skippy740

No offense taken! It's really hard to read into "tones" of how people type on an online forum. First, YOU'RE RIGHT! Joseph Smith is a MAN. We revere him as a great and well-respected man, but a MAN nonetheless. Joseph Smith was a mason. (I don't know if there's a difference between being a mason or a freemason. It's probably just the spelling!) Masonry is another sensitive subject. Might I suggest that you ask about this at a later time after we've discussed your other post? "Line upon line" is a great way to learn about the Church.

I've never heard of them nor ever used them. I hope that the moderators keep this thread and the references as I wouldn't consider this to be SPAM.

In regards to sarcasm - I think of Martin Harris and the 116 pages. Joseph went to the Lord 3x to ask if Martin Harris can show his wife the translated 116 pages. The first two times, the Lord said no. The 3rd time, I like to think of it as "Okay, Joseph, we'll try it your way." You can read more in D&C 10. As far as CatholicGirl is concerned, I'm a teacher, not an explainer. Some people want me to explain my faith and to justify it by whatever has already been written and considered common scripture (The KJV Bible). I'm a teacher. Which means that I will share my thoughts and insight with people who are truly seeking the truth. I share what is pertinent and ask the receiver of this information to ponder and pray about it for themselves. I went to the Bible-Belt on my mission (Tennessee Knoxville Mission). I've already had my share of people who want me to explain why I believe the way I believe. What I learned best, I learned from my companion. He prompted me to NOT open my scriptures and simply share my testimony. I was to use the Spirit and my knowledge, but not open the scriptures as it can incite more feelings of competition. (3 Nephi 11:28-35) As a "devil's advocate", I'll quote the movie "Secondhand Lions". In the movie, Robert Duvall's character is sharing with his nephew some of the speech he shares with all young men on how to be a real man. He says that "just because something ain't true doesn't mean you shouldn't believe in it. In fact, some things you must believe to be true - that the good guy always wins, that true love always prevails." My question to you would be: Would you live your life in a worse way or a better way for following the teachings of the LDS church? Would your family be better off for you believing that the Book of Mormon is the word of God? That families can be eternal through sacred covenants? (If you haven't seen the movie Secondhand Lions, it's REALLY good!) My testimony is that Jesus Christ is our only way back to the Father. He is my Savior. He loves us and has restored His Church to the earth to prepare the children of men the way in which we may be saved. His Church was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know these things to be true for myself. I invite you to study and pray about these things to come to the same knowledge for yourself.

The Garden is a MUST! If you go to Amazon.com, you can listen to audio clips of the different tracks. I also like Afterglow, the Knudsen Brothers, and Peter Breinholt's "The Big Parade" CD. I'll share a missionary experience that I had with The Garden. I was with a new greenie at the time. We were working with an inactive, part-member family. We stop by and we see that the husband (non-member) is leaving the house and taking his hunting gun with him. She is crying asking him to leave the gun (for exactly what purpose, I don't know - but I suspected it was for her own self-infliction of harm, not for what he might do). This was a CRAZY situation that we somehow got into the middle of. We called the police to stop by to make sure that the wife and 14 year old daughter would be okay. But I still had a really funny feeling about the entire situation. I was afraid of what HE could do and who he could possibly blame for whatever was going on. My companion and I were in the car listening to "The Snake Lies in the Grass (full version)" and it just HIT us. The Spirit about that song was SOOO strong. As far as the situation, we later found out that the daughter was being sexually molested by her father and with the volatility of the rest of everything, our mission president had told us that we were no longer to visit that family - unless we were with the Bishop. The wife didn't like that, but my companion and I had to focus on people that we could actually help -- and we were in no way qualified to help a family in such a situation as that. (Didn't mean to steal the thread, but I had to share!)

To be completely fair, the Community of Christ was previously known as the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" or RLDS. Community of Christ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The FLDS group with Warren Jeffs is the "Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I saw this thread and all I could think of was Shiz. Definitely a minor character, but a great graphical reference of his death! (Ether 15:29-31)

You're absolutely right! However, something I've been pondering on is that President Hinckley was such an OUTGOING Prophet. He was such a great person as the face and voice of the Church to those not of our faith. Will President Monson be able to continue this outreach? It may just be my impression, but all the Presidents of the Church before President Hinckley were very much focused on internal affairs of the members of the church - not as much on what others think of the Church. Being on Larry King Live (2x), 60 minutes, changing the Church logo, an explosive temple-building program, the new Conference center, 2 Proclamations and the Special Witnesses of Christ video... he had done quite a lot to help get positive news out about the Church. His pace will be tough to emulate. I hope President Monson is up to the task!

A great "tour" of the Salt Lake Temple: LDS Temple Interiors tour on Moroni's Unofficial Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mormon History Page, pictorial temple tour, inside mormon temple, mormon temples, temple mormons, temple baptistry, temple sealing rooms, temple ordinanc The most exhaustive list of Temples with Interior Pictures: Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

First, I must say that this is a very supportive thread to the individual. Back when I was in high school, I had a family in my ward that left the church and become Jewish. They had a son who was in my Priest's quorum - and the entire Priest's quorum shunned him - except for me. (I could see more of this happen in Utah since it can seem like EVERYONE is LDS, but not necessarily on So. California.) I still kept in touch with him - and was even invited to his "New Jew" birthday party. Holly, you must do what you feel is right. I sincerely hope that you prayed long and hard about your decision. There's a lot of anti-LDS literature and information on the internet. They can take the truths that are sacred and really put an irreverent slant on it to pervert the gospel. (2 Tim 1:7) I hope that your decision wasn't based on not feeling worthy or other sins. Many times, people leave the church because they feel that they cannot live up to the high standards of the church after commiting a serious sin. (D&C 86:3) Of course, doctrinal differences are harder to overcome. How did you feel about the Prophet Joseph Smith and the First Vision? Did you feel that it was true before? What has changed? I hope you get the sense that we're all trying to help and are asking because we care.

While her advice may sometimes be strict, I've got to chime in on what Dr. Laura might say -- so you can ask yourself if it makes sense for you. Dr. Laura says that all relationships are mendable EXCEPT for the 3 A's: - Abuse - Adultury - Addiction She says that depending on the circumstances and extremes, these are "deal breakers". I've got to agree that "once - shame on you; twice - shame on me". He cheated on you with 10 different women. There's a serious problem there. Have you gone through any marriage counseling? There are such services available through LDS Family Services.

Hi. My screen name is skippy740. (Apparently "skippy" was already taken.) I'm married for over 5 years and I've got 3 kids (4, 2 and 3 months). I'm a returned missionary from the Tennessee Knoxville Mission back about 7 years ago. I'm a life insurance agent and financial advisor in Southern California. I grew up in the church. Glad to be here!

The funny part was how President Monson seemed to get such satisfaction when "He got him" and when the father turned back to see what his son was referring to, that President Monson had his arms folded. It was great! I'm glad I didn't miss it!