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The Lord accepted the words of Alma inasmuch as the Spirit of the Lord was upon him and inspired him to say what he said. We, of course, follow the revelation given to us in the D&C.

It’s quiet now Here Where waters lap among the reeds I can hear myself think And a hundred impossible flights of fancy are possible Here at the laver Before the temple of God - the fire pops – And smoke stirred by a vagrant breeze Ascends like incense Bearing my thoughts like pristine prayers Heavenward to Nature’s God Alone at twilight Til nearby song birds sing And I look across nature into the eternity Nature's changing face reveals And I wait ‘tween the promise and the dream

I taught 11 year olds in my last ward to a combined class, and in my current ward to a separated class of boys. I do think that boys of this age are starting to notice girls and tend to act stupidly around them (a condition from which most of us never recover), so they do tend to engage better in segregated classes. But, a good teacher should be able to do fine regardless.

Thanks for stepping in and helping this poor, lost, l'il redneck child out :)

Well, I think the answer is simple. The preamble was an important pondering on the meaning, the significance, of baptism, but it wasn't the template for the ordinance. The template for the ordinance is given elsewhere in the Book of Mormon, and explicitly to the Restored Church in the Doctrine and Covenants.

I don't mean to sound flippant, but of course it means you'll die! It's pretty difficult to be resurrected until you do. As for your Patriarchal blessing (and comfort blessing for that matter), no one here has the authority (and hence the ability) to interpret them for you. And you should be leery of anyone who claims they can. As to your apparent fear of dying; WHY are you afraid? Does your fear stem from the thought of leaving loved ones behind?Fear of the unknown?Concern that you're not yet prepared to meet God?All of the above? I'm no psychologist, but I'd like to offer you a couple of thoughts. First---don't worry so much about WHEN you're going to die. You're a child of God; your Father is omniscient and omnipotent. NOTHING can happen to you unless He either causes or allows it to happen. President Joseph Fielding Smith once said that: "No righteous man is ever taken before his time." President Spencer W. Kimball said he agreed with this and commented further by saying, "It has been said that the death of a righteous man is never untimely because our Father sets the time. I believe that with all my soul." He further said, "I am confident that there is a time to die. I am not a fatalist. I believe that many people die before ‘their time’ because they are careless, abuse their bodies, take unnecessary chances, or expose themselves to hazards, accidents and sickness. … I am positive in my mind that the Lord has planned our destiny. We can shorten our lives but I think we cannot lengthen them very much." If this is true (and I believe it is) then you need not worry about when you're going to die. You may hasten the time by being foolish, but if you are living a righteous life you will not be able to lengthen it much. So your objective should simply be to live a righteous life and then leave the "when" of your death in God's hands. I'm reminded of the words of a couple of righteous men. One was the prophet Ether who wrote: "Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God."(Translation---Doesn't matter how or when I die, as long as I am saved.) Another was the prophet Abinadi who, when he was facing death for his testimony, said: "But I finish my message; and then it matters not whither I go, if it so be that I am saved."(Translation---Doesn't matter how or when I die, as long as I am saved.) Just live a righteous life, Chris. Keep the commandments; magnify your priesthood and callings in the Church; love and serve your fellow man; and then you can be assured that God will watch over and protect you until He decides it's time for you to come home. Then you can claim the promise in D&C 42:46 --- "And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them" Then you can view death as the prophet Enos did--- "I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father." Or as the people of Anti Nephi-Lehi did--- "they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it." I say again, just live a righteous life, Chris, and you will have nothing to fear.

There ya go.

I think it depends on the class size etc

Did you breathe ?? Lol!!!

I never bring a phone into church and I use "real"scriptures and manuals....I know dark ages. At the beginning of every sacrament meetings we are reminded to silence all electronic devices...and almost every sacrament meeting one will be sure to ring.

This is in a sense true. However, when the split was proposed the ward was composed of mostly long time members [the old guard so to speak] and I felt that perhaps things were too inclusive since many of these families were inter-related (bros and sis, cousins. etc...) but now that many of those have died or moved being replaced by fresh move-ins the situation has shown no signs of change. Though many in the ward are really nice, friendly people...they continue to seem spiritually dead in the pews. Why would the living want to join the dead? I know any change I seek has to begin with me changing myself but I guess I'm looking at how to get a spiritual revival going among the members...

I've never been in a ward where they were split. We just don't have the pupils/teachers to require it.

They separate them in my ward and all the wards I've been in. In fact, I thought all wards separated them until I visited my son's ward two weeks ago in the Seattle area and found out they kept the boys and girls together. I was surprised.

Same here. And in the last ward I was in, and the one before that... I can't think of a ward I've been in with seperate classes for that age

No, they do not have to be separated. Ours have been combined for years.

It seems we have lots of people coming on with testimony struggles. A CES Devotional to address just that topic: "Worldwide Devotional to Focus on Strengthening Testimony", May 3 at 6:00 p.m. mountain daylight time by Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Presidency of the Seventy. Online at devotionals.lds.org. The speaker says: “I want to describe to you how I came to know that He is the literal Son of God, the Redeemer and Savior of the world, and that His gospel is true,” Elder Robbins said. “I also want to help you discover that your own testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel is much stronger than you think it is.” See how evaluating where you are on the faith spectrum and assessing how you can grow and how you can get there has the potential to change your life. Source: https://www.lds.org/church/news/worldwide-devotional-to-focus-on-strengthening-testimony?cid=HP_WE_4-29-2015_dPTH_fEVTS_xLIDyL1-C_〈=eng