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As an Evangelical who came of age in the early 1980s, I remember so well the clarity of the world. Democracy vs. Communism and the Moral Majority vs. secular humanism. We figured God would use the church to turn America';s politics and culture to Jesus and righteousness. 30+ years later--what a different world it is! Paul told us to pray for Caesar, not to elect Peter. I will still cast my vote. Nevertheless, my best Christian righteousness will be seen in my love of God and neighbor, far more than in any devotion to a candidate, party, or policy position.

Seriously chill. I was inactive for 20 years. I went to my Bishop to confess. He rolled his eyes and said, oh for heavens sakes you were inactive! Very short interview. Since then I have been offered a cornucopia of callings: young women's president (I was undergoing treatment for a nasty illness and said no) relief society presidency a couple of times, I served faithfully, teaching positions, still serving. No one has mentioned my past sins and I doubt very much that my sins are recorded anywhere. Frankly once you repent no one could care less. If you sat me next to a rock, I guarantee that would find the rock to be a more interesting companion. I repeat, once you repent, no one could care less. Think of Lot's wife. Don't look back.

I could never have married a woman who lacked at least a minimal appreciation of the brilliance of Bugs Bunny.

So I went looking for a source on that, to read the entire thing, and the best I found was: "In a quote loosely associated to Ezra Taft Benson, he is remarked to have said..." (FYI, for others who like to know the source and context of quotes.)

1. Soon as I saw your picture, it reminded me of my Grandparents Buick (something?). They called it the "Boat". It was used as a starter/drivers ED car for many kids and grand kids, for it's "protection" value of being massive, "The Boat". 2. So, even though your car was totaled, how were the three of you? 3. Ahhh, leave it to Vort to not only have a story about a blessing, BUT an actual volcano was involved! Perfect!!

What is wrong with Monsanto? What is wrong with GMO foods?

A casually active police officer suffered the effects of PTSD for nine months after a significant work event. Post healing (thank you priesthood) casually active started home teaching and accepting callings. Casually active is now what we would term fully active and squared away (as much as any of us can be in mortality.)

I agree with this in principle, but I think if we get away from the two-party system we risk becoming like Italy or Great Britain. Many political parties, each vying for representation, and no one having a majority. That leaves the door open for all sorts of political scheming, temporary party alliances, and in general lots of confusion. I think that as bad as our current two-party system is, a European-style party split would make things much, much worse for our country, and hinder any decision-making processes.

My first car was my grandparents' 1979 Ford Elite. The car had absolutely atrocious sight lines, a back seat so tiny it was almost useless, and a drive feel like a boat in choppy water. But what a great car. I called it "the Hood". One guess as to why. My fiancée (later to be my wife) and I would go to a Provo drive-in* and lay out on the hood, backs on the windshield. *Those under the age of about 40 might want to brush up on the Wikipedia article. I got the car because Grandpa bought another car just before Grandma died, to take her around in. A big old Lincoln Towncar, as I recall. He bought that in 1984, and he held onto the Elite for a few years, so it was probably 1986 or 1987 that I got the Elite from Grandpa. Grandpa did like to drive reasonably nice cars -- not fancy-pants, but big and powerful and nice -- and as a long-time reactor operator at Hanford in eastern Washington, he could afford a nice car every five years or so. But that is not why he got rid of the Elite. You will recall the Mount Saint Helens eruption in 1980 in southwestern Washington. The prevailing winds were westerly. so the ash cloud ended up passing right over the Tri-Cities, resulting in about an inch or so (maybe less) of ash. That was on May 18, and though it doesn't rain a lot during the summer in eastern Washington, it does rain. And when it rained, that ash turned to acid, which ate the paint right off of thousands of cars -- including the Elite. Grandma got it repainted, but sadly, it was a bad paint job, and it started peeling within a year. When Grandma was being treated for cancer, Grandpa didn't want her to feel bad driving around in a car that looked like a trash heap, so he got the Towncar. So I ended up with a very nice car with a nasty paint job as my first car. That was the car I brought my soon-to-be fiancée home for Thanksgiving when I proposed to her, when some Idaho kid who had begged me to leave early and drive him home was driving and totalled my car on the bridge between Idaho and Ontario, Oregon. He said it wasn't his fault -- it was icy, anyone could have skidded. Uh-huh. The next guy over the bridge, the one who helped us out and gave us a lift into town, was a Floridian towing a boat who had never driven in or even seen icy roads. So, whatever. I replaced some sheet metal fenders and drove that car around for almost three more years, until we left Provo for State College and didn't want to drive the gasoline-unfriendly vehicle to Pennsylvania. I asked my cousin to sell the car. I was sure he would get several hundred for it, at least. After trying to sell it for months, he finally took it to the junkyard and got $50. Thus ended the Elite. But what an awesome car. Thanks, Mt. St. Helens!

Ah hah!! Now I can complete my Lord of the Rings map. I now know where "Middle Earth" is = Idaho!

@Kelli Let's take the focus away from you for a moment, to a hypothetical example. Say a member molests a child, do you think a record should be kept permanently of that? Of course! While the Lord forgives sins which are repentant of, such a person should not be a primary teacher ever (avoid temptation of them, and horrible trauma in case they relapse). That is why permanent records exist. Now, back to you: for adultery to desired result is for the person to go and sin no more. Once repentance is done, the whole thing is not detailed in your active records at all. Yes, there is a record stored in the dusty dusty basements of basements in Salt Lake where no one goes. Or there may be no record at all (depends on the particulars of your situation). IF (IF) there is a record kept in the dusty dusty basement, the only reason it would be called for if you do sin again, and it becomes relevant. Call me crazy, think re-commitenting adultery is probably the LAST thing you desire. And if you do fail, I doubt a dusty old record is going to be your foremost concern.

The original, not those Looney Tunes babies or whatever they are!

Like the BYU studies article mentioned, the "The Vision of Lucious Gration" was passed around the missionaries on my mission 20 years ago too. It of course had made its way into the mission some how and then been photo copied, passed on and probably still there today. At least when I was on my mission, there were strict guidelines as to which reading materials were approved or not, needless to say this was not approved. I remember others (non-approved) floating around: 1. A paper on the earth returning to presence of God, speed through heavens, heart attacks, fear 2. A paper on 666 from the Pope's crown 3. The different races of men explained in a flow chart 4. etc. A lot of funky stuff out there to sift through (avoid) as a young missionary, yikes...

@BeccaKirstyn You know you're right. You're absolutely correct. The answer was obvious and right under my nose the whole time. In the end I can't judge....

Assuming that was directed at me... the video I linked to was meant to be funny and make a point about corporate advertising creating cultural norms. I have zero interest in the question of whether diamonds are actually plentiful or whether their cost is too high. There's more to the thread than the issues you guys are fighting over.

I can't tell you the technical details. I can tell you, as others have, that Satan is trying to confuse and scare you. I can also tell you that what NeedleInA is writing is what you should trust. And finally, I can tell you that when you have finished the process, possibly even before you have finished it, you will not be ashamed to look those men from the council in the eye. It won't bother you to converse with them, or see them at church. Your guilt will be washed away, and any shame will go with it. Trust that the Lord Jesus Christ will make this right, if you sincerely repent.

This would be the case of a standard affair. Either the person giving the "advice" is misinformed or Kelli is not understanding the difference. Your Bishop in 10, 20 years will not be able to see an "affair" on your record, nor should/would he care. If it doesn't appear on your record (you resolved it) he is more interested in calling you to RS President than he is in trying to dig up dirt and find excuses to not have you serve in that calling. This is false. It is common to be asked if there are any "unresolved" sins. Once you have gone through the repentance process, the answer to this question is, "No, there are not".

I was asking whether you wanted a jet-propelled lawn mower, delivered by the Swedish women's volleyball team, but you said "no", so nevermind, go back to whatever you were doing.

Here is a speech from educational speeches at BYU regarding competition. I, personally, do not believe competition is absolutely evil, nor absolutely good. There are aspects of competition that is good, and there are aspects of competition that are evil. I remember when I was cut from the freshman basketball team at my high school. The resulted me in seeking to be a better player, and to make the team my sophomore year meant I had to be better than other kids at school. Was this evil? I think not; however, it could easily turn into evil and often does when we are so competitive that we loose composure and the spirit withdraws from us. Here is a snippet from the BYU education, "One of the prophets who understood the workings of the economy and the impact of government policy was President Ezra Taft Benson, who taught that “freedom of individual choice inspires competition. Competition inspires shrewd and efficient management, which is conducive to the production of the best product possible at the lowest price” (TETB, 629)." The Pearl of Great Price highlights how enmity was placed between us and the adversary. A gift to protect, or for us to despise all that which is against God; although, Satan then uses this and then instead of pitting our will against Satan's temptation we end up pitting our will against God. All enmity, all pride, toward our Father in heaven is sin, evil. The competition I have against Satan, overcoming his fiery temptations and proving myself before the Lord that I am worthy of is inheritance, I can't see as sin -- at this point in my knowledge.

I know an Atheist who puts shredded carrots in lime Jello. Just because the Church doesn't have a total monopoly on certain things doesn't mean it's not hogging a lot more than its fair share of the crazy single women.

BYU Studies did an article on this some time ago: https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/BYUStudies/article/viewFile/5506/5156_1

I'm an idealist, I suppose. I do vote for my favorite candidate regardless. The 2-party situation will never change if we let people scare us into voting on two parties. And yes, that's major idealism.

Not when we are buying potatoes!

"If you vote for the lesser of two evils you are still voting for evil and you will be judged for it. You should always vote for the best possible candidate, whether they have a chance of winning or not, and then, even if the worst possible candidate wins, the Lord will bless our country more because more people were willing to stand up for what is right." ~ Ezra Taft Benson

There never was a "popular vote" for president. Not even under the Articles of Confederation. It's necessary more today than it ever has been. The Electoral College is the last vestige of federalism in the Constitution. The Senate has become an elite House of Representatives via the popular vote and we lost significant power as it went from the states to the central government. The states have ceded (often voluntarily) their rights to the central government through the regulatory state. More and more the states have become mere provinces of Washington. The Electoral College protects the small (population, not land mass) from the large states. That's why the Senate was originally elected by the legislatures and why each state has two, irrespective of its population (and why the Document specifically forbids any state's losing its equal representation therein, even by amendment). If the president were elected by popular vote, the large states would steamroller the small ones. It would make the candidates ignore all but four or five states altogether, because California, New York, Florida, Texas, and one other would be all it would take to win the election. The Electoral College was never about lack of communications. It was about federalism. We reject the wisdom of the Framers if we destroy their most important output: federalism, the federalism that protects the minority against the tyranny of the majority. Lehi

One thing a person can do to really get someone's attention when they want to tell them something is touch them. Just a friendly hand on the shoulder or arm while you look them in the eye and say what you need to say.

Ah, the rare triple negative.