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So, looking over the Come Follow Me for next week I had a thought (probably very heavily inspired by the Come Follow Me Lesson). I absolutely love my books. I have what some would consider a rather large library. It consist of over 10,000 books. It is perhaps one of my most treasured things. It is worthless. I dream that when I die, I will be given a large room of books to spend eternity with, but that's as vain a thought as the Pharoahs who tried to bring their treasures with them. It can be a hard thing to put the lord above all other things, including things that you love in this life. Part of putting the Lord first for me, I think it to realize that it's truly just the Lord and what he wants that is important. If it is needful for me to read in the next life, it will be because it's part of the Lord's plan for me, not because of my own selfish desires to simply sit back and read for eternity. I think when I read about Martin Harris's sacrifice, that it could not have been easy for him to do. He ended up losing a lot of property and money. According to this site inflation calculator He would have lost over 100,000 ($101,134.02 as calculated to the end of 2024) in today's spending money. How much are we willing to give for the Kingdom of the Lord. We should be willing to sacrifice all we have (which, in truth, as this life is a temporary probation, is actually nothing at all since we don't get to keep any of it anyways). It's getting into that mindset that can be hard though.

Looking at the scriptures, I think the answer is found in section 93 when it talks about the elements being the tabernacle of God, I think what is being communicated is that physical matter is the tabernacle of the spiritual. I think we are still the same because of the spirit bodies housed in our physical bodies. And I think the change over of cells can be likened to a temple renovation. The structure will be physically altered. But when work is complete, it is rededicated, and it is still the same temple, being filled with the same spirit of God. I think yes and no. The human body is its own kind of ecosystem. For example, gut bacteria, is vital to the digestive process but does not originate from our own cells. On a cellular level, we definitely not one individual being, but again, I think our spirit bodies are what gives us our oneness. All things were made spiritually before physically (according to D&C 29). I think your remarks on the immune system and electrons are very interesting indeed, and seem to be in support of the idea that all things possess an intelligence.

https://daggionline.blogspot.com/2005/10/when-im-in-heaven.html?m=1

There is one, above all others, whose personal influence covers the continents, spans the oceans, and penetrates the hearts of true believers. He atoned for the sins of mankind. I testify that He is a teacher of truth—but He is more than a teacher. He is the Exemplar of the perfect life—but He is more than an exemplar. He is the Great Physician—but He is more than a physician. He is the literal Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Holy One of Israel, even the risen Lord, who declared: “I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. … I am the light and the life of the world.” “I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.” - Thomas S. Monson, Your Personal Influence He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. - Matthew 16:15-17

Jesus is the head of his church, the Creator of the universe, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind, and the Judge of the souls of men. Who he is and what he does affected each of us before we were born and will affect us each day of our mortal lives and throughout the eternities. Much of what he is and does is beyond finite human ability to comprehend, but the Holy Ghost has borne witness to my soul of their reality. - Joseph B. Wirthlin, Our Lord and Savior God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. - Hebrews 1:1-4

I wanted to ponder a bit before responding. In this thread there is a discussion about inanimate objects having a spirit. Electrons are interesting objects that are thought to be inanimate. I am convinced that individual electrons have individual spirits and intelligence. In the quantum world we define electrons with probabilities. The reason is that not all electrons will act the same under the same conditions. As we increase the number of electrons we are “observing” the more it becomes evident that some electrons are defying the physics that seems to govern them. No one has ever come up with a good explanation for quantum entanglement. I chose electrons for this discussion because our physical human bodies will not function without the operations of electrons. We would not even be able to think, see, talk, move – is short even exist as humans without the separate intelligence of electrons. Scripture tells us that physically we come from “dust” and to “dust” we shall return. You quoted from the D&C 93 and I do not disagree at all – except that the physical part of us does indeed have influence as to how we behave and act. We measure much of our human intelligence by how well our individual brains operate. And there is more. The scriptures talk about the “natural man” in terms of that physical influence over us. The scriptures also talk about repentance and how we become a “different” creature. For myself, I am still pondering what I am and if I truly can become a different person. I tend towards (with faith and hope) the possibility that it is likely that we are all on a path that will change what and who we are. The Traveler

3. Why does God sometimes cause bad things to happen to Good people? (Various boogaloos in the old testament) I think the answer to this is Agency also, which includes the paradigms and bias through which view the world and the scriptures. I think God teaches us within the spheres in which our agency has prepared us to operated, and this sometimes involves unpleasant experiences as a prompt for exercising and this strengthening trust in Him.

This is a myth. Various types of cells in our bodies renew at different rates. And some cells don't really change at all. One may as well ask if we are one entity when we are holding a pet in our lap, or embracing a loved one. We interact with our immune system (and all of our autonomic processes) much more than we realize on a conscious level. But rest assured, it is us.