Islander

It is interesting. In our Stake we call it "Fathers and Sons Priesthood Commemoration Campout" and that is how the announcement goes out every year. In my previous Stake we have a night walk along the Mormon Battalion Trail in the Southern California desert. I can't recall the specific name of the event (it's been about 7 years) but there was no reference to scouts, that I do remember.

We must be careful not to fall into the populist traps that all Latin American countries fall into. The dreamy fallacies of wise orators that promise everything to everybody. For the first time in the history of this country the percentage of those retired will out pace the number of those working by a factor of 3. People are living longer and most have no savings to last nearly half of their expected post retirement life. Guess who is going to shoulder the cost? I find it offensive when some populist insults my intelligence with promises he knows he can't keep. As far as the Middle East; yes, we need to get out. But first we need to finish what we started. Anyone that went to public school knows that when you are pushed you push back even harder. You need to make sure the other guy knows he can't push you back any more. And if he does he will get both hands broken in the process. Yes, it is costly but at this point necessary.

The considerations are many; how old you are and the how old the convert/prospect? How long ago he/she converted? Is the convert endowed, hold a temple recommend, attend the temple faithfully? Is he/she divorced, widowed or unmarried? I mean, the picture is complex but I would consider a convert if I were single. I would have my reservations about somebody that has problems, and this is just my personal opinion on the matter. Marriage is just the more difficult and complex endeveour a person can undertake. I would be stacking the deck against me from the beginning. It is a chance and a gamble that I may not be willing to take. Again, that is just how I see this issue.

Anthesian - That is a compelling story. I am grateful that you sought the Spirit and it led you back into the fold. Some never do. I pray that you will continue to seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost and fight the prideful spirit that robbed you of your testimony. Knowledge and wisdom can become gods unto themselves. It is a trap with a steal door. Reading your post I was reminded of Oliver Cowdery as he left the church and sought to return later. I sincerely hope you can regain your strength in the Lord and seek to do his work after all you have been thru. Welcome back

I tend to agree with checker (most of it) above. I said it before; for guys attraction is hardwired in the brain. It is a matter of personal choice and the like but the response to the female physique is basic. It is a sad reality but guys NEED to feel enticed physically in order to approach. Men do not build intimacy the same way women do. The "Beauty and the Beast" does not work in reverse, usually. We can argue genetics and social developmental history but it will take us nowhere. So, we ALL need to look our very best to maximize our chances to find and keep our future and current companions. For the rest; it is what it is.

The essential truths of the Gospel are available to every one to seek and to discern. You must rely on the truths as revealed to you by the Spirit rather than on what you are being "told" to believe.

I concur with some of the posts above. Concentrate in your academics and then ease yourself into a more normal life after you graduate and receive your assignment. You can not marry now so dating will increase your stress, no doubt and add aditional pressure to an already crowded schedule. You will be OK.

Another very interesting topic. We must always remember that when it comes to interpreting what the OT and NT say we MUST consider translation as a significant factor. The word HELL was used for the Hebrew word SHEOL and the Greek words HADES, GEENNA and TARTAROO in the KJV. The problem arises when different translations translate the same word in different ways. For practical purposes we have to make two distinctions. One word translated "hell" commonly refers to the lake of fire and brimstone. That is the spa designed for the devil and his minions, those who denied the Christ, the Holy Ghost and the testimony of the martyrs and the apostles. The other translation that appears frequently is the one "grave." Now this appears to be figurative speech. Or a place of enclosure, prison, a place from where there is no escape or further hope of life/existence. This is what we equate to be "separate from God" after the resurrection. In darkness and away from His light and presence, spiritual death. In both contexts; ANYONE can end up there. It is a personal failure and a willful act to end up in hell, whatever the description of it is. I hope it helps.

Friends, I would suggest that we have debated the subject long and hard with no changes in position. We should just leave it at that. This is human existential philosophy at ts best. Justification HAS to be achieved in order to validate anything that runs counter-culture. By the way, those were the words of the G&L activists back in the 60's "Lifestyle" is a self-designation, just like "alternative." They all morphed into these pseudo theories about genetic predisposition. In fact, there is more evidence that alcoholics do engender children with the same genetic load and prone to be addicts than in homosexual behavior. Again, I think we should just shift gears.

Golf? Why spoil a perfectly good walk?...hehehehe....LOL...I had to

I got to get me one of those (Avatars)!!! That was just funny!!!

I have my own non-scientific theories about "hot people" and that goes for males and females. In my limited but certainly fully aware experience, very good looking people (those commonly and erroneously called "hot") make very poor mates and even less statistically reliable companions over a lifespan. I hope to avoid hurting anyone's sensibilities here, but these are folks with a super inflated and adulterated sense of self. They tend to be perfectionists, exacting and demanding, self-centered, self-serving and unrealistic. They see outer "beauty" as an asset to be leveraged for social and economic advancement. In other words, very high maintenance people. Just for the sake of some basic empirical analysis, my wife and I sat down not long ago and looked at our our female friends and family and rated them on a 1-10 scale. We were looking at plastic surgery, vanity, self perception (theirs) and our assessment of the quality of their lives. The top five (lookers, sort of) had silicon enhancements, were engaged in a frantic struggle to stop time and their lives were a study in misery. The only one guy (we considered) no longer comes to our home and family gatherings on account of his promiscuity. His decision, by the way. So, there you have it. "Beauty" is subjective, rather vague, overrated, expensive to maintain and impossible to hold on to. And that is our family assessment, in general. Of course, that does not preclude some beautiful people inside and out from being truly the salt of the earth. We just think they are few and far between.

People in our country have very little sense of historicity. That will be the downfall of many countries as it was at the time of Rome. Law, order, tradition, education and the everyday way of life is eroded because increasing number of people do not have those values not do they care to develop such traditions. They want to preserve and spread their own failed social values and cultural traditions destroying the social fabric from within. I live about 2 hour from Los Angeles. I went to USC 15 years ago and the city is unrecognizable. There are portions of LA that you can not tell you are in the US. As this enclaves continue to grow, city ordinances disappear, law enforcement is reduced to a state of siege; them (the inhabitants) against us (the police). I was born in a foreign country and can sincerely tell you that it is a slippery slope and we are already sliding down hill.

The NT if full of references to "bearing witness" of the Savior and the Gospel. I too become a little restless when people use the F&T meeting for preaching or story telling. I try to quiet myself by thinking that "they need" the moment and that their intentions are good. It is the format that is not appropriate. Usually I draw from a recent experience that provided opportunity to bear witness or served as a witness to me of the truthfulness of the Gospel. I try to keep it simple and seek inspiration to actually get up and share. If I do not feel particularly inspired that day I just stay put.

Friends, history is not destiny. There were good and bad people in both parties throughout history. Not one party had a monopoly on fairness and justice. Politicians (most) are a self-serving breed interested in survival at the polls. So, whatever works to their advantage and contributes to their political capital account that they will use and do. It is quite difficult to stake a position, make your philosophical base known and be a successful politician. You will be a 1 term "politico" which is not worthy given how much money it takes to get elected. Revisionism is a fun sport but it does not have great intellectual value looking forward, IMO. The parties of the 1800's are no longer in existence. Mitt, contrary to his better judgment and in clear incongruence with the teachings of the church, supported the first same sex marriage initiative in the nation!!! So, it goes to show that what drives the political class is not necessarily principles all the time.

This is a very interesting theme. I think most of us have a very difficult time dealing with strong emotions since in our culture there is no social training to develop such skills. Candor, transparency and truth sharing are not traits people REALLY appreciate or value much. Anger is not an emotion but rather a reaction. It is quite useful because it generates a lot of energy which we often need to deal with very painful situations. That is the real emotion; pain. Your friend did something that caused you pain. So, now you are hurt but anger works better because otherwise you would cry and wonder why she betrayed your trust and confidence in such a way. It would visibly break your heart. That may not work for you and the image you want to project. But, if you are to be true to your self you must recognized you are hurt by your friend's actions. That said, you may want to confide in somebody, really vent, cry a little (or a lot, whatever the case may be) and get the whole affair off your chest. Now, if your friend is not "evil" (purposefully and intentionally caused you pain) which likely she is not; then she falls in the stupid-prone category. What she did may have been selfish, careless, stupid, denoting her immaturity and tendency to be self-centered and emotionally tone deaf. Grandma just to say: "People are not stupid on purpose. On that moment, they just don't know any better." You may try a script like this in your mind: "You hurt me and I do not understand why. It may take me a while to heal but I will be OK. I want to believe that you did not hurt me intentionally. It may take even longer for you to realize what you have done. But I have no desire to hurt you back. Although my heart hurts I forgive yo." This is what I, more or less, do when my wife does something that stirs those quasi-homicidal-Hitchcock thoughts. I remember all that she does/did for me and the way she loves me. In your case your past friendship must have been worth something. Start there. Either way, it is going to take some time but you have to try. Forgiveness must be TRUE. The test? When you can embrace her with love rather than choke her. But you have to desire it. Time alone will do very little for you without actively seeking to forgive her. I hope it helps.

Indeed, it is a sad reality. We can not escape our awareness until someone points to the door. And even then some hesitate. Even when they want to escape they fear the unknown, they are uncomfortable with the proposed change. A (male) friend who lost his wife to a car crash 2 years ago posted a personal on an LDS singles site early in the year. He said about 12 women responded and 10 of them asked him for a picture!!! Never mind that he has a graduate degree, is a worthy priesthood holder, A RM, an entrepreneur and 29 yrs old. The "looks" were more important. "So they should keep looking..... and waiting", my friend said. It works both ways, I was just using this particular case as an example. It is true that, primarily, men are visually enticed. I think it is a silly and misguided fantasy but there you have it. As they get older reality sets in and they become less exigent. The search for more attributes than just external, temporary/makeup enhanced traits. But still, something has to catch their eyes. That response is hardwired into the brain.

Of course, my dear. Girls; chocolate, fudge is ideal, brownies and vanilla icecream second best. For guys; fruit preserves and cheese top and cheese cake or honey cakes will work well. I have stats on that...hehehehe:)

Mmmmm. Check this. You go and buy a pizza and slice it in ever smaller and smaller pieces. You can split those pieces to a number that is mathematically infinite but the pizza itself is finite. It is rather a collection of pieces where the sum of it is much larger than the pieces themselves. The problem is that we are tri-dimensional beings and try to "see" everything in those terms. Imagine that God started so long ago that you would have no way to express time in a tri-dimensional equation of when that happened. But it did. The same for the future. Sorry...ran out of verbal visual aids. As far as our potential for exaltation, children have the DNA of their parents and the same genetic attributes and thus potential as the parents. Again, you may be looking thru the "finite" lenses, but there is nothing to prevent you from reaching a sphere like you Father in Heaven. It may take an Ion but by then He will be still several Ions ahead of you, again. We should not be too concerned about it as we speak. It would be like my 4 year old trying to decide or even imagine what would be her doctoral dissertation theme 30 years from now....sort of

I have friends that are 7th DA and we have agreed to disagree on the subject a long time ago. They can read the NT as good as I can, and, they can also see that in Acts 20:7 and 1 Cor 1,2 that it points to the fact that although the Apostles were Jews, the nascent Christian church was made of gentile converts. So the Apostles observed the Sabbath and met with the disciples on the first day of the week; our modern Sunday to preach the Gospel. But they have to follow their own Adventist tradition. Beyond that, the Jewish calendar has nothing to do with ours. They have kept a day in seven since the Exodus. The Romans "accommodated" the Jewish traditions into their calendar in order to avoid political strife. We should therefore heed to the admonition of the Savior and follow the "spirit of the Sabbath" rather than the letter of it. :)

With equal respect, I disagree with your position. Sometimes, in order to preserve your way of life, in order to ensure that current or future enemies know where you stand and to what extent you are willing to go to defend yourself, your country and your love ones; someone has to die. In order for those that fear to know they can count on you, somebody has to die. There will be blood and that is the price to pay for freedom and for ones ideals and principles. At some point you have to be willing to sacrifice for what you hold to be true otherwise is empty rhetorical pomp. Men write history but it is re-written every so often. G.W. Bush may or may not be the best president. But one thing is clear, you WILL NEVER know what it is to make a decision in those circumstances. ALL of Europe thought they could negotiate with Hitler and avoid the war. One after one most of Europe fell without really much of a struggle. They allowed evil to germinate and flourish unopposed while claiming to preserve peace. Check out your history. America resisted for 4 years to enter the war. If it wasn't for those who died to contain evil the world you live in would be a very different world. Monday morning "quarterbacking" from your living room is always interesting. But, do not forget, you were not there. You already made up your mind in regards to the current state of affairs so I think my post may not be very relevant to you. I just thought I put something out there to consider for those that are not sure what to think with so many loud voices.

I second that view as well. We have the testimonies of the prophets and the apostles in regards tot he revealed word of God. We are then encouraged to find out for ourselves thru the Spirit and gain our own testimony of what God is revealing.. Before the Rabis, the prophets had no question in their minds about what the scriptures said. It is when the prophets are silent after the return from the Babylonian exile that even in Israel they begin to seek the help of angels, and recite incantations as in the midrashim. I tend to disagree with Moksha above in one point. It was never the intent of God for his people to approach Him in "scientific" or academic way. That was never the case before de advent of the Rabinical schools of Judaism. It was precisely this approach that gave raise to the pharisaic and legalistic view of God. It elevated the Torah and the study of it to the point of worshiping the law instead fo the Law Giver. The Rabinic hedge added hundreds of commandments to the law of Moses. Except Isaiah, who was a pretty well educated man and related to royalty by marriage, all other prophets were simple folk, including his father. I am not negating that we should not pursue inquiry of the physical world as a way to understand creation and the history of world and God. But it (academic or scientific models) should not be the the primary frame of reference thru which we hope to understand the word of God. I hope you understand my view point.

Elphaba One of the fundamental problems of political analysis deals with the almost impossibility of being neutral or unbiased one way or the other. Once we make up our mind, the other side has no chance. Just out of curiosity, what would have been your response after 9/11 and the sudden, unprovoked death of 3000 of our citizens?

LOL...I understand your feelings but I think you are slightly exaggerating. I think issues are a lot more complicated than that. But, again, politics was never my strong suit.

Amen to that!!!