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If she's food insecure, then that's a much more immediate concern to her than a drivers license. People who live like that often struggle to plan past their next meal. They live in fight/flight mode 24/7 and it's exhausting. The best thing you could do for her is try to get her linked up with a social worker if she doesn't already have one. Might be difficult without ID, but that's where I'd start. Social workers exist to help people who struggle to help themselves.

This is a very silly thread, but I think it could be fun. When I was in the scouts, I had a friend who came up with a hilarious joke. My IRL surname is actually quite close to Haggis. All you need to do is add a letter and do some slight rearranging and you have the name of a traditional scottish food. I was called Haggis for quite some time after this. The Shuu part comes from a pigeon dating simulator called "Hatoful Boyfriend" and is the name of this character: I don't remember the context as to why, but eventually these were both combined into the nickname "HaggisShuu" which has been my online username ever since. As for profile picture, I am big fan of the film Porco Rosso, and traditionally I have used this frame as my profile picture: However lately I fancied a change and was inspired by the short fat kid from shrek forever after which is my current profile picture. His relentless determination to get what he wants, and solid bond with his father was truly inspiring to watch on the big screen.

Dude awesome thread.

For the profile picture / avatar, you must begin with this comment ("Guest" in this interaction is @Carborendum's previous incarnation): ...and continue reading until the "sheathen" bit runs dry. (It seems to have taken a moment for folks to recognize that sheathen is just a female heathen.) It stuck around as a running joke across threads, and so I drew my avatar to match. (Yes, zil was me, but I clobbered that account back when I was having hard times, to prevent myself from using it, and apparently I did such a good job that it couldn't be recovered, so when I was ready to come back, I needed a new account, hence, zil2.) As for how I chose my user name... I inverted my name (the first time; the second time, I did as described above - added a 2). Sadly, the site's indexing appears to be broken, and badly enough that even google can barely find any instances of "sheathen". It's possible it took a couple weeks for the avatar change - which I might have made for this post (I drew the avatar): And because the site indexing is broken, I can't go back and relive all the fun referenced in this post: But I can see that we used to have more fun, per my previous opinion, and therefore we ought to have more fun again. I think we need to coax @Jamie123 to finish the adventures of Henry the vacuum cleaner: Which ended in a cliffhanger - ironically, at the bottom of a cliff (be sure to check out the second installment on page 2 of the thread).

For userid and passwords, I do a double-whammy of unlikely words. I use obscure words or proper nouns and purposefully misspell them. There is no dictionary in the world that would have any of my passwords. My userid is a misspelling of the stone known as carborundum. I came across it in a lab in college. We were trying to grind down some concrete to a specific dimension. And we were using a stone that resembled a volcanic rock (with all the nooks and crannies of the stones that looked like charred sponges). I asked the crew if anyone knew what this stone was made of that could withstand grinding away at concrete without seeming to wear itself at all. I can't be sure what a classmate said. He may have said it with the "u" sound, but what I heard was "carborendum." That was what stuck with me. (It is used as a grindstone because it has a hardness of 9 to 9.5 on the Mohs scale.) As the blogosphere got bigger and social media was a thing, I figured I needed a unique userid. None of the "add some number" to make it unique. I wanted it to be unique. So, I chose "Carborundum." But, of course, to make it truly unique, I purposefully misspelled it. And I like the sound better anyway. As I described the rock form as being like the porous stone, the crystal form is a sight to behold. So, I did a web search for images of carborundum and found my current avatar.

It's absolutely overdiagnosed. I think to some degree we are in a time where disorders may be some variation of "cool". I definitely believe in circumstances that are so extreme they cause real issues and need to be treated, but people are also trying to categorize every little thing. My concern is that we're so scattered on how to approach not just ADHD but attention in general that we are at a loss for that elusive best way to learn. A common sadness among teachers is that we can't really do much that is more active because kids have no traditionally-learned limits, so all the time is spent practicing limits and boundaries. "I would love for you to run around. Can you do it without destroying something or hitting someone?" That's a surprising amount of steps and skills to get to that point.

I didn't serve a mission, I will admit I was unworthy at the time, and chose a marriage over a mission. Recent come follow me material has had me pondering. D&6 36 to me reads like, if you are a man, who is ordained to the priesthood, you must "go forth to preach the gospel" (most easily achieved through serving a mission.) Despite shirking a mission once, I still intend to serve 2 missions, a service mission when I've settled into a long term career and I'm not doing extra training/degrees. I will probably be able to do this in my late 30s. And an away from home senior mission when I retire. There is still time for me to fulfil this requirement and I intend to. As for judgement for not serving a mission, nobody would dare say anything directly to me now that I'm creating babies for our dying ward.

"True to the Faith That Our Parents Have Cherished" - Elder Hans T. Boom, Saturday Afternoon Session With the footnote to President Nelson's April 2022 talk, "Preaching the Gospel of Peace": FWIW

Um, @Carborendum? This is a fake. It uses random video from multiple sources coupled with an AI-generated Thomas Sowell voice, and an AI-generated script. I have to admit, I was a full 7 minutes through the video before I got suspicious enough to look deeper. This is an excellent warning to everyone in the human race: Be automatically wary of everything you see online. Especially stuff from people you like, saying things you'd think they would say.

Brøderbund is the software company that created the Carmen Sandiego games. And Mordor is, well, Mordor. I downloaded gimp and learned just enough to make a matching avatar. I haven’t used it since. When the forum software changed and we had to upload our avatars again I had to first download it from the Wayback Machine. As long as we’re talking about old times, who wants to discuss the chat feature?

About 20 years ago I was trying to join a Transformers fan forum. It was a very large, very popular forum at the time, and had also been around for a while. Cue me discovering the hard way that most of the usernames I'd been using on other forums were already taken. In a fit of frustration, I picked a character from some fan fiction I'd been writing at the time. It worked. Some of the users there were also on a few other forums I was going to at the time, so I kept the same username across each forum. As far as the picture goes, it was one of several dozen pre-prepared images on one forum I went to a long, long time ago that we could use as our avatars. It was so long ago that I don't even remember the forum I got it from, and said forum likely doesn't exist anymore anyway.

Salt Lake and neighboring valleys are also home to at least 7 of the people on this board, you know, in case you wanted to attempt to meet any virtual person in real life. You could plan for 2027, when the Salt Lake Temple open house is scheduled... (At least, I think it's 2027. I highly recommend against trying to come during the Olympics - I fully expect the Lord to burn Salt Lake City to the ground during that event (presumably He'll preserve the temple, though)... )

Mirkwood is the forest of giant spiders and elves in The Hobbit. It is one of my favorite parts of the story. It was the name I selected on my first forum (the now defunct Rush Message Board) and what I have used pretty much everywhere ever since. I wear these two patches on my body armor under my uniform. I like boonie hats, sometimes I have a beard and I have a suppressed AR15. It kind of matches who I am.

Gen Alpha LDS snarky teens were going wild with the AI studio Ghibli generator. I had my pick: By the way, that AI generator was pretty cool. I turned some of our favorite family pictures into Ghibli art:

I've been studying Isaiah for the last 2 months, and alas, most of it is still going over my head. So I would like to share some thoughts and gather some thoughts on Isaiah 49:8 To start off with, the header for this chapter seems to suggest that this chapter is describing the Latter-Day gathering of Israel. Verse 2 has some interesting commentary attached to it in Church textbooks: It is suggested that the "polished shaft" is in fact Joseph Smith. As this is how Joseph Smith described himself in this famous quote: So if we are running with the assumption that this particular chapter is discussing the Latter-Days, I think the prophecy in verse 8 is being fulfilled through covenant making and patriarchal blessings. Making covenants in the Church allows us to partake of the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant, which is one way the "earth is being established" and one way we become part of the extended family of Israel. What I find most fascinating though is how covenant making allows us to "inherit the desolate heritages" and I think this is fulfilled when we are declared to be part of a particular lineage in our patriarchal blessing. This may of course be a bogus interpretation, but I find the parallels quite striking.

How my work weeks often look

I'm ok with (more than ok with, I'm enthusiastically in favor of) people reading the history of the brownshirts and leveling comparisons against whomever they wish. When it fits, it's an indication something needs to change. This doesn't fit: lol "secretive": https://www.ice.gov/outreach-programs/citizens-academy This article is a poorly reasoned hit piece, full of inflammatory language, written by people who are not in favor of the law when it comes to laws being enforced against folks they know. Imagine being mad that a government agency is so transparent, they actually put time/effort/budget into teaching whoever wants to learn all about what they do. Imagine refusing to actually attend a class, and then writing a hit piece against it. You wanna know how to turn @Phoenix_person into a fan of ICE? Have him do a ride-along with ICE agents. Similar to this phenomenon: In related news, I've been something of an afficionado of my local law enforcement citizens academies. I've attended 3 - local small town, Colorado Springs, and my county's academies. Pretty interesting things. I found all three of them to be genuine attempts at outreach to the communities served by these agencies. All three were welcoming and receptive of criticisms/complaints/issues/suggestions. I volunteered for a taser demonstration at one, because I honestly didn't know what I thought about police using tasers. I am a fan after having one used on me. I should say, I've attended 4 - but the one put on by my local government was SO BORING I stopped going after the 2nd session. Sitting through a budget appropriations meeting is boring enough. But sitting through a class about how they do budget appropriations? It was like torture. So to answer your question, no, @Phoenix_person, not like that. Drawing analogies between ICE citizens academies and the hitler youth or the brownshirts is sort of the height of nonserious accusation that folks have come to expect from the hysterical manipulative left. If 2025 is supposed to be a rebuilding year, I think figuring out how to be better at making ludicrous analogies isn't going to get you the results you're hoping for.

I agree. Especially as the second half of the quote is, to paraphrase, if we were in their situation we would be like that too. And they would be perfectly reasonable in ours. As for the topic at hand, skimming the thread it is a hard topic to truly get your head around. Understanding why God would permit, let alone require, such a rule is hard and I don't mind saying that I am uncomfortable with it having been a thing. For myself, I manage by remembering a few key points. First, whether I agree with the policy or not Brigham Young as the Prophet did have the authority to make such a declaration and have it be binding. He as President of the Church was authorised to do so. I like to think he would not do so without divine guidance but his authority was there. And once bound it would take a similar prophetic decision to unbind it. So even if Brigham made a mistake (which I do not endorse truly) once done and entrenched it would be hard to reverse. Second, Brigham young is quoted as saying that the ban was never intended to last forever so even from the start it was taught as temporary. And third, the world of the Mid 19th Century mid west is very different to mine now. Race relations were a different thing and Slavery was commonplace worldwide. The needs of the church were different. None of this makes me glad it happened, or any less glad the practice ended. I wish it had sooner. As for official discussions, the most official statement from Church Leaders I know of (First Presidency statements about the priesthood ban - FAIR) reinforces that the ban was never forever. The 1949 statement does suggest that the people affected are descendants of Cain, and does state that our pre-mortal life has something to do with it. It does not however endorse the idea that the reason for the ban was pre-mortal sin, just that our pre-mortal life affects our mortal one and that those spirits who would be born under the ban thought it was worth it to come. Even this is not definitive as to the whys. It really is for me a matter of faith. Of all the topics in church history this and Polygamy are the big ones. I am glad the ban was lifted before I was born, and I am glad that church leaders are willing to say "we don't know why it was done, but it was and we try to trust God in that". Any apologetics for the ban will feel hollow to someone hurt by it and I get that.

I tend to be more of a listener than a talker. And I have also lurked on most boards for a significant period of time before joining them, including both this one and the one for which I originally used this name. The picture I made, using a couple creative commons images as templates, to go along with the name. And what I've heard about the Florida Man stories is that we hear so much about Florida men because their freedom of information laws make it particularly easy to find the weird crimes if someone's looking for something to write about.

Concatenation of my last name and profession. A nickname that stuck during my first year of residency internship. The image of Lurch is a nod to my personality.

My user name is reflective of my main hobby. Model trains. It is the brand name of the trains I run and collect.

Username: Don't recall why. I've used it for almost two decades in more than one location I like the look of leaves. Yup.

I think it is for a lot of us. It’s a virtual ward for me.

The application of my particular profession has taken me many places far from my home. Two things have always been of upmost importance in my travels. First to seek out and spend time with the Saints that are building Zion in those far-off places. Second (most important) is to find my way back home. My username is a reflection of both my physical and spiritual life. Growing up in Provo Utah in the back yard of Brigham Young University (BYU) I was shielded a great deal from things non-LDS throughout the rest of the world. Many professors and their families were a part of my daily experiences. Hugh Nibley was one of the more influential individuals I grew up knowing. Even in my youth I was fascinated with Brother Nibley’s concept of Abraham as a stranger in a strange land. I have identified myself in the mortal experience as the stranger in a strange land. I have never felt to belong to this earth but rather to some other place that is greatly different. I am the traveler far from my home. My only purpose here is to seek out Saints building Zion and to find a way back to where I belong. My profile picture is a device that combines a sextant, star chart, sundial and compass – It is my private symbolic Liahona. This forum is a safe harbor for me. The Traveler

This is my second name. I’m a huge University of Florida fan, and their mascot is an alligator. My first name here was “MormonGator”. The profile pic is an alligator who jumped on boat and it looked like it was waving. It did not happen to me, I found it on a random site somewhere.

I believe this is a semantic argument. From a layman's perspective, that is essentially all it was. Consider the following. DIFFERENCES From your link: I don't see a whole lot here that says that it was any different from the common flu in any meaningful sense. From a practical perspective, it was a severe flu. You can pick nits all you want. And you'd probably be right. But from a layman's perspective of the effects for over 90% of the population, these items listed above indicate that the effects we see as patients resemble the flu with heightened levels of severity in several ways. And the level of severity is not sufficient to really treat this with much more scrutiny than a common influenza virus. These are good points. But they are outliers. They primarily affect those who already have health issues especially those who are already hospitalized. And some claim that was only for people who got the vaccine. (This is unconfirmed, of course. But we really don't know.) But the flu also causes more dangerous symptoms in the elderly and those who are already weakened or hospitalized. But the "more symptoms" are simply "different". Whether they are "more deadly" is part of my conceding that it was a "stronger than average level." These few differences may or may not be enough to induce the average person to consider additional protocols. But I consider the shutdown of the entire world to be overkill. And the grift that ran rampant throughout the entire era is enough for me to say: That was too much! Wouldn't it be great if it were possible to actually get the real numbers of deaths and hospitalizations so we could compare? That would tell us volumes about how much of it was hype and how much was necessary. But because of the way they funded everything, the level of grift during those years caused it to be greatly exaggerated. So, we may never know.

I see no reason to even think about "I never knew you" - first, it's clearly wrong, and second, Joseph Smith said it's supposed to be "ye never knew me". This leaves us with two primary points of focus: 1. The previous verse says they prophesied, cast out devils, and did many "wonderful works" in Christ's name. And yet Christ said they worked "iniquity". The faith-only Christians will wave this away with words about the characters having tried to work and earn their way into heaven and not having faith. But consider "thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" - it has become common for folks to understand this not only as using God's name as a vulgarity, but also using it as a facade for evil, or using it without authority (that is, without permission, without having been called and ordained / set apart). The verses combined lend support to @Traveler's theory as to what the Lord meant. 2. Continuing with the JST rendering, how do scriptures tell us we come to know Christ? With variations on this theme: Whatever the folks were doing in Matthew 7:22, they weren't doing what Moroni 7:48 describes - this must be the case, or Christ is a liar, and we know Christ isn't a liar. "Ye never knew me" and "I never knew you" and "I never authorized you" (aka "you used my name in vain") all fit with Moroni 7:48 - they didn't pray, weren't filled with charity, weren't true followers of Christ, had not become the sons of God, were not like Him, and did not even see Him as He is (which is why they were like, "but wait, we did all these great things in your name, what do you mean, 'depart'?").

This would seem to be the most likely explanation: Other possible explanations, like global conspiracies involving hundreds or thousands of people colluding to hide the truth, would seem to be less likely.

So just to make sure I understand. You claim people have realized the Covid vaccines were "far less safe than we were assured". Your source for this claim is the linked apnews article. Is that correct? Because if it is, you're not really making your case. The article is about a cautionary pausing from some countries based on some things that could be issues, maybe for children. There's a difference between pausing for some people based on caution, and "far less safe". I mean, yes, the administration and Faucci were messaging "100% and 100% effective" like the liar-liar-pants-on-fire they were. The massive push to get children vaccinated flew in the face of the data that kids were the least likely to get it or have complications. So many things were done wrong, some of it had to be intentional. But your claim was "covid vaccines were far less safe than we were assured", and that's simply not true. Not by a long shot. Your AP news article doesn't make the case, and although I've looked for years, no credible source does either.

Well, to be honest, I still haven't realized any of that jargle, even after looking seriously for something to substantiate it for years. I mean, the vaccines were far less effective than we hoped (and the government pushed). And it's now becoming more accepted that 'vaccine' isn't an accurate description of it - it's better thought of as a 'therapeutic'. But far less safe? What's your data for that? The thing has gone into literally billions of arms. Every nation on earth has a health service or ministry or center of some sort - you'd think it would be easy to find. The negative impacts are indeed 'told', but the last I checked, it was a similar rate to any other sort of related therapeutic. I mean, you can't find it in the December '24 House report, full of Republicans more than willing to pin dirt like that to Biden. It claimed "The COVID-19 Vaccine, While Largely Safe and Effective, Had Adverse Events That Must be Throughoughly Investigated" It's chart, when compared with the billions of doses given, is pretty weak sauce: With 5.6 billion doses given worldwide, 10,000 deaths means the vaccine is safer than driving a car. You've got a better chance of being hit by lightning, twice, than having a serious negative covid vax event. Especially considering that any lying agenda driven yayhoo was able to submit an entry to VAERS on the topic.

The "disorder" part of ADD or ADHD may be a disorder, or may just be a way of existing. It seems like there are a bazillion of us with ADD/ADHD who are out just living our best lives the best we can, just like everyone else, but with some different coping mechanisms and learned habits and methods to make life work. The diagnoses themselves are probably waaaay over diagnosed with our youth, especially boys. "Sit still and pay attention" is a nice skill for a boy to develop, but it's often not the best way to learn.

There are mentally ill people, and there are scammers. There are lazy people, and there are low-iq people without the brain power to understand. There are entitled people and folks with PTSD who are struggling with being abused by people they should have been able to trust. Here's the thing - we often can't tell who is who by just looking at them or even working with them. The line from that hymn nailed it: Who am I to judge another when I walk imperfectly? In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can’t see. Scripture is pretty clear on things too: So we're left with a good reasonable basis for not judging, a scriptural commandment to not judge, and a very reasonable question about what help looks like and what it doesn't look like. - Giving someone help who could do it themselves isn't help, it's enabling their laziness. That's not charity, that's not love, that's not respecting someone's agency, that's being a sucker. - Giving someone help who can't do it themselves is help, is charity, and we're commanded to do it, and if we don't and get all judgey about it we're going to hell. It can be impossible to tell which sort of person we're dealing with. So we take our best guess, do our best, and try to live with the consequences. I'm pretty sure that while @Phoenix_person and his folks' hearts are in the right place, subsidizing single motherhood with taxpayer dollars is the most harmful thing white folk have done to the black community since slavery. Paying people to keep fathers out of the home is evil, and has ruined lives and increased all the bad things these programs seek to prevent. That said, each of us will personally be judged by how we've treated the lost and the least of us, and if we screw it up it'll have eternal consequences. So do your best and make up your mind and pray for guidance to do the right thing.

I hear you. Is this because of lack of knowledge/understanding? Or is it because she is intellectually challenged? If she simply doesn't know how, you go one route. If she's intellectually challenged, take another route. To clarify: When I say "intellectually challenged" she may not fit the clinical definition of "retarded" (IQ below 75). But if she's on the lower end of normal (80-85) she simply may not have learned a lot of what you and I take for granted. So, the first thing is to try to educate her (with a lot of patience). But if she's always been this way, then one problem you'll have is that she's told herself "I just can't..." Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. So, you'll have that to work through. And it will not be easy. A lifetime of programming has told her "I can't." You're not going to deprogram that overnight. Something similar to this has happened to the young lady that my wife and I have been helping. She basically needs to be walked through the process. We think it's easy to just print out a form. But she doesn't have a printer. We think it is easy to just look up a govt. bldg. on Google. But she can't spell. Sometimes she can't remember words like "vital records." And she may not quite understand the directions that Google gives from her GPS. We take all these things for granted. But if she's never been taught... Every person needs to make a judgment call about how much we can help, and when we have reached the limit. At some point, when we've really done what we can to help out, we need to make a call. And each call is situation specific. There is no rule. It's just judgment. And the limit for you will be different than it is for other. Put your own mask on first, then help the next person. Ponder and pray for guidance. Then understand your proper priorities. ALSO: If you think that all social links have been exhausted, it may be time to bring government into it as @Phoenix_person said. While I'd always encourage that as a last resort only, it may be that this situation is appropriate for government safety nets. But beware of one thing, the number of people who are able to ween themselves off of it, while a significant number, is still pretty low. The fact that she may never get off of it is a reason to try to avoid it. But if it is the last resort...

The answer to this question is yes -- yes, this scripture does help us more further understand that without faith it is impossible to please God, and that we will not be able to claim ignorance and still be saved. I often think of agnostics and atheists when reading these verses. An agnostic, after death, will ultimately claim ignorance after death, "If I had 'known' (temporal evidence) I would have believed." And will expect to be saved without pleasing God through faith. Once they realize they outsmarted themselves they then will experience the gnashing of teeth. I also find this verse interesting because it ultimately deals with the after life, and not our mortal life. There have been many of our brothers and sisters who have perished without knowing who Jesus Christ is, thus salvation was never declared unto them. Ultimately, they are ignorant, and upon these the Lord's mercy is extended (Mosiah 15:24). In their mortal life they were ignorant, but the gospel will be preached unto them in the spirit world -- so ultimately -- no man/woman is saved in ignorance.

Traveler, cease this twisting of the words of our prophets and apostles. Your statement is the dictionary definition of the philosophies of men, mingled with scripture. When you take their "every worthy and able young man", and you turn it into "calling from G-d meant for everyone", you put words in their mouths, twist the truth in their message to your own. Then you stand proudly upon this rameumptom of your own creation, looking down on those who you decide to think of as sinners, and pronounce their problem for them. Maybe I can suggest that you clarify, try again? @Ironhold, you taking notes here?

Ah yes. The urging from our leaders is "every worthy and able young man". So people see a young man not going on a mission, and they feel it's their right to gossip, unrighteously judge, and demand "so which is it? You not worthy, or you not able?" Here's the thing about unrighteous judgments and demanding things: @Carborendum's response is a righteous response. Maybe it needs to be phrased a bit more civilly (although 'go phillips yourself' is my new favorite term of the month). But they are doing wrong by butting in to things that aren't their business, and it would be nice if they would stop doing wrong. Here's why they're wrong: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1999/08/judge-not-and-judging?lang=eng "Thus, we must refrain from making final judgments on people because we lack the knowledge and the wisdom to do so." Translation: If you're telling me I'm going to hell for not serving a mission, you are being unrighteously judgmental, and you should go phillips yourself. Third, to be righteous, an intermediate judgment must be within our stewardship. We should not presume to exercise and act upon judgments that are outside our personal responsibilities. Translation: Mind your own business. Fourth, we should, if possible, refrain from judging until we have adequate knowledge of the facts. Translation: You don't know me, go phillips yourself. People acting like gossipy intrusive busybodies are everywhere. In and out of the church. When you encounter one, they are best dealt with from a position of Godly righteousness. They are sinning with their unrighteous judgments, they are sinning with their butting-in to things that aren't their business, they are sinning when they assume from a distance that they know best when they don't. You're just standing there being a disciple of Christ, and they show up peddling their nonsense. They are the first offenders. It's ok to treat them as such. Now, folks with stewardship (parents, teachers, quorum advisers, bishops, stake presidents) get to try to urge and work with as many young men as they can, to help them be worthy and able. They get to care. They get to try. But the second they use some high-pressure sales tactic like "go on a mission or you're going to hell", their behavior should be called out as luciferian, and we can ask them to stop preaching satan's doctrine. From the same article: refrain from judging people and only judge situations. That's the secret. We must not unrighteously judge, but we are COMMANDED to judge righteously. That means we judge situations, within our stewardship, with adequate knowledge of the facts. @Ironhold, you didn't go on a mission. That's between you and the Lord. You have nothing to prove to me, or anyone else. Related story: My wife has many health issues, and has a handicapped placard. When she parks in a handicapped stall and jumps out, it's usually not apparent how she 'qualifies'. Invisible illnesses are certainly things. At least weekly she sees judgmental looks from people. Maybe once every couple months, she runs into someone who feels it's a good idea to bring it to her attention. Like it's their business. Like she owes them an explanation. She's got a thousand responses in her arsenal. She'll have 1001 once I tell her about 'go phillips yourself'.

I have thought about this for a while. I will not pretend to know or understand any more than anyone else, but plural marriage in the eternities may not be defined exactly as we may be defining or thinking. There is a possibility that not all wives in a plural marriage are equal. Both to each other as well as their husband. Since we are speculating and do not know anything for sure, the parameters may not be defined in the manner we are thinking that we are applying them. The Traveler

It is not by faith alone but rather by faith in Jesus Christ that we hold to the iron rod to obtain the Tree of Life. In essence, it is by faith that we obtain knowledge. Jesus explained it this way – John 8:31-32 The Traveler

You cannot be saved without knowing you're being saved. You cannot be saved until you have learned all that you need to know as a participant in that process. The mysteries of God are nothing more or less than knowledge. Those who inherit the celestial kingdom will eventually gain all the knowledge which God now has. Man cannot be saved in ignorance. That said, I believe, in large part because of Lectures on Faith, that there are two kinds of faith, only one of which is made "dormant" by knowledge.

D&C 131:5 teaches us a lot about D&C 131:6.

I think the two scriptures are compatible in that knowledge opposes ignorance. We are saved in Christ, not ignorance.

Ok, that was a rivetingly enjoyable slice of life. Where I live, the [flash flash flash] is usually from oncoming traffic, and it's always a warning that we're approaching either deer/antelope in the road, or a speed trap. Colorado doesn't flash lights out of annoyance, we just move straight to road rage. As for my kids, we approached rainbow topics the same way we approached everything else, by trying to have an open complete discussion about everything. We try to explain why people do the things they do, in a way that if our Savior was watching the conversation, He'd smile at the treatment we're giving some of His children. We explain why we think and believe what we think and believe, and why. Risks and dangers, blessings and advantages, difficulties and hardships, right and wrong. Then they go about making up their minds and forming opinions and arguing and whatnot, in an open dialogue of shared trust and respect. At least that is what we have tried to do. We maybe accomplish the bare minimum half the time. Wife is much better at it than I am, and 95% of the successes are hers. I've had some good moments.

Indeed... I am a big fan of truth, but there is so much we do not have right now. As far as I am concerned Plural Marriage in the Celestial Kingdom is "Tomorrow's" problem which in truth I am not seeing as problem either way for me personally. However right here, now, "Today's" problem is in truth is I that need the reassurance that I have just as good a chance as anyone else. This does not have to be true... But right now I need to believe it to be true. If once everything is done, if then, I find out it wasn't true it will no longer matter

Another issue is that there's considerable overlap in the behaviors demonstrated by both "kid with ADD/ADHD" and "kid who is legitimately bored because they either already know the material or the teaching style is not one they respond best to". Individuals who are high-functioning autistic might also have tics or issues getting along socially that can be mistaken for ADD / ADHD (et al) even when they don't have it. It takes time, effort, observation, and a skilled professional to diagnose which is which. The problem is that modern society tends more towards "any kid who doesn't sit neatly and quietly is inherently defective" and so the first instinct is to punish and medicate rather than evaluate.

I didn't mean to say that I'm "anti-medication." I just tend to believe that we too easily have a knee-jerk reaction to "anything" that is "a tad" outside of the ordinary. This has led to a net over-medication society. Of course I believe there are cases where medicating is absolutely warranted. But on the balance, I believe we do it WAYYY too much today.

Oh agree. I dislike it when people surrender to it either and use it as an excuse for bad behavior. Having said that, I absolutely think it exists and is treatable.

Speaking for me only, I was on Ritalin (not uncommon for 90’s boys) in my teenage years and it did nothing. When I stopped taking it in college I began to thrive. I don’t think Ritalin/not being on Ritalin had much to do with it. Environment and mental health matters much more.

I have mixed feelings on medication for ADHD. I've seen too many unmedicated kids who were far behind just charmingly energetic (one couldn't even get out of the classroom to run around outside, he was so unfocused) where other therapies just weren't working. But, yeah, not all the medicated people grew up to be outstanding citizens either... But the point of my reply here is that medications are such a weirdly fascinating assembly of risk. My daughter is on a near-miracle drug for her condition (they even just released an ever more near-miracle drug, which is exciting) and one of the relatively bigger side effects complaints is some increased levels of quirky behavior. Depression risks, ADHD-like symptoms, etc. She's 9 and quite the firecracker, and sometimes we wonder, is this her or the medication? For what it's worth, this medication may actually add decades to her lifespan so I'm not going to drop it, but it really is interesting how some of this shakes out.

Sure. But if it's a true principle, and if anyone practices it in the eternities, then it means more exalted women than men.