butongrl

Mosiah 4 16 And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. 17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just— 18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. 19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? 20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy. 21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another. How are we to take this scripture nowadays? I mean there's many people out there today that will take advantage of kindness and use you? Where do we draw the line? I ask this because my husband's two brothers are in a situation where they are basically homeless, no jobs which means no money. Anyways my husband has helped them out by in the past letting them stay here and giving them a little money when we can but he's backed off because it's like they are just takers. You give a little and they just keep pushing to see what else they can get. Long story short. So how far do you take this scripture? I mean I really wanna do the right thing but I don't think it is saying to let people walk all over you or take advantage of your charity. And also if someone refuses to help themselves, are we responsible to just keep on giving even though they won't change? The church is so big on self reliance but how do you reconcile that with this scripture? It almost seems like it is saying just give and give and give no matter what? Thoughts.

Congratulations rena and any other first time moms!!! Any questions feel free to ask. :) Hope your first pregnancy experience is a good one. It is such a miracle!!! I've decided to definately go with hypnobirthing and I am so excited. I also find out the sex of the baby on the 25th so that'll be fun although having one of each either would be fantastic!!!!

Being excommunicated from the church has nothing to do with the laws of the land so I don't see any sense in bringing a lawyer. I mean really what is the lawyer gonna do?

Ok I do agree with that. There are muchers out there who abuse the system but for the most part (I don't know how it is there) I think the majority of people do not CHOOSE to be on governmental assistance. And I don't think there's anything wrong with going on assistance while finishing school and starting a family. Like busymom said that person who may be on assistance now may be getting educated so that they can help others less fortunate. Isn't that kinda one thing life is about, helping others?

I just found out about 3 weeks ago that I'm having baby #3! My first was a boy, second was a girl so as far as clothes we're set for either one! They're both springtime babies but this one's gonna be a Christmas baby! I'm gonna check out hypnobirthing as I really want to go natural this time.

Yes saying that everyone who is in need of some sort of government assistance is judgemental. Like busymom said sometimes there is a need for temporary assistance which is what it is temporary and the fact is here in the US there is programs in place that people in need can take advantage of. I don't know what things are like there in the UK, maybe more people take advantage of the social programs (not that people here don't) but I'm just saying it isn't always a choice to be in need, sometimes life is just hard and people need help for a little while. God willing you will never be in a difficult situation where you need temporary help and are accused of being irresponsible.

Hi there glen, Thankyou for your interest in the mormon church. Going back to your question about the mission of the church: the threefold mission of the church is to proclaim the gospel, perfect the saints, and redeem the dead. As for your last question. No, we do not believe anyone will go to Hell simply on the basis they do not follow the church. We believe that we will be judged not only of our faith but also our works. Many people have a hard time with that and argue the point that mormons believe works will save us. That couldn't be further from the truth. Faith in Jesus Christ is what will save and redeem us. We believe that there are three degrees of glory (kingdoms prepared by God): the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, and the telestial kingdom (which is what this earth would be considered). According to our faith and works on this earth we will be judged by Jesus Christ at the last day and receive one of these kingdoms or for the extremely evil people who have done sins that are not redeemable will go to what we call outer darkness. Just a short simplistic explanation. :)

That is a very judgemental attitude. I guess it's good that you are so fortunate to be so responsible.

From the maker of The Best Two Years (good movie) came also a movie called The Dance which I saw with my husband last night and we both quite liked it. God's Army was good and the second one States of Grace I thought was terrific. Quite hard core for an LDS flick but I thought it was great!!

Herbal teas are wonderful. There are so many yummy flavors. Right now I am drinking a ginger root and peppermint tea. Yummy!! :)

I just read your post looking and I feel that I could have written it myself....lol Only my husband has been out of work for a year! and now I'm pregnant with our third. Being pregnant your emotions are really so all over the place! One day you realize how lucky you are, the next you feel so hopeless about things (Or hour to hour...lol) I truly wish you the best of luck!!! God Bless! :)

I think that there are few people that are truly evil. Bad....yes but evil no. Truly evil people I believe take pleasure in others misery and don't have any remorse for what they do.

Congratulations Hoosier!! I remeber when I was baptized 11 yrs. ago. It was a wonderful day and my life has been so blessed. I would not be where I am today for sure. If you had told me 13 yrs. ago that right now I'd belong to the LDS church, and be married with two kids to an American living in Utah!! I'd have told you you were off your rocker!!!!

Yes I feel that too. I have been thinking about that lately that I have faith and I believe it's true but I don't know. I haven't gotten up in testimony meeting for a long time mostly because of that. I think I would feel funny saying "I have faith..." when everyone else is saying "I know...":mellow:

I'm not sure what you mean by a regular testimony but I'm getting an idea. I have been told a few times when I've brought this up that I've always had it I just don't necessarily know it. I think I have felt the Holy Ghost at times when I've read something or what seems to be the main channel for me, through music. Yes I do have two beautiful little angels. And for your last question. Admittedly not nearly enough. Thanks for al the advice I've received. I do appreciate it. :)

The church can and will help you if this is truly the desire of your heart. We are in a situation right now where my husband has been out of work for awhile and I don't work either. The church has helped us tremendously financially. I don't know where we'd be without the church, they have provided so much help. There is also much help available as far as employment. I would recommend if this is really what you want that you go to your bishop or stake president and ask for advice on your situation. I know this is a very hard situation for you and you feel you have no options but just look into it. I think if you wanted to become a member of the church, the church would help you two out as much as they could. Having the church in your life is a tremendous blessing and I really encourage you to look at all your options.

Hi adie, Congratulations on your decision to be baptized. I don't know how old you are but there are singles wards in the LDS church for those age 18-30 which is a good place to meet people. If you do attend a singles ward there are many fun activities such as Family Home Evening, dances, parties in the ward. Some places also have singles wards for those age 31-40?. I myself met my spouse on ldssingles.com while chatting. I think the lds chat rooms can also be good ways to find people. Sides its fun chatting! Good luck to you!

I have been a member of the church for 11 yrs. now and I have always been very active in attending meetings and in my callings and now that I'm married, going to the temple quite often. I feel intellectally I know the church is true and Jesus died for/loves everyone but I seem to have trouble feeling it in my heart. Is something wrong with me when so many around me seem to feel things so deeply and I don't? I don't really want the standard missionary answer of praying about moroni 10:3-5 to know because I've done that and I just don't seem to feel anything. Please help. Thankyou.

I really enjoy Micheal McClean. Although he doesn't usually sing his own songs there is a CD called Michael sings McClean where he does. It is totally awesome!! One of his compositions I absolutely love is entitled The Garden. I highly recommend it. Another very very very (did I mention very) highly recommended is Beautiful Saviour by David Barrus. Very Moving!!

It's so nice to hear so much excitment from you tree. I'm sure whatever calling you receive you will magnify it and receive blessings from it. The temple is a very sacred place and there is much in the endowment ceremony of which we do not speak of. Again it is because it is considered sacred NOT secret. It is a beautiful ceremony of making covenants and promises with our Heavenly Father and learning more about His plan of happiness for His children.

Hi Rachelle, It's wonderful that you have made this choice in life. It will bring you so much happiness. After I was baptized when I was 19 I had 6 new member discussions similar to the ones the missionaries taught. These were taught to me by ward missionaries. Like skalenfehl mentioned preparing for your patriarchal blessing is a good one. If you were not told this is direct revelation for you from God received through an ordained patriarch in your stake. Preparing to go to the temple is awesome too. You will receive many blessings there and enjoy the peace there. You will probably receive a calling in your ward as was mentioned. You will also receive two home teachers and two visiting teachers which will hopefully visit you every month with a special message that is printed in one of our church magazines every month called the Ensign. Along with this too when you're ready you'll get called to be a visiting teacher which means you'll go with a companion to visit two or three sisters in your ward and share a spiritual message with them along with visiting. Well this is just a few things to look forward to as you make this important step in your life. Congratulations and if you have any questions this seems like a great place to aske them!! :)

Yes it is correct that we believe God is a personage of flesh and bones. The first scripture you mentioned says God is Spirit, NOT God is a Spirit. Now we believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. Now I am not saying that this scripture wasn't written correctly but it is possible that prophets of old times may have not even fully understood the true nature of God. For example there is a prophet named Jared in the Book of Mormon (Book of Ether to be specific) that saw the hand of God and he was amazed that God had a body of flesh and bones. This is all just speculative of course. Noone knows the true answers save God. As for the second scripture, in my opinion it just reinforces the idea that God and Jesus have a physical, tangible body.

Thanks siouxz!!

Hey jennie!! Glad to meet you....i'm new too. Welcome :):)

Thanks guys! Glad to be here....BTW cute baby blaine :) Welcome to you too skalenfehl.