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Just as a side note - I have discovered both from my posting and responding to other posts - - - That when something is well thought out and logically posted that when others read it they will seldom respond. But if you are to post something quite stupid or bazaar - everybody will respond in great lengths. As for toxic conversations - I like to reference Shakespeare who said, "Nothing is as good or as bad as it seams only that thinking makes it so." The Traveler

I too have never experienced that, but I’ve been around a lot of people that have. A close friend of mine left the church for the same reason. She explained to me that she knows God loves her and that the church is true, but her mind was so stuck on trying to meet the status quo of the ward and church culture. Every small “infraction” (Like Not doing family history, keeping a journal, attending the temple enough or even walking into church late) ate her alive. She was visiting a counselor for all this but she couldn’t get past the feeling that she was worthless. She cognitively knew her thought process was wrong, but she was just always stuck in a pattern of comparing herself to those around her and seeing others strengths as her weaknesses. It all became too much and she just stopped going. This is not something I have ever dealt with, but there are a ton that experience that to varying degrees. At its core it is a misplaced understanding of the relationship between grace and discipleship.

It has always (well, maybe not *always*; but for quite a while, anyways) been possible to call the temple and have them add a name to the prayer roll. But yes, this is a nice development.

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/online-submissions-temple-prayer-roll?cid=email-OCA_TemplePrayerRoll_081720_CTA1c Its a small step but still a step in the right direction. The blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ here on earth continue to break barriers. My brother (served a mission and is now inactive) throughout the years would ask us to put his name on the prayer roll of the temple. The tipping point of his inactivity 20yrs ago was the ole "all or nothing" mentality that he felt from the church. Since he wasnt living up to the expectations of becoming a bishop or EQ president he just didnt want to deal with the pressure, long story in and of itself. He has always loved the Gospel and his testimony was always solid but barriers remain. After sending him this article he replied "I miss the temple and don't know if I will ever return to attend in person, being able to put a name, my name, on the prayer roll directly...not having to go through you or mom, I feel a piece and peace of the temple in me now."

To add: in D&C 137 Smith also recounts seeing his parents in the celestial kingdom; and they were both alive at the time of the vision. Furthermore, not all of the account from which Section 137 is drawn, was canonized into the D&C. In another portion of that account (I’m going from memory here) Smith related seeing, in vision, Brigham Young preaching to a group of hostile-looking Indians. The details of that account were specific enough for us to say that nothing like this ever had, or ever would, happen in Young’s lifetime either before or after the vision. Thus, D&C 137–and the other visions Smith received at the time—were visions of what could happen, not visions of what definitely would happen or what already had happened. The major thrust of the revelation, as it pertained to Alvin; was not that he was already saved. It was that he wasn’t irretrievably lost.

I'm joking about all this of course. What I'd really do if I had that kind of money is sell our house (along with its wonky garage door) and buy a large luxury bungalow, so my wife (who suffers from arthritis) wouldn't need to go up and down stairs. I'd also have a large indoor swimming pool so she could exercise easily. I'd also take her on a cruise - a long cruise on a very large and luxurious boat. We'd definitely go to Venice at some point, and ride in a gondola. I'd then take her to Memphis Tennessee to the Grand Old Opry (though obviously not by boat) and to Utah, and somehow arrange for her to meet her hero and heroine Donny and Marie Osmond. I'd offer to put my older daughter (actually stepdaughter, but she's like my daughter) through college - but since I doubt she'd want that, I'd give her the money anyway and let her chose how to spend it herself. I'd set up a college fund for my younger daughter. When the time came, I'd give each girl exactly the wedding she wanted. And then I'd bribe someone to go to boring faculty meetings for me...

All this talk of adorable kittens has reminded me of the "Jojobags' Pig" phenomenon, discovered by @Vort a few years ago. By chance I came upon the very cute-kitten picture: Instructions: 1. Shrink the picture using the ctrl key and the mouse wheel. 2. Screw your eyes up tight. 3. The "pig" emerges! Simples!

Before I received my own endowment, I would call and put names on the prayer roll as needed. My dad would do the same, since it was a three hour drive one way to his temple. When I worked Tuesday nights as an ordinance worker, the office workers that night arrived earlier than they did on other weeks to transcribe the names for the prayer roll left on voicemail.

You obviously haven’t heard of boaty Mc Boat face, the never-released mt dew flavor “Hitler did nothing wrong”, the bridge almost named “Stephen Colbert”, me splashy pants the whale, the founder of 4chan was voted worlds most influential person, the time Justin Bieber was voted to tour North Korea, and countless of other times the internet abused a free name submission Service. Of they opened it to the public, there would likely be thousands of adolf hitlers, Barneys, Satans, and other undesirables submitted. Granted we won’t see them, but the sacredness of what is offered would be lost

I have a ten-year old special needs son... The reason I bring him up is because when you described your dog and her behavior and limits, your more or less described my son's behavior and limits. Per Traveler's definition both your dog and my Son are intelligent. But that just means they can be Conditioned (aka Pavlov's Dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning) That is not a very high bar. Abstract Reasoning is a much higher Bar. Now some might say that responding to words means they understand language... But do they really? or are they simply responding to different types of "Bells?" As much as I would like to think and hope for the former, it seems to me to be more of the latter. Then we have the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis https://www.thoughtco.com/sapir-whorf-hypothesis-1691924 which would seem to support the idea language linked to abstract thought, but the Hypothesis has it flaws. As mentioned language itself is abstract thought somewhere along the way human infants and children move beyond Pavloven Conditioning to Language. Steps that animals don't take (and my son hasn't taken yet for some reason). I have had various of my son's language therapists talk about the importance of language in higher intelligence. Almost as if there is a positive feedback loop. Abstract Reasoning allows language, more language allows for more Abstract Reasoning which allows for more language. I am no scientist but I would be very interested in seeing the results of any test or experiment seeing if there is a correlation between Abstract Reasoning and Language Skills

Officially networking and cyber security, but that's mostly because those subjects pay. On the side I'm very interested in information theory and computational linguistics, and type-token systems in general. At the moment I have little time to spend on such things, though I did manage to get a paper on vocabulary prediction submitted to a journal back in April. (It's still "under review".) If I had more free time I'd go more in those directions. At least I think I would. My problem is I have the heart and temperament of a polymath, but not the brains to be one.

I would like to take this opportunity to point the finger at Traveler for taking such a dark turn to a simple picture of adorable kittens. And not so subtly suggest that he apologize to classylady for dredging up such a traumatic memory.

I haven't researched it myself, but I have heard that someone performed a vicarious baptism for Alvin soon after the doctrine was revealed.

I've actually had the same answer to this question for 25 years.

Alivin Smith being in the Celestial Kingdom certainly a future event, and Kingdoms of Glory are not assigned until after the Second Coming and Final Judgement. The entire purpose of D&C 137 is teaching about salvation (& exaltation) of the dead. That does include baptisms for the dead, which were previously described in section 127 & 128.

If it’s not required, we have sure wasted a lot of time in the temples performing vicarious ordinances. From the Handbook: 18.1 Ordinances of Salvation and Exaltation The priesthood includes the authority to administer gospel ordinances that are necessary for salvation and exaltation. People make sacred covenants with God as they receive these ordinances. The ordinances of salvation and exaltation are listed below: Baptism Confirmation and gift of the Holy Ghost Conferral of the Melchizedek Priesthood and ordination to an office (for men) Temple endowment Temple sealing The ordinances of salvation and exaltation are not performed for persons who have intellectual disabilities that make them not accountable and unable to make covenants with God. Nor are these ordinances performed for children who die before age 8. These persons are “saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven” (Doctrine and Covenants 137:10; see also Moroni 8:8–12).

Back in verse 3 the Lord reminded Joseph of the covenant he made not to show the gold plates to anyone except those whom the Lord designated. Here the Lord says there are 3 witnesses whose testimonies will go forth with the text of the Book of Mormon. You can read about their experience here. In addition to these 3 witnesses, there were another 8 chosen to see the plates and their experience is recorded here.

I don't know if it's a perk, but I would say that they are given more responsibility toward others. "Feed my sheep, feed my lambs." The other thing that comes to mind is that they have a deeper understanding of God and His mysteries. Those are my initial thoughts. It's an interesting question, though, I'll have to think about it some more.

No need to apologize. If I can't reply to one of your queries, assume that I am stumped 🙂

It would seem that those desiring an apology from me need to get in the back of a very long line - for which I guess I must apologize for as well 😨 The Traveler

I teach at a university - which you probably think is a cushy job - which it probably is - but...oh the tedium of marking undergraduate assignments! Sometimes over 100 of them, all saying more-or-less the same thing with varying levels of articulation and accuracy, and having to assign fair marks to all of them - and give feedback! And defend those marks when the complaints come! The tedium of MEETINGS - listening to people argue for hours! Perhaps if I had 5 million, I'd offer to pay my own salary but only do the bits of my job that I enjoy. So: No more undergraduate marking. Just research dissertations. Nothing else. No more than one undergraduate lecture and a couple of undergraduate tutorials per week. I get to go to whatever conferences I want. (I'd pay my own travel and accommodation.) I get my own lab, for my own research students, picked by me. (I'd pay their stipends and their tuition fees.) No more going to meetings. I'd pay a student to sit in meetings for me, and tell me if anything happened that I needed to know about. Deedle deedle dum.

Some of the big cats I believe do that, but not felis catus. Or at least its extremely rare. P.S. Pest control is why the cat was originally domesticated. If they didn't kill rats and mice, we would probably never have become our pets.

*Evil laughing* Why, no. It will never end! *More evil laughing* It is part of my evil plot to make you apologize for all minuscule infractions, real or imagined. Wait... Did I say that out loud? Ummm... I will now attempt to distract you with..... ADORABLE KITTENS!!

You don't know what monster you have unleashed. Pointless challenges are my specialty. *cracks knuckles*