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"I bear witness that when Christ comes, He needs to recognize us—not as nominal members listed on a faded baptismal record but as thoroughly committed, faithfully believing, covenant-keeping disciples. This is an urgent matter for all of us, lest we ever hear with devastating regret: “I never knew you,” or, as Joseph Smith translated that phrase, “[You] never knew me.” Fortunately, we have help for this task—lots of help. We need to believe in angels and miracles and the promises of the holy priesthood. We need to believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost, the influence of good families and friends, and the power of the pure love of Christ. We need to believe in revelation and prophets, seers, and revelators and President Russell M. Nelson. We need to believe that with prayer and pleading and personal righteousness, we really can ascend to “Mount Zion, … the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.” Brothers and sisters, as we repent of our sins and come boldly to the “throne of grace,” leaving before Him there our alms and our heartfelt supplications, we will find mercy and compassion and forgiveness at the benevolent hands of our Eternal Father and His obedient, perfectly pure Son. Then, with Job and all the refined faithful, we will behold a world “too wonderful” to understand. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." -President Jeffery R. Holland, April 2024 General Conference.

Eating my lunch and scrolling, and I came across an example of what I’m talking about: https://youtube.com/shorts/GMq9NalMTp8?si=JGF6ByKYshz-JJ2I it is nice to see younger folks arrive at a little bit of wisdom on their own. Completely secular viewpoint being given here.

Tirana, Albania Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Uruguaina, Brazil Prince George, British Columbia, Canada Bordeaux, France Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast Kingston, Jamaica Majuro, Marshall Islands Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico Abuja, Nigeria East London, South Africa Port of Spain, Trinidad Kampala, Uganda Mobile, Alabama, USA Price, Utah, USA Everett, Washington, USA Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA Maracaibo, Venezuela

It is my understanding that in the USA police are obtained from the citizenry of our country. But when acting in their duty that they are not acting as citizens but rather as officers of the law. The Travelert

Ever since at least junior high school (so about ages 12 - 14), whenever Conference came around things would go sideways in some fashion. Whether it was an argument with my parents the morning of, scheduling conflicts that left me rushing to get things done before Conference, or just general drama in the week leading up to it, things tended to be quite rough. Today, for example, I woke up to discover that for some reason Microsoft redid Office so that it's no longer defaulting to have Auto-Save on, and long story short I may have borked the saves for two critical spreadsheets I'm keeping by trying to manually save them to the cloud as well as to my system (yes, I have them backed up to Google Drive as a failsafe). I'm waiting for either Microsoft tech support or some computer peeps I know to get back to me. Does anyone else find themselves having to deal with a spike in stressful situations and personal problems ahead of Conference?

Oh, I very much agree with this. It's getting pretty common to pretty much ignore the homemaking/child-rearing side of things because what if the marriage implodes? Got to be ready! And sure, it's good to be prepared, but the paranoia is unreal.

Why are so many worried about finding a photo of the Prophet?

Agreed. Such was also the case with the leaders of Jews in the days of Jesus Christ and the years prior to that. Agreed. I agree here as well. And it’s not like there’s anything any of us lay members could do to correct the course of the church, even if we wanted to.

Agreed. Which is why I appreciate the work of "Thoughtful Faith", Greg at "CWIC Media", and Hannah at "The Joseph Smith Foundation" (among others).

It’s also worth noting that a man who did that would pretty much have to haul up stakes and leave town; because socially/ professionally/ religiously, he’d be absolutely finished among those who knew what he had done. But the risk of a “tradwife” relationship isn’t all one-sided. The breadwinner takes a risk that his wife isn’t going to render him both breadwinner and homemaker by deciding that household drudgery is beneath her or by developing a chronic physical or mental illness. And of course, if *she* leaves *him*, the alimony can be catastrophic. Fundamentally, any marriage (regardless of the anticipated economic arrangement) is a tremendous leap of faith. And I realize I’m judgmental, but part of me thinks “if you’re going to farm the kids out to daycare and insist on working/insist she works because you think there’s a good chance your marriage, specifically, will end in divorce; then why are you getting married at all?”

I will predict at least two in places I did not know there was even a ward there and one in a place I did not know even existed. In my youth I could name all the temples – but back then there were only 12 and the year I graduated from high school they dedicated the 13th. I set a goal to visit al the temples. Currently I can’t even tell you all the temples in Utah. I am starting to take all the temples for granted. The wife and went to our assigned temple forgetting that it was closed for a week of deep cleaning. So we just went to another temple. We ended up finding out there 4 temples were closed for something before we found one (all within less than an hour drive of our home) was open. Now days that problem is solved because we make appointments. At the most recent Roots Tec I learned that on the Family Tree app I can find the name(s) of the closest relation to take to the temple. I am guessing that we will be told that the Kirtland temple will soon be restored and rededicated. I would like to be there for that. The Traveler

Here is a list of places with no temples built, in progress, or announced. Most new temples lately have been in places that already have at least one in the relevant state/country, but I think I usually have to cross one or two off the list per conference. So something to consider. North American States/Provinces/Territories New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Yukon Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Northern Mariana Islands, Rhode Island, South Dakota, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacan, Nayarit, Tlaxcala, Zacatecas Africa Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia Asia/Middle East Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen Europe Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Vatican City Also Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Central America/Caribbean Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago Oceania Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu South America Guyana, Suriname Also French Guiana and the Falklands Utah Counties Beaver, Carbon, Daggett, Duchesne, Emery, Garfield, Grand, Juab, Kane, Millard, Morgan, Piute, Rich, Sevier, Summit, Wasatch, Wayne

@JohnsonJones If you have the experience you say (I'm taking you at your word that you do) then you know how safe that child was and how ridiculous your concerns are. Timestap 7:40 so you can see clearly what you will also see in the next picture. Rifle slung downwards. Time stamp 7:42 the rifle is slung. Non threatening. Puh-leeze JJ...puh-leeze. My bonafides on the topic: I am 26 year officer (still working.) I am a building clearing instructor. I am an active shooter/rapid response instructor. I am a MACTAC instructor (counter terrorist active shooter stuff.) You are really reaching JJ.

@JohnsonJones you are either ignorant of building clearing tactics or looking to complain. With your expressed attitude about the topic you are wrong in either case. I really do not think you want to understand the reasons or care. Your attitude shows. See @Just_A_Guy's first point. Nope, NO APOLOGIES for practicing proper building clearing tactics.

I've always found this such a strange claim to make. It's applying meaning to a word that the word doesn't mean. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/doctrine https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctrine https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/doctrine "Doctrine" means what is taught and accepted by an organization. Obviously, by definition of the word, doctrine changes in the Church. And it's strange to me to try and define "doctrine" as something it is not. There are many things that have been taught and accepted by the church that are now no longer taught or accepted. It would make more sense to add an adjective to the word. Eternal doctrine doesn't change. Core doctrine doesn't change. God's doctrine doesn't change. Or the like. But just "doctrine" obviously changes.

The scriptures do not say that progression between kingdoms is impossible. Many of the brethren have made statements in support of progression between kingdoms (e.g. from telestial to terrestrial to celestial), not just progression from the lower degree of one kingdom to the higher degree of the same (e.g. the lower terrestrial to the upper terrestrial). Some quotes in favor of progression are below: Brigham Young “None would inherit this earth when it became celestial and translated into the presence of God but those who would be crowned as Gods — all others would have to inherit another kingdom — they would eventually have the privilege of proving themselves worthy and advancing to a celestial kingdom but it would be a slow process.” (In the journal of Wilford Woodruff, 5 Aug 1855) Franklin D. Richards (Quorum of the Twelve) The Savior tells us that the terrestrial glory, or kingdom, is likened unto the glory of the moon, which is not of the brightness of the sun, neither of the smallness nor dimness of the stars. But those others who have no part in marrying or giving of marriage in the last resurrection, they become as stars, and even differ from each other in glory; but those in the terrestrial kingdom are those who will come forth at the time when Enoch comes back, when the Savior comes again to dwell upon the earth; when Father Abraham will be there with the Urim and Thummim to look after every son and daughter of his race; to make known all things that are needed to be known, and with them enter into their promised inheritance. Thus the people of God will go forward. They will go forward, like unto the new moon, increasing in knowledge and brightness and glory, until they come to a fullness of celestial glory. (Journal of Discourses Vol. 25:236, 17 May 1884) J. Reuben Clark, Jr. (First Presidency) I am not a strict constructionalist, believing that we seal our eternal progress by what we do here. It is my belief that God will save all of His children that he can: and while, if we live unrighteously here, we shall not go to the other side in the same status, so to speak, as those who lived righteously; nevertheless, the unrighteous will have their chance, and in the eons of the eternities that are to follow, they, too, may climb to the destinies to which they who are righteous and serve God, have climbed to those eternities that are to come. (Church News, p. 3 , 23 April 1960) B.H. Roberts (Presidency of the Seventy) These are the great divisions of glory in the world to come, but there are subdivisions or degrees. Of the telestial glory it is written: “And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one, for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world” [D&C 76:98]. From this it is evident that there are different degrees of glory within the celestial and the telestial glories; and though we have no direct authority for the statement, it seems but reasonable to conclude that there are different degrees of glory in the terrestrial world also. It appears but rational that it should be so, since the degrees of worthiness in men are almost infinite in their variety; and as every man is to be judged according to his works, it will require a corresponding infinity of degrees in glory to mete out to every man that reward of which he is worthy, and that also which his intelligence will enable him to enjoy. The question of advancement within the great divisions of glory celestial, terrestrial, and telestial; as also the question of advancement from one sphere of glory to another remains to be considered. In the revelation from which we have summarized what has been written here, in respect to the different degrees of glory, it is said that those of the terrestrial glory will be ministered unto by those of the celestial; and those of the telestial will be ministered unto by those of the terrestrial–that is, those of the higher glory minister to those of a lesser glory. I can conceive of no reason for all this administration of the higher to the lower, unless it be for the purpose of advancing our Father’s children along the lines of eternal progression. Whether or not in the great future, full of so many possibilities now hidden from us, they of the lesser glories after education and advancement within those spheres may at last emerge from them and make their way to the higher degrees of glory until at last they attain to the highest, is not revealed in the revelations of God, and any statement made on the subject must partake more or less of the nature of conjecture. But if it be granted that such a thing is possible, they who at the first entered into the celestial glory–having before them the privilege also of eternal progress–have been moving onward, so that the relative distance between them and those who have fought their way up from the lesser glories may be as great when the latter have come into the degrees of celestial glory in which the righteous at first stood, as it was at the commencement. Thus: Those whose faith and works are such only as to enable them to inherit a telestial glory, may arrive at last where those whose works in this life were such as to enable them to entrance into the celestial kingdom–they may arrive where these were, but never where they are. (New Witnesses for God, 1:391-392) Wilford Woodruff (Member of the Quorum of the Twelve) If there was a point where man in his progression could not proceed any further, the very idea would throw a gloom over every intelligent creature. God himself is increasing and progressing in knowledge, power, and dominion, and will do so, worlds without end. It is just so with us. We are in probation, which is a school of experience. ( Journal of Discourses, Volume 6:120, December 6, 1857) Hyrum Smith (Assistant President of the Church, Church Patriarch, Member of the Quorum of the Twelve) Hiram [Smith] said Aug 1st [18]43 Those of the Terrestrial Glory either advance to the Celestial or recede to the Telestial [or] else the moon could not be a type [viz. a symbol of that kingdom]. [for] it [the moon] "waxes & wanes". Also that br George will be quickened by celestial glory having been ministered to by one of that Kingdom. ( August 1, 1843, transcribed by Franklin D. Richards; Words of the Prophet, pg. 24; CHO Ms/d/4409/Misc Minutes Collection) There are many more similar statements from the brethren out there.

I believe that God will do exactly what scripture teaches, which includes not permitting anyone to enter into a kingdom of glory which they do not qualify for.

I’m no one’s judge, but when we compare the actual requirements set forth in the scriptures for attaining the Celestial kingdom and becoming just like our Heavenly Father is, it is very apparent that the vast majority of the active church membership is not currently at this level.

Yay - preggo privilege! My wife has stories too.

What does this mean?