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They didn't read it in my ward this week. But can I just tell you how wonderful it was to FINALLY have Sacrament Meeting first?

Double time and a half.

Thought this quote from Elder Maxwell is spot on: “Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. (See 1 Kgs. 18:21.) President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had ‘never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life’ (in Conference Report, Apr. 1941, p. 123). This is a hard doctrine, but it is a particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ! We are now entering a time of incredible ironies. Let us cite but one of these ironies which is yet in its subtle stages: We will see a maximum, if indirect, effort made to establish irreligion as the state religion. It is actually a new form of paganism which uses the carefully preserved and cultivated freedoms of western civilization to shrink freedom, even as it rejects the value essence of our rich Judeo-Christian heritage.” “Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. M. J. Sobran also said, ‘A religious conviction is now a second-class conviction, expected to step deferentially to the back of the secular bus, and not to get uppity about it’ (Human Life Review, Summer 1978, pp. 58–59). This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.” “Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, ‘summer is nigh’ (Matt. 24:32). Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat!” Elder Neal A. Maxwell

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/funeral-services-scheduled-for-president-boyd-k-packer Funeral services for President Boyd K. Packer, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will be held in the Tabernacle on Temple Square on Friday, July 10, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. MDT. The funeral will be open to the public ages 8 and older.

We actually had two separate meetings today during second and third hour so all adults were able to hear the letter read and then participate in a discussion lead by a member of the bishopric. Some points came up about how to discuss SSM with older children, how the law of chastity will not change, and showing love and compassion. It was interesting to find out how many people had immediate family members who were homosexual. Some felt the need to talk to there kids rather openly about it because of there situation.

The journals/writings of some of the early Church members is a good source. http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/

Satan's purpose is to have us believe we are gods without needing God. When he said, "ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil", he was stating a lie. We become as God, knowing good and evil, through Jesus Christ. Today, as in other wicked periods of the past, people chose to be gods unto themselves, not necessarily knowing good and evil, but declaring what will be good and/or evil. There will be a clash, simply because LGBT has, for many, become a religion. Just as there are continual tensions between radical Islam and Christianity, so there is between radical LGBT and Christianity. As the radical Islamists seek to establish a global caliphate, so do the radical among the LGBT. And while the majority of these groups may be kind, generous, and patient with Christianity, the loud and aggressive ones are the ones pushing much of the agenda for the entire group.

That can always be exciting to watch. Lol

Capitalist, of course humanity came to know evil, because now we'd done it. Of greater concern is the whole "being like God" part. Despite the doctrine of exaltation, no LDS or Evangelical argues that our coming into godlikeness is to happen in this lifetime. Yet, those who supress religion and faith, in the name of human rights, do just that. They, believing they know good from evil, declare God unnecessary, and his followers being that need to be contained.

Will pray. Be sure to be there for her, knowing the road ahead of her is rough and she'll need every bit of loving support she can get.

We took time for each other today Been remodeling the house...and needed the break. Thought about the meaning of the day. Went out to a movie then home for husband to BBQ steak and crab. Watch fireworks on tv... only because they had fireworks in our town last night. It was a wonderful day. Will have the family over tomorrow to celebrate and have our own fireworks.

I hope you enjoy reading your books.

Huh. I thought most activities were in the evening, when a lot - if not most - husbands are home. I never hear of the men asking/worrying/wondering who is going to watch the kids if they attend a meeting or activity. It seems like women are always expected to figure out the childcare thing if they want to do something...men...not so much. Women work, men are single, female soldiers are deployed, etc. Are there NO men around? Surely there are some dads and/or young men around who could step up and take the child-care burden off the women for a couple of hours.

Watch my neighbors send off fireworks and try to burn my house down

We live in the times when men call good evil and call evil good, It may seem more pronounced in our time but the war in heaven didn't cease - its right here.

This was in St George, I think in the mid 1890's, and I believe the statement was made by President Snow.

I remember studying this talk in Institute class about 10 years ago and marvelling at how prophetic it was. I had no idea then, and it will be interesting to revisit it in another 5 years or so to be amazed again. “A religious conviction is now a second-class conviction, expected to step deferentially to the back of the secular bus, and not to get uppity about it”

The squirrels reminded me of this:

With all due respect . . . how could anyone possibly answer anything other than "yes" to your question, framed as it is? I don't think the Church is significantly more spiritual now than it used to be. I do think we're a lot more spiritually exhibitionistic than we used to be. Seems like every Latter-day Saint who has a spiritual experience now feels impelled to write a blog, if not a book, making that experience available for public inspection. I call it Snuffer-Pontius Spiritual Selfie Syndrome™. Naturally, if the Spirit tells you to share, then share. But we should bear in mind that there's a strain of "look-at-me'ism" that permeates our culture. Are we sure we understand what's really motivating us?

Wasn't there a period in church history where rain was withheld from the members in So. Utah? They were told to become better at paying tithing. I feel like this is one of those kinds of things as well.

Correct. No. You betcha. Wrong. My reply is that wealth is not a sign for sign-seekers such as yourself. I have addressed what it really says. You may keep trawling to see if someone else will say something you like better, but don't pretend the question you asked has not been answered. Helpful hint: When you want to find out what people believe, it's better to ask them what they believe than to tell them what they believe and then demand an explanation for what you said.

No, wealth is a sign of having a lot of money. True, when the people of the Lord live righteously, he prospers them -- as a people. But wealth is not any sort of sign of individual righteousness. Any such teaching is a pernicious lie, and shame on the person who claims it as LDS doctrine.

It's all Greek to me.