ElderBigDawg

I also become very obsessed with pumpkins at this time of year, which is evident in some of my posts. I love pumpkin seeds, and will eat them regardless of the season. I'm always reading in Harry Potter about how pumpkin juice is always a drink. Is pumpkin juice fiction, or do people actually drink that? If so, then I would kill for some! And, besides pizza, pumpkin is my absolute favorite pie!

Reading is one of my main hobbies, so The Work and the Glory naturally fits in there. Of course, I also read the scriptures. I own those Missionary Reference books you mentioned, including Jesus the Christ. I've also read What I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Missionary (or something like that) by John Bytheway. I've also been reading Becoming a Great Missionary, The Ultimate Missionary Guide, Offenders of a Word, Why I Believe the Book of Mormon, and a number of other books in preparation for my mission. It's also a goal of mine to finish Preach My Gospel from cover to cover before leaving on my mission. I've already read the Book of Mormon several times, and continue to do so. The Old Testament and Doctrine and Covenants are my weaker points, but I'll be reading those too. So I think I'm doing pretty good so far.

I don't see what's wrong with going out and enjoying one of God's many wonders on a Sunday. Speaking of which, there's snow here too! It started yesterday, and just now stopped and is starting to melt.

But at the same time, you don't have to walk up to everyone and say "Yes, I [insert sin here] once upon a time, but now forsake it! How are you?" do you? The bishop would be enough for some of these things, right? In fact, I feel sorry for bishops at times, having to hear all these sins. There's a saying of mine: If you don't have gray hair by the time you're a bishop, you soon will.

This book series is amazing! I started around the middle of this year. I made a goal to finish the series before leaving for my mission. It doesn't seem like it will happen though. I'm currently on A Season of Joy. This series has helped me learn more of Joseph Smith not just an icon to be revered from a distance, but as a man full of love for people. He made mistakes just like you and me. The author did a great job of getting into his psyche and character. I feel like I know Joseph Smith a lot more now as if he were my next door neighbor. It's so much fun to read these books. The Steed family are awesome to read about. The Latter-day Saints in general have a very interesting history. I like history, so I'm automatically sold for this series. Though The Work and the Glory is indeed historic fiction, there is still a ton of truth in it. This series has helped strengthen my testimony in the church.

Checkers and Scrabble for me! I have also never lost at Star Wars: Trivial Pursuit. I've attempted to learn chess many times now, but I seem to have a hard time remembering which pieces do what.

Oh, okay then.

Yes, a Peanuts pun!

Isn't there more than one set of endowments? I know I have to get mine soon before going on my mission, but isn't there a set of endowments when you are sealed with your spouse in the temple?

I made up my own religion, called The Church of the Great Pumpkin. Nah, just kiddin'. I'm LDS.

These are awesome tidbits of history that I often don't know about. It's really fun to read these every day!

Yes and no. Yes, it was a great feat that I have never accomplished before. No, this is just the beginning. On my mission, I still have to remain on and below the line that has been set for me. I plan to lose at least forty more pounds during my mission.

I'm glad you decided to join! This makes me happy!

I confess that I didn't see (or hear) this conference, but I'm hoping to catch it in the Ensign when it comes out.

Finish the Book of Mormon before the end of the year? That's a very good goal I could set for myself! I participated in President Hinckley's challenge, and it would be really cool to start a tradition to do this during the 4th quarter of every year. I'm currently in Alma 29. This is where things start to get real good and makes it hard to put down. Around the time of the Twin Falls (Idaho) temple dedication, I helped lay sod with a bunch of the brethren for a dedication ceremony where youth from different areas of Southern Idaho would be doing different dances and stuff. President Monson came for that. Anyways, during the time I was laying sod, there was this man wearing a green shirt with some men clad in armor and holding spears. The subtitle read: "Mommas' Boys!" Society views "mamas' boys" as insecure children that run crying to momma and are spoiled by their mothers and whatnot. In the Book of Mormon, we see the exact opposite. They were courageous in battle, steadfast, and immovable in their faith. All because of their faithful mothers that brought them up in the gospel. Because of this, the Army of Helaman was highly favored of the Lord. This could be a good reason why we are encouraged to marry within our religion. Instead of the children being torn between two different faiths, they could doubly benefit by having two parents of the same faith. What a tremendous blessing it would be for a child to be raised of goodly parents that follow the prophets and set an example for them! For parents that are both holding onto the rod of iron and encouraging the child to do so as well! For parents that lovingly live teach the gospel in the home! I have never experienced this myself, having been brought up in a single parent family where the gospel never had a firm foundation us siblings could grow up in. I won't speak bad about my family though. I was allowed to choose whatever religion I wanted to, after all. It's because of this that I came into the church. But I've seen families that are built on and around the doctrines of the gospel, and I can't help but feel jealous. There is always such a warmth there that you know the Spirit is fluent in their lives. Though I may never have been brought up in such a way, I greatly desire to do so when and if I start my own family. A family brought up to know and cherish the love of Christ and Heavenly Father and all that They have done for us. And of course, a goodly mother to help raise another generation of "Momma's Boys" and stripling warriors that are strong in the faith!

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys! Yeah, I'll let you know when I receive my call. Maybe even make a thread about it or something.

Oakley, Idaho - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Thank you!

Yeah, sure! I forgot to mention in my intro that I currently live in Oakley, Idaho. Yeah. That legend of a town.

Hey there, everyone! I've been meaning to join an LDS forum for quite some time now (actually, I'm an inactive member of LDS Authors, but that doesn't count), and I figured now's a good time to do so. A bit about me: I'm an active member of the church. My current calling is to help teach CTR5 in primary. I'm twenty years of age, and am currently waiting for my mission call. This would actually be my second time sending in my papers. The first time around, they were sent back to me because I weighed too much and I need to undergo physical training and diet until I reached their minimum goal they set for me. So here I am, almost a year and minus sixty pounds later, waiting for my mission call again. Actions speak louder than words, so this huge achievement, and I know Heavenly Father helped me loads in this, only evermore solidifies my testimony of the church, Christ, Joseph Smith, and the restored gospel. The Lord wants for me to be first and foremost a missionary, and His help through this ordeal only seals that fact. It's been two weeks this past Wednesday since my papers were sent back in, so my eagerness increases with every passing day as I await my call. This site will hopefully both help spiritually prepare me and prove a good distraction until then. I'm a graphic artist, sprite comic artist, writer, musician, and actor. My other hobbies consist of forum posting, reading, binging television shows on DVD (currently Battlestar Galactica), and playing video games. I frequent a forum called Zelda Universe, and my alias there is Blizzaga. There are a lot of anti-Mormons there, which makes me sad. Not to mention, a gazillion atheists dead bent on proving Christianity wrong. I do the best that I can in some discussions there, but it can be very discouraging when you're of a minority, and the spirit of contention can get really strong at times. That could be another reason why I joined here: a spiritual buffer to help balance things out. So there you go. That's basically me in a nutshell. I really like the looks of this place. It's so crammed full of goodness! I got lost trying to find my way back to the forums, then noticed the convenient "Forums" graphic at the top. I'm happy to be here and hope to participate in the forums soon!