Leaderboard

I didn't serve a mission, I will admit I was unworthy at the time, and chose a marriage over a mission. Recent come follow me material has had me pondering. D&6 36 to me reads like, if you are a man, who is ordained to the priesthood, you must "go forth to preach the gospel" (most easily achieved through serving a mission.) Despite shirking a mission once, I still intend to serve 2 missions, a service mission when I've settled into a long term career and I'm not doing extra training/degrees. I will probably be able to do this in my late 30s. And an away from home senior mission when I retire. There is still time for me to fulfil this requirement and I intend to. As for judgement for not serving a mission, nobody would dare say anything directly to me now that I'm creating babies for our dying ward.

Traveler, cease this twisting of the words of our prophets and apostles. Your statement is the dictionary definition of the philosophies of men, mingled with scripture. When you take their "every worthy and able young man", and you turn it into "calling from G-d meant for everyone", you put words in their mouths, twist the truth in their message to your own. Then you stand proudly upon this rameumptom of your own creation, looking down on those who you decide to think of as sinners, and pronounce their problem for them. Maybe I can suggest that you clarify, try again? @Ironhold, you taking notes here?

Ah yes. The urging from our leaders is "every worthy and able young man". So people see a young man not going on a mission, and they feel it's their right to gossip, unrighteously judge, and demand "so which is it? You not worthy, or you not able?" Here's the thing about unrighteous judgments and demanding things: @Carborendum's response is a righteous response. Maybe it needs to be phrased a bit more civilly (although 'go phillips yourself' is my new favorite term of the month). But they are doing wrong by butting in to things that aren't their business, and it would be nice if they would stop doing wrong. Here's why they're wrong: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1999/08/judge-not-and-judging?lang=eng "Thus, we must refrain from making final judgments on people because we lack the knowledge and the wisdom to do so." Translation: If you're telling me I'm going to hell for not serving a mission, you are being unrighteously judgmental, and you should go phillips yourself. Third, to be righteous, an intermediate judgment must be within our stewardship. We should not presume to exercise and act upon judgments that are outside our personal responsibilities. Translation: Mind your own business. Fourth, we should, if possible, refrain from judging until we have adequate knowledge of the facts. Translation: You don't know me, go phillips yourself. People acting like gossipy intrusive busybodies are everywhere. In and out of the church. When you encounter one, they are best dealt with from a position of Godly righteousness. They are sinning with their unrighteous judgments, they are sinning with their butting-in to things that aren't their business, they are sinning when they assume from a distance that they know best when they don't. You're just standing there being a disciple of Christ, and they show up peddling their nonsense. They are the first offenders. It's ok to treat them as such. Now, folks with stewardship (parents, teachers, quorum advisers, bishops, stake presidents) get to try to urge and work with as many young men as they can, to help them be worthy and able. They get to care. They get to try. But the second they use some high-pressure sales tactic like "go on a mission or you're going to hell", their behavior should be called out as luciferian, and we can ask them to stop preaching satan's doctrine. From the same article: refrain from judging people and only judge situations. That's the secret. We must not unrighteously judge, but we are COMMANDED to judge righteously. That means we judge situations, within our stewardship, with adequate knowledge of the facts. @Ironhold, you didn't go on a mission. That's between you and the Lord. You have nothing to prove to me, or anyone else. Related story: My wife has many health issues, and has a handicapped placard. When she parks in a handicapped stall and jumps out, it's usually not apparent how she 'qualifies'. Invisible illnesses are certainly things. At least weekly she sees judgmental looks from people. Maybe once every couple months, she runs into someone who feels it's a good idea to bring it to her attention. Like it's their business. Like she owes them an explanation. She's got a thousand responses in her arsenal. She'll have 1001 once I tell her about 'go phillips yourself'.

"True to the Faith That Our Parents Have Cherished" - Elder Hans T. Boom, Saturday Afternoon Session With the footnote to President Nelson's April 2022 talk, "Preaching the Gospel of Peace": FWIW

I've been studying Isaiah for the last 2 months, and alas, most of it is still going over my head. So I would like to share some thoughts and gather some thoughts on Isaiah 49:8 To start off with, the header for this chapter seems to suggest that this chapter is describing the Latter-Day gathering of Israel. Verse 2 has some interesting commentary attached to it in Church textbooks: It is suggested that the "polished shaft" is in fact Joseph Smith. As this is how Joseph Smith described himself in this famous quote: So if we are running with the assumption that this particular chapter is discussing the Latter-Days, I think the prophecy in verse 8 is being fulfilled through covenant making and patriarchal blessings. Making covenants in the Church allows us to partake of the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant, which is one way the "earth is being established" and one way we become part of the extended family of Israel. What I find most fascinating though is how covenant making allows us to "inherit the desolate heritages" and I think this is fulfilled when we are declared to be part of a particular lineage in our patriarchal blessing. This may of course be a bogus interpretation, but I find the parallels quite striking.

No higher calling.

It is not unusual for these types of prophecy to have dual fulfillments, temporal and spiritual. I really like that phrase "desolate heritages." It so perfectly describes the scattering of Israel in relation to apostatizing from the ways of their righteous fathers and then temporal scattering that followed. In the latter days, both the temporal and spiritual gatherings will and are taking place. Much of what you are describing relates to the spiritual gathering, of which covenants play a significant role.

I could do something about this, but it's not making me hate my job. Christ never tried to bring a lawsuit against the Romans or Jews after all. But I do take note of who tends to mock, and I avoid them, and mutter obscenities Christ like messages of love and unity when I realise I am on shift with them. Also, since creating this thread I discovered that the Church website actually sells pass along cards. So I plan on using them to try something a little more uplifting.

I was called to a mission before there were name tags. So also, for my grandfathers, great grandfathers and great great grandfathers. My father was unable to be called to a mission because of WWII but he served later when there were name tags. A few things I would make clear about being called of G-d: First from the Articles of Faith Second – I disagree slightly with my friend @mirkwood. Just as the Plan of Salvation and Exaltation is for everyone so is serving a calling from G-d meant for everyone – including what it known as a mission. The problem is not with a mission but with those that only wish to serve in a manner that they desire for themselves. See Matthew 7:22-23 There is a varient reading of verse 23. In stead of "Inever knew you" it could be translated, "I never authorized you" The Traveler

I served a mission. I don't think a mission is right for everyone. I get some heat from a lot of members for that position. I'm also not afraid to tell them they are wrong.

This does not appear to be an assumption. It seems pretty clear as day to any Latter-day Saint. More than that. Your quote: Is the key. A prophet leads. The Saints follow. We are given trials throughout our lives that knock off the rough edges until we become the instruments that the Lord needs us to be. This is both generational and individual. It is different parts of the overall interpretation. But you seem to be mixing it all up into one monolith. Allow me to mix metaphors (see what I did there) and liken it to a painting. We have different colors in different pixels of the painting. They need them to be where they are. If we simply mix all the paint colors together and spill it onto the canvas, it's just a blank canvas with paint spilled on it. So, we must keep each detail in the proper place (keep it in its lane). Only then, can we see the overall picture. The prophecy in Ch 49 is about the establishment of the Church in the Latter-days as a preparation for the "Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord." And verse 9 says that it is not just the mortal world we are talking about. You might want to read the differences between Isa 49 and 1 Ne 21.

I think the presiding bishops conference message of "compensating blessings" can be used in many situations, especially this one. I think that somebody who had a righteous desire to serve, left, and came home early under good faith circumstances, will not miss out on the blessings. A member from my ward watched his companion be stabbed in front of him while serving. Nobody blamed him for coming home early.

Uh huh. I'm just gonna go to the store and buy some more bottled water.

Yeah, I wondered how that sentence would go over. I used some literary license. It was more succinct than the literal, technical description of what I was trying to convey.

This sentence is proof society is about to collapse.