jimuk

I hope you don't mind if i tell you of what i think was a miracle which happened to my wife and i one christmas it wont take long, it concerns two young missionaries. Well i was out of work with 2 young children and i had nothing and i mean nothing, i dident burden the church with these problems but i was at rock bottom. What i did have was my testimony and my family. Anyway it was about a week before christmas day and i heard of these two elders who would be on their own (i dont even remember names) on christmas day, so before even thinking about where the food was going to come from to feed these extra two guys i had invited them to Christmas dinner, we dident even have enough for ourselves lol, but how could i leave these two young men sitting in their room on what should be a joyous day. The celebration of Jesus Christ's birth. anyway i must admit we was more than a little worried as to where our celebration dinner was coming from, but we were determined not to let the two guys down, two days before christmas i prayed and it was a much needed talk to/with my father, well i dident feel a thing, but was not unduly concerned about it as i had lots on my mind. (feeding my family and the elders) That evening i for some reason went outside and low and behold, on my doorstep was a small food hamper, to this day i dont know how it got there (or do i) There was a small turkey and it was small lol, and some vegetables and other small bits and pieces, i couldent believe it. Well to cut a long story short, We now had to make this meal go between Six people the kids included in the count, when the elders arrived on christmas day, they were so so pleased to be there it was so very heart warming. This brings me to the miracle part, in the kitchen my wife had done the best she could with what she had to work with but i must admit things were not looking to promissing lol. The thing is, the food went round with more to spare there was more of it than there could have been, our plates were full, and there was still turkey and vegatables in the centre of the table, everyone had second helpings. No we dident see food appearing from mid air as if by magic, it just seemed to be much more than enough (bit like the loaves and the fishes i guess) it is very hard for me to explain, our father in heaven had provided and this was indeed a miracle. in our time. I am sure there are lots of accounts of this kind of thing happening which we hear nothing about in the church today. Thank you father in heaven for being so kind and being there for us.

Hi Mike, come on, this guy is human and capable of human fail abilities ( if thay are the correct words lol) He is not the first and not the last to make mistakes, whatever you think of him he was a prophet of god, prophets throughout the scriptures made mistakes, and are rebuked for doing so. You must ask yourself "why is Joseph himself used as a weapon against the very church he was commanded to reestablish on the earth" its not rocket science, it is Satan using the multitudes to try to destroy the true church of Jesus Christ. As i have said many times, If this church is so wrong then wouldent it be easier for Satan to just leave us alone and let us get on with it, of course he would, for we would be sealing our own fate, much easier for him to go after some other religion that was drawing to near to heavenly father, am i the only one to see this lol. Whatever you think of Joseph, it needent turn you against the good works that the prophets and other saints continue to do in the world, no need to utter bad things towards Jesus's church. Thanks for listening Mike

Maurice, Do you not want a prophet on the earth, do you not feel it in your heart that with a prophet we/you have direct contact with heavenly father through these prophets. Joseph smith was such a prophet, and from the word go, as soon as he told people about his visitation he was persecuted, people would cross to the other side of the street when they see him coming, pretty tough going for a young lad of 15yrs dont you think, a lot to take onto such a young boys shoulders. rameumptom says it all in his post, so please look into your heart, and i would plead with you in the name of Jesus christ to ask your father in heaven if Brother Joseph was a prophet. If you ask, really wanting, needing to know, with no bitterness, your father will let it be known to you by the spirit. It is such a simple way of of finding out.

Phew, what a great testimony to Baptism and the gift of the Holy ghost, dont you ever forget that beautiful feeling, whenever bad temptations are laid before you just remember the gift you were given at your baptism. You needed to know if what you were doing was right, and heavenly father was sure not going to let you get away lol. He let you know with the most powerful gift he could give to any of his children, and boy did he sock it to you. Thanks for a great post and Testimony as to our father in heaven.

That news story never broke here in The uk God bless the saints in the usa is all i can say about that.

Elphaba, Why would i/we not beleive you, i do not know you, if you say that happened then i am sorry, and the majority of the members will feel the same, but i must stress again, these are individual persons and it is not what i would myself call very christian. onto anti, you say it all i your last paragraph (of earlier post) in nine words, "The history of the Church is what it is" Thats it, it is history, what good does it do to keep talking about these things. all it does is cause bad feeling and serves no good purpose at all, these guys have already made up their minds and are looking for a fight. I do not go onto other so called christian boards and go on about their history, the burning and torturing of people by their churches, and other bad things, in the name of our father in heaven. but i know i could if i so wished, how long do you think i would last lol. I do not believe these bad things which you chose to remind us of would have been done in heavenly fathers name, but i do believe that those that did them will be answerable for what they did to our heavenly father. The people who want to come here to keep bringing them up already know about them, they have read all about them, They have already made their minds up as to whether they are true or not, to keep reminding us of them makes some of us see red, (as someone put it earlier lol)

This is what we believe 1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression. 3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. 4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof. 6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth. 7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth. 8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. 9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. 10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. 11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. 12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. 13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. Do you see anything there within that makes us a bad people.

Please enlighten us to your beliefs, and what the reasons you think the lds family stopped their children playing alongside your children, i am just curious. As already said, the were individual members, wow there is so much expected from mormons

Your curiosity is welcomed here, we love to have none members to talk to, what i personally object to are the guys that come here looking for a fight, yet call themselves "Christian" , why do they have to be so spiteful and hurtful with the horrible things they say about such a loving church, if thay are not sent here with the spirit to learn what we are about, then they are here to create contention amongst us, you must ask yourself why they would act in such an unchristian way, and who must have sent them, and why.

Thanks for your last comment bytor, wish i could express myself like you.

Well, me i found the Church of Jesus christ of latter day saints, i listened to the beautiful teachings of the missionaries and was well pleased, why on gods own earth would i want to have an open mind and listen to the teachings of any other denominations, Lest they confuse my own beliefs. I really do not want to listen to churches that used to burn people at the stake and torture others, in the name of god, Hmm something is very wrong there me thinks, so what can other churches teach me.. Most anties know no history of their church and how they would terrify the congregation into their religion. This is for any anti Mormon. Who can honestly tell me one thing that the LDS (church) do in the world that is bad or unkind to anyone, what teachings are so bad, is it the love, the compassion, the forgiveness, the kindness, the love they have for their fellow man (not just LDS members) or maybe its the true love and, respect that they have for their Father in heaven, This is not just the members, it is THE CHURCH as a whole. Does this sound like other denominations have anything to teach us, yes we can learn the above attributes from members of other denominations, but not the teachings of their churches. if their church teachings have anything to teach me then do please tell me, i do want to know. I have prayed about these things and the answers have indeed been made known to me by the spirit. This really doesent make me anti non members of our church, it means that i have found what the father and the holy ghost wanted me to find, which is the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. Please help me to understand why we are not christians please lol, in layman's terms please. Because I love my brother Jesus and i know he is the saviour of humankind. for anti mormon christians. Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you. So just ask your father in heaven About the "Mormons" If you truly want to know, but ask as a christian, with love in your heart for all.

"the question is not whether we need one, but whether Joseph Smith was one, and whether his revelations are from God or not. If he was, then God knew we needed one, and gave him to us." We do need one, and Joseph smith was one. This is what we believe or we wouldent be members of the "church OF Jesus christ of latter day saints" Authority must come from god to act in his name, and if there is no prophet then nobdy has the right to act in gods name. Which would make ALL churches wrong. We have a living prophet on the earth today, why is it so hard for other denominations to accept that, Dont they want one, very much the same as the jews denying that the saviour had come when we know he has. Dont other churches want a prophet on the earth, it seems not. It is such a simple realism, prey about it with true intent and really seeking the truth, dont be afraid to want to find out the truth, why do people keep asking members of the church, why are they afraid to ask their heavenly father, this is realy who you should be asking. Members such as myself are/can be susceptible to not being good talkers and may inadvertently describe things in a way to cause anti feelings. So please ask heavenly father, he will put you straight.

Hi misshalfway, if our own spirit which already knows right and wrong can be made stronger with the gift of the Holy ghost, isn't it then feasible that our knowledge to interperate between good and evil, right and wrong, made so much easier for us. Maybe i am putting to much emphasis on the spirit of god then, but i know this spirit is the most powerful witness that we can have with us, and the more we love our father and bare witness ourselves the more powerful the spirit becomes. I am not for one minute saying that, once we have the Holy spirit with us then we dont need to carry on striving for the approval of our heavenly father, By showing love and kindness, compassion and forgiveness, to our fellow man, and most of all to himself. So no i do not think it is plain sailing. This is just how i feel and i would hope others will understand what i am saying.

If a person has the holy ghost with them then there is no choices to make.

Our own spirit guides us surely, we already know right and wrong, this is why it takes us so long to grow, Our own spirit drives this mortal body, this knowing right and wrong is our free agency, when we get baptized our spirit is made stronger when we recieve the Holy ghost. If we have a strong spirit, then no, no other spirit can influence us.

I beleive my father in heaven to be a loving, kind, forgiving father, i try to follow what he would have us do and i would not send anyone to hell because they had not heard of Jesus, "its hardly their fault" and neither would he. To even think of our father as such a bad unkind person would surely be classed as blasphemy. He loves us all, each and every one of us, and anyone who truly loves him knows this. You cant love someone that you are terrified of, "lets all pretend to be good or father is sending us to Hell" what a load of Medieval rubbish, brought about by people who frighten people into worshiping some kind of god.

The holy ghost has a tremendous influence over what we do concerning what is right and what is wrong, this is why we do indeed need this "spirit" residing with us. We need to do all we can to keep him there. Ok without him we do know right from wrong i know, but isn't it great when you feel that you have pleased your father in heaven and he is letting you know through the power of the holy ghost that he is well pleased. I may be talking of the wrong spirit to which you refer, but a spirit non the less. So yes a spirit can have influence over what we do. I do think other spirits try to influence us, this is why we need the "extra" power of the holy ghost fighting in our corner, without him it is easier for bad spirits to influence/persuade us to make the wrong decisions.

Would my experience be wrong, as i have said myself before, i really do beleive that moved on spirits would be far to busy to come back to entertain, but could it not be possible that because this happened just seconds before i had seen him and he was still earthbound, he could still do what he chose to do before he moved on. (i dont know) I would like an explanation so until i can i must go with what feels ok with myself. Which is, In no way could i have entered the actual state i was in where i did leave my physical body, somebody had to make this happen, and in no way could i have done it. Mark himself did know that i already believe in life after our bodies died, i think he came to let me know i was right in my belief (but i already knew that anyway). Or maybe he did not believe me at sometime when i had told him, so he just wanted to say "Jim you were right" But my physical body was not seeing "for want of a better word" a ghost, i was indeed made as spirit, and i do not think for one minute that Mark could make me this way. I do believe people do see ghosts whilst in their own bodies, and this is why the ones that do are normally afraid, but when you are made/prepared into spirit so you can recieve another, then this is special, you know for a surety, not hope that life goes on, because you have seen it. Because you did not hunt it down, you did not ask for the experience, so you have done nothing wrong at all, and you could do nothing to stop it happening. This experience can happen, it happened to me, it again makes me stronger in spirit and makes me love my father in heaven even more. It has nothing to do with anyone saying "you have this gift" it may well have been something given at the time (just the one time) but i feel it was from our father, and not satan as i do not think that he would make me feel the way i felt. I know what it is like to be filled with the holy ghost, not just feeling good,but filled completely with the holy spirit, and the glow/warmth i feel throughout my body when i now speak about my experience is almost overwhelming, if my experience was wrong, then so is the holy ghost which has been with me since i have been Baptized. it would mean i have been misguided in my quest for Love, charity, forgiveness, and compassion to others. I do not or have never spoke to spirits.

Our father in heaven is not just looking out for those, that can afford to pay to study the bible and use big words, this does not make anyone i repeat anyone an authority on god, i know what god expects of us,by doing the things he loves and not doing the things that i do which do not please him through the spirit, the bible is there for everyone that can read it, or is prepared to listen to it being read, the learned and the unlearned, thats all, nothing more.i do not think it was meant to be argued over, but i ere to the not to be argued over, you either believe its the word of god or you dont, if you argue its because you dont like some of the things in it. This is my personal views anyway, i am not pointing a finger at anyone.

How about this one then. Few years ago when my wife and i were staying the night at wifes sisters place i happened to be in the lounge laying down watching the tv, my wife and her sister were in the kitchen chatting. It was around midnight, i was not tired and was watching a late night western (all this has stayed with me) I remember very well what happened, this is what happened, in order of events, i remember very clearly. I closed my eyes as if to blink as if in slow motion, when i opened them slowly the room had taken on a strange amber low light/glow, like someone had turned a dimmer switch down, of which there was none, i was not afraid at all, now the feeling i had throughout was a feeling of warmth, and contentment, and like being packed in loose cotton wool, i would best describe it as a complete feeling of tranquility. As i have said i was not afraid at all, and this was because it seemed a natural state to be in, and how it had always been, no shock at finding myself in this situation, just normal, no "help whats happening" just completely normal with the wonderful/beautiful feeling of tranquility, which i already mentioned. Oop's nearly forgot, the tv which was still on at this time was completely silent. I then decided to get up from where i was laying, I got up as one would normally get up and walked halfway across the room, i stopped because i heard a commotion, from where i did not know at the time, i turned to see myself still lying down, still no worries arose in me, what i did see at this time though was my good freind Mark sitting in the armchair on the opposite side of the room, this was the only time i was a little concerned/confused, he sat there with his hands on each of the arms of the chair, now the funny thing i suppose is that he never said anything to me and i said nothing to him, which at the time dident seem strange, but i remember my thoughts which were, "hang on thats Mark, but he is in Ireland" but i still said nothing, as i said, this was the only time i felt any concern at my situation. Then at that moment i opened my, and i can only put it this way, mortal eyes, everything was back to normal, the sound of the tv, the lighting, and there was no Mark. I went into the Kitchen and asked "what was all the noise about" and was told that they had heard nothing, and to go back and watch tv. Right are you still with me guys. This all happened as i said at around midnight on sunday. I forgot to say that Mark was my wifes sisters boyfriend, who has returned to his home in ireland a couple of months previous, and i had not heard from him, but was awaiting his return. On the monday at midday, my wifes father turned up looking very troubled and told us to sit down as he had something to tell us. Anyway he told us that early that morning he had had a phone call from Marks parents informing him that Mark had crashed his motorcycle into a tree at around midnight and was Killed instantly, It was then that i realised that the commotion i had heard was at the scene of the accident, people rushing about, shouting, probably trying to help Poor Mark, but to no avail. I never spoke about my experience for a long time, and i do not think i have ever mentioned it to Marks girlfreind even though she was in the same house at the time. Now down to the reasons i experienced what i did indeed experience. Was i made/prepaired by our father in heaven to experience what had happened to me, i like to think so, I feel i had to be in spirit the same way Mark was, remembering i said nothing to him and he said nothing to me. So i did not attempt to contact or speak to spirits, this thing just happened, the feeling was beautiful and yes i would love to feel that way again, but there is no way that a person can do this at will. If i had not been prepared, the physical me would not have been able to cope with the situation and would have probably been terrified, but being the same as Mark made it normal. Mark did know that i was a very spiritual type of person, and that i did believe that life was to precious to just end here, he also knew that i beleived in our heavenly father. Just maybe, because he had not ascended to wherever, he was allowed to visit me,i do not know, but he did, rightly or wrongly, and if rightly then somebody prepared me to recieve him. Please let me know what you think, again i never attempted for this to happen, i never knew Mark had been killed in that tragic accident, why he wanted to come to me, why me and not his girlfreind i do not know. I know for a surety that god is my father, i know that Jesus lives, and i believe in the power of the Holy Ghost. And i know for a surety that Life goes on beyond the vail.

Funny thing is, all this ante/lds persecution, makes the spirit in me stronger, it in no way makes me doubt my beliefs one little bit. I look at it like this, if the church is wrong, then wouldent Satan just leave us alone and let us get on with it, of course he would, we would have fallen into his plan of things. Why do you think that whenever a member of the church commits a serious crime the media always states that that person is a "Mormon" to me it is obvious, they never mention any other church. This is my view anyway, simple words i know but i am not very good with words sorry.

evangelical, We do not just go with a feeling/think that something is correct, these "feelings" are completely different from "knowing" with the spirit of the holy ghost that it is correct, being filled with the spirit is not just in your head it is throughout your whole body, a feeling of warmth, happiness, love, charity, forgiveness all rolled into one throughout your whole body, when you have the holy ghost residing with you, you have no need for "evidence" he will guide you through truths and lies. Below is a small example of what the holy ghost can do for you. When my wife and i first fell in love with the church of jesus christ of latter day saints, all was fine until we announced to our families we were going to be baptized, then all hell broke lose literally, my wifes family turned into what i can only describe as devils helpers, they had no christian beliefs yet they were almost foaming at the mouth with hate trying to stop us being baptized, why would you think they would act in such a way, they knew nothing about LDS, but all this hate did not work, it made me so much filled with the spirit , that was litrally fighting in my corner that my beliefs were even stronger. I do not have money to go to bible college to read the bible, anyway that would only make me knowledgeable of that book, it would not make you know the truth. No, it is in your heart, your whole being, whether god exists, once you have the holy ghost with you, it is up to ones self to work on keeping him there. I do have a testimony of the church, i do not hope, i know with a surety that my father in heaven exists, and the great things he does for us, i may not always appreciate them, but he does them for a reason. Another thing that the spirit gives me knowledge of and makes me know that the gospel has been restored is the fact that he (Such a simple thing) will not send our babies away because we have not had them baptized, he wouldent send them to hell, what sort of father would do that, and to think they do need baptizing would be denying his love for us. I am so glad to have met the missionaries, because so many negative things happened to me in the time before being baptized it just made the spirit so much stronger. I know you may be thinking this has nothing to do with the subject at hand but i think it does as it is showing that by the spirit you know the truth, and not by arguing about what the bible says and means So ask god in prayer if the church is true, or any part of, dont go to him hoping for him to help you win an argument it won't happen lol.

I am not a great one with words but i do know that without our church leaders there would not be a church, these guys are called to guide us by heavenly father, these same guys are capable of mistakes the same as the rest of us. We should give them the support they give us, have faith in them the same as they have faith in us, they will be answerable for their own mistakes the same way that we will.

Hi LanPingPug, Yes those missionary's really are great Guys and girls,when i joined the church it was the love and spirit that radiated from them that first filled me with the spirit,they dident feel like strangers to me, they felt like part of my family from the word go. They so much loved and believed in what they were doing, they were alive with happiness. Both guys were from the usa, it was winter and in those days rode peddle bikes, i used to feel bad watching them riding away in the snow.