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Or you could understand that Context matters when revelations are given... A change in context can bring a change in how the Lord wants us to handle things. In this case as for Vort mentioned the United Order was action. Faithful members were given inheritances... inheritances that would pass down the family line. If someone was faithful and gained an inheritance... then lost it because of faithlessness... then their inheritance would be given to another. However kids or grandkids of faithful members would be getting their inheritance because of their ability to prove their "genealogy" in the church records. You wouldn't want them getting into fight saying this inheritance "Rightfully" belongs to them, because their ancestor had it first. Now a days the church doesn't hand out inheritances. So it has no real reason to restrict genealogy. It is however trying very hard to offer salvation to every soul... That mission is greatly benefited by knowing every soul possible

"For some observers, the doctrine that humans should strive for godliness may evoke images of ancient pantheons with competing deities. Such images are incompatible with Latter-day Saint doctrine. Latter-day Saints believe that God’s children will always worship Him. Our progression will never change His identity as our Father and our God. Indeed, our exalted, eternal relationship with Him will be part of the “fulness of joy” He desires for us." From Becoming Like God essay found at, https://www.lds.org/topics/becoming-like-god?lang=eng

So, some months back, I decided to start taking notes in Sacrament Meeting as a means of forcing myself to pay more attention to the speakers. This has been very beneficial for me as I have gotten more from the talks, and more from the Spirit, as a result. I bring these home and transfer them to my journal, and often use them to write thank-you emails or notes to the speakers. This hasn't really worked for fast Sunday, however (testimonies don't really lend themselves to note-taking). However, this past Sunday, I found my mind wandering, so I decided to try something different: I wrote down each thing that a person (starting with person #2) testified of - just a 1-word thing (e.g. I just let callings / church organization fall under "church", priesthood blessings and priesthood power were merged into just "priesthood", etc.). Then, for each subsequent testifier, I put down a mark next to the things they testified of (or expressed gratitude for - always lots of thankimonies). Then today, I used an online word cloud generator, and here are the results for my ward's fast and testimony meeting (the larger the word, the more people testified of it). Now maybe I'm just weird, but I found this quite interesting and satisfying, and it helped me to pay attention (so much so that I sometimes lost track of whether I'd already marked a term for the current person, so I have plans to solve that for next fast Sunday). [Results are approximate. I missed "priesthood" when making the list for the generator, so just pretend it's over on the left somewhere, same size as "gospel"...] Anywho, I thought I'd share, invite others to try it out if they're so inclined - seems like something that might get kids to pay attention (or not, what do I know?), and perhaps we can compare - might be interesting. (Google will lead you to lots of word cloud generators, should you need one.)

Agreed that the factors you cite make a difference on how the body absorbs alcohol, but I think any (implicit) suggestion that one can drink alcohol and be fine, fine, fine, fine, fine--woops! I guess I'm drunk now!--defies biology, chemistry, and common sense. Rather, one's intellectual/emotional/moral faculties are being diminished, by degrees, with every sip. It's just that at some point, the drinker reaches a threshold where (s)he decides that the impairment is no longer tolerable. And, here's another thing: As a drinker, one doesn't know where one's limits lie until one has exceeded them. In other words, at some point someone got to a point where alcohol undeniably did impair their intellect/emotional/moral capacity; and then--rather than say "gee, that was awful. I'm staying away from that junk!", they came back with "well, maybe next time I'll have a leeetle bit less . . ." I don't think, as a philosophical matter, God is terribly fond of our experimenting to find out just how much risky behavior we can get away with. As Unixknight and LeSellers point out--at least we have a legitimate reason to go back to food. In this era of clean water supplies, we have no such need for alcohol. Also, I've never stood up in court next to a defendant whose gluttony resulted in the neglect of their children or got a third party killed. I've done quite a bit of that with alcohol drinkers, though. And, every single one of them was at some point sure that their alcohol use was not impairing their parenting abilities or their driving skills--some of them, right up until their parental rights were terminated or they were escorted off to prison.

One can live nicely without alcohol. Harder to do without oxygen. Oh, yeah, nice touch. As you know, any analogy can be stretched past its usefulness. And, as you say yourself: Lehi

Gospel Principles is an official church publication (a Sunday School manual), so I don't know how you get more approved than that. It is intended for use in the Sunday School class attended by investigators and new converts. It's hard to say whether you should read it before the D&C and Pearl of Great Price (I've never considered the question). I would expect it to be easier to understand. Just keep in mind that as a class manual, it's intended for use with a teacher presenting a lesson, answering questions, and leading discussions. Feel free to consider us your teachers and the forum your class.

Getting back on track... It's amusing to me how often we're lectured on our beliefs, that we're backward and ignorant... And that lecture comes from people who can't tell the difference between a man and a woman anymore, and consider that ignorance a point of pride.

Strange. I can't find LDS Jerusalem Artichokes or LDS Molten Salt Reactors.

I've never heard anyone teach that there will be no temptation during the millennium, but rather, that Satan would be bound - and he would be bound by the righteousness of the people living in that time. This implies not that there won't be temptations, but rather that the temptations will be ignored (until near the end). Thus, if you want to live that way now, you can, just resist temptation. (In yet other words: I don't think the millennium will be easier, I think the people will be stronger.) Doctrinal Commentary by Zil - worth every penny you paid for it.

This test was taken from Elder H. Verlan Andersen's book, "Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen." Elder Andersen was a BYU law professor and was called to the First Quorum of Seventy in 1986. When he first began a new semester, he gave the same quiz to all his students. He wanted to find out how many believed in the Communist Manifesto. Fully 2/3 of his students believed in all or part of the Manifesto. If you answered the questions in the following manner, you believe or accept all or part of the Communist Manifesto. From the files of Elder Andersen: B Y Y N Y Y C Y Y Y D. Y Y E. Y N Y Y F. Y Y N G. N N

I love this. I own a graphics forum and we do things like this with making word brushes. Maybe I will do a lesson on word clouds with different fonts and sizes. Very nice.

Thanks for the good counsel. Some people think that after being here 10 years, I know more than I do. I figure it's time to step up my credentials a bit. :-)

Thanks for your expertise on the Mormon viewpoint. Funny, but many people here seem not to share in that viewpoint. It must just be them. You certainly can't be wrong.

More likely, as with many other things, it's because people will abuse any command to do things in moderation. I dated a 105 pound woman who claimed she only drank moderately, because she drank about as much as her 220 pound linebacker brother. He drank to the point of a mild buzz, which was blackout drunk for her. Since there's no physiological need for alcohol or nicotine, the only amount not open to personal interpretation is none.

Yeah I have heard of those... But I suppose my rebuttal would be that studies have shown that, on average, Mormons live 11 years longer than other Americans, so maybe those health benefits aren't all that profound That said, in the 1800s the prohibition on tobacco use was also considered odd, with doctors at the time also praising tobacco's medical benefits. The truth came out later, but at the time all the Saints had was their faith to justify avoiding smoking and chewing tobacco. I think you're right though, maybe a new thread on the subject would be fun!

I have a lot of different LDS Facebook pages that come up on my feed. I don't know that I have joined many of them, but I will often "like" their posts. Some of the posts I have "liked" are from: Ask Gramps, LDS Images, Mormon Women Stand, Mormon Pioneers, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormon Temples, BYU (Brigham Young University), Morsels of Bread, and of course LDS.Net. There's probably more, but those were the most recent.

Might I also recommend to your wife this facebook page if she likes daily quotes: https://www.facebook.com/LDSImages/

Interestingly...speculative. I've never read anything in any gospel that I can recall the refers to "death" in terms of not existing at all. Out of the hundreds of posts you've had I think I've ever even replied to something like 20 of them. I don't consider the matter trivial. If you do that's fine, but it doesn't mean I'm simply attacking any trivial little thing. I'm discussing. If you don't want to then don't. But I'm not sure why you're being hostile. The fact that I see things differently than you sometimes does not make me hostile to you. Nothing in my response was hostile. I was very careful to put things in terms of my beliefs, the way I see things, etc. So I'm not sure where the "why don't you just ignore me" anger stems from. Insecurity? I'm really not sure. I don't plan on ignoring you. If you wish to ignore me that is your choice, of course. Makes me a bit sad, but do as you will.

Who started those threads? Yikes... my bad! I'll do better on my threads

All that means, is you haven't started it yet. Adminning a FB group isn't a big thing, until your page gets popular. If you don't want that to ever happen, start the LDS Artichoke and Reactor group.

As we think about where to go with these notions, please keep this in mind. Probably a goodly portion of people reading this thread, are our youth. (Goodly = a bit more than a skosh, maybe less than a plethora.)

This is untrue. Male genitalia are as much "for looks" as femaie.

My wife and I got a couples massage last week. I had a female and she had a male. This place was highly rated but neither of us was impressed. We both felt the massages we both give each other were more intuitive and effective. I've heard good things about the deprivation tank and would like to try it sometime. In today's age we have such constant intent sensory input I can't think of a better way to truly escape.

I have, but more often my wife does Yes, I prefer a female. The idea of a dude rubbing my bare skin seems weird to me, but that is a personal hangup. I really see no problem with either sex doing it Yes, I don't see how it could be a problem Nope I don't feel anything about it( I am not sure why I would feel anything about it at all), other than I hope she gets what she needs out of it. Really it seems like an odd question.

Too funny, and right up my alley!

Someone needs a "real" massage to become unsheltered.

If you have a hobby or interest or favorite show or something, sometimes it can be easy to wander into the "wrong type" of facebook fan group. I've had good luck with my various weird passions, by searching for LDS-oriented groups. They'll usually have forum rules more LDS friendly, while still giving you a place to talk about whatever. Examples: LDS Star Wars LDS Super Geeks And of course, my personal favorite: Pam's Weight Loss and Healthy Living Support Group

GLO has a facebook group? Yay! Just sent a join request.

And FWIW...I still know all of the words.

Hey I love that song. Used to be one of my favorite songs to dance to back in the day.

‘Greater faith’ It takes assertive courage To step out into space And bravely walk undaunted To our waiting Lord’s embrace Across the tempest waters Rising up in adverse throes Fix your gaze upon His love Nothing doubting as you go Walk not slowly staggering But quicken’d in thy pace Calm the angry enmity That forbids you from His grace And lest the wild swells arise And swallow up thy soul Never turn thine eyes from Him In whom ever was our goal. Aeglyn March 2016

IMHO, much ado about goofiness, you can call yourself a rutabaga if you want to, hey, if you're NOT a rutabaga, then your just not a rutabaga!

This one, and The Mormon Channel, and Million Mormons. Mainly cause either I got invited or it was suggested.

Given who the primary poster appears to be, I'm very happy not to have any part in that group.

I've only had a chair massage. A company I used to work for used to bring in a massage therapist once a month and offer them to employees that wanted one. Only 10 minutes. But I loved them. As far as the tank, after taking a look at pictures, I would be just fine until they closed the door or lid to them. Then I would freak out.

1. My first massage was a Chair Massage. You sit in a special chair with your face resting in a horse shoe cushion. With all of your clothes on, your scalp, neck, shoulders, arms and back get massaged. I would recommend at least a 15 min. massage. Anything shorter and your don't really get relaxed. Every month where I worked, the employer gifted all of us with a 15 min. chair massage. I LOVE IT. When I moved to AZ, Hubby gifted me with a day at the spa. Facial, bull body massage, mani/pedi, shampoo/set/style. I paid extra for cut. The only part on my front was from my neck to just the cleavage and then my legs. The first masseuse only knew Swedish style. I felt abused and bruised when she got done even though I told her repeatedly to ease up, that it was too rough and hard. The next year, when I called to set up the appointment I wanted to know how long their masseuse had been with them. New gal, NOT swedish style. This one was much better. She was older and she included full scalp massage in with the full body. She never blinked with I told her to not include belly or breasts. Since moving back to Oregon, the gal who did the chair massages has open up shop that she shares with another masseuse. I go once a year, because she is booked up and I can only get in once a year. I like her. She is not upset or nasty regarding me being LDS and the fact that I insist on keeping my garment bottoms on. My first time for a full body massage, Hubby went with me, and he got a chair massage. He wanted Deep massage and she complied. I was gifting him this for his birthday and paid for a 30 min massage. 2. If my masseuse retires, moves away and there is a male masseur who is just as good or better than her, then I will go to him - -BUT Hubby will always be there with me. 3. Like I said, I go to my masseuse (female) alone. AND always after I have gone to my chiropractor. 4. I have claustrophobia, so would never do a SD tank. 5. Hubby would never go without me. As LDS neither one of us is alone with the opposite sex ever! One thing I would like to stress is that ALL masseuse and masseur ARE professionals. At least the ones I have gone to here in Oregon and Arizona. They have to go through schooling, put in lots and lots of hours practicing on friends (for no pay) and keep up their schooling when they renew their licenses. Day spas are just as professional as 'shops' that are just for massages. My chiropractor now has a masseuse in his offices. If I so chose, I could go to his office in the next town, have his masseuse work on my AFTER he has 'seen' me. Hubby just might go if the Dr. also had a masseur. His back/ hip problems are so deep that it just may take a masseur with strong hands and muscled arms to work them out. BUT I like my gal better. She knows where I hurt the most, and after, we sit, drink water and then she 'levels' out my chi. Too often one thinks of those 'shops' in the back of Adult Stores where prostitutes give 'massages' as massage parlors. I would love to find a place where I can get a facial though. Man oh man did I love the ones I got in AZ.

IMO, a sensory deprivation tank would only be appealing to those with strong imaginations. When I want to work on a story, I find it much easier to do so in a dark room, glasses off, no sound, lying down. Sounds and things to look at are very distracting. Otherwise, it could well be a form of torture (depending on the person), or a means of disorienting someone to make them more pliable - especially if used for an extended duration. I'm reminded of an episode of The Equalizer...

Just asked my wife again. She likes "Ponderizing Saints". Likes it because it gives here a "daily" quote / scripture. Little two second uplift for the day.

I have had massages before. I once had a massage given by a man, which I expected would be great. It was not. Unless the massage is given by my son (or, presumably, my brother), I do not enjoy massages from men. It is obviously a subconscious psychological thing that I prefer women, and the fact that I am only comfortable with a woman (known or unknown) massaging me sort of makes me suspicious. I have no problem with my wife getting a massage; I trust her implicitly. Strangely, she wants a massage only by a woman. I have noticed the same phenomenon with physicians.

I think you better support such an idea with...something. Satan has no body...so he's not "alive" physically. If he's not alive, how else can you describe him but "dead". And what does that have to do with where he can go? I'm not sure I see the distinction. If we're going to wrest meanings, then killing is merely banishing one from their bodies. I do not believe this at all.

I'm not going to be much help, but... 1. I don't do FB any more (couldn't stand seeing what people had for breakfast, endless baby pictures, pet tricks and all the other non-sense). 2. So both my wife and I had/have likes to "Local" LDS FB pages: Our Stake Page, the Ward Primary, Relief Society. 3. Why do/did we like them, because they were "Local". Again, not much help, but it is something. Good luck Pam!

Any Scouting callings must as per BSA rules.

As you perfectly well know, for one who has covenanted with God to avoid drinking alcohol, as most of us on this list have done, it would indeed be detrimental to our moral faculties to imbibe, moderately or otherwise. That is the LDS belief. Please don't preach against the restored gospel. That is not what this list is for.

Just as a fun little FYI: There are some cases where "background checks" are run for certain callings. 1. Some states require background checks to be a Seminary Teacher. 2. Some countries require Missionaries to have background checks before entering them.

If Moroni leaves Kolob at 9:30 am KST (Kolob Standard Time), traveling at warp 8 toward Earth; and Paul leaves Earth at 9:30 UTC (on the same day), traveling at warp 7 toward Kolob, where and when will they meet?

The fact that the first time I'm hearing of this is coming from the Salt Lake Tribulation always leaves me skeptical and questioning.

I believe that demonstrating and increasing our willingness to be obedient to law is one of the main purposes/objectives of mortality. This idea is supported by the teaching that obedience is the first law of heaven. (https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrines-of-the-gospel-student-manual/chapter-17-obedience-a-law-of-heaven?lang=eng) I also think that every time we obey law we both demonstrate and increase our willingness to obey law, and every time we disobey, we lessen or weaken, or show less willingness to obey law. I think that Christ would, and would want us to, always do that which increases our willingness to obey law. I think that Christ’s attitude towards obeying the law is well demonstrated by His willingness to provide financial support to a cruel and despotic government, as recorded in Matt 17:27, simply because that is what the law of the time required. On another matter, I note that the acronym WWJD is one of those acronyms that takes longer to say ( 8 syllables) than does the whole phrase what would Jesus do (5 syllables

Not answering any post in particular, but just several thoughts. Is being judgmental when seeing an overweight person just as "sinful" as being overweight? Is going to the gym daily for several hours being sinful because one is overly concerned about one's weight and body image/vanity? Is being too thin just as sinful as being overweight? My feeling on all this is: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerst not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

First, good luck with everything! Second, it is okay in life to insist/require/demand "me time". We serve and give of ourselves so much that it is easy to forget we need our time. On my calendar at work I have blocked out times during my week that read "NeedleinA's time, no appointments". The office staff know to simply leave me alone during those times. I got told some great business advice years ago, "If you let customers, they will drain all your time and resources, learn to set limits". Same goes with family and others around us! Also, there are always going to be people who question things about you. When I was single, it was "When are you going to get married?" When I was married, it was "When are you going to have kids?" When I had kids (4 boys), it is now "When are you going to try for a girl?" It never ends!