Connie

To me it's also a no-brainer, but i would go the other route and toss 'em out. We are always in financial distress and have done this before with our own movie collection. It was easy for me to just throw them away, not wanting to be a "wolf in sheep's clothing" so to speak. I would not consider you a bad person if you took the other route, however. I think you'll just have to decide on your own what you are comfortable with doing.

Was it possibly A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue by Wendy Shalit? Not an LDS author but a really good book with a lot of good ideas.

The 2 greatest commandments comes from Matthew 22:36-40 when Christ was asked what was the greatest commandment. He answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And then he said, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Therefore, if you keep these 2 commandments, you will keep the rest.

Welcome and hello. :)

Boy, i know how you feel. I've always been a woman of few words verbally, i find it easier to write my feelings and thoughts down (which is probably why i like this site so much). Once i bore my testimony and mentioned everything but Christ. Big No-no in my opinion as i consider Christ the center of a testimony. I think it's great that you mentioned only Him. If you have to pick and chose and keep it short, He is the thing to mention. For something longer you start with Christ and move on from there--prophets, scripture, tithing, whatever. This is strictly my opinion. Going by the spirit is definitely a better idea as Jimuk pointed out.

Welcome. :)

I have a book called Our Latter-Day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson. She says it is from the opera titled Il Crociato in Egitto (The Crusader in Egypt). Tune name is Deliverance. Not sure about the hymn that uses O Canada. I do know that the song is available for Canadians to add to their hymn books. I'll have to see if i can find the music and recognize it. Okay, i found this: Lord of the Lands Apparently a hymn called Lord of the Lands was written to the tune of O Canada, but neither of these songs are in the LDS Hymn book, except as i mentioned before that O Canada is available for Canadians to add to their hymn books.

That would probably work for me, too! HA, HA! But seriously, something that has helped me on occasion is to sing hymns in my head. Don't know why that is but it works for me--maybe i'm just a music freak. :)

Congrats! I hope you have a good experience. It sounds like you're well prepared. :)

We further need to remember that this is a board where non-Mormons, ex-Mormons and members of other faiths come to learn more about the Church or where some members who may be struggling with their testimony come to be strengthened or where people like me come to learn through discussion, and since i consider learning to be a big part of why i am here in mortality, then is it quite important to me in my real life (though what some people write admittedly less so). I have yet to meet anyone who is here to take out whatever on people they don't know, and i would imagine such people are dealt with pretty quickly. I hope i never meet someone who is here just to bring others down. While we can control whether we get offended or not, we can also control what we say, including use of sarcasm. Therefore, i reiterate, let's be careful how we use sarcasm and try to be as Christ-like as possible on a forum where we are trying to help others learn about our faith. Having said such, i hope i have not offended anyone. I myself am not easily offended, though i do get frustrated at myself when i fail to get someone's explanation through my thick head. :)

fish & chips (yum)

Seeing as women are more emotional in general than men, i might be more inclined to say women, but i really don't know. I'd love to hear others thoughts in regard to that. If a verbal disagreement has gotten to the yelling point i would probably interpret that as argument, however.

Well, the more i read, the more convinced i am that i am mostly right about sarcasm and have very little use for it. Here are some more links: LDS.org - New Era Article - A Serious Look at Humor Last 3 paragraphs pertain to sarcasm but the whole article is great. LDS.org - New Era Article - True Believers My new favorite talk, i love Neal A. Maxwell. The section beginning True believers are happy is the one that discusses sarcasm. LDS.org - New Era Article - A Good Sense of Humor How sarcasm damaged a friendship. I think i'll use this article as my base for developing my own sense of humor. "Remember, too, that no matter what you see in the TV sit-coms and movies, put-down, cutting humor is not good humor. While it may be entertaining to watch, in real life, cutting humor and sarcasm are too unkind to be funny. They can only injure, never uplift." The Simpsons is a good example of this. I've always found it disgusting rather than funny. I don't want my family to be anything like the Simpsons are to each other. I honor my good parents for not allowing it in our home when it was so popular. LDS.org - Ensign Article - Barriers and Bridges to Communication Sarcasm as a barrier to communication. Really good article. LDS.org - Ensign Article - Getting Older, Getting Better "We cannot use the psychological weapons of depreciation, manipulation, criticism, or sarcasm on others without bruising ourselves. Instead of bruising, mature people build themselves by building others, looking at the good qualities of those around them and expressing genuine appreciation. Peace of mind grows as we build others up." LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Invisible Heartbreaker Sarcasm as a form of verbal abuse. LDS.org - Ensign Article - Mormon Journal Evidence of sarcasm as verbal abuse but with a happy ending. LDS.org - Ensign Article - Let It End with Me More evidence of sarcasm as verbal abuse. LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Continuing Pursuit of Truth "I am suggesting that as we go through life we “accentuate the positive.” I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort." Great article by Gordon B. Hinckley

Vort and Flyonthewall have given some very good definitions. It is only at the point where it becomes obviously a personal attack that i will disengage or if it is clear to me that the person is determined to take my disagreement personally. I do not see someone disagreeing with me as a personal attack, just a discussion of two opposite points of view, which to me is fun and interesting. I actually started a thread called Conflict that is somewhere on this general discussion forum where some interesting information is given on why someone would consider a disagreement with their ideas as a personal attack. You should take a look at it. I think it's a shame when someone defines what they will and will not discuss. It shows a closed mind, in my opinion. The only time to disengage a conversation is when it is obvious it has become personal--name calling or attacking the person instead of the ideas. Or when the other person has obviously chosen that course on their own even though you have not attacked them as a person, which to me means they consider an attack of their idea as an attack on them personally, again see the Conflict thread (very interesting info). Here's the conflict thread: http://www.lds.net/forums/general-discussion/13513-conflict.html

Okay, maybe i'm starting to get it a little. Here are some links for ya'll: Sarcasm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sarcasm, Sarcastic Comments, Quotes, Remarks, Dark Sarcasm Wow, there's even a sarcasm society. I found this sentence interesting. Sarcasm usually requires a quick wit (that would rule me out), and the ability to extract the minutest points of weakness in a conversation. (i don't even have the desire to do this, so that rules me out too). Psychology Today: Field Guide: Sarcastic Masters This was an interesting read and may give us all a better understanding of each other--those who have the affinity for sarcasm and those who don't. YouTube - Sarcasm at its best, or worst. And a fun video. But i still don't understand your megajoke, how it was really agreeing and belittling itself.

31. I am thankful for my trials and weaknesses to keep me humble.

Phew...i hope i'm not pregnant. i've been a bit over emotional today, and that's not like me. i'm usually under emotional. don't worry, Vort, it's not you, it's just me. it's not fun being a girl sometimes. Though the knock, knock jokes were pretty bad. ha,ha Thanks for the articles, skippy. The ones i read were really funny.

Okay, maybe i'll understand one of these days. I actually did get your silly post, though i had to read it through twice before it sunk in (it was very funny). i feel like crying now for some reason. I think i'll go do that just to get it out of my system.

I agree, but it needs to be clear it was a joke at least for the benefit of the slow ones like me. Sarcasm makes me feel like such a dunce! This is probably part of why i dislike it. Maybe you're right, Islander, you and me, my friend, must have an atrophied sense of humor.

See what i mean! I just don't understand sarcasm. I don't even understand this explanation.

Yes, thank you, which is why i say be careful, especially with some of the newer people who may not know.

Interesting. While i don't consider sarcasm the downfall of thought, i think the rest of the description is fairly accurate. Mr. Laraty's comment is exactly what i'm referring to. It was a completely inappropriate response. Christ would never had said such a thing. We need to respond in more Christ-like ways if we want to be called His followers

Hey!...how'd you know my dad was bigger than your dad?!

I've always loved the account of Alma Senior and his people in the land of Helam in Mosiah 23 & 24. I love how they were so miraculously saved from the bondage of the Lamanites and priests of Noah. It reminds me of what i need to do to be saved from my bondages of sin and trial.

Wow! No wonder we are told to "become as a child." (Mosiah 3:19)