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Latter-Day Marriage, Thank you for taking the time to reply. Very sound advice... I'm sure I'll reach a place where I will allow it to sink in. For many years, during my super picky stage, I would constantly tell myself that if a man didn't love God more than he loved me, he wasn't someone I wanted to marry. I had adopted this mantra in response to people telling me I should try meeting men at places where I was unable to feel the Spirit. Anyway, soon after you wrote your post, I composed a lengthy response - junk rolling around in my head that doesn't need to be read (and which I deleted). But for anyone reading this thread who is in a similar situation, I do want to mention one thing. I attended my first group therapy session a few days ago. Fellow codependents may understand the significance of this: I cried in front of complete strangers and didn't beat myself up afterward. It was very different than meeting with the bishop (not to discount the latter). The bishop's role is to be a judge in Israel. In the codependency support group, judgment is left behind in the spirit of providing a safe place to heal. It was very reassuring. I'm looking forward to making it a regular part of my week. Right now, that's about my speed for gradually allowing people back into my life. I also had "the talk" and ended the relationship yesterday. I had worked through my emotions enough that I was able to spot the triggers he employs and keep myself from being drawn in. So I'm in a better place than I was and am learning how to take care of my needs again..

So... this totally back fired in my face and I would highly suggest not duplicating it either. This happened a couple of days ago. In my "wisdom" I decided to do a prank on my family since I had access to a fog/smoke machine for an upcoming Youth Dance. I sneaked the machine downstairs and waited until my wife and kids were all upstairs cooking and getting ready for dinner. This smoke machine is definitely a high output device. I turned on the machine close to the basement stairs leading up to the kitchen area. Smoke quickly filled the down stairs and to my surprise, thinking it was a "fog" machine, the smoke detectors all started going off. The alarms triggered the start of the panic upstairs. "What is going on?" "Are you burning the food?" "Where is your father?!?' As they called/screamed for me I remained silent down stairs. Shortly afterwards the smoke made it's way upstairs... finally they saw the smoke and that it was coming from downstairs. This set off a higher level of panic and some choice words from my loving wife (who never swears, ever!). As they called down for me from the upstairs, I still remained silent. So with all the alarms blaring, panicked kids, swearing wife I decided to emerge while laughing. Well... the reaction of my wife realizing it was a joke/prank almost left me one step away from being divorced I have seen her mad before, but she was MAAADDDD x1,000,000. Oh boy! So lessons learned: 1. Don't prank involving your death. My wife thought I had died or was dying downstairs. 2. Realize that your family will basically panic in a house fire situation unless you have practiced this. 3. Realize that you are going to burn downstairs because no one came to rescue Dad...he is disposable So again... don't try this if you want a happy marriage. Don't do this because you might come to the shocking realization that your family loves you, but not enough to risk their lives to go help you downstairs.

I hope I haven't already used up too much forum space with my previous post, but I'll try to give you a shorter synopsis of the "mechanics" of my conversion. I was about to turn 19 and I worked at on the shipping dock of a big factory. It was my first job out of high school. As I said earlier, I had drifted away from Christianity and had an interest in eastern religions. One day I was assigned to work at a different loading dock location with a guy I later found out was LDS. I didn't know anything about the Mormons and I relished the opportunity to ask some questions. I thought the answers he had were interesting. As I mentioned earlier, one of my chief objections to Calvinism specifically and Christianity in general were the notions of predestination, free will, and what happens to people who die without a knowledge of the gospel. The teachings of the Church about the gospel being preached by Jesus in the spirit world were surprising to me. It just seemed so fair! I always figured that God would have a way that would be fair to those who didn't have a shot in this life. The guy offered me a copy of the Book of Mormon. I accepted his invitation to read it and he brought be a copy the next day at work. This was on a Friday. At day's end, I was waiting on my ride and I began to peruse the pamphlets that he gave me along with the book. I read them in this order: Joseph Smith's Testimony, The Plan of Salvation, and Read the Book of Mormon, It Can Change Your Life. I remember being strongly impressed at the earnestness of Joseph Smith's account. It was clear that he wanted to present an extraordinary experience in a sober, direct manner without sensationalizing it. I reserved judgment because I thought the guy could have just been delusional or something, but I kept an open mind. I felt that, if he were so, it would become manifest in the stuff he had written. A was also impressed about the angelic visitations of Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John. It made the connection about the keys of the kingdom and authority that I had believed to be lacking. I thoroughly enjoyed The Plan of Salvation. It was the most reasonable Christian explanation of those topics I had ever read. I was, up to that time, more Hindu/Buddhist in my thinking, believing in Karma, reincarnation, etc. I also appreciated the selections from the Book of Mormon in the last pamphlet because it gave me some insight into what I'd be reading about, and it contained the critical reference to Moroni's promise. Moroni's promise struck me profoundly. Everyone had previously answered my questions either with just Bible verses (which people interpreted differently) or with a claim that one needed to just believe without question. The promise of a personal revelation was unprecedented. NOBODY had the cojones to say that before! I have to say that I was somewhat astounded by that. The guy had essentially said that, if you read this and ask if it's true, you can ask God with the expectation that you'll get an answer. I took the Book of Mormon home and began to read it. I read it most of Friday night and most of the day on Saturday. There were certain things that challenged me. I think they are placed there by God to dissuade those who are unwilling or too biased to get past them. The killing of Laban by Nephi bothered me, but I had read enough of the Bible to know that God had ordered Joshua to kill men, women, and children in conquering some cities in the Promised Land. There was the ingrained prejudice that the Bible could not be "added to," but Nephi's arguments about God adding to his own word made sense to me. The dark skin thing about the Lamanites was a bit troubling, too. I was the product of a liberal 1970s education at the time and that was a little worrisome. Then I considered that a book written thousands of years ago might not share the same views on race that our more "enlightened" times would. An ancient record that had a more "politically correct" presentation might be even more suspect, I thought. By Sunday afternoon, I came to realize that I really couldn't find any flaws in what I had read up to that point. I was near the end of 2nd Nephi or thereabouts. I realized that, much like Joseph Smith, I was too young and unacquainted with "men and things" to figure it out on my own. Moroni's promise was still hanging out there so I decided to make the attempt. I had only really prayed one other time in my life where I felt that I had received an answer. I mustered up the same degree of sincerity and faith that I had exercised at that time. I understood that you couldn't be trifling with God. You can't fake him out or play him. He knows if you're for real or not. There's no sense it trying to be insincere about faith. So when I prayed, it was kind of like KIng Lamoni's prayer: "God, if there is a God, and you're God..." I resolved that I would accept whatever answer came. I think that was the key to me getting the answer I did. I knew that, if this would be true, it would require a commitment. I would have to do what God directed. If it was true, I'd have to commit my life's path to that truth. When I prayed, I didn't immediately feel anything. I prayed for several minutes and then stopped. I resolved, "Well, I'll just keep on reading then. Maybe I'll find out later after I've read more." Within minutes, a warm glow enveloped me. I can't really describe it, but I went from not knowing to knowing. I marveled that there were people holed up in caves in the HImalayas, meditating, trying to find truth and there it was in my hand. I had found it. (I had actually thought about going to India to find a guru, but a book I read told me that, when you're ready, the guru comes to you.) I didn't realize my "guru" would be a 19 year-old Mormon guy. I have to mention that there was a logical "domino effect" that sort of rewired my understanding. The answer was that the Book of Mormon was true and that Joseph Smith indeed saw God. That led me to conclude that God indeed did exist and that Jesus Christ was his Son. That was a big hurdle. In a moment, with this exciting new information, I had to consciously decide that I would accept Jesus Christ as my Redeemer. I thought, "Dang, I'm a Christian, now!" That realization made me determine that I truly had some things to put aside in my life and repent of them. The the flood included, the need to be baptized, priesthood authority, keys of the kingdom, revelation, apostasy, restoration, and a million more things. All this seemed to happen in just a fraction of a second. It was exhilarating! I went back to work on Monday and around lunch time the guy came and asked me what I thought of the Book of Mormon. I told him that I though it was true and asked if I had to be baptized or something to follow through. I could have pushed him off the loading dock with a feather! He asked how I knew and I tried to explain to him what I had felt. He responded, "That's the Holy Ghost!" When he said that, I felt it all over again. I learned in that moment how the Spirit speaks. I had not met a missionary or even been to a Church meeting at that time so he hooked me up with some elders to take the discussions. I went through all seven discussions in three days. The next week was the Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra. I gladly went along on the 14-hour trip from Virginia to upstate New York to experience it. I can't tell you how great it felt to be an unbaptized investigator walking around those Church sites. Everyone was so friendly and for two days, if felt like the heavens were opened to me. There was so much I didn't know and new information came pouring in like Niagara Falls. For example, we'd been on the road about 4 hours, leaving after work on a Friday evening. I'm in the car devouring, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, by LeGrand Richards. Somebody said something about the Prophet, and I asked if he meant Joseph Smith. He said, "No, Spencer W. KImball--the current prophet." Imagine my excitement to find out in that moment that the Church still had a prophet and 12 apostles leading it! Then about 10 minutes later, we pass the Washington Temple. You can imagine how mind-blowing that was and the discussions about baptism for the dead. The whole weekend was like that. I was baptized the next weekend. It was an amazing experience. I left for a mission 20 months later. When I came back from my mission, I had been a full-time missionary longer than I had been a member before my mission! It was a great experience and I grew a lot in my testimony. Shortly thereafter, I met my wife-to-be and we married. Now we've been together 33 years. We have five kids, and very soon our 10th grandchild will be born. We've had many adventures and many trials. I have never regretted my decision to join the Church and I still enjoy teaching the gospel today.

This is actually the clearest explanation I have ever seen, for the phenomena of Trump having the support he does. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I totally get your points, and can see the attraction. I don't get why you think Trump is going to do GOOD for the country. There is a leap from, what has been going on wrong for nearly two decades, to Trump as savior...that I'm still not getting. In other words, I see he has a symbolic attraction but not tangible evidence that could take Trump from symbolic leader to an actual leader. He in fact, speaks in symbolic terms (which isn't unusual in a campaign, Obama did the same thing).

The public needs to be educated on this matter. Lagalization does not mean right, and wrong does not mean illegal. Part of the problem is our laws have never been consistent in this regard. Certainly, the one thing we must not do is bow to this misunderstanding and make things illegal just because they are wrong. This cause countless problems and inserts the state into issues they should not be involved in at all, including religious freedom.

Issues of individual rights, such as marijuana use have been on my mind lately. As you said, marijuana use is unhealthy and I would add addictive, and mentally damaging (particularly to children). So clearly it is self destructive to recreationally use marijuana. But more and more I believe people should have the freedom to do wrong, so long as what they do does not harm another person or limit another persons freedom. In some instances it pains me to say that, but every rule laid down by government ultimately must be enforced at the point of a gun. If I absolutely refuse to pay my taxes my free will must be taken away and I be forced, into a jail cell. The same goes for marijuana use, or prostitution between consenting adults if they are illegal. That is why it is important that personal moral issues not be mandated by the state. If a person smokes or views pornography, government should not prevent them from doing so. In such situations we must separate church and state. The state protects my freedom to life, liberty, and property but otherwise it needs to get out of my life. The church tells me God's laws and helps me live a moral life. I must be free to live these moral laws. On the other hand, the state should not get involved in religious matters. If a church does not want to marry a gay couple they are completely free to do so. The state has no right to mandate marriage requirements to the church. Now having said all that, I believe it is within the rights of the government to limit the sale of harmful substances. I do not want a big tobacco 2.0, or gummy bears laced with marijuana readily available, both of which put children at risk. So I would argue for the decriminalization of marijuana but not the legalization of it. In other words, the government should not be able to put a person in jail for using marijuana but companies should not be able to put out adds enticing people to buy it. This seems clear. I think it makes sense to push for education regarding the harmful use of marijuana. I also agree that rehab requirements should be in order for people who abuse the drug. Although, in reference to my earlier point about people having the freedom to do wrong, I am still working through some of this in my mind.

I learned that when Mothers Day rolls around and the ward honors mothers by singling out particular demographics (newest, family size, etc), that you should NOT try to help that special lady in your life stand as one of the "oldest mothers". You WILL receive a very firm slap on the back (not an "attaboy") The bishop WILL draw attention to your comeuppance No one laughs with you I learned this lesson as a teenager when that "special lady" was my mom, so I've had a pretty good marriage.

Good for you! Great to hear that you have taken these steps. I suspect that you will find that you have a great deal more energy and interest in your life moving forward. From watching people in similar situations and from my own experience, I think that you will begin feeling physically and mentally stronger and will become more alive. Good work!

I think the "duty to vote" is like the "duty to serve a mission". It entails not only a duty to act, but also a duty to be prepared to act.

Weeeelll... no disrespect to the prophets but I don't quite agree that Americans have a duty to vote. They have the right, yes. It's a privilege, yes. But duty? Pushing it. If you are not in a position to cast an informed ballot (like, say, a new mother having spent the entire year juggling a job and a baby with no time for anything past the catchy slogans, tv ads, and bumper stickers), then you are better off sitting it out and leaving the voting to those who take the task seriously and had a chance to study it out. It is sad to see a guy who spent a lot of time and energy studying the issue cast a ballot only to be nullified by some drunk college kid that got bused to the precinct on a get-out-the-vote drive who can't even name the sitting vice-President. But, that's just my 2 cents.

I think they're just frustrated at all the apparent cheating on the other side, to the point that they are willing throw the old rule book away. That's understandable--if you have thought long and hard about what the new rules will be.

And that is the real story here. The vast majority of what we see, think and feel is shaped by the peddlers of news and except for the conspiracy theorist no one thinks the news media is that corrupt. Yet wikileaks proves otherwise, the system is corrupt, journalism in bed with politicians letting the politicians write their own story and read the script (verified by wikileaks that Clinton does this). Anyone who doesn't become part of the corrupt system will be trashed. The news media is the first line of protection for the Gaddianton Robbers and power elites.

That's your perspective. This is the Trumper perspective: The Bush Presidency and Congress gave us record debt and an economic crisis to add to the pro-longed war engagement. It didn't matter that both the Presidency and Congress were ruled by Republicans. The flavor of Congress was stonewall. Democrats and Republicans don't debate issues, rather they stonewall and use party allegiances and re-election campaign funding to threaten their side of Congress into compliance. There is no debate. They stand on their side of the fence and instead of debating the merits or demerits of bills they strong-arm votes or filibuster. Nothing gets through... they can't agree on much of anything. Bush got his objectives through executive orders. This just got worse in the 8 years of Obama. The TEA Party came out in full force The conservatives seeded Congress with highly trustworthy, upright, moral conservative torch-bearers. The GOP has silenced all of them as it didn't align with their party objectives (note, that these party objectives have no bearing on people's objectives). Congress became a sham of a legislative body and Obama, as a result, ruled with executive orders. THIS IS A BROKEN GOVERNMENT. Think of any of the 16 people that was running for the Republican Primaries and imagine a single one of them 1.) Beating the Democrats - remember, Romney lost, 2.) Beating entrenched establishment in Congress. Ted Cruz, a staunch conservative, would have been another partyline stonewall on steroids. Strict ideology would have continued to cause Congress to be do-nothing... continue almost 16 years of no debates. John Kasich... a laugh. He is too weak. Chris Christie - do you really believe he can win against Clinton? Ben Carson - Romney can't even win, how much more for Carson. Nice guys are easy fodder for Democrat negative attacks. Rubio - donor class puppet. He can't even stand up to his bipartisan immigration bill. He crafted something in a gang of 8 and threw out his voters. You can go on down the line. Trump's appeal IS he does not think by ideologies. He thinks by execution. Therefore, he has the unique ability to ram right through the Congressional blockade and break this party-line stagnation. He correctly identifies the donor class and put them on notice. He is impervious to negative campaigns - from both sides - and he is impervious to ideology smears. Because what really does it matter what he thinks about which bathroom we're supposed to use? How does that solve our $19T national debt and the ravages of ISIS? So, he can say - sure, Kaitlyn Jenner can use whatever bathroom he wants - without having to pay an electorate price and get that issue out of the table for other people to worry about. Meanwhile, he does WHAT A PRESIDENT CAN DO to get "other people that has to worry about it" on the side of Constitutionalist Americans by promising a Scalia-like SCOTUS. This kind of thing is instinctive to Trump. He may not be able to explain to you what conservatism means but his actions side with true conservatism - not this buzz-word conservatism - Free Trade... yeah, when you're running major trade deficits, free trade is just a buzz word. So conservatives like Sessions can get their voices heard. Conservatism is practical. Liberalism is emotional. Trump understands practical very well. Conservatism is also effective and has a track record of success. So, in the arena of ideas, Trump will instinctively agree with Sessions on things that are actionable. BUT - Trump is a celebrity - he knows instinctively how to reach people emotionally. So, you got a bonus of a guy that is easily persuaded into conservative governance, you got the guy who can lead people to it. So that's why conservative powerhouses like the TEA Party darling Jeff Sessions - who has experienced not getting his voice heard in a majority Republican House - went out for Trump very early in the campaign. People like Newt Gingrich - the guy who ran a successful conservative Congress under a Bill Clinton Presidency - saw the opportunity of breaking this stupid Congressional blockade with Trump. Now, you can say the Trumpers have absolutely destroyed the party. GOOD. THAT'S WHAT WE WANT.

Chapter 6:24. And thus he did prove the reasoning for being left downstairs during the fire. 25. And afterwards he did repent, after being smitten by the Familyites. 26. Yet, they were slow to forgive due to his foolishness. 27. Thus, he did come home bearing flowers. Seriously, if one of the family had called the fire department, he might have had to repent with a hefty fine....

The only relationship you should worry about not failing is your relationship with God. Those mortal relationships that are helpful in achieving that should be maintained, those that are not should be cut off. It is not your job to save everybody from themselves, sometimes you need to just walk away and leave God to deal with them. It is also far better to remain single than to marry the wrong person. Don't let a calendar talk you into settling for less than you deserve.

In addition to @prisonchaplain's great words, I'll address these particular questions. For sake of connivence, I'm going to call your boyfriend George. No, people are not junk to be cast away, regardless of marital status or length of relationship. But what you are describing in your post is not you casting away George like he's junk. What I see is a daughter of God taking the time/space/resources she needs to grow closer to God. If George is helping with that quest, that's great. If George is fighting you coming unto Christ, then that is a destructive influence-- no good for you or George. Are we supposed to carry around destruction and pain forever? No!!!!! Come unto Christ and let Him heal you. As far as the current depression you're feeling: yes, a relationship ending in painful. Incredibly so, even for bad relationships. It's been a long time you've defined yourself through him and those emotions. Now that that's gone you're uncertain what/who you are, and what joy feels like. You need to re-find who you are. In addition to walking with Christ (the master healer), seeking Earthy counseling is a great thing guiding down that path.

Trump epitomizes politician profile. He tells people what they want to hear so that he can get votes. He won't really build a wall. He won't really deport all of the illegals. And most importantly, he won't make America great again. It's all political rhetoric.

Have you ever done one of those "Your Life according to Your Music" things where you put your music on shuffle and use whatever songs come up to answer a question or describe a life event? Well, once when I played, one of the questions was "What will they play at your funeral?" Answer: The Point of No Return from Phantom of the Opera

Concerns like this is why I intend to have my funeral while I'm still living.

I got enough of my own sins to be worrying about to get too worked up over someone else's.

Just_A_Girl and I have an arrangement. I can grow out my beard whenever I want. She can decline to kiss me whenever she wants. One almost wonders if there's a historical link between the end of polygamy and the decline of beards in Mormondom? ?

I grew up Catholic with Episcopalian (like Anglican Episcopalian, Queen's birthday celebrating, Charles I for sainthood, Episcopalian) parents. I had Catholic and Baptist relatives. I did 12 yrs in Catholic school and at one time considered being a nun - as in asking my parents to let me enter a novitiate when I was in high school. Long story short, over time I developed issues with the role of women in the Church and Original Sin. When my son was born, there was no way I could accept that he had Original Sin. So, I looked around for something else. If you know anything about pre-Vatican II Catholics, we were raised to distrust and pretty much dislike Protestantism. I couldn't see myself as a Protestant and entered Reform Judaism because I felt it was a direct connection to Catholicism. I found a congregation with a female rabbi and lived as a secular Jew for years. When my husband died, not one person in the synagogue came to visit me or call me, not even the Rabbi, though I had been converted in that congregation, attended faithfully for years and my son went to Hebrew School for a year. It was easy to drift away from attending, tho I still felt Jewish in my head. OK, so this sounds really superficial, but fast forward years later and I find myself in Iowa, living close to 'Mormon Trek Blvd.' and the Handcart Park. One summer I decided to learn about Mormons and began reading and visiting the Park. The more I read, the more I found appealing - no Original Sin, respect for women (sending women back east to become doctors, etc.), respect for the family and males (I had a son, after all), no Trinity, and living a clean life. I wanted something that was more than just church on Sunday. I learned about Conference, and, a little fearfully, watched one. I always pictured Protestants as full of fire and brimstone and telling people they were going to hell. I was so surprised to find Conference open and warm and loving. It was a great introduction to the Church. About a week after, missionaries knocked on my door! I just wanted to learn more about Mormons, but those missionaries thought they were giving me lessons. : ) No one is more surprised than I am that I got baptized. You've seen my posts over the years. You can trace my thoughts and struggles with it all here on the site. If tomorrow Joseph Smith was proved to be a fake, I'd still want to belong to the Church. I don't think I will ever be a Utah perfect Mormon, but they've trusted me to teach RS and give talks. I have an article on information transfer by lay people in the Church that has been downloaded around 500 times. I want to be a Sister missionary when I retire. I'm very happy with the way things went. even tho I complain here a lot and will probably never be considered a 'sweet spirit.' I'm not a big pray-er, my first thoughts are not to run to the bishop with problems, but I hope I'm Mormon enough. My mother is fine with all this. She's just happy I'm going to church, she doesn't care which one.

I have not done so as of yet. Now that we have a response to my question imbedded in one of the talks, I'd better give that one a go. Thanks to all those who have shared their stories, thus far. SPAMLDS went above and beyond. I probably understood the episodes better than many here, since he traveled in "my" circles. I am a product of bus ministry. Never had the privilege of childhood ears receiving 'fire and brimstone preaching' though. :-)

I was a precocious child raised in a believing, but non-affiliated family. We were Presbyterians in the same way Trump is a Presbyterian (lol). My first experience with the Bible went like this. I found a Bible on a shelf in the house and somehow made my way to Exodus 20 and the Ten Commandments. I learned to read very young (like age three) and thus, I was able to read the text from Exodus with fairly good comprehension, but some of it confused me. My grandmother found me with the book and we had an interesting conversation about it. I tell that story to illustrate where I began. I had an innate curiosity about God and took things at face value. Shortly after that, an older neighbor kid tried to frighten me telling me that the devil was as tall as a telephone pole, was red, had horns, and a long tail. It was frightening to think about, but I developed a bit of skepticism about what he told me. After all, how did he know? At the age of seven, my family visited a Baptist Church. Even 50 years later, I still recall the preacher's booming voice. It was thrilling and he was a great singer, too. This particular Sunday was the day they served communion (what we Mormons call the Sacrament). I watched with interest because this ritual was unfamiliar to me. I saw people take little crackers and grape juice. Some of them bowed their heads afterward. Some wept. It was fascinating. I wanted a little cracker when the tray came by so I could see what all the fuss was about. When the tray came to me, my mom put my hand down and passed the tray on to my father, who then passed it on to someone else. I whispered to my mother, "Why can't we have any?" She tersely replied, "Because we're not SAVED!" I didn't like the sound of that. I didn't know what it meant, but being saved sounded a whole lot better than not being saved! My next experience came at the age of 10. A big Baptist church in our area (in the South) used to send school buses through the neighborhoods to pick up kids and take them to church meetings on Sundays. (I can't imagine the uproar that would occur if Mormon churches did that in the South. There would be angry mobs with pitchforks and torches!) Parents used to send their kids to church and stay home while they watched the ball game. Some friends of mine had been going and I thought I would join them. If you went ten Sundays, the church would give you a free Bible as a reward. I went every Sunday for about a month. It was a huge church with a large congregation. The preacher was an exciting orator. He preached what I now recognize as doctrines taught by Jonathan Edwards, about man's fallen nature. Edwards described man as being no more important to God than a "scurvy spider" and would think no more of casting us into hellfire than we would of tossing a spider into a campfire. Today, I think that preaching that sort of doctrine to a ten year-old ought to qualify as child abuse. He scared me and probably everyone else in the room. I didn't want to burn in hell forever. I was only 10! So one week, they had the usual "altar call" and up I went. To LDS folks who may have never been in another denomination's services before, an altar call is done after the sermon where the preacher has scared you to death about hell fire and offered the way to escape: a profession of faith in Jesus. The choir starts to sing the hymn, "Just As I Am" and the preacher beckons you to come up and pray with him. On this occasion, I went up. In a room full of grown-up, as a little 10 year-old, I swallowed hard and stood up. I walked down that long aisle to the preacher calling to me. My head was swimming. I truly wanted to be saved from hell. He knelt down with me and said a little prayer, which I recognize as what is now called "the Sinner's Prayer." It's a little ditty wherewith the new believer confesses belief that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior. You accept him as Savior and you're considered born again from that moment forward. I went home and told my parents about it. They were amazed. It wasn't explained to me how this was to occur, but there was supposed to be a baptism on the first Sunday of the following month. My family showed up on the appointed day, but there wasn't a baptism service. There had been no information given to us. We didn't know what was expected. Turns out that they don't baptize children under 12. I drifted back into adolescence and the usual distractions until high school. At age 11, I found one of those Chick Publications tracts on a school bus about the Apocalypse and the Last Judgment. That started a lifelong interest in prophecy and the end times. I remember taking it home and looking up the references in Ezekiel and Revelation. When I was in high school, around the age of 15, I started going to Methodist meetings with some friends. They had a very active youth group and a friendly, low key pastor. He focused on the joy of faith more than hellfire. We shared a common interest in music and he often asked me to play guitar in the church. I had several spiritual experiences in that church which I now understand to have been the influence of the Holy Ghost. However, there wasn't any instruction on how one was to feel this communion or guidance from the Spirit. When I asked one of my friends why he went to the Methodist Church, he said that it was a good church because it didn't demand much in the way of lifestyle or obedience. It didn't preach hell fire. If there wasn't a God, you didn't waste a lot of time or energy there and, if there was a God, you were "covered." I had conversations with the minister about the creed that stated we believed in one church, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Where were our apostles? Why catholic when we weren't followers of the Pope or any other authority? My biggest question was what happened to people who died in ignorance of the gospel? It was conceivable that billions of souls had died before John the Baptist came along preaching repentance and before Jesus appeared and taught the gospel. What happened to those people who died before any Christian missionaries could ever reach them? I couldn't imagine that God could be fair and just while condemning those souls to damnation. The pastor had no good answers. The more I studied the doctrines of Calvinism, Methodism, Presbyterianism, and Catholicism, the more my faith failed me. I came to the determination that, not only was there no true church on the earth, but that God probably didn't exist either. I eventually drifted off into studying Buddhism and Hinduism, believing that Jesus was an "avatar" or enlightened soul like Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, or other teacher who taught men a way to enlightenment relevant to their culture and time. I no longer saw God as a personal being. After high school, I went through a period of trial, during which I turned to the Bible. I got more questions than answers from this time of intense study. What was the connection between the Old Testament patriarchs like Abraham and the New Testament apostles? How did Moses fit in with those two extremes? What did it mean when Christ gave the apostles to "bind" or "seal" on earth and in heaven? What happened to visitations by angels, spiritual gifts, healings, prophecies, and revelation. I recall having a conversation with my mother contemplating what it would be like if there still apostles and prophets like there were in the New Testament. Pardon the length, but I just wanted to paint an accurate picture of the conversion process. It took years, but when my heart was ready to receive it, the Lord introduced me to the Book of Mormon and the Church. The converting power of the Book of Mormon touched me. The astounding promise of Moroni was amazing to me. I could know for myself. Nobody ever told me that. It was always, "just believe" in what some man said--and every man said something different! All of a sudden, I could know for myself, directly from God. I did receive an answer regarding the veracity of Joseph Smith's testimony and the divinity of the Book of Mormon. I recall thinking after my answer came, that I was now finally "a Christian." I was compelled by the spiritual "evidence" to believe in Jesus and follow him. I did this without benefit of missionaries. It was just the power of God. A new friend had given me the Book of Mormon and the Spirit took care of the rest. I was baptized shortly afterward. I served a mission for the Church, married in the temple, and raised my children in he gospel. I served in many different callings over the years, including a bishopric and two branch presidencies. It has been 39 years and I'm still on the path, working out my salvation "with fear and trembling," as Paul called it. I found the answers I always sought in the doctrines of the Restoration. It hasn't always been easy. There have been many trials. I look back on my early spiritual experiences in other churches with gratitude because the Lord used them to prepare my heart. It has been a great blessing to be a member of the Lord's earthly kingdom.

no idea if something else tempted him... however i find that once your pride gets to a point one doesn't really need an outside source for temptation.

Official answer: We have no idea. Speculation: By another angel - probably not, but possible, and clearly he had is followers who no doubt encouraged him. We had knowledge and intelligence. We had agency (see below). I think Satan thought it out for himself and let his arrogance take over from there. Were there examples (e.g. already-existing worlds and/or people and/or records) he could have known about and used to influence his choices? Perhaps (certainly they existed; what exposure we had to them is unknown). In the end, good and evil (as possibilities) must exist wherever there is sufficient knowledge to understand opposition. Once you understand, you have a choice. Satan clearly understood enough to choose, and his choice led to consequences. Were he ignorant (like a child), God would surely not have punished him for what he did in ignorance (i.e. that he was punished indicates he understood what he as doing and had agency (see below)). (Not sure who "he" is in "if he was perfect" - if you mean Satan, clearly he wasn't perfect, nor do we have reason to believe any of us were perfect - I think perfection requires an exalted immortal body - though certainly Christ and the Holy Ghost were perfect enough to be part of the Godhead (just not complete yet?).) See: "had" - past tense - we already had agency. (How else could we have chosen which plan to support and suffered / enjoyed the consequences of our choice?)