Jenamarie

I agree, pass me the pain killers they were giving HER! I spent the majority of my 3-day hospital stay either in my bed, or in the rocking chair they had in my room. I managed to take a 3 minute shower the second day, but just barely. I almost had to pull the nurse-call cord in the shower stall because the water was making me shiver, which HURT LIKE HECK! The shower was causing me pain, and the pain was making it difficult for me to move. Not fun.

I think men AND women find it difficult to walk three weeks after their birth. But I agree, feeling "normal" so quickly after a c/s is more the exception than the rule. I was still able to be up and about while recovering, but it wasn't nearly to the level of activity I was at prior to the surgery. It took a month to get back to that level.

Then that means that we as a society need to try to support and strengthen hetero marriages, not make it easier for children to be denied access to both a father and a mother. (and I feel this way about single-parent adoption as well, not just gay adoption)

A funny story about wind farms. A friend and I were driving through Altamont Pass (in California - HUGE windfarm with a freeway cutting through it) and it was rather windy that day. So windy that I had to grip the steering wheel pretty tight to keep the car in line. My friend looked out the window and saw all the fans spinning away and said "It's so windy up here, why don't they turn the stupid windmills off?!"

Sometimes the Spirit will confirm truths that come from interesting sources. I've felt the Spirit while watching The Lion King, and it didn't cause me to have a Testimony in the truthfulness of Mufasa. What it was Testifying to me was the truth being spoken by Mufasa when he was speaking to Simba. "You have forgotten me, and so have forgotten who you are. You are more than what you have become," It was Witnessed to me at that time that I had "forgotten" my identity as a daughter of God, and as such was far below the potential my Father in Heaven knew I could reach. The Spirit was urging me to remember who I was, and become "more". The Lord works in mysterious ways. :) There are no limits on when, where, or how He will reveal His Truth to us.

I think another thing that causes misunderstanding is the assumption by Christians, looking at our doctrine through their traditional-Christian eyes, see our need to be "perfect" as a sure-fire route to Hell. Because their belief in the afterlife is very black & white (Heaven or Hell) it's difficult for them to grasp that even if someone falls short of the "ideal" according to LDS theology, they're *still* saved from Eternal Damnation through faith in Christ. They think our admonition to keep trying means we believe that our Salvation from Hell isn't yet complete. But even though we may not achieve Celestial Glory, we will still recieve *some* reward. I hear many traditional-Christians talking about how their works don't save them, but do earn them greater "rewards" or nicer "mansions" in Heaven, and I want to say BINGO! LDS theology right there!

That depends on the Temple. If it's a mini-Temple you'll deffinately need an appointment. If it's a full-size Temple you may need an appointment, or they may have "walk-in" hours where you can just walk in and do your work. I would just call the Temple to find out either way. Sometimes they need time to process the names you submit as well, before you start the work, and that may take a day or two, depending on how busy they are.

You should be able to get a temporary recommend (like the ones the teens get) to do the Baptisms and Confirmations, and if your DH has the Priesthood, he can also do Proxy Priesthood ordinations for the men. I think this would be a great opportunity also for you to learn about what is required to recieve a recommend, as they ask you the same questions for the temporary one as they do for the "real one". :)

Yes, Mormons do sometimes fail at the whole "being Christ-like" thing from time to time. I thank my Savior Jesus Christ for His Atonement, that I am provided with a way of repenting and overcoming such shortcomings.

ktfords: I would say that you do not understand "Mormon" Grace. What that 2nd Nephi scripture means isn't that we have a set level of "do'ing" before we can recieve Grace, it's that after all we can do WE STILL NEED GRACE. Of COURSE we will never "do" enough, but that doesn't negate our requirement to "do". Christ makes up for the 99.999999999(not enough 9's)% of the "do'ing" that we will inevitably fail at, but we are still commanded to do our best. We'd remain pretty stagnant in our development if we didn't constantly try to live closer to the Lord's standards, and the Lord wants us to reach the potential, through the power of His Holy Spirit, that He knows we're capable of reaching. We only "fail" when we fail to rely on our Savior to accomplish the "do'ing". I think every Christian would agree that it is only through Christ that we can accomplish any good in this world. And if I may ask: have you read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover for yourself?

I read an interesting article (wish I could remember *where) that discussed how the unequality in pay is in part caused by *women*. When an employer offers a job to a woman, and tells her what the pay is, she's more likely to accept that pay as is, whereas most men see that as a starting off point for negotiating, and usually manage to negotiate a higher wage. So even if a man and a woman are doing the exact same work, the man is getting paid more because he negotiated while the woman didn't, even though the company's INITIAL offer for wages was equal for both. Men are also more likely to negotiate for higher pay even after they've been hired, while women are more likely to wait for the requisite "cost of living" pay raises, etc. I know *I* certainly didn't know that wages could be negotiated until I read that article, and my DH looked at me like I had two heads when I told him that.

All anyone has mentioned in here so far is the names of the ordinances, not what they exactly entail. That is what is inappropriate. :) OP: Congratulations on your wonderful first experience in the Temple! I still remember mine. It was a bit overwhelming with all there is to learn, but then I walked down the hall to the Celestial room and my DH (then fiance) was standing just inside the archway waiting for me, and I just KNEW it was right, even if I didn't understand all of it. I went back the next day, alone, and had an equally amazing experience, and everytime I've been pack I've picked up a bit more of the symbolism. I still can't say I understand the entire thing, but the desire to learn more is what keeps me going.

Have you ever had a c-section? It is MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGURY. It DOES sometimes take 6 weeks to recoup from that, especially if complications occur (such as an infection in the incision). It was a month after my c/s before I could sneeze without feeling like I was going to burst open, and two weeks before I could walk normally without heavy medication. Would you also agree with an employer denying equal pay to a childless co-worker taking time off to care for a terminally ill parent? They're not putting in as much work as the others, and it's a "choice" since they could leave the parent in the care of a hospital, but should an employee really be expected to chose between work or family when it comes to making a living and bringing home enough money? Does EVERYTHING in life have to be "fair"?

The other ward in the town I grew up in had a Bishop Bishop for a while.

I went to school with a Jason Jason.

Oh DO start! PLEASE!

The windows have opened for us in that we've always been able to find the money we needed for important purchases (not splurges, but things we actually needed, like funding for education, or a new car when our old one bit the dust). When we see how much money we've donated in a year during Tithing Settlement we're always amazed at how much we were able to do without (moneywise), and yet still live comfortably and meet our needs, with some fun things here and there too.

I think Joseph Smith has a huge disadvantage to ancient prophets: very many details of his personal life were preserved, his history is recent, and he was American. There seems to be a lot of leeway given to the mistakes of the ancient Prophets living in foreign lands in different times. We don't know much about their childhoods, or what their pre-Apostolic/Prophet adult lives were like, or what they did during their "off" times when they weren't actively preaching God's word. One of the apostles *denied Christ three times* and yet he is still very much reveered in Christendom. We don't know if Isaiah ever lost his temper. We DO know that Noah got so smashing drunk that he didn't realize it was his own daughters he has having sex with, yet I never hear Christians decrying his claim to Prophethood as I'm about 99.9% sure would be the case if it had been something Joseph had done. Obviously Joseph wasn't perfect. He screwed up on more than one occasion. But I keep coming back to the thought of: do his mistakes negate his claim to Prophethood? God has such Spiritually fragile, highly rebellious material to work with in building His Kingdom here on Earth. To say that His chosen Servents would never do something that He didn't approve of is setting ourselves up to rejecting all of the Written Word, simply because of the mistakes of His messengers. Of course that doesn't mean that everyone's claim to Prophethood is valid, but we can't look solely at the character of the messenger in determining the validity of their claim. Jesus Himself was accused of being a deranged alcoholic.

I think he's saying it ought to be obvious that involved parenting discourages kids from making risky choices.

How would they know you haven't been paying tithing? If you think your ward financial clerk has been indiscreet, you could approach your Bishop about it, but otherwise only he and one of the councilors of the Bishopric, and probably your Bishop if you've had any interviews with him lately, will know that you aren't paying tithing. Perhaps it's your own guilty feelings that's causing you to "see" judgement towards you that isn't actually there? If you DO however feel that people genuinely DO know that you aren't paying, and you know that you didn't personally tell them, then talk to your Bishop so he can find out who's been sharing that private information with the ward. It is between you and the Lord whether or not you are paying your tithing, no one else.

I think they may be giving you this answer because they want to gain the answer for yourself. Sometimes if we're fed answers, they mean less to us than if we "discover" them on our own. However, if you've been asking your Bishop several times for an answer, he ought to be picking up that you're not finding it very easily on your own. How many other people have you asked your questions to? Perhaps we could help. :) ETA: And I've faced this struggle myself (heck, STILL am) so I totally feel your frustration.

I agree with Prisonchaplain, that you're running into a "culture problem" here. You're in Utah right? I would dare say that where you are now is where you will experience this the worst, at least from my experience (having friends in my home state of CA who didn't serve, and friends in UT who didn't serve, the ones in CA hardly ever got asked if they were planning to serve, and weren't asked to explain when they said they weren't). YOU know where you stand in the eyes of the Lord, cling to that, and eventually you'll be able to find true friends who won't use something like this to judge you.

When you go to the Oakland Temple there's a seperate back door that you go through to get to the Baptismal area. It looks more like a service door, with metal railings leading up cement steps to a plain metal door. Not very ornate for a Temple door. At the Portland Temple you just go down seperate hallways that branch off from the foyer.

I don't know if your son will be allowed in the Temple Recommend interview with you. I believe it's a rule that those are always done one-on-one with the Bishop, because the questions have the potential to illicit some rather personal answers.

When they turn 12. The same age the boys are when they recieve the Aaronic Priesthood. The boys can also participate in Proxy-ordinations of deceased men to the Aaronic Priesthood. Both genders from the age of 12 onward can participate in Proxy Baptisms and Confirmations.