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Jumping in after the action... I will echo LiterateParakeet's remark about therapists or counselors not necessarily making lots of money. I claim some authority in this, having worked in mental health for some years and knowing professionals of all types in the field. Many of them do in fact earn little more than a teacher at the same level in their career. Let me give you some practical information. "Therapist" and "counselor" are broad terms, considering qualifications. You can be a therapist with a master's degree, but moneywise you are in the back of the line. Or you can be a therapist with an MD and still likely earn less money than other MD specialists. And all of that hinges on getting into a graduate program, which is far less simple or likely than many people think. Wanting admission doesn't get you in a program, just like wanting more money doesn't fill up your bank account. Four years of unsuccessful applications taught me that I was not heading in the direction the Lord wanted me to. That's one of the hard ways to figure it out. But there's another consideration here. An upper middle class income for a therapist will require an investment of a good 4-5 years of graduate school, at least 1 year of internship, and possibly an additional 1-3 year fellowship, before you get close to that income supposedly showing everyone what a Mormon is capable of. Then for most it requires a minimum of 50-60 hour workweeks, as well as some evenings and weekends (unless you want to sacrifice pay). The work can be particularly draining and thankless, and with the direction healthcare is headed in, everything could change in 15-20 years. That will be your fiancé's life as you're trying to grow and raise a family if he keeps the original plan. Our ward includes a medical school, and it's striking how most med students and residents have such little time for anything but training. Many (but not all) are completely out of touch with their families and hardly see them. Many (but not all) cringe at church callings with any time commitment. Many (but not all) say they feel like a zombie because they sacrifice so much sleep to [insert medicine thing]. I'll contrast that with my experience earning 60-70% of what I would have as a neuropsychologist, working 40 hour weeks with consistent scheduling and no evenings or weekends. I don't like my job, but it allows me to do what I do love: I have time for my family, I spend most evenings with my kids and the rest with ward members, I can commit adequate time to being engaged in church service (even in busy callings), I can reasonably maintain good health, and I even have some free time some days. Our house is not as fancy or as big as I once imagined, I drive a 25-year-old Honda, and I don't travel to exotic locales (unless the intermountain west counts). But our needs are met and that is enough. Consider what the opportunity cost of a "higher" standard of living may be, for both of you. Money doesn't make someone evil, their choices do; still, money seems to open the door a bit wider. The Lord never told me He would give me a home in a gated community and new cars, but he did tell me He'd take care of me if I did the best I could to follow Him. I feel that, in spite of my many failings, He's kept good on that. Eowyn's right -- focus on showing people what kind of a *life* Mormons are capable of living. Aim for careers you like that will still allow you both to live good lives as good people. The blessings will be far richer than any level of income.

I think becoming completely obsessed with anything is a form of idol worship. This definitely includes work and money. 1 John 2:15-17 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

Mark 2:13-17 "And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." It is important not to miss the point. Jesus' purpose in spending time with these people was not to have fun with them or party with them, it was to bring them to repentance and save their souls. Proverbs 13:20 " He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."

I think this would make a really good topic for personal study. One could search the gospels specifically, and the rest of the New Testament for second-hand info, for times when those around Christ were described and note who they were and why they were there (as best as possible). My immediate thoughts are: we don't have a ton to go on I want to say that it was the pharisees who accused Christ of hanging out with sinners, but this doesn't mean that was the majority of Christ's time, nor does it really address anything beyond the fact that the pharisees were all about outward appearance and things which kept them in power, so that they only concerned themselves with some "sins" and not others (these are also the people who went beyond the mark and made up sins for their own benefit). What @MrShorty Just said - many of the sinners who followed Christ appear to have been people who were interested in repenting. I think a sinner who preferred to keep on sinning wouldn't like Christ's presence. Anywho, I still think this could be a profitable topic for personal study, one that would bring personal revelation and inspire personal improvement.

I don't know if that is true or not. IMO, Jesus would go about doing good (when that included healing the sick, He would heal them). He would hang around with any and all who would accept His presence. You focused on "despised" classes of people, which many frequently note that Jesus spent a lot of time among the despised classes of His day. A question: Is that because Jesus saw greater value in visiting the despised classes, or is that because the despised classes were more likely to invite Him into their presence? Would he have spent more time with the Parisees and the ruling classes if they had been more accepting of Him?

What happened?? The Buzzfeed debacle was that a Trump Cabinet nominee was making “secret” connections with Russia in Poland. As it turns out the alleged nominee was never where the Buzzfeed article claimed to be. Buzzfeed never checked their sources and validated their story – CNN carried the Buzzfeed story and never really corrected the mistake. In short the two were caught with their pants down putting forth “false news”. Trump checked with his cabinet nominee’s passport and he had not left the USA when the alleged meeting took place. This kind of thing can easily be documented and proven. Now to the news conference. When the Trump team announced the news conference they said it would be open seating based on first come first served. CNN sent a low paid person with official looking placks to save the front row of seats for them. This put their reporter on the front row to be able to confront the president elect – which was done. Trump knew this reporter was from CNN and so allowed a different reporter to ask their question – something the CNN reporter was not going to allow. Thus the confrontation. Trump ended the confrontation by calling the reporter an advocate of fake news – which reduced him and CNN’s creditable to tabloid hokum. In essence telling him to sit down and shut up leaving the questions to real news reporters and organizations. Trump could not have set it up and played it better even had he planned the whole thing and paid the reported to play directly into him. CNN failed and look bad – I am sure they will try again. Those that support Trump will enjoy watching CNN make fools of themselves – as will many that see the media as biased. There is something about the establishment of this country that insist in fighting current battles with obsolete tactics. The Traveler

Also, this:

Hi ALS! Just wanted to say that your experience is almost word-for-word what my wife says she went through in her teens. The depression, the trying to pretend to act normal, the bleakness in trying to find something worthwhile, the anxiety about all of it. That was a couple of decades ago. She now has two kids and several flocks of prizewinning turkeys and chickens. She's been able to change lives for the better, because whenever some teenager starts laying out their woes and says something like 'you don't understand what it's like', she says 'bet me.' She has given this advice to a lot of folks in your situation, and I'll pass it on to you here: Yes, things suck right now. It gets better. Don't do anything stupid (like betray your morals or try to kill yourself or try to self medicate with drugs or alcohol), and just focus on making it through your crap. It does get better.

I took the Security + exam today and passed with a score of 774 points (or 86%). Scoring this high on the test I feel was a miracle as the exam is difficult. I will be able to work for a Federal Air Force Base doing Information Technology technical support with a Security + certification and a Secret clearance. I am hoping to eventually become a Desk Side Technician.

Hi Folks, My name is Dan. I'm looking for some light conversation and fun topics to talk about. I'm interested in getting out of my online bubble. I tend to visit the same blogs and the same forums every day. I'd like to mix things up a little. I'm not Mormon, so I hope that will be OK. I don't want to argue with anyone. I just want to get to know how you see the world. Cheers, Daniel

So yeah this was one of "those" mornings. I overslept, didn't feel well, was stuck in nasty traffic, and then to put icing on the cake, I got pulled over. Now, just to put this out there right off the bat: The officer, being a MD State Trooper, was very professional, polite, and I have no problems with him at all. This isn't an anti-cop rant or anything. He pulled me over because my Captain America license plate frame was partially blocking my registration stickers and he gave me a warning, since my driving record is pretty clean. I also asked him to assist me in getting back into traffic because there wasn't much speed up room in front of me. The emergency lane was about to end because of a bridge. He did so, no problem. But here's my epiphany. I've seen a lot of videos where people assert their rights by not rolling their window down all the way, not answering any questions, recording the incident on a dash cam or phone... And I was prepared to do these things. I have a dash cam, I have an app on my phone that records video and uploads to a remote location so it can't be deleted, and I even have a copy of a DOJ memo to the Baltimore PD asserting that people have a right to record officers. But as I sat there getting my license and registration out, I just felt like all of that was unnecessary. I mean, yes, those rights exist and I won't say that people should never assert them, but I also think those things should be used judiciously. If you feel like the officer is being unprofessional, that's the time to start recording. I just didn't see a need this morning. It's not that I was intimidated. The trooper wasn't being overbearing or nasty or anything like that. And it's not like I get unduly nervous when I see roof lights in my rearview. It's just that this kind of thing was just the officer doing his job (he was right, I looked at it later and the frame does block the stickers) and he did it like a professional. That's all I can ask for. Sure, it helps that he only gave me a warning and not a ticket, but honestly I don't think I'd have been mad at him if he had decided to go with a ticket. I've gotten tickets before and I deserved them all... well, one or two I don't think I did so I went to traffic court. Won one, lost one. But the point is I wasn't being picked on or persecuted or anything. It was fine and it's not ruining my day or anything like that. So now I have a slightly different perspective when I see YouTube videos of people giving officers a hard time for no real reason. Again, I do believe in asserting rights, but I also don't think that it's something you should do when politeness and courtesy work better. The trooper was polite and courteous, so why would I want to start giving him a hard time? Just to prove I have guts? Just to make a video to post on YouTube? Bah. Maybe I'm just too old for that stuff. So now I have to wait until the IT guys get in so I can ask to borrow a screwdriver... Epilogue: Want to hear something funny? Just last night I had a dream that I got pulled over, and it was @mirkwood...

Of course not; their kids will need it for therapy.

@zil I want to come for breakfast too! ??

Doing that to get rich isn't right, but there can be times where for a time a person might have to do that to deal with a crisis.

If only he could do that to Putin.

Watching that press conference made me wish I'd voted for Trump a little. Not gonna lie. The way he shut that CNN reporter down was the most fun I've had watching TV since the season finale of Game of Thrones Fuller House. What struck me was the way this CNN guy seemed to feel like he was somehow entitled to a question because 1) he was from CNN and 2) Trump attacked the mainstream media. "Mr. President Elect since you attacked us can we get another question?!?!?!?" And Trump.... "Don't be rude!" So yeah, he reduced the CNN reporter to a 5th Grader trying to force the teacher to pay attention to him. To me, this is sort of a microcosm of the overall picture. The mainstream news outlets are trying to keep the old status quo even as they're being shoved overboard. Delicious.

My Initial thoughts: 1) He would have never been able to complete his work in our lifetime, as any other nation that would have experienced the miracles and works of Christ would have known him to be their God. Our laws also prevent the atonement from happening. 2) Jesus would have healed according to the will of his Father, or remained silent as he did in front of the Roman governor. With our media, he would have been all over the news thus preventing in many ways from him doing the work of his Father and completing his mission. 3) Jesus would have hung around those that were willing to hear his message. He wouldn't have chosen any groups, just like our missionaries today do not choose any groups to teach. They teach anyone who is willing to listen and hear the word. Anyone who rejected his word he would have moved on similar to the rich man in the New Testament. 4) I would disagree regarding ISIS, as in scripture we are informed that any other nation would have accepted Christ as their God if they saw the same works he did. I would have loved to live during the same time Christ was born; however, I am also very glad I was born in this day. I experience major headaches and I am glad for modern medicine and many other things we enjoy. I also would like to think that I would have accepted him then, as I do now, but you never know.

What time is breakfast? Mrs. mirkwood and I will be right over...

1 Nephi 8:26 http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/29/technology/amazon-aerial-warehouse/

Heh - my uncle would always say "Wanting's free."

I want my dang space elevator!

Get thee hence, Satan!

My husband (presumably not long after we were married) once bought a big thing of syrup like that. Trust me, he learned better fast. It took like 10 years for that syrup to get used. I make syrup with 2 cups of sugar, one cup of water, and some amount of McCormick maple flavoring (other brands will not do). This is what I grew up with, so you could blame my mom, but I think that would be unhealthy for you. I also make waffles and pancakes from scratch - no store-bought mixes. (Again, mom's fault.) Interesting story, though...I figured mom had always made them this way - I remember nothing else. When I was a teenager, we had a sleep-over in a distant city for some church thing, and the woman whose house it was made us Bisquick pancakes with store-bought syrup. I took one bite and it was all I could do not to spit it back out - I truly thought I was going to be sick right there (everyone else loved it). One day I mentioned this to my mom and she said, "Actually, one Sunday your dad wanted pancakes for breakfast and I was out of Bisquick, so I got out the recipe book and made them from scratch. None of you would let me go back to Bisquick.) Never let it be said mothers don't sacrifice for their families. Sigh. What's a poor person to do with their waffles, pancakes, and french toast? Of course, in this case, I think I might want to side with the mob (were it not for all the nasty other stuff they do) since it sounds like your government are running a racket.

???? but we will miss you!

Oh, that's not good. I think I may refuse to believe you. In our house, we don't gossip about our neighbors or family or friends. We make a concerted effort not to talk badly about groups of people. But we draw the line at fake maple syrup -- that's a sure point of razzing in the Vort household. We don't use much syrup, but when we do use syrup, it's real, authentic maple syrup. We keep something like Mrs. Butterworth's around to offer to the unwashed guest who requests such tripe, but we serve it with a healthy amount of heckling about the lameness of their syrup choice. Now you tell me it profits the mob -- no, that's just too much. I shall refuse to believe it. And if you continue, I may be forced to put my fingers in my ears and chant "NYAH NYAH NYAH I CAN'T HEEEEEEEEAR YOUUUUUUU!"

Aw, pee-shaw. Go on with you now. Frankly, that was one of those "low-hanging fruit" moments. (Sure it's lame. Bad, too. Remember, "lame e mal" is a trilingual palindrome.) @Larry Cotrell mentioned something about me on a "Leaderboard", a feature I have never before noticed. I'm actually quite embarrassed about that -- shows how much time I spend on this (admittedly entertaining and friendly) site that I should be spending elsewhere. I think I will have to correct that, and see if I can't quietly drop off the "Leaderboard".

First, sorry it took so long to comment on this,as I've been preoccupied. I really loved some of the things mentioned here. Thank you Literate, I am grateful for your support and empathy. To answer a few of your questions, the depression isn't from abuse but is clinical, mostly because it runs in my family. I have been talking with my therapist about different ways to outlet my feelings in a healthy way, like exercising, and I am trying that as well as a few other things. I heave been thinking of ways to keep my mind off my issues that are most prevalent, but as you're likely aware, my thoughts often get in my way. I believe the most important thing to do is to find something to base my mind around besides the gospel, at least in the day-to-day sense. I am glad that I am not alone in having these feelings and have even considered doing group therapy. Thank you again, I am grateful for your prayers and wish you peace as well.

@zil Thank you so much. Sorry madam!

I agree with God is akin to infinity. If a person becomes God, it's just infinity + 1. There is still only one God. But I do think that when speaking in scripture, He is referring to God the Father, a specific individual whom they relate. When He says there are no other gods, He isn't referring to exalted perfected persons who are one with God. He is referring to Ra, Isis, Odin, and Zeus.

But is it "in the air, high above the earth"? Cuz that Amazon thing is supposed to be 45,000 feet up - I'd say that's "in the air, high above the earth"...

1 Nephi 11:35-6 "And the multitude of the earth was gathered together; and I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building, like unto the building which my father saw. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Behold the world and the wisdom thereof; yea, behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great." I'd be a little worried about this if I believed the BoM. Just kidding

@unixknight you are right about the copblock mentality. It is counterproductive. Here is how I described it to a buddy of mine who causes problems like that on traffic stops. Let me paint two pictures: 99% of all traffic stops go like stop type #1. Let me repeat that, 99% of all stops will play out like #1, that is the norm or baseline for a stop. Stop type #1: I pull you over, I approach your car, you roll your window down all the way, we talk, I tell you why I stopped you, I obtain your license, registration and insurance. I go back to my car come back and you either get a ticket/warning, I give you your stuff back and off you go. That will all typically take 5-10 minutes. Stop type #2: Criminals in an effort to hide their crime of the moment, don't roll down their window (I might smell alcohol/drugs/dead people), "don't have" their license, or refuse to give it to me, same with their paperwork for the car, don't answer questions, argue with me, make accusations in an attempt to sidetrack me from what I'm doing which might result in their arrest, and just plain and simply don't comply. So let me tell you about my law abiding, concealed permit holding buddy on a traffic stop: rolls window down an inch, refuses to open it more "because you can hear me fine officer," immediately demands to know why he was stopped, asks if he is being detained, asks repeatedly if he is free to leave, provides license and paperwork as requested, refuses to respond to any other questions. So which group does an officer think my friend is a part of? #1 or #2? Copblockers are an even more extreme version of my friend, whether or not they have done something wrong besides the traffic violation. I told my friend that all he does is raises the suspicions of the officer who has pulled him over and that is going to extend the time he spends. By the time an officer is done with him on a stop they will figure they either had a copblocker stopped, or a criminal that was able to hide away what he was doing.

For some reason, over a week after my last post, I got three likes today. Wondering if it's because mine was one of the last ones that wasn't a total ... especially...when the rest are weight-loss jokes. I mean, seriously...in January??? Politically and culturally tone deaf....

The washington D.C. temple is my favorite. It's the one I always think of when temples are brought up. Growing up on the east coast it was also always the one we'd go to for church activities, like YW and YM mutual temple trips.

Contraceptives are accessible, never had any problems with abortion nor contraceptives. Abortions have very little to do with contraceptives and forms of birth control. It is really that simple. It is called being responsible. Since people choose not to be responsible (character development) they blame things rather than themselves.

Haha the dream didn't get that far. It was only up to the part where we recognized each other, then shifted to something else. Yeah I prettymuch assumed that, and I can understand it. At the same time I suppose a "copblocker" would say "tough. Wonder all you like." And ok yeah that's as far as it goes, but it's not particularly constructive.

Yes the alcoholic thing is scary. What can I say?it is the alcoholic driving a school bus that I worry about. Our drink and driving stats are way scary too!.

Im getting all too tired of this equality bull$%*@! I believe that as an employer I get to make the rules on who is hired, who is not based on any reason I want.

1 Corinthians 7:5 "Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency."

So, there's this trick that employers use... like, if you want to hire a Filipino caregiver, you can't put in the hiring sheet - must be Filipino - because that's illegal. But, you can put in, must speak proficient Bisaya, Tagalog, and know how to cook lumpia and pansit... so then if some non-Filipino goes and applies for the job you can pick the Filipino over him because the Filipino speaks better Bisaya/Tagalog or makes more yummy lumpia. I'm thinking about this and I'm coming up blank on a "workaround" to guaranteeing the employer won't end up having to hire the active alcoholic...

Shroom houses? Is that what they call the compound now?

"They're 'shroom houses!" hah Zil has her hands full with the head of the homeowners' association... Big Papa!

Zil is a she. The "trees" are 'shroom-houses. In front of them are stone walkways. Some of them have multiple "branches" (though those are mostly off-screen) - for the rich folk who can afford it, you know. Don't think you're getting sap from a 'shroom. No mob in Shroomville. No corruption either. The construction industry is about as natural as you can get. So it's mildly disturbing that my drawing makes you think of Canadian corruption... Meanwhile, apparently it's a good thing I make my own maple syrup (with imitation flavoring, cuz the real stuff is too expensive, and apparently supports the mob).

Wow, that's going to leave a welt!

It's not about Clintonesque explanations. It is about Clintonesque proportions. You believe that Trump is as sexually deplorable as Clinton. There is where I disagree. Trump is from New York Glitz and the Hollywood Entertainment Industry. He is not going to be squeaky. But neither are the Republicans we currently have in office a lot of whom have their own wiff of scandals including sexual - both manufactured and real. The difference is, other Republicans approach Republican character assassinations with skepticism whereas with Trump, Republicans are the assassins. John McCain had his sexual allegations, Romney had his assault allegations. Herman Cain had to withdraw from the primaries for his sexual allegations which he proved after the end of the campaign season as blatantly false. George W had his substance abuse allegations. YET, Republicans showed no issues with any of them... only Trump. As far as the women coming out. All of them from a NYT carpet bomb routine and debunked by conservative outlets. The first article NYT shot out from the primaries got debunked by the women themselves. But, when it comes to any Republican, NYT is automatically questionable. When it comes to Trump, NYT is all of a sudden credible beyond question and the conservative defense the one questionable. Kinda like how Republicans treated Assange. Right now, I'm listening to the left paint Jeff Sessions as a full-fledged racist. It's brutal beyond belief. I feel for Session's family including the 5 little grandchildren who attended the hearings. But yeah, Republicans don't believe it of Sessions, but they will easily believe it of Trump. Why? Because Trump don't talk and act like they want him to. So yeah, it's okay if you have allegations of sexual misconduct like McCain did - because he talked like a politician... even as he did the most sexist thing in the planet by picking Sarah Palin for his VP.

I admire your willingness to give her the benefit of any doubt you have. I also agree with the general idea that we don't pass personal judgment on others. However, consider that saying someone is "a good person" or "a nice person" is, in effect, passing a (positive) judgment on them. Perhaps it's better to pass overly positive judgments on people than overly negative -- but I'm not convinced. Certainly when I'm hiring a babysitter, a neurosurgeon, or a money manager, I will be far more sensitive to negative information, and far less willing to give an airy "Oh, he's a nice guy" and use that as any sort of hiring criterion. I suspect that in all but the most superficial of ways, it is not possible to withhold judgment on everyone. As the Savior taught, we will be judged by the same metric we use to judge others, so we should strive to make our judgments just. And as Elder Oaks pointed out a few years ago, there is a major difference between judging actions and judging individuals, as well as between "transitory" judgment and "permanent" judgment. Adolph Hitler was an artist of some ability, apparently loved Eva Braun, and was said to have been good with children. These are all good things that give us some hope that maybe, in some way, his soul is still human and not forever lost. But he systematically exterminated six million men, women, and children for the crime of being Jewish, and was central in bringing about a war that killed perhaps as many as 80 million people. We should not pass personal judgment on Adolph Hitler's standing before God, since that is not ours to do. But few would argue that, based on his works, he should not be considered A Bad Guy. Your friend may not be any Adolph Hitler, but the principle is the same. Being fond of children and helping out in a soup kitchen are good things. They do not make up for abandoning one's husband and removing his children from his influence in order to marry a rich man. I have no authority to judge this nameless woman, whom I do not even pretend to know except for the brief description you gave. But based on the information presented, i think I'm justified in saying that she's a great example of how women should never be.

I'm going to say that this is youth speaking here. but quite frankly the older you get the more you realize that in general other people don't give a hooting darn about you. You just don't matter that much. There are certainly groups of people who do care, like family members, close friends, ward family-etc. but otherwise people couldn't care less about you. And that is okay. The fact is that the vast majority of us are simply trying to solve our own problems and trying to live our own lives to the best of our abilities. Most people don't wake up in the morning and say to themselves. "Boy, that Sally and Joe they have everything, see because they are Jewish (or whatever) look what they have accomplished, they are such an inspiration to me!". Life just doesn't work that way-and quite frankly anyone who thinks it does is either inexperienced or too full of themselves. Yes, there are always individuals and families who are inspirations to others, but the dirty little secret is that if the truth be known they've had their own ups and downs, their own struggles. They've had arguments, failed businesses, gone bankrupt, lost jobs, etc. What makes them an inspiration isn't that they are perfect, have the perfect job, live a perfect life, make lots of money, etc. What makes them an inspiration is that through their struggles they have overcome-they keep fighting, they succeed in spite of failures or even because of them. It's the attitude that makes them an inspiration. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than a rich man into the kingdom of heaven. Why? Because the camel has to get down on knees to crawl through the needle and a rich man in general isn't humble enough to get on his knees and beg. Be very wary about seeking after riches so that the world can see it-that is not a good path to go down.

Please see a doctor. What you're describing sounds like clinical depression, like what Holland discussed in Like a Broken Vessel. You may be amazed at how much you can be healed through a qualified professional and some medication. When Holland says, " Our Father in Heaven expects us to use all of the marvelous gifts He has provided in this glorious dispensation," he is talking about modern medicine and contemporary therapy methods. Seek qualified, professional help from a source you trust. (Try LDS therapies.)

Hello ALostSoul, I have felt quite depressed at certain times in my life. I don't want to say that I know what you're going through, because I don't, but I would like to offer some words of encouragement. Regarding the mission, please don't feel lesser for choosing not to serve. I feel like you've chosen to do the right thing by seeking professional help instead of going on a mission. There have been times in my life that I've felt desperate to find "my purpose" or a reason to continue moving forward. It can feel overwhelming. Meditation has helped me recently (this is my latest read: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Now-Guide-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1577314808), but in saying that, I don't want to imply that any form of depression can be handled through meditation alone. Professional guidance and medicine is often needed, so I'm happy you are going to get the necessary help. I also wanted to say that dating outside the church isn't necessarily a bad thing. I would suggest you look for girls who share similar interests and core values. There are many lovely people out there who are overlooked because they simply didn't have the opportunity to be raised in the church as many of us did. I'm rooting for you. Keep in mind the National Suicide Hotline phone number posted above, and remember you can always reach out here for additional advice or just someone to talk to.

I personally don't think it will be as dry cut as that, I think if Heavenly Father wanted it to be, then we would have known from the restoration. I think as imperfect humans we need to categorise things into boxes, but being sealed to your spouse is no guarantee that you will be exalted. In the end we are going to be one big spiders Web, sealed to each other all the way back to Adam and Eve, we just have to trust Heavenly Father when it's said we won't be placed where we won't be comfortable and the Apostles of the Lord who say nothing will be denied the faithful.