Leaderboard

Let me just sit here in the corner and sing some Michael Buble. I just haven't met him yet. /o\

I met my wife in early-morning seminary when we were 14. When a friend introduced me to her, I was impressed by how pretty she was. She had just moved into the stake. Shortly after that we were in a stake play together (Brigadoon), and we became friends. We dated for a year during our junior year starting on her 16th birthday. About a year later, my dad suggested we should break up, since he thought we were too young to be dating steadily, so I prayed about it and broke her heart. Years later, she forgave me. We got married about a year after I returned from my mission. I am a very blessed man.

Another point MarginOfError and I agree on: The desperate need for prison reform. The state of our prison system is perhaps the most shameful aspect of American life -- and that's saying something. I don't know how it got so bad, but when prison rape is a very real concern and I so often hear people talk about e.g. how a child molester will "get what he deserves" in prison (that is, he will be raped), I think the evil of our prison system infects the minds of our general population. This is not what prison should be. As I said, I have little problem with the state executing someone (under appropriate circumstances). I have a very large problem with state-sponsored torture of prisoners. (I don't consider isolation to be torture, by the way.)

I met my husband at my LDS friend's wedding reception. We were both in the bridal party. I was the bride's friend and he was the groom's brother. She was married on a Friday and the reception was the next day, Saturday. The groom's parents had a reception lunch at their house for family and bridal party members. I remember looking around the house to see if I recognized people or if I could figure out who everyone was. I noticed my future husband getting food at the table and thought that he looked so out of place. For a second I actually thought that he might be someone crashing the party but then I remembered that the groom had another brother. He and I got changed into our wedding clothes first so we talked while everyone else was getting ready. I got the impression by his conversation that he must be the black sheep of the family. It had never occurred to me since meeting my LDS friend that some people/children would not follow the family religion; but my husband was one of those people. I was curious about him I guess because he seemed like the black sheep. At the time of the wedding I was dating someone else who came to the reception at the stake centre. At the reception my husband asked me out but I declined since I brought a date to the wedding. We did go on our first date the following Saturday and my first impressions of him weren't anything special - and first impressions can be so deceiving. It took sometime for me to get to know the real "future husband". He has a great sense of humour but it took sometime for it to appear. We got married almost two years later to the day of meeting each other. M.

I first laid eyes on my then-wife moving out her ex-family and ex-husband from their home (the ex's home). I thought "yea, I can handle that." Little did I know. Nevertheless, marrying her was the best thing I've ever done in my life. Messing up our marriage was the worst.

I have been a member of the church all my life. My wife and I met at a Single Adult dance. They announced the next song was Ladies Choice. She asked me to dance and found out she had only been a member for 7 months. I was 18yrs old right out of high school and she was 20. We talked and danced the rest of the evening and that was the last time we saw each other for a few years. When I turned 20 I finally went on my Mission. When I hit my one year mark on my mission I got a letter from her. She told me friend of mine met her at another church dance and he gave her my address. She hung on to it for a few months and her Mom told her one day she should write to me. Her Mom went on to say whenever he returns from his mission you two are going to get married. She told her Mom that was weird especially since her Mom had never met me. I came home in the middle of July of 1981. We were engaged the second week in August and married in the Logan Temple in November 1981.

Actually, this is hugely important. Limbaugh's equating conservatism with small government means he believes government should be lean. It should do a few things, and do them well. When government engrains itself in too much it becomes controlling, and stifles innovation, creativity, personal responsiblity, and most certainly liberty (to become big it must tax more, leaving less for individuals and their families). Perhaps an example is charity. Self-identified conservatives give more to charity than liberals. Why? We believe in private charity. They often mesh religion and social work. They rely on volunteers and low-paid workers (usually), who become personally involved in the lives of those they help. There is accountablity, and the ultimate goal is the liberation of the recipients from the need for charity. Liberals, on the other hand, favor government programs for those in need. Government programs have to be secular, promote equality of results, consider accountablity and responsiblity requirements to be demeaning to the recipients, and, since their workers are government-employees, the goal is to keep the program running. Often, large-scale government charity will have 5-generations of families on the dole. So Limbaugh is correct. "Small government" is a conservative ideal (lower taxes, fewer programs). "Big government" is a liberal ideal (bigger government, more programs, more taxes).

I am sure that "love at first site" always happens with the arrival of children...an most certainly grandchildren. :) I think that relationships like your "love at first site" are the most stable. I have this romantic notion that when this happens, it is the Spirit recognizing something that started before this life here on earth. So...good for you.

I believe I've presented this before, but I'll repeat it here. The Trinity declares: 1. The Father is God 2. The Son is God 3. The Holy Spirit is God 4. There is only one God That's really it. Everything else is explanation. Trying to explain how these three distinct persons can be truly one God (not merely one in purpose) is the difficulty. Analogies are used--the sun, the forms of H2O (water, ice, gas), the egg, the triangle, etc. They prove somewhat helpful for believers in the doctrine. However, these examples of how it works fail when presented to those who question the doctrine. Trinitarians reject modalism as denying the distinct personhood of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The LDS Godhead, on the other hand, seems polytheistic to us. A few LDS scholars grant the impression, and will suggest the term "henotheism" instead (belief on worshipping one God, though there be others).

I am slightly in favor. Supposed "bias" doesn't bother me very much. Wrongful execution of innocents bothers me a great deal; but unlike the anti-death-penalty people, I don't see life in prison as a significantly better option. Spend thirty years in a cage for a crime you didn't commit, and the damage is done, at least as badly as if you had been killed by the state.

My father and I ran an accounting business with my father being there part time. He hired a woman to come in for typing duties. I remember the first moment I saw her. I'm not saying there was a spark, but I instinctively knew she would be important to me. We bonded quickly and we dated about a year and a half before we married. I was a new member when we met and she joined the church about four months later. We've been strong in our marriage (now 30 years) and in church as well. She is a driven person. Without her, I would still be living in a chicken coop in eastern Delaware.

I met my husband in high school. I can't really say there was an instant connection, but being a shy girl i was quite intrigued by the new guy at school who didn't have a shy bone in his body. We were thrown together quite a bit and had several classes together. Poor guy... when he did finally ask me out i would barely talk to him. Luckily he was patient with my diffident self. We got married two months after he returned from his mission.

It's better without the explanation

Like this:

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/official-statement/capital-punishment

BECAUSE RACISM! End of discussion. Don't you know that when someone plays the racist card, it trumps everything else and you have to concede defeat? Sheesh, yjacket. Learn the rules.

Then why did you bring up their repentance as examples of "why the DP sucks"?

I actually do think, theologically, that CatholicLady's post about giving time for repentance is valid. While LDS teaching, of course, holds that it's impossible to make restitution for a taken life (and thus, the repentance available might be somewhat limited), isn't it also a tenet of our own theology that repentance is far easier to perform during mortality?

Met my now husband on an LDS based online dating site. We chatted via the site for about 4 messages each, then switched to yahoo messenger. He is a very slow typist, so he walked me through hooking up my microphone and we talked for several days. On the 5th day after we connected, I went on a Branch Temple Day - while there, I prayed about him and the crazy feelings & emotions I was going through. He was all I could think about. When I got home, I sent him my phone number and attached a picture of my temple recommend, with a few things blocked off. He sent me his phone number and temple recommend. Then he called me. We talked through the night - 10 hours. Without even going to bed, I called my HT- who was also the Branch Clerk - and had him meet me at Church. He checked him out for me. Yes he was a member, yes he had all the Melchizedek Priesthood and his recommend was valid. The Branch President then called future hubbies Bishop and asked about him. Future Hubby called me that night and asked if I had been talking to his Bishop. Not me, but my Branch President did. They both gave the go-ahead to pursue a relationship if we so wished it. From the first day that we sent messages to each other to the day we got married, was 13 DAYS! I ended up going to the Temple 3X's to get verification from Father. The 3rd time I got the voice in the ear: I Said He Is The One, quit asking and quit stalling! I practically skipped out of the Temple. Now, he needed to propose. I turned back to go back into the temple, when I heard - It is the 21st Century - YOU ask him! So I did! We got married 25 Aug 2004. We got sealed 12 May 2006 (had to wait for a sealing clearance). We are still going strong. Both are active in Church, we are brutally honest with each other. Which is something neither of us had in our previous marriages. He is 90% frugal, I am 99% frugal. He will eat anything I cook. Even when he doesn't like it. I have to ask him when I cook something new or different to find out if he likes it. Finally discovered that he DOES like coleslaw as long as it ISN'T made with the creamy (mayo) dressing. He likes SW Chipotle from Hidden Valley. He doesn't like tuna casserole, hamburger gravy or even country sausage gravy. He didn't like fish. In any way shape or form. Kept asking him questions and after a year found out that the fish wife #3 fed him made him go to the hospital ER. Same with chicken she cooked. Well, she was trying to poison him. He IS worth more $ dead than alive. I served him Atlantic Salmon - he ate 1/2 pound and wanted more. Fed him Ling Cod, Pollack, Real Cod and he was okay with them. They were bland he said. Marinated them in lemon herbs, baked, then served with lemon, herb butter sauce, tarter sauce and/or cocktail sauce. Liked the tarter (Skipper's brand). Flat will not even try the scallops I cook. Spent two weeks in the hospital with food poisoning after eating very bad scallops. After that incident, he took her off as beneficiary and put his son on. Now after 10 years of marriage, and not ONE of the meals I have fed him have made him ill, he trusts my home cooked chicken. I have a small Ferber Ware electric rotisserie that I can do a good sized chicken on. I wash and rinse well, thoroughly rub down with this rub: Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning): 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika 2 tablespoons salt 2 tablespoons garlic powder 1 tablespoon black pepper 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano 1 tablespoon dried thyme Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chateaubriand-for-two-recipe.html?oc=linkback. He has taught me by his own example; patience, compassion to other and finding the good while having to shovel through a lot of bad. I am so grateful that he is my eternal companion. I am eternally grateful that he puts God at the head our our marriage.

On the other hand--that dirtbag Dan Lafferty didn't repent in prison, and just enticed a couple in Utah to commit suicide and take three or four of their young kids with them--apparently the parents had visited him in prison shortly before their suicide.

Explain what--the pigs flying outside my window?

Just read that article. Blah. In the long run, women end up hurting themselves any which way you look at it. There are so many single moms where I work, and though I'm not attributing it all to the pill, I wouldn't doubt that it and the mentality it has produced in our society is a contributing factor. Personally speaking, I'm going on 24 years of marriage and loving it! Watch and learn:

How is this really different than any other gene therapy procedure?

Yesssir! CatholicLady must be a youngster. I'll check out Matt's blog. Never heard of him. :)

This strikes me as particularly naive.

Met my wife at the skating rink that I worked at...3 days ago we celebrated our 39th anniversary. We celebrated by going on a cruise.

Kang (star trek)

as long as major organizations pull the strings I doubt it would do much... but forcing them to look for more puppets might be a tad more beneficial, not much but a little.

Everyone's stories are great! Thank you for sharing, I have enjoyed reading them!

I was always taught that the Trinity was like our sun, which is one heavenly body that comes to us in three benevolent forms: light, heat, and gravity. That was the Lutheran explanation I heard, anyway. But I've never understood why people regard the Trinity as a confusing doctrine, nor have I understood why Trinitarian denominations are ridiculed over this belief. I remember reading Count Belisarius by Robert Graves and being amazed that people of that time (AD 500 or so) could fight over something so fiercely. People then fought over the Trinity the way people now bicker over abortion, gun control, capital punishment, and knitting in church.

Huh. I thought we Mormons believed in arranged marriages. Looks like I'll be banning my kids from this forum now (wouldn't want them to work against me).

Initially, I felt strongly for CP but over the last six years I've felt strongly against it.

I want you to understand that the important point is a persons intent, not precisely what he does. Mormon is trying to get us to understand that our motivation is what matters, for he says, "And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man, if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such". I'm afraid you might say the opposite. That a person who is praying and attending the LDS church is righteous. But the scriptures teach us that is not always the case, "And in the fifty and first year of the reign of the judges there was peace also, save it were the pride which began to enter into the church -not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God-" (Hel 3:33) And yet becoming Buddhist might be the step that finally leads the seeker to Christ. See, by actions alone it is difficult to tell what is inspired of God and what is of the devil. But you, the individual, can know right from wrong, as you know darkness from light. Further, we cannot judge based on the worlds standards or what they demand. This does not mean that we need follow some vigilante justice. The Lord almost always asks his followers to submit to the laws of the land. But in the end, as Joseph said, "Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof until long after the events transpire" (The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, p 507-509). I have not suggested how Satan works, Mormon has, "for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth not man to do good, no, not one". Do not create confusion by trying to suppose the devil prompts people to do good. It simply is not the case. Regarding the homeless man, you propose to determine good and evil by temporary results. Perhaps such a man has lessons that need to be learned. Perhaps the Lord is trying to teach the person how God cares for him and his family. It may be that these people are thrown out into the street but then some kind person sees them and takes the family in. Ultimately, you do not know. Then what should you do? Do as Mormon suggests, get, and follow, the spirit of the Lord. Then all your actions will work for your good. The Lord will be on your right hand and your left hand and will bear you up as on eagles wings. And yet Mormon says that the people had obtained sufficient hope to enter the rest of the the Lord, "from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven." Moses sought to sanctify his people that they might enter his rest while in the wilderness (see D&C 84:24). Why then do you seek to limit who has or can enter into the rest of the Lord, or who might obtain promises from him? I say that even you can obtain these blessings, here and now, not in some far flung future.

Personally, I am opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. But I will admit that my reason isn't a great one. I read a news story once about the recent arrest of a man who had committed a particularly disturbing and heinous crime (I don't remember details, sorry). My immediate thought was "I hope they fry the [choose your expletive]." At that point, I realized that my support for capital punishment was based more on vengeance than anything else. I felt that was wrong, and so now I oppose capital punishment. I am, however, aware of the secondary problems my stance brings about. Do we really want to pay to keep these people alive for decades? Is it really fair to incarcerate someone for 30 years and then try to return them back to society? Can a person really spend 30 years in prison among other criminals in our prisons' culture and then reenter society? Part of me, like Vort, suspects that execution may be the more generous choice. But part of me feels like that's also a cop out to take the easy choice. Perhaps it would be better to reform the prison systems? That too would be prohibitively expensive, but maybe smaller jails with more social help would be more productive at turning people's lives around? I don't know. There's a lot of stuff here I don't know. The only thing I am convinced of is that every execution performed out of vengeance is an execution done for the wrong reasons. I believe we will be held accountable for those executions. I'm certain there has to be a better way.

Just to throw a "monkey" (haha) into the discussion of pre-Adamites and the idea of the sons of God marrying the daughters of men - doesn't the idea of Adam being the first man insinuate that all sons and or daughters of man are descendants of Adam and therefore not from pre-Adamites?

Where did you get that idea? I would say it's inaccurate. I agree, many Republicans have voted for bigger government, but that's just because they're addicted to the same political crack that many Democrats smoke: using other people's money to buy votes from people who vote solely on the basis of how many government benefits they get. Any decent Republican theoretician will tell you that conservatives favor limited government. Reagan said it best: "Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

The problem with the "too soon" argument is that the topic is, well, topical for only a short time. Suppose Walsh waited four weeks to post his thoughts. What would be the response? "Why are you talking about this? That's old news! Pick something relevant, for Pete's sake!" More importantly, what of the foolish and/or impressionable people who might consider suicide because, hey, Robin Williams did it, and look how nice everyone is talking about him now? Heck, they're saying he's some kind of hero! And he's in a better place! Yeah, I'll get me some of that! Walsh may just possibly have saved someone's life by pointing out not only the ugly evil of suicide, but the stupidity of those who lionize people who kill themselves. That seems more than enough to counterbalance the bruised feelings of the prissy know-it-alls who insist that anyone who speaks a word against their pet causes is just too mean and awful for words. (No, I do not have you in mind, LP.)

I thought I posted on this topic already here, but I did a search and don't see it... hmmm. Forgive me if I am repeating an earlier post. Anyway, I cross the Golden Gate Bridge every week on the way to a class in Sausalito, and I'm very much aware of the debate around adding suicide barriers under the bridge. The bridge authority stopped keeping an official count of suicides right before the number reached 1000, and the unofficial count is now around 1600. On average, someone jumps once every two weeks or so, but it's not reported. During one especially bad month in 2013, someone jumped every three days. Not all bodies are recovered, but many are. A former boss of mine went to a San Francisco church where the choir director suddenly vanished. Everyone thought she had run away or been abducted, but her body washed up a few weeks later with all the signs of a bridge jump. I mention these grisly details because one interesting thing has come out of all this tragedy. A small number of people jump and survive. (One survived on her first jump, but not her second.) From what I have read, almost all the survivors report the same feeling: they step off into space, they feel the sickening weightlessness of falling, and then, for four short seconds, they suddenly regret that they jumped. I wouldn't be surprised if Robin Williams felt a flash of regret the moment before he died. Maybe some day we will make a drug that can let people feel that regret before they pull the trigger or step off a ledge. In any case, if you're curious about how depressed people see the world, the following TED talk was absolutely amazing. After watching it, I really feel more forgiving and loving to people who struggle with depression. I used to run from them.

You are always so hopeful to get out quickly, yet you start fire storms. :)

It made me cry.

I suppose so. If the church made the call and not the government/judicial system I feel that the scriptures and history of the church would indicate approval of the practice. So while as an entity the church does not push for executions of criminals or to spare criminal lives (we defer to the laws of the land and have more important issues to worry about) it seems to me that the leaning toward the practice of capital punishment is favourable.

I thought it was a great movie...but yeah...the ending enhaled.

Welp, compatibility is key

I met Just_A_Girl at the mental hospital. (We were both going to BYU. Our callings in our student ward was to go down to the state mental hospital in Provo every Sunday and escort the residents from their dormitories to the chapel on the hospital campus, stay there through the church service, and then walk them back.)

Not quite. Racism has been condemned; the particular theory has merely been disclaimed as being (now or ever) LDS doctrine. The Church has made no judgment on the truthfulness or falsity of the idea. They have just said, "We don't teach this as LDS doctrine."

I watched the Super Bowl....does that count. Horrible movie and did not like the way it ended....gggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Depends on the Catholic.

Not to take away from all these excellent posts, but i'm always full of book recommendations. I really like anatess' recommendations to read the church manuals and Ensign magazine. I would heartily second that recommendation. Those are great resources. You mention the temple, and a great book on that subject is The Holy Temple by Boyd K. Packer. It also sounds like you've been through some trials so you could try For Times of Trouble by Jeffrey R. Holland; If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't be Hard by Sheri Dew; When Times are Tough by John Bytheway; and probably just about anything by Neal A. Maxwell. If you have any other subjects you are interested in, let me know. As i said, i'm full of it. :)

What I am about to say sounds astounding, but I've heard it several times from people I trust, so I assume it's accurate. When people visit a church for the first time, research shows that they make a decision about that church within something like 90 seconds. Before the service even begins, they have sized up the other people, pawed through the hymnal, sniffed around, and categorized the church as either "dump" or "keep." Obviously some people change their minds with time, but the point is that first impressions are really, really powerful and can be extremely deceptive. Even after repeated visits, the echoes of first impressions can still ring loudly in your ears. Why don't you feel welcomed? Is it because someone has treated you in some unfavorable way, or because of an absence of favorable treatment that you were expecting? In either case, unless you know with total certainty that other people are intentionally making you feel unwelcome, it might make sense to give them the benefit of the doubt and keep trying until you get some traction in the ward. Nobody feels welcome in a congregation of strangers. But the solution is to turn some of the strangers into friends, not to dump the congregation, and certainly not to wait until someone else notices you. Hope your daughter is doing well. She will learn from the examples you set, so act wisely.

Thanks for all the responses! I've been trying not to get caught up on things like this because I really do feel like the Book of Mormon is true.