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My take on it is God created all things and have their place on earth. Once they have fulfilled the measure of their creation and pass on, they are taken to their reward. Hopefully I get to be reunited with long lost pets, too. :)

I agree. Besides, how often do we sing along to popular music with worldly themes?

When I was a boy, I was very afraid of rejection, what others thought of me and being ridiculed. That had a lot to do with my upbringing. We are conditioned by our environment/surroundings. Once I left that environment (went on a mission), although still very introverted, I had to make a decision to stay that way or redefine myself. I constantly observed others, my companions, Mission President, church members, etc and slowly began to assert myself through experimentation. Nothing like knocking on the door of a person who lives on the other side of the world to make you learn to be assertive in the face of constant rejection, ridicule, etc. I felt naked, disarmed, inadequate. Slowly, however, I learned that people don't get offended if I share my personal opinion on a matter, or share my feelings on a subject. I learned that if I am honest, open and sincere I can say anything to anyone and "get away with it", if that makes sense. After two years of mastering a new language, talking to anyone on the street about a subject that I was still learning and in a foreign language, I could be bold about it, but not obnoxious. I could be like any of the prophets of the BoM and speak truth with boldness and authority. I had actually become assertive and learned self worth. It was a process, but because nobody knew me as the little whipping boy at home or the kicking boy at school, I was able to redefine myself. I had developed self esteem. I now look people in the eye, say what I feel and say it plainly and if they don't like it, so what? They're still my friends, or neighbor, etc. That just means we have differing opinions. I stand up for myself and am assertive. I have to be. I'm now a self employed general contractor and have been in construction for 17 years (since coming home from my mission). I deal with businessmen, salesmen, shady people, straightforward people all the time. My best advice is take it slowly one step at a time. The first step is to realize who you are. You are a child of God. You are a human being. You have feelings. Those feelings are valid and you deserve respect. After that, it's a matter of slowly asserting yourself, but you first have to know who you are inside. So now nothing keeps me from sharing the gospel. I've shared it with employees, and anyone who I see shows an interest. Hope this helps.

Thank you. I discovered this site by accident and am enjoying it. It's very creative, gives me a place to finally settle down in a little corner of the internet (I do have other cool little hangouts, though), where I can talk about my life and share experiences with folks who share a common ground. As C-3PO would say, "Thank the maker!"

Interesting point. I should note that I seldom if ever take any medication of any kind. I don't care to develop any dependence to anything. My body has done a rather decent job of repairing itself with a little time, a good nap and being physically fit. But now I'm going off topic. I digress.

I live in Perry just south of Brigham City.

Interesting. I don't think I'm schizophrenic and neither am I, but I am. Kidding aside, when I am calm and at peace; when I pray daily as I should and am living in harmony with the gospel those thoughts and temptations aren't there. It's only when I'm in a precarious position that I hear or feel that urge to do something stupid. I remember a story, and maybe some of you have heard it and can recount it for me but basically a man was observed with only one or two "demons" about him. Another had many more about him. The one who had one or two demons needed very little persuasion from the adversary or evil spirits about him to persuade him to sin. The man who had many demons about him was strong in faith and therefore had been pitted with more tempters by the adversary to work on him until a weakness was found whereby he could be subtly dragged down to hell. I may chat with my bishop and see what he has to say about it. Like I said, they were never literal voices, only thoughts/feelings. It may not be as extreme as Jenny0's.

I live in a very fast growing community and my ward has been split twice already in the last 8 years so I'm in yet a new ward. I have made friends quickly and fortunately where I live everyone is friendly and compassionate. I would not hesitated to call my Elders Quorum President or my new home teacher. Likewise I would be willing to help anyone at the drop of a hat who called me. I think this is how it should be everywhere.

I don't think anything is wrong with your brain. I do think, though, that your heart is in the right place and it's time to listen to your heart. That is how the Lord speaks to us. But it is our brains that allow us to discern the whisperings of the Lord. Forget all the science for now. You could have all the scientific data to prove or disprove the bible or anything relating to the gospel, but this is not how the Lord intended for us to become converted to Him. Religion aside, there is no way I can prove the existence of God to you empirically. We can, however, receive proof or witness of ourselves from God, whether or not He exists and whether or not there is a true church and whether or not the LDS church is His. So in a sense there is a way to prove it, but only to yourself. I believe the first step is for one to humble himself to the point where he is ready to prove the Lord; he is ready to follow the Lord; to set his feet on the path that the Lord has prepared. He said, "Come follow me". A person has to be convinced of the Lord's existence/divinity before he can tread the same path to eternity. The Lord's path isn't easy but it is worth it. So let's begin with faith or let's back up a little more. Let's begin with hope. You seem to have hope that there is something better. Allow me to share a chapter in the Book of Mormon that you might be able to relate to: Alma 22 Note verse 18, but read on through 22, 23 and more if you wish. For now, let's focus on the message and not the characters or the story or the setting, etc (although the story and it's background is very fascinating if you ever decide to read more). Aaron was a messenger who shared with the king of the Land a message of the existence of God. The king, not knowing God or of an existence of God, after hearing the message was ready to give away all his sins to know God. He was ready to leave his old life and begin a new life to follow the Lord. That is all God ever asks of us. Once He has "tested" our faith, He will grant what we want to know because He knows we are ready to "commit" to Him. That is the big leap of faith. That is when the Lord sees fit to answer you. Only you will know when you are completely ready to commit to your answer and only then is when the Lord will see fit to answer you. Else what would the purpose of answering your prayer be except toward your condemnation? If you received that answer but didn't act upon it, you would be throwing it away and the Lord would not do that to you. He wants a committed people; a dedicated people. He wants us to return home to Him. That begins with faith. Once you prove that faith to yourself and to Him, you will receive your answer and it will be more sweet than anything else you have ever tasted. I promise you. One more little reference for you to chew on. This is something that will help you toward your goal. It should only take a few minutes to read the chapter: Alma 32 Best wishes.

Wow, very intriguing topic!! That sort of thing happens to me too, but it isn't just swear words (and I don't swear or use foul language). You know, I've had this same problem my entire life. Although I don't "hear" the voices as if someone was standing behind me, I do "feel" or "imagine" them. I've always felt twisted up inside fighting them. I think I learned to recognize them early on as simply dark thoughts that I needed to ignore or replace with good thoughts. I like one of the above comments quoting from scriptures as all good things coming from God and all evil things coming from the adversary. While it has been a tremendous struggle to learn to ignore those voices/thoughts, which I just consider extremely annoying thoughts (because I know they aren't who I am/they don't define me) it has taught me to become finely attuned to the sweet promptings of the Spirit and also when the Lord answers me/my prayers. While those answers seldom come when I want them to, I know without a doubt that I had an answer and it is an amazing thing. I've shared this "problem" with my wife before, but I very seldom/never share any of those thoughts, because I know they aren't mine and if I ever told anyone I might be considered demented or twisted. I shudder to think about those evil promptings and why they ever enter my mind. I remember once on my mission in Germany, my companion and I climbed a very high tower of an old cathedral as part of a guest tour. When I reached the very top and looked down over the rail, which was many stories high, I could very distinctly hear a thought to "jump". Ever since I was little and if I was ever on vacation with family and overlooked a precipice to a canyon, etc. that nagging voice would come and tell me to jump, but very forcefully, almost as if giving me the will to do it. I hated those thoughts. I still do. Anyway, I don't know if others actually "hear" the voices as if someone was standing behind them, but I don't. They're more like thoughts. I still deal with it and I probably always will. I should also note that I am told in my patriarchal blessing that the adversary desires my life, that I should pray daily for the preservation of my life. There have been times that I have literally cheated death too, thanks to listening to the promptings of the Spirit, but that is another discussion. My best advice is to pray and keep praying. Learn to recognize the difference between those voices and the promptings of the Spirit and also when the Lord speaks to you when you pray. Learning to listen to the Lord is such an important part of this. Of course, speaking with your bishop is definitely something that I'm sure would benefit you.

Sounds like you've been through quite a bit in your life. Glad to see things picking up for you. I'm glad I found this website too. It's great to associate with people who share a lot and have so much in common.

Hello. My name is Marc. In a nutshell, I was born and raised in El Paso, Tx. I moved to Utah after serving a mission in Germany back in '89-'91 and married soon after. Going on 17 years of wedded bliss this coming November. I'm an adoptive father of two now full grown boys. I've been in construction for 17 years and have been a General Contractor for 11. I enjoy building things and being creative (drawing, writing, all sorts of craft building) and I also enjoy fitness. I'm also a big Star Wars geek. I'm very active in church and my callings. That's about it, I guess.