Islander

Completely agree with PC above. Do not be concerned with the likes and dislikes of others. Concentrate on being the best you can be emotionally, physically and spiritually. Such "wholesome fitness" demonstrate your discipline, care and concern for yourself and your readiness to be the best possible companion to the ONE that WILL be interested in you.

It is very easy to point outward when things do not go your way. The Gospel is not about cruises or parties. Not having a Temple Recommend or a calling is not anyone's fault. You have the answer why you do not have a recommend. You should strive to qualify to receive one and expand your ability to serve. Go out with the missionaries, volunteer at the Bishop store house or the DI. You will find the kind of joy in service that can not be found in the "socializing" that you so desire.

You are obviously not ready for a relationship. You need to get some coaching with a male therapist and do some reading in order to address your own emotional deficits. The way in which you are handling this leads me to belief you have some growing up to do. Again, cope with your anxiety by being PRODUCTIVE: Volunteer, go to the gym, ride your bike, do service, something, whatever and let this girl deal with her issues on her own. You seem to be getting in her way at the moment.

The situation you describe is not unique. Your interpretation of the vents or even the understanding of it may be limited and quite possibly flawed, however. Thigs are always a bit more complex than they seem. You have no way of knowing what she actually told the Bishop or her family and his family in regards to their transgression. At issue here are 1. your emotional attachment to her in such a very short time and your limited insight into how complicated and profound sexual behavior is in adolescence. And 2. the impact the above issue is having on the families involved. The wisest and more pragmatic choice would be to create some distance between you and her for now, at least, until things stabilize and you can be sure of who feel what about whom which currently is not the case. You seem to ignore the seriousness of the issues and seem more concerned about how she feels. I can understand you being a convert and believing that the issued was settled and done and that repentance is a very straight forward process. You will be surprised to discover how far from the truth that is. Obviously she is emotionally frail and you have a very limited insight into the situation or how to handle it. It is best if you remain friends for a while until you, both, sort things out. Dating seriously has the built in expectation of marriage and you are certainly not ready for it. Pull back, re-evaluate the situation from a distance, wait a little and see what happens.

What you referred as "teachings" were parts and portions of sermons offered by the Prophet and others in the early times of the Church. There is a fair amount of speculation and tangential reasoning when it comes to those portions of doctrine of which no specific or detailed revelation exist. What may or may not happen a trillion years from now has little to do with our salvation for which we are ALL dependent on Christ. What degree of exaltation and stewardship we are to receive in the kingdom of our God is up to our Heavenly Father. Sufice to say that we know next to nothing in regards to the subject.

A random and limited exception should never be confused with the rule or norm. I once knew a guy that was stabbed in the head with a 9 inc hunting knife that perforated the craneal box and into his brain. He is still alive and well. In fact, he can hear better than 15-20,000 Hz which places him within 1% of the population and much closer to the animal kingdom when it comes to auditory perception. Do you want to try a whack in the brain for a statistically negligible chance to enhance your auditory capacity?

I suggest it may be useful to remember that God is ALL-knowing and thus incapable of acting "randomly" ever. The history, the doctrine and the ordinances are for OUR benefit. Becaue scripture dates back a few thousand years, has gone thru countless, unknown revisions and likely human error, we MUST rely on the prophets to interpret and point to the correct way to "see" certain principles. There is ample evidence that even within Judaism, the Torah has suffered many-many changes and has been interpreted in different ways at various times in history. What are we to make of that? Again, if the scriptures are to be trusted, we should look at how Church leaders, during and after the time of Christ, solved those same issues; by revelation.

If you read the financial statement, most the "profit" came from cost cutting, plant closures, union concessions and, yes; higher sticker prices for new models. I am not impressed

It could be typo about 1987. The Bolshevik revolution (armed struggle) did start in 1905 but the movement did not consolidate until a few years later culminating in 1917 with the raise to power of Lenin and his cohorts. I will have the other detail checked. Thanks! Edit: The passage mentions that by '87 the Easter Block had begun to crumble and few months later (some 18 months or so) the wall came down in the fall of '89 not that the wall itself came down in '87. Check the passage.

The assertion above reflects your age. You have not lived long enough to speak on the subject authoritatively. By making such a statement you also demonstrate your lack of awareness with what goes on in the world, and you attempt to push out of awareness the unimaginable cruelty and evil being dispensed wholesale in the world right now. There are plenty of evil doers around. You may not know any but they are around.

This isue has been debated at nauseum in this forum and once in a while is resurrected by someone. They should compile all the threads somewhere and point to them, for the interested. With transgression came sin and with it mortality and physical imperfection, illness and death. All variations from the physical norm are the outcome of this mortal condition. We do not know everything when it comes to gender/identity issues. The debate is framed in terms of "rights" vs social norms and order. There is NO theological debate as far as the LDS are concerned when it comes to this issue. The Lord reveals line upon line, precept upon precept. Here a little and there a little. The doctrine has been laid out before us for almost 200 years. The Lord has spoken in regards to these issues long ago and has not changed His mind in regards to them. You may or may not agree with what the Lord has to say in terms of behavior and expectations. And you are certainly free to use your agency as you see fit. We acknowledge that your struggle is long and mighty. But so it is for those who suffer from other permanent disabilities and pernicious disorders.

It was powerful. It pointed to the incongruencies of our actions against our declared beliefs.

Well, I really have no time to share with you what my insight into the Islamic world is. But I would reiterate my assertion that there is NO such things as personal revelation, spiritual insight or relationship with God as described in the Book of Mormon. I am not discounting anyone's spiritual experiences. I am merely stating that the text itself makes no reference to such, period. What you bring as a reference of the "signs of God" is a very novel and fairly recent theory. It refers, by the way, to what Christians coined as "Intelligent Design" or the evidence of God's hand in the world around us. It does not relate to spiritual manifestations of any kind. The concept is foreign to Islam although, as I stated before, former Christians and western educated Muslims are stretching the jundra well beyond what Islamic scholars, ancient and modern, declare in regards to what the text actually says. Believing, being convinced of or asserting something does not equate to revelation from God. Some people believe, claim to have evidence of and assert being the subject of demonic possession or alien abduction. Go figure. It is certainly not my religion, but you remain completely and utterly ignorant of my background, history and level of insight and knowledge into the culture and the social environment of the ME. What I have stated here is not my opinion but facts that I can demonstrate with a significant degree of academic certainty. I would keep from doing so only because the thread should move on rather than being hijacked by us in a pointless argument.

The absolute fact remains that people can call themselves whatever they like. That, however, has absolutely nothing to do with true and sacred membership in the Lord's Church. If you are self professed and active homosexual you can not be a member of the church in good standing. The same holds true if you are an adulterer, a pedophile or in prison for whatever crime. The Lord has set a standard and the doctrine has been laid before us for almost 200 years. He decides who is a member of the Church in good stand who is not.

I guess it is for you to find out why the Lord has denied you a spiritual experience in regards to His word. I also supposed, that if your heart is true and your intent pure you must read the BoM another 20 times and pray hundreds more until the Lords grants your petition.

In business is called benchmarking. People study and dissect the practices and guiding principles of the leaders in order to reach similar results. Nowhere in the Qur'an or even the al-hadith are spiritual experiences mentioned, encouraged or sought as confirmation for the veracity of the Islamic cannon. American Muslims are simply imitating (benchmarking) evangelicals and/or transferring part of their former theosophical jundra (since most were nominal Christians perhaps) into a religion that does not rely on such. In Islam you "declare" your acceptance of your belief in One God and that Muhammad is his prophet. You declare that in front of competent witnesses and you are s Muslim. There is no such things as spiritual insights, manifestations, personal revelation or guidance from God in the process. What happens on internet forums in America has little to do with true Islam as it is practiced and understood in the ME. Attempting to equate such is quite dangerous and misleading.

"Seduction and rationalization are the favorite past times of the devil" grandma' just to say. The argument here should be mute. People are free to do as they please. There are not however, free to attempt to force their belief system on the rest of us or compel society to accept their philosophical bent. God has spoken on the subject of sexuality. The doctrine has been laid before us for a long time. It is God whom will judge those that corrupted his doctrine and broken the ordinance and everlasting covenant. It is on their heads.

I think some investigators have mystical and even superstitious notions of what and who prophets are in general. The scriptures is full of instances where people did NOT believe the prophet, even when he was standing in the room. In fact, many times over they incarcerated the prophet because they refused to believe his counsel. GC is a public assembly in the church worldwide. It is a time to be instructed from the GA on a wide range of subjects. We are instructed to develop our message in notes to guide our presentation. What can be wrong with that? Often times, the actual speech is different from the notes (if you compare it later to the transcript next month's Ensign) and snippets of inspiration here and there are seen. The task is centered in the BoM. To receive a witness of the authenticity of it and the revelation that ushered it thru the prophet Joseph at the beginning of the dispensation. The rest will happen as a result.

True, the Savior said it beter: "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Mat 7:14 The facts speak for themselves. Over the last 5000 years, Israel had access to every blessing and covdenant that the Lord freely offered them when in righteousness. They eventualy rejected the Lord and they were cast out into captivity, lost to history and eventually purged like no other nation in the history of mankind. They rejected and killed the prophets and were led to and from because of rebellion. It does not matter what the Lord reveals or in what time frame of history, there always a tiny minority that hearken to His counsel and commandment. The rest always defy and reject the revelation. he .

PC is absolutely right. The Lord condemns ALL of those practices. When it comes to the word of God rely on His word in the scripures and what His prophets have said. Opinions may be interesting but not an authority on the matter.

I am going to be the odd man out on this one. If you have something of great value you donot deliberately destroy it. That is what will happen if you tell your husband. I am referring to the marriage and relationship here. You still have to contend with the religious aspect. In this particular case, there is no real value or benefit in disclosure. You may completely and irreparably ruin your marriage. Non-disclosure is not lying and you should consider this carefully. Again, it dos not mean you are going to skirt the consequences all together, but at least you have a chance at preserving what is truly worth saving. Discuss the issue with a professional.

So your interest is in theology or history? I am still trying to figure out that one.

Well.....:confused::confused:

I think MM is a over-grown, neglected as a child, attention-seeking, self promoting and hypocritical caricature. I should probably stop here...

I read the bible, history, archaeology and Near eastern languages before and without any defined theological or religious affiliation. I am, for the most part, a social scientist and I am not impressed by philosophical abstractions, insights developed from circular reasoning or the theological bends or traditions of many religious celebrities. I can read and research on my own as well as the next. Most Evangelicals I have discussed the subject with bring to the conversation a standpoint gained from training and indoctrination received. Acceptance and adherence to such and a total disregard for a divergent opinion clouds and interferes with any true genuine exchange. In other words, most come to the conversation with their minds made up and ready for an argument. The Scriptures as we know them, inspired as they may be were not meant to be what they are today. The NT, for example, was NOT meant to be the WHOLE and ultimate word of God. Beyond the Gospels account, what we have is a collection of surviving letter of the hundreds that may have existed, between co-religioners addressing specific problems and issues among geographically dispersed congregations. To claim that such is the FULL extent of the word of God seems naive, especially when God Himself did not say such a thing.