suffered significant loss that will mean I must work well into my normal retirement age and postpone our plans to serve a full time mission. Since you are sure that governments as the answer - you tell me what government you are willing to leave where you are now living - give all your assets and holding to -- that you trust will insure there are no poor in their borders. If you live in the UK - you must believe this government to be the example to the world of how to end poverty as a government????

LOL! Yeah, you may look like a girl but but behind those beautiful brown eyes lurks your real alter ego, should things reach that point: ((( )))

Yes there is an urgency but you cannot take from another, or force them to give. It is not the Lord's way. It never has been it never will be. The LDS people learned this the hard way and I believe it is still ingrained in our cultural thought. The ultimate lesson can be summed up in these words from President Lorenzo Snow: Do you see that the spirit of the Lord is not in it when we take from another? The person who is forced to give loses desire to work. Why? Because they work for profit motive not for the betterment of society and you have just taken away their incentive. What will such a person choose to do? Become one of the needy and not one of the providers. Now, when someone is ready and willing to give the whole situation changes. They do not work for personal profit but to better those around them. These people work harder when they give to others. But the point is, such an attitude cannot be forced. It cannot be legislated, it cannot be taxed. It will come from the heart or it will not come. In all your posts you seem to not understand this issue. It is better to consolidate resources. But the issue here is how to do it. I have just explained that we cannot legislate it, we cannot demand it, so how does this begin? It begins with the individual as I explained above. How then does it spread? I believe by example. A few individuals blessing others in their community. In so doing one persons life is improved, then another, then another. In time the whole community is lifted up and others will see it. They will recognize the benefit and the blessings and want to do the same. Again, this starts at the grass roots level or it does not start. The Lord works from the inside out, not the outside in. I think you are missing the point. It is not about rich people deriving benefit. It is about poor people receiving benefit from what they are given. It does little good to give to people who will accept a hand out and continue to live off the dole. The whole teach a person to fish idea. Brigham Young, a prophet who tried to get the people to live the united order and so share and work for each other, said he could redistribute wealth with no problem. But then he explained how that was not the problem. The problem was some would be industrious and work hard while others would not. He said that in a short time he would be left with the same situation where some were rich and some were poor. Again, I hope you see this problem. So I ask you, how would your suggestions avoid this problem?

Jimmy Cricket would listen to Pinocchio and acknowledge when he made an error. You have completely ignored those that point out your errors. You my friend are no Jimmy Cricket

Edible socks? Now there's an interesting idea.