Connie

You remind me of my cousin. She enjoys playing the victim card, too. Her ex-husband has full custody of their 2 girls, has kept a string of girlfriends living with him one after the other, gives her the barest minimal contact with the kids and poisons their minds against her by speaking nothing but negativity about her. The judges in her mind are no better. She has tried many times to gain custody of her girls, but they won’t budge.
 
From where I stand, you have two options. You can continue to play the victim card for the rest of your life or you can turn to the Lord and find out what He would have you do in your current circumstances. The world is what it is, and the only person you have any control over is yourself. Turn to the Lord. If He tells you to move to a different country, then fine. Just make sure you’re not doing things your own way out of fear or doubt. Chose the path of faith and trust that the Lord’s plan for you is much greater than your own would be. My cousin has decided to continue to be a victim and as such has turned very bitter and negative about men and life, and she wonders why people don’t want to be around her and she can’t find a man to marry her. I would encourage you to try the other route. It is the path to greater peace and happiness.

You remind me of my cousin. She enjoys playing the victim card, too. Her ex-husband has full custody of their 2 girls, has kept a string of girlfriends living with him one after the other, gives her the barest minimal contact with the kids and poisons their minds against her by speaking nothing but negativity about her. The judges in her mind are no better. She has tried many times to gain custody of her girls, but they won’t budge.
 
From where I stand, you have two options. You can continue to play the victim card for the rest of your life or you can turn to the Lord and find out what He would have you do in your current circumstances. The world is what it is, and the only person you have any control over is yourself. Turn to the Lord. If He tells you to move to a different country, then fine. Just make sure you’re not doing things your own way out of fear or doubt. Chose the path of faith and trust that the Lord’s plan for you is much greater than your own would be. My cousin has decided to continue to be a victim and as such has turned very bitter and negative about men and life, and she wonders why people don’t want to be around her and she can’t find a man to marry her. I would encourage you to try the other route. It is the path to greater peace and happiness.

You remind me of my cousin. She enjoys playing the victim card, too. Her ex-husband has full custody of their 2 girls, has kept a string of girlfriends living with him one after the other, gives her the barest minimal contact with the kids and poisons their minds against her by speaking nothing but negativity about her. The judges in her mind are no better. She has tried many times to gain custody of her girls, but they won’t budge.
 
From where I stand, you have two options. You can continue to play the victim card for the rest of your life or you can turn to the Lord and find out what He would have you do in your current circumstances. The world is what it is, and the only person you have any control over is yourself. Turn to the Lord. If He tells you to move to a different country, then fine. Just make sure you’re not doing things your own way out of fear or doubt. Chose the path of faith and trust that the Lord’s plan for you is much greater than your own would be. My cousin has decided to continue to be a victim and as such has turned very bitter and negative about men and life, and she wonders why people don’t want to be around her and she can’t find a man to marry her. I would encourage you to try the other route. It is the path to greater peace and happiness.

No, you are not the only one. It is the same on mine.

You remind me of my cousin. She enjoys playing the victim card, too. Her ex-husband has full custody of their 2 girls, has kept a string of girlfriends living with him one after the other, gives her the barest minimal contact with the kids and poisons their minds against her by speaking nothing but negativity about her. The judges in her mind are no better. She has tried many times to gain custody of her girls, but they won’t budge.
 
From where I stand, you have two options. You can continue to play the victim card for the rest of your life or you can turn to the Lord and find out what He would have you do in your current circumstances. The world is what it is, and the only person you have any control over is yourself. Turn to the Lord. If He tells you to move to a different country, then fine. Just make sure you’re not doing things your own way out of fear or doubt. Chose the path of faith and trust that the Lord’s plan for you is much greater than your own would be. My cousin has decided to continue to be a victim and as such has turned very bitter and negative about men and life, and she wonders why people don’t want to be around her and she can’t find a man to marry her. I would encourage you to try the other route. It is the path to greater peace and happiness.

You remind me of my cousin. She enjoys playing the victim card, too. Her ex-husband has full custody of their 2 girls, has kept a string of girlfriends living with him one after the other, gives her the barest minimal contact with the kids and poisons their minds against her by speaking nothing but negativity about her. The judges in her mind are no better. She has tried many times to gain custody of her girls, but they won’t budge.
 
From where I stand, you have two options. You can continue to play the victim card for the rest of your life or you can turn to the Lord and find out what He would have you do in your current circumstances. The world is what it is, and the only person you have any control over is yourself. Turn to the Lord. If He tells you to move to a different country, then fine. Just make sure you’re not doing things your own way out of fear or doubt. Chose the path of faith and trust that the Lord’s plan for you is much greater than your own would be. My cousin has decided to continue to be a victim and as such has turned very bitter and negative about men and life, and she wonders why people don’t want to be around her and she can’t find a man to marry her. I would encourage you to try the other route. It is the path to greater peace and happiness.

A lady at the distribution center many years ago told me the story of her son (or was it a daughter, can't remember) who chose to marry civilly rather than get sealed for the sake of the spouse's non-member family. She seemed pretty sad about it and felt that was a big reason for this couple entirely leaving the church, never even bothering to get sealed at all.
 
See quote in my signature line.

A lady at the distribution center many years ago told me the story of her son (or was it a daughter, can't remember) who chose to marry civilly rather than get sealed for the sake of the spouse's non-member family. She seemed pretty sad about it and felt that was a big reason for this couple entirely leaving the church, never even bothering to get sealed at all.
 
See quote in my signature line.

Isn't this why God puts us in families... and into ward families... so that we have these types of support groups to help us through life.
 
C.S. Lewis said, "We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves."

I totally get your philosophical ponderings. I am very, very introverted—89% according to the Jung typology test. I’ve often wondered to what extent people help and influence others. When I first read the C.S. Lewis quote from my above post, I had a very strong negative reaction to it. I still wonder to what extent he is correct in his statement. Mostly I wonder about my own influence on others as I can easily recognize the influence others have had on me.
 
Prisonchaplain is right. Introversion is not a highly thought of trait in American culture. Most introverts are all too familiar with that. “You’re SOOOO quite,” is an all too common remark from people at school or work. Or the more to the point remark, “you’re too quite.” I even had a couple of people in the church tell me that being so quiet makes people think you’re a snob. I got to the point where I just shrugged and thought “fine, I’m a snob.” If people want to hold on to their perception of me rather than actually trying to get to know me, then… whatever. There are introverted ideas in the gospel, but there are also plenty of extroverted ones too (as others have pointed out). Both are important, but more often than not the introverted ones get pushed to the side. Actually, the extroverted ones are just easier to see as the introverted ones are mostly meant to be done in solitude. I’m lucky I grew up in the church and have that familiarity. I can’t imagine what it must be like for introverted converts.
 
I’ve been reading a book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. It’s full of some interesting research and scientific studies and focuses mainly on American culture with its extrovert ideal. You might find it interesting. You can also watch the author’s TED talk on introversion at this link: http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts?language=en

Me too. I love the way he talks along in a measured tone, and then all of a sudden his voice will BOOM when he wants to emphasize a particular point. 

Isn't this why God puts us in families... and into ward families... so that we have these types of support groups to help us through life.
 
C.S. Lewis said, "We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves."

Rule #1: Don't have food or drink in easy reach when watching a bad lip reading video.
 
Don't forget again, Vorty.

No, they do not have to be separated. Ours have been combined for years.

Yes, chastity issues need to be taken to the bishop, regardless of age. The repentance period will be determined by him.

No, they do not have to be separated. Ours have been combined for years.

Yes, chastity issues need to be taken to the bishop, regardless of age. The repentance period will be determined by him.

Hello. Welcome to the forums. It's nice to meet you. Thanks for telling us a bit about yourself.

Yes, because it is the courts' job to interpret and apply the tax code. In fact, this has happened before (to a religious university, not to an actual church, that discriminated based on race). The case was Bob Jones University v. United States, decided by the Supreme Court in 1983.
The Bob Jones court held as follows:So the question isn't whether the institution discriminates in allocating a government benefit (like marriage); the question is whether the institution discriminates at all. And the Church does.Now, the Court did limit the application of the ruling to educational institutions; but I think the public and judicial mood is now right for extending that ruling to churches as well since anti-religious sentiment is on the rise and the underlying IRS nonprofit statute specifically encompasses both types of institutions.

They are ALL fantastical blessings. All blessings from God are great and fantastic.
 
-Finrock

I read it a couple of years back and am re-reading now. My initial impression was very favorable...now, not so sure. It lacks something....can't put my finger on it. I think it gives a good description of the early church, but as far as an intimate description of the Prophet...not so much 

There are lots of gospel promises or blessings we can obtain. I have a list of 23 possible blessings that come from studying the scriptures. I compiled the list for a talk i gave a couple of years ago based off some quotes from modern-day prophets i found in my studies. So it is by no means a comprehensive list. I think it was Elder Scott who said that we would receive a "wealth of blessings [as a] result of scripture study."
 
I don't know if you would consider some of these as promises. Many of them are fairly basic but some are kind of fantastical sounding. If you're interested in the quotes, let me know. I still have them. Here's the list:
1.  Learn how to live in times of war.
2.  Learn how to deal with persecution and apostasy.
3.  Learn how to do missionary work.
4.  Learn how to respond to the dangers of materialism.
5.  Help us keep our thoughts clean and pure.
6.  Increase the Spirit in our homes.
7.  Increase reverence.
8.  Increase mutual respect and consideration for others.
9.  Decrease contention.
10. Parents will counsel with their children in greater love and wisdom.
11. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents.
12. Increase righteousness.
13. Increase faith, hope and charity.
14. Increase peace, joy and happiness.
15. Strengthened resolve to obey commandments.
16. Strengthen our testimony of Christ.
17. Increased power to avoid temptation.
18. Increased ability to hear the promptings of the Holy Ghost and receive revelation.
19. Increased confidence in ability to overcome the challenges of life.
20. Give direction to our life.
21. Calm an agitated soul.
22. Heal emotional challenges.
23. Accelerate physical healing.

I’m really loving just the sheer detail. To get this kind of detail on my own I would have to, as the author has done, delve into the thousands of journal entries and newspaper articles and documents and revelations and etc., etc. I mean I’ve read the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt and The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother. And while those both have an extremely valuable inside perspective on the subject, they are really only a small piece of the whole. I think this book probably comes the closest to the whole that one can get without a time machine and mind reading powers.

I’m really loving just the sheer detail. To get this kind of detail on my own I would have to, as the author has done, delve into the thousands of journal entries and newspaper articles and documents and revelations and etc., etc. I mean I’ve read the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt and The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother. And while those both have an extremely valuable inside perspective on the subject, they are really only a small piece of the whole. I think this book probably comes the closest to the whole that one can get without a time machine and mind reading powers.

There are lots of gospel promises or blessings we can obtain. I have a list of 23 possible blessings that come from studying the scriptures. I compiled the list for a talk i gave a couple of years ago based off some quotes from modern-day prophets i found in my studies. So it is by no means a comprehensive list. I think it was Elder Scott who said that we would receive a "wealth of blessings [as a] result of scripture study."
 
I don't know if you would consider some of these as promises. Many of them are fairly basic but some are kind of fantastical sounding. If you're interested in the quotes, let me know. I still have them. Here's the list:
1.  Learn how to live in times of war.
2.  Learn how to deal with persecution and apostasy.
3.  Learn how to do missionary work.
4.  Learn how to respond to the dangers of materialism.
5.  Help us keep our thoughts clean and pure.
6.  Increase the Spirit in our homes.
7.  Increase reverence.
8.  Increase mutual respect and consideration for others.
9.  Decrease contention.
10. Parents will counsel with their children in greater love and wisdom.
11. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents.
12. Increase righteousness.
13. Increase faith, hope and charity.
14. Increase peace, joy and happiness.
15. Strengthened resolve to obey commandments.
16. Strengthen our testimony of Christ.
17. Increased power to avoid temptation.
18. Increased ability to hear the promptings of the Holy Ghost and receive revelation.
19. Increased confidence in ability to overcome the challenges of life.
20. Give direction to our life.
21. Calm an agitated soul.
22. Heal emotional challenges.
23. Accelerate physical healing.