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I just had to share this as I have been really excited about my discovery yesterday. I've always been a bit jealous of those who can tell stories of ancestors who were Pioneers or had ancestors who were involved in the very early workings of the Church. I knew that my mom's side of the family went pretty far back but it wasn't until yesterday that I discovered just how far back and how involved they were. I've been in St. George for a couple of days doing nothing but going to Mormon historical sites and trying to learn more about some of the history of the church. I went out to Mountain Meadows and along the way there was a turn off to go to Pine Valley. I felt impressed to go out there. In Pine Valley sits the oldest LDS church that is still in use. So I started to do some reading and research of this area. Low and behold, the name Isaac Riddle came up. Now I come from a line of Riddles so I wondered if I was related. Come to find out Isaac Riddle is my great great great uncle. He discovered Pine Valley. He, Jacob Hamblin and others were sent by Brigham Young to So. Utah to start a settlement. Here are a couple of links regarding Isaac Riddle: http://wchsutah.org/documents/platt/isaac-riddle-autobiography.pdf?hc_location=ufi In this biography of himself, he mentions the day that Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed. http://www.stgeorgetemplevisitorscenter.info/pv/pvship.html So interesting to know that I have ancestors that were very involved in the early settling of the church and were around during the time of Joseph Smith.

It sounds like depression. I doubt it is related to church or your faith. Your depression may be minor and can be influenced by simple things like diet and exercise. I will say, it is common for new members to struggle with their faith. I doesn't sound like the issue but, if it is, you need to wait it out. You'll get over the hump and be feeling good about the church again. Keep doing spiritual things to feel spiritual.

Faded flowers O'er my head Once alive Now with me dead. Did those I love My name forget? Has time erased That sad regret? From this world, I did depart Amid bitter tears And broken heart. Yet here I lie Now alone, My named engraved On sanded store. Here in *Sheol My body waits For Heaven's trump To seal my fate. Now strangers walk Before my face. With no respect For this place. In darkest hours I'll spend my hours, With changing seasons And "Faded Flowers". * Sheol, The Hebrew name for the abode of the departed Spirits, translated in the KJV Bible as "grave", "Pit" and "Hell". The author (myself) used the translation of "the Grave" William E Lee Copyright 1996

As I mentioned earlier one day I wanted to know who the first person was to join the church in my family. I asked my sister who is into family history really really big. Found out it was my grandfather x4. He and my grandmother were living in Canada and were neighbors of Brigham Young. Brother Brigham helped them build a barn on their farm. Brigham joined the church and moved to Kirtland. Later on Brigham sent his two brothers back to Canada to teach my grandparents the gospel. They joined the church and moved to Kirtland and joined the other Saints. My Grandfather x4 James Lake drove a team from the Quarry to the Kirtland temple site each day while construction was going on the Temple. When they left Nauvoo during the exodus Brigham Toung called my grandfather as a Bishop in Council Bluffs and asked them to stay there for a few years to help the others. Later they joined the Saints in Utah. He was later called as a Patriarch for the Weber Utah area. He was the first one called. Pretty awesome stuff.

I love family history! I regard the journals and accounts of my ancestors as sacred. My g-g-g-g grandfather is Joseph Knight Sr. There is an account of one of my past relatives conversing with one of the three Nephites. Another of my great grandfather and his companion restoring sight to a child with a priesthood blessing. There are also the humorous accounts. When my grandfather was in WWI he was an airplane mechanic. He would hook up a magneto to the control cables of the British planes and when they would check the control cables he would crank the magneto and shock the British. They would either get thrown back by the shock or they couldn't let go. There are the sad accounts. When my g grandfather was on a mission, my g grandmother was left to take care of the homestead in NW Utah and four children under the age of 5 and a newborn. They were poor and times were very, very hard. She said that sometimes her only dinner was to scrape the bits of food left over from the kids plates into as cup. She would add water and make a soup. She did not like talking about those years. Keep a journal! They are scripture!

Like you, I've always felt jealous of the Mormon ancestry of others and the family history stories they have as a result. As a convert, it's more of a yearning for an interesting connection to church history, even though there are benefits that come to being a convert when it comes to family history and research. It turns out, however, that despite being the only member in my living family, I am not the first person in my family to become a member of the church. My fourth great grandfather, Thomas James Britt. joined the church in Hastings, England in 1851. The first moment I learned this, my heart absolutely soared. Shortly after joining the church, they began the process of moving to Utah, coming over the Atlantic on the Emerald Isle in December of 1855. They landed in New York City on December 31st and made their way with the nearly 300 other Saints from England. My family made it all the way to Winter's Quarters and, for reasons I've yet to find/suss out of distant relatives, ended up converting to the Episcopalian church in Omaha and moved to the St. Louis area. My late grandmother, from whom I got much of my research and my "genealogy bug" was adamant about disagreeing with their being LDS, despite church records that I still see evidence of every time I go onto Family Search. When most of the baptism dates for your family are from you performing the work, seeing an 1855 in there does wonders to make your heart sing with delight.

I'm related to Butch Cassidy!

I don't have a blog, so when I want to share something you guys just get to deal with it :). A while back I wrote a post about how as I read through the Bible as a youth, I discover that it was hundreds of rated R pages of people messing up again and again. Before this, the people in scripture kind of wore superman capes in my eyes (you know over-glossy-hero-idolizing). But as I read the Bible, I discovered that even the greatest prophets made mistakes just like me. And it is through the power of God everyone of us learns and grows, even through our mistakes. The prophets and all lost their superman capes. This weekend I was reflecting back on that thought train and realized I was missing something. Because I didn’t find just flawed human beings in the scriptures, also I found God. Christ Himself came down and walked among us. He showed us the way: teaching us through word and deed. And through His sacrifice, He understands everything we could go through, and gave us a way to conquer it all: our mistakes, our trails, our flawed selves. Christ: He’s the real Superman. This week is/was Easter, a time to think of Christ’s atonement and all it means. Christ is the great physician: one whom heals the wounds so wonderfully that not even a scar remains. Through Him we grow, we learn, we are healed. Christ doesn’t just heal the mistakes in our lives, He heals the entirety of our lives- our flaws, our hopes, our loves. He makes us complete: He makes us perfect like Him. Christ wants to share everything that He has, everything He is. He wants us to share in His perfection. In the scriptures, when a Lord wants to share everything with his heir, even a prodigal one, the Lord gives the heir his garment. God wants to share everything with us- even his garment. Christ—He wants to share his Superman cape with me. Wow… I know this is just one little dorky analogy I came up with but…. Wow, how underserving I can be of His so perfect love. Today, I write this standing all amazing, confused at the grace so freely He proffers me. Trembling I cry at how much He did for me, confused at a love so deep I cannot comprehend. Lord, how great art thou?

Forget the dissenters - the REAL dirt had to do with using electronic devices during Sacrament! :) Did anyone else pick up on the line in the sand the brethren are drawing, on smartphone use on Sunday? They're asking us to put our devices away during the "presentation" of the sacrament. They're not asking us to put them away during sacrament meeting. (Well, they are in general terms when talking about not letting technology rule us, and how to best feel the spirit, and whatnot. But when speaking most clearly, they use the phrase "presentation of the sacrament".) I heard it twice in conference, and also once or twice in other talks at other times. I am guessing (and this is just my guess), they are trying to preserve the sacredness of the sacrament, with the needs of moms who use gizmos to keep kids quiet during an hour of monotone talking, and people with ADD/ADHD who need to be doing something with their hands, etc.

Indeed ^.^. Small world, who'da thunk?

Hello, 4th Cousin! :)

I just watched last night. Yes, I liked it. I did think her delivery, voice, intonation was just right. And yes, I do think that's an important part of it. Some of the sing song voices, which occur in other places as well, comes from talking to the children too much. When talk to adults resumes the delivery should change. It's like speaking the language. Not to get into a thing about tone, tho' I probably am. It's important not to use the rising inflection. The rising inflection is a device in speech to indicate questions. It occurs in many languages. It's where, at the end of a question, the tone rises in pitch. Some ladies use it to much, such as all the time. It just makes the speaker sound quite unsure of what they are saying. The other real issue is the speaker who intersperses their speech with "uh". dc

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." -Jesus I think you may be feeling the Spirit more than you give yourself credit for.

I remember a friend telling me once that when she was depressed (it was an extended time), she couldn't feel the Spirit. One thing she did was "remember that I have a testimony." She said that although she didn't feel the Spirit, she reminded herself that she had felt the Spirit and that she has a testimony. I was always struck by that. And then I went through a time that I couldn't feel the Spirit. I reflected on her words and then would spend time remembering past spiritual experiences to remind myself that I indeed felt the Spirit. I felt so alone during that time, but I treated it as my valley, my journey to Zion, etc. Perhaps, you should spend time in your journal or other ways to remember those times you had spiritual experiences. Ask your wife to share her testimony with you and share times she felt the Spirit to just remind you of when you did feel the Spirit. And just endure....make this your Gethsame....vow to not give up and keep doing the right thing. Good luck.

Do you remember what the Spirit feels like? I don't mean that in any rude way, but oftentimes when we've been away from something for a long time, we often to remember what that thing feels like when we do encounter it. For example, someone who's been depressed and self-destructive for a long time may not realize it when someone else is showing them love.

There is nothing wrong with you per se. Obviously, I don’t know why you are not feeling anything, but it is completely normal. Probably everyone on this forum has had the experience of not being able to feel the Spirit. I know I have. The older I get, the faster time seems to go. One month is very short. Please don’t give up. “…that great morning of forgiveness may not come all at once. If at first you stumble, do not give up. Overcoming discouragement is part of the test. Do not give up. And as I have counseled before, once you have confessed and forsaken your sins, do not look back.” -Pres. Boyd K. Packer (link: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/04/the-saviors-selfless-and-sacred-sacrifice?lang=eng) Some links from current General Conference: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/latter-day-saints-keep-on-trying?lang=eng https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/stay-by-the-tree?lang=eng

Anxious to read your story.

Many years ago I wanted to be a teacher (math and science) but flunked remedial spelling 3 semesters in a row and was forced out of the program and had to become an engineer. But I did not want to just be any old teacher – I wanted to work with the best and brightest students. I studied how to identify genius. I wanted to find the developing superheroes and teach them. What I discovered is quite the opposite of your discovery. That is that the world if full of undiscovered superheroes and geniuses. They are everywhere. We are all living a double life and some – most are very expert in keeping their superhero (and their capes) secret. You may think it is about Jesus sharing his cape but it is really about getting others into letting out the secret of their own superhero genius. We are all the children of G-d – hiding everywhere and pretending to be just common folk.

My great-great-grandfather was a member of the Martin handcart company. He got sick at Winter Quarters and was unhappy to have to miss the trip with the company. Spent the rest of his life telling how thankful he was he got sick. A great-great-granduncle came to the rescue of the Willie and Martin companies. His father (my g-g-g-grandfather) and his brother (my g-g-grandfather) both marched with Zion's Camp -- and both survived it. My grandma was the daughter of a polygamist marriage, one of the last legitimately contracted polygamous marriages, and was born in the Mormon Colonies in Mexico (Colonia Moreno, I believe).

Are you bragging or confessing, Cappy? Or just passing time? I will read these links. History was my college major, in particular American History and 'the old days' have always interested me. We visit Torrey Utah every May and Sept and there are any number of old houses out there, including a Mormon pioneer house still in use in Fruita which sells various items that the settlers that far from Salt Lake City would have prepared, and perhaps sold. I can't see any of the history without imagining what it must have been like to settlers over 100 years ago coming out to those areas and farming, etc. There is a Mormon settlers house at least 120 years old, which has been for sale in Torrey. I have considered buying it for a few years. A lady in Torrey said "well, your name is on that house". I would like to see that some day. dc

Well, ahhh You see, uhhh It's like this, uummm... My great great great grandfather was John D. Lee

The bottom-line issue is NOT whether it's okay with God to be/engage in the LBGT lifestyle. It's whether there is a God we are accountable to. My sense is that many who post hate towards religious traditionalists do not believe so. My suggestion would be to engage them in the big question of whether there really is a God or not. If there is, are we accountable to him or not? If they refuse, then your OP question is answered. :-)

Luke, search your feelings.... I *AM* Richard Simmons... Lions and tigers and vermiscious knids, oh my! Master Po to Kwai Chang Kain: "When you can snatch the key from my hand, it will be time for you to go to the bathroom..." ...one nation under God; with liberty, fries & a Coke to go. Help me, Obi-Rhonda Kenobi. You're my only hope. "I am a child of God and He has sent me here.. has given me an earthly home with parents kind of weird." (My Kids sing that sometimes...) ------------- ..... ok so some of them have MORE than a word changed... Still, I'm trying to "obey the SPIRIT of the guffaw..." if not the letter... ....

I notice that Wikipedia calls it the year of the goat, with further explanation that it the goat sign is sometimes called sheep or ram. So maybe it is about separating the sheep from the goats.