Connie

This poem by Rudyard Kipling comes to mind. But I think Jesus Christ is the ultimate man. Study His life and become as much like Him as you can.

Will the Church Ever Change Its Doctrine and Sanction Same-Sex Marriages?
Central to God’s plan, the doctrine of marriage between a man and woman is an integral teaching of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and will not change:
“As a doctrinal principle, based on the scriptures, the Church affirms that marriage between a man and a woman is essential to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.
“Sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife. Any other sexual relations, including those between persons of the same gender, are sinful and undermine the divinely created institution of the family. The Church accordingly affirms defining marriage as the legal and lawful union between a man and a woman” (Handbook 2: Administering the Church, 21.4.10).
Source: https://mormonandgay.lds.org/articles/frequently-asked-questions?lang=eng (it's the last question on the page, scroll down)
 

Will the Church Ever Change Its Doctrine and Sanction Same-Sex Marriages?
Central to God’s plan, the doctrine of marriage between a man and woman is an integral teaching of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and will not change:
“As a doctrinal principle, based on the scriptures, the Church affirms that marriage between a man and a woman is essential to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.
“Sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife. Any other sexual relations, including those between persons of the same gender, are sinful and undermine the divinely created institution of the family. The Church accordingly affirms defining marriage as the legal and lawful union between a man and a woman” (Handbook 2: Administering the Church, 21.4.10).
Source: https://mormonandgay.lds.org/articles/frequently-asked-questions?lang=eng (it's the last question on the page, scroll down)
 

Will the Church Ever Change Its Doctrine and Sanction Same-Sex Marriages?
Central to God’s plan, the doctrine of marriage between a man and woman is an integral teaching of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and will not change:
“As a doctrinal principle, based on the scriptures, the Church affirms that marriage between a man and a woman is essential to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.
“Sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife. Any other sexual relations, including those between persons of the same gender, are sinful and undermine the divinely created institution of the family. The Church accordingly affirms defining marriage as the legal and lawful union between a man and a woman” (Handbook 2: Administering the Church, 21.4.10).
Source: https://mormonandgay.lds.org/articles/frequently-asked-questions?lang=eng (it's the last question on the page, scroll down)
 

“When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.” – Ezra Taft Benson
I find that when I am doing those little daily things—prayer, scripture study, repentance, service, etc.—that put God first in my life, then my burden is actually lighter. When we prioritize those things that matter most, the things that matter very little become of so much lesser importance. See Matthew 11:28-30.

Read this article and thought of this thread: https://relevantmagazine.com/life5/you-never-marry-the-right-person/?fbclid=IwAR3ZnGVt34JE3OmhaxhKHhpC4kJFq-7IP4NyIZUrUHtUbWOCVmGi9jHrcr0

Ha! I read that as a freshman at BYU. What I remember most about it was that it was booooooring. But that wouldn't have anything to do with my callow nature at 18, now would it?

I look forward to that. I remember reading The Communist Manifesto years ago. My take away was that it was very emotionally driven, not much actual logic.

That's cool that you've finished it. Seems like I heard a lot of people talking about it when it first came out and saying how they are reading it. That seems to have died down in favor of President Nelson's challenge to read The Book of Mormon. Our stake president and ward Elder's Quorum president have issued that challenge to the men in our area, too. So perhaps many have set Saints aside as they plow through The Book of Mormon. I'm still plugging away at it. I'm on chapter 28.

I look forward to that. I remember reading The Communist Manifesto years ago. My take away was that it was very emotionally driven, not much actual logic.

I actually married into a copy, an English translation that seeks to preserve many of Hitler's grammatical idiosyncrasies. I've never actually read it, but it's been on my list for years. My wife bought it for some class she took before we met, but I'm not sure how much of it she actually read. If and when I read it, I'll come back here and give a review.

Well, if we recognize the title of this thread "Force" I don't have to convince you, I just make you!
As I have never been very good at sales, White Fang was the first book I read that was that long, and I loved the story of a boy, a dog (wolf), and how each of them were each others' hero. As a boy who loved dogs, this was a great book. But I liked Call of the Wild, so I am not sure I am going to convince you very well.

Way to think outside the box, @Vort!

I see what you did there, Rainbow Dash.

Well, 'force' is a bit strong for me.  But I'm on record several places saying something like "When they make me Emperor of the restored church, everyone will have to read these before they can get baptized". 
Valley of Sorrow: A Layman's Guide to Understanding Mental Illness by Alexander B. Morrison of the Seventy
“Judge Not” and Judging by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, August 1999 Ensign
 
I figure if everyone just read those two things, the church would be at least 20% cooler. 
 
 

There are at least two books not necessarily in this order:
The Law by Frederic Bastiat -- I would require this book especially in the USA so all citizens would understand the basis of our Constitution and what constitutes the "Rule of Law".   Though the book was written almost 200 years ago I believe it clearly points out how politics has devolved constitutional law into the hate based politics to divide otherwise free peoples from liberty.
The Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Clason - I would require this book so individuals could understand that failure to be economically solvent is not just foolish and stupid but criminal and evil - aimed mostly at one's self.  I believe the principles are explained better than "Rich Man Poor Man".   For example, I find the comparison of certain bad spending habits akin to cannibalizing and eating your own children interesting and on point. 
 
The Traveler

@Iggy You should move to my ward. We will minister to you.

We talk so much about serving others but not much about letting others serve us.
My take on this is that we have all taken that baptismal covenant to “mourn with those who mourn, comfort those who stand in need of comfort,” etc. We can only accomplish this if we all take our turns to serve and to have service rendered to us (or to minister and to be ministered to, if you prefer). Sometimes it seems like the best service you can render to someone is to let them serve you.
This requires patience and long-suffering sometimes as we are all imperfect at serving. We may be frustrated with how someone decides to minister to us. We may find it awkward or inconvenient or think we can just do it better ourselves. And then someone may find our efforts at ministering awkward or inconvenient and feel like they don’t need our service in their lives.
What are your thoughts on letting others serve you?

I love this. I say this often but I’ll say it again. We get TONS of trainings on how to be good home teachers / ministers, but none of us know how to receive such service. We all need a good lesson on the importance of having people minister to you and how we ought to receive them. We can’t build Zion if we aren’t serving others, nor can we build Zion if we aren’t letting others serve us.

I don’t know that I have a good answer to this, but more just an example of a time in my life where everyone was letting everyone serve each other.
I once had a group of friends where we lived as has been mentioned above. We served each other all the time and repaid each other through future service, no one ever rejected the service, just said “thank you so much! I would love help”. Anything from buying each other lunch to assisting someone in a task. None of us needed that service, but the constant service brought all us very close together.
Allowing others to serve you when you don’t need it is an incredible blessing... but I’m not sure why.
I make it a habit to never reject someone’s offer of service even if I think I don’t need help or think it might inconvenience them. Trust is built between parties when this happens.

We talk so much about serving others but not much about letting others serve us.
My take on this is that we have all taken that baptismal covenant to “mourn with those who mourn, comfort those who stand in need of comfort,” etc. We can only accomplish this if we all take our turns to serve and to have service rendered to us (or to minister and to be ministered to, if you prefer). Sometimes it seems like the best service you can render to someone is to let them serve you.
This requires patience and long-suffering sometimes as we are all imperfect at serving. We may be frustrated with how someone decides to minister to us. We may find it awkward or inconvenient or think we can just do it better ourselves. And then someone may find our efforts at ministering awkward or inconvenient and feel like they don’t need our service in their lives.
What are your thoughts on letting others serve you?

We talk so much about serving others but not much about letting others serve us.
My take on this is that we have all taken that baptismal covenant to “mourn with those who mourn, comfort those who stand in need of comfort,” etc. We can only accomplish this if we all take our turns to serve and to have service rendered to us (or to minister and to be ministered to, if you prefer). Sometimes it seems like the best service you can render to someone is to let them serve you.
This requires patience and long-suffering sometimes as we are all imperfect at serving. We may be frustrated with how someone decides to minister to us. We may find it awkward or inconvenient or think we can just do it better ourselves. And then someone may find our efforts at ministering awkward or inconvenient and feel like they don’t need our service in their lives.
What are your thoughts on letting others serve you?

We talk so much about serving others but not much about letting others serve us.
My take on this is that we have all taken that baptismal covenant to “mourn with those who mourn, comfort those who stand in need of comfort,” etc. We can only accomplish this if we all take our turns to serve and to have service rendered to us (or to minister and to be ministered to, if you prefer). Sometimes it seems like the best service you can render to someone is to let them serve you.
This requires patience and long-suffering sometimes as we are all imperfect at serving. We may be frustrated with how someone decides to minister to us. We may find it awkward or inconvenient or think we can just do it better ourselves. And then someone may find our efforts at ministering awkward or inconvenient and feel like they don’t need our service in their lives.
What are your thoughts on letting others serve you?

Looks like y’all have already decided what the new forum name will be. Why insult our intelligence by offering a choice that’s not really a choice. Name it whatever you want. I’m sure people will still come and participate even if it has a stupid name.
Note: My husband tells me this is acerbic. I told him I can live with that.

Looks like y’all have already decided what the new forum name will be. Why insult our intelligence by offering a choice that’s not really a choice. Name it whatever you want. I’m sure people will still come and participate even if it has a stupid name.
Note: My husband tells me this is acerbic. I told him I can live with that.