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Often we speak of diversity. It seems to be that some that claim diversity is a good thing – use diversity to destroy all that is good about it. A short story of a segment of my life. I went into the army having never met or talked to a “black” person. I had images (prejudices) just from ignorance. My best friend in the army turned out to be a “black” person. We had many personal one-on-one discussions. My friend was a college grad that could not get any other job to support his family. Being young and stupid – I could not understand that as smart as he was and hard as he worked, that it was hard for him to find a job. I, being a “Mormon” and he being “black” we were both kind of outcasts and so we became friends. He said something to me that has had a very big impact. He said, “As long as we see differences in each other we will never see things the same.” Every individual is different from every other individual – that is what makes us individuals. But we are also the same type and race. We are more alike than we are different. In the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – we are not just all children of our Father in heaven but we are brothers and sisters. So we are more than just the same race of living creatures – we are family. Jesus commanded that we be of one heart and mind. However, even in a family there are differences of opinion. Jesus never said to be of one opinion. I had a debate teacher in high school that stood by the notion that if you cannot take the other opinion and argue it at least as well as your opponent – you have not business in debating that topic with them. The only logical reason to believe there is a difference of opinion on anything is because of two possibilities. #1. That one knows something that the other does not. Or #2. That one has experience that the other does not. Please note that there is not a lot of “difference between #1 and #2. Now to the purpose of this thread. I submit that those that tout diversity in our world (country or society) are intent on destroying both our world, country or society as we know it but strangely enough are as intent on destroying the diversity. In short substituting their own definition of unity without accepting anything diverse to it. Forcing everyone to conform. When force is used to make other conform – freedom and liberty are lost. The reality the forced diversity is a lie intended to usurp freedoms and liberty. And so it is that the forces intent on taking away agency, liberty and freedom do so through focus on diversity. Exaggerating differences so that similarities are forgotten and discorded. And so it begins that some difference is deplored and all qualifying individuals are ostracized and made subservient to the greater good. It is true that some individuals commit crimes and that others who are innocent need to be protected from those committing crimes. It is true that some come to this country disrespecting our laws. It is true that there is a lot of diversity – but despite all the diversity let us not forget what makes us family. And do not create violence in our family. That is not to say do not respond to violence – what it means is not to create violence on individuals that are not themselves violent. At this point I almost am willing to say to reject those that divide us and see diversity. But that is exactly the point. We need to see the individuals and not the types or classes. We need to see the diversity as part of who we are. The Traveler

I think there’s another option: that the Church received roughly the information and policies that it needed to carry it through the challenges of the day. There was a time and a place where the priesthood ban was necessary and appropriate, and then it passed. There was a time and a place where certain elements of the older temple liturgy were necessary and appropriate, and then it passed. We live in a time where the Church’s tactful silence on certain less-critical things things we still know to be true is rapidly becoming necessary and appropriate, and that time too will pass. There was, I submit, a time and a place where David Whitmer and Emma Smith needed to be regarded with extreme suspicion . . . and then it passed. This may seem silly, but remember—RLDS and Whitmer’s followers recruited heavily in early-20th-century Utah. If we take our church’s soteriology at all seriously, then one can’t escape the conclusion that people lost their exaltations by giving too much credence to Whitmer and Emma. Counter-intuitively, now that history has demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that Emma was not an infallible source (e.g., Joseph Smith’s polygamy) and that the RLDS Church’s competing institutional claims to exclusive truth, authority, and/or priesthood have pretty evaporated (they can no longer claim to be led by lineal descendants of Joseph Smith); Church members can begin engaging in a more serious way with sources previously labeled “apostate” in a way that separates bathwater from baby.

I’m going to respectfully take a different tack than @scottyg seems to express. The quotation in full comes from D&C 1:38: What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. This verse is often cited to suggest that whatever a prophet/apostle/general authority says, is automatically tantamount to the Lord’s own words. That interpretation strikes me as an over-simplification. In fact, the statement sets up a prerequisite: If a thing is truly the Lord’s will, then the means of communication—whether an audible voice from on High, or a vision, or a dream, or a a prophetic statement—is irrelevant. But it is still our responsibility to verify through the Holy Spirit that the thing being revealed is, in fact, the Lord’s will. Modern general conferences are such tightly planned and controlled environments, that I daresay we can be fairly confident that the words being spoken there have been chosen very carefully indeed; so they might be said to offer a higher modicum of reliability than off-the-cuff statements made by church authorities that are given in less-formal venues. But, the confirmation of the Holy Spirit remains the key. A church made up of people a) who are willing to accept and do whatever the Lord asks them to do, and b) to whom the Lord actually does speak, is not going to be able to make any absolute promises as to what the Lord will or won’t ever do or say or instruct or require in the future. You wouldn’t guarantee to Moses in Egypt, what the Lord might or might not or say to Moses later at Sinai. As humans, we have no right to try to bind or muzzle God in such a way. Certainly we can look at His past revelations and actions as well as the teachings of inspired servants, to try to divine certain aspects of God’s character and plan; from which we can then try to extrapolate what is or is not likely to happen in the future. Based on that, I don’t think it’s *likely* that future LDS leaders are going to denounce the teaching of exaltation/deification. Just as I don’t think it *likely* that they’ll deny Jesus of Nazareth ever existed. Just as I don’t think it *likely* that my wife will be overcome by the Spirit, become pregnant, and in nine months’ time give birth to a three-headed lizard-person. But no, if you’re going to press the matter I’ll happily concede that I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t do that if I sincerely believe God to be all-powerful and simultaneously acknowledge that He knows things that I don’t know. But what really matters, and what we focus on, is what God is telling us on the here-and-now. Our love for and faith in Him persuades us that the rest will work itself out.

As an aside, if some of you are concerned with PerSec, you may want to edit your screenshots.

Nothing will make a crime free utopia. That's why I have a duty to protect myself and my family.

It bothered me as an investigator. Once I received a testimony of the Book of Mormon I stopped caring. There are so many things I don't understand and need to learn. It's scripture. Whether it was dropped off by aliens or translated through a rock in a hat is irrelevant to me at this point. There are so many things that I need to do and learn for myself and my family. I may never have time to get to things lower on my list.

Hi! Glad to be here. I am looking forward to participating in discussions 🙂

How do you know they were wrong? What evidence do you have that the much discredited "not as valiant premortally" theory is actually false? Maybe birth control really is evil; it's no coincidence that the development and widespread usage of oral contraception coincided exactly with the US/western European "free love" movement and the widespread growth of fornications of all sorts. And to suggest that the older endowment presentations were somehow less accurate or inspired than those of today is simple and blatant presentism—admittedly a common enough disease among the forty-and-under crowd. People today would do well to temper or even withhold their judgments about the beliefs and activities of past Saints until we are in a far better position to have a truthful perspective. Or shall we also suppose that the early Saints were wrong to practice plural marriage, that attempts at recreating a living economic law of consecration à la the city of Enoch through various united orders were misguided foolishness, and that Jehovah himself was wrong to command blood sacrifice and circumcision?

This... exactly this... It is the Lord's voice we are to follow exactly and without question. It is his voice his sheep respond to. The method of delivery does not matter. We can hear it in the scriptures, we can hear it in a church leader, we can hear in from a stranger on the street, we can hear it from a little child, we can hear in as impressions in our heart and mind. The fact that we can hear his voice in a variety of ways does not mean that everything that we heard coming from same path is his voice.

If you have MS Paint, then you can load your image into that and simply mark over your details. Once done, you can manually save the image under a new name.

Trees have bullet-proofing of two kinds. Some trees, such as ancient, centuries-old Douglas firs, have tremendously thick bark that simply doesn't allow the bullet to penetrate. Other trees are simply resilient: The bullets penetrate, but the wood grows and heals itself, and the tree has a type of immune system that discourages the growth of infectious agents. Both strategies can be effective, and both have application to our own living testimonies of the gospel. But the armor plating strategy seems to get most of the press and the mind-space, whereas I think the latter might actually tend to be more effective for the large majority of people and issues.

I don't think it takes any research at all to do that. Just take a look at the Family Proclamation, then take a look at society; the degradation of the family unit is the primary force in the degradation of society, from victimhood culture, to criminality. Until Satan is given the boot, there will always be evil actors in mainstream society. Widespread carrying of firearms in mainstream society works like medicating an incurable disease: it protects the individual for as long as possible until they ultimately succumb to the effects of the illness. In the case of guns, if everyone in society becomes wicked, people will kill each-other with anything. Eventually, only Zion will be a place of refuge. In the meantime, I will protect myself while I await the day I am called to go.

Thanks for your thoughts. I've felt more at peace the past couple of days. Also took advantage of the prayer request board on a teacher forum. Will try to get to the temple in the next few days. I also had Husband give me a blessing of comfort. We still have not reached an agreement, so there is that underwhelming update. Facts, feelings, and testimonies have been shared.

Yep, I was just blocked. Image here: [mods deleting, you probably didn't want all that personal info out there] I just posted this screen capture for all my friends on Facebook to view.

I posted it a few days ago and it is still there.

Pretty much every (all?) revelation in the church in the latter days came in response to a prophet asking a question and receiving a response. (Starting with Joseph Smith wanting to know which church he should join.) That being the case, it stands to reason that it would be President Nelson’s questioning of the Lord on the matter that would result in such a response.

I have such a weak stomach.....just reading about this stuff makes me queasy. Great article though. He's an amazing man.

Russell M. Nelson is obedient to the president of the Church, and he is baffled when he hears people ask questions like, “Is it really the will of the Lord that we do everything that President Kimball says?” “The Lord said, ‘Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same,’” Dr. Nelson reminds us. “My experience is that once you stop putting question marks behind the prophet’s statements and put exclamation points instead, and do it, the blessings just pour. “I never ask myself, ‘When does the prophet speak as a prophet and when does he not?’ My interest has been, ‘How can I be more like him?”

Typical @MormonGator, always wanting the most for the least! Is that all you're offering, just a shave and a hair cut? Sorry gator, the price for bringing a grenade launcher to church is much higher than that. If you are prepared to a) bathe (at least a week prior to coming to church) b) wear shoes and socks (that is a PAIR of shoes and a PAIR of socks) AND keep them on for both meetings c) offer up a watch d) promise to refrain from threating or abusing the Bishop e) stop terrorising the Primary kids f) set aside the booze for a week, and; g) empty the harem then we can start negotiating. And if you want to bring grenades for said launcher, that will cost you at least a suit.

Give yourself some credit, MG. I might want Mirkwood by my side in a shootout—but I’d want you right up there, in front of me.

And isn’t it true, Mr. DPRH, that your church is led by a crazed psychopath who uses power saws and crank-screws to remove people’s still-beating hearts from their bodies? Well, isn’t it? Huh? Huh?