LDSVALLEY

See I open my mouth and someone Tops me! I believe Scandinavia is higher up even then Canada or at least Nova Scotia!

From my neck of Canada I have not seen these. Actually I think it is good advertising for Christ because it puts his name in the public view to allow people to contemplate what is being said. For those who require specific evidence of Christ because they can not have Faith in him then it fits perfectly. Besides if we can put up information about Christ we have to allow the other team the same right. That's the way the Lord's plan works! Think of the humor, they who don't believe are supporting the plan of what they don't believe in by claiming not to believe. Nice Irony.

Hey you all forgot about Jackson County Missouri, the future site of Zion in this part of the world! I never worry about why this spot over that one, that's Gods concern, I have enough trouble remembering where I park my car at the mall!

HI back, we are 5 first generation Mormon's, sorry no Catholics. Welcome to the site.

Sorry to both the East and the west but I'm from Canada so I "top" both of you with who has the best!

That is normal. Our bodies function differently depending on what foods we put into them. When we change from an unhealthy diet to a healthy one our bodies struggle with learning how to use the different types of fuel. Our minds depend on stimulation, exercise and rest, we with our bodies when we alter what it's normal intakes are then it struggles to adjust to the new routines. Like our bodies our minds do adjust and usually are much clearer and healthier when we choose the better way. Keep it up, over time it get will seem a whole new world.

I have found that the more I do things of the spirit the less influence the world can have on me. It creates a mind set, when you are set on resisting temptation you think about temptation which makes it harder to think of other things. When you are set on spiritual growth instead then you focus on spiritual growth which makes it harder to think of other things ie temptation. - put on EFY or church music constantly, at home in car on your mp3 player etc. - set out church magazines, books or scriptures around the house to catch your eye. (Bathroom works well for men. :) - stick with or begin scripture study and prayer. - Attend all church activities possible. - Make sure you do your home teaching and serve in any calling you have. - Don't beat yourself up over thoughts, just decide you are better then what you are thinking and think elsewhere. I promise you it works, when I feel myself slipping toward only habits or thoughts I step this up and quickly the focus turns again to the good.

That describes some of the Church Leadership meetings I've been in! :banghead:

Welcome from a now white Nova Scotia, Canada

1 Glad you partook of the experience of Church. My first time I felt like I was at a cross between an Amway convention (everyone shaking my hand) and an AA meeting gone bad. (fasting testimony with lots of people crying and having "weird dreams" about things. IE testimonies.) 2 Now I have come to enjoy the kids, the noise can be loud at times, but when there are few attending it is too quite. The noise to me represents life, both the joy and distraction of it and how we need to listen beyond the local noise to hear the messages the Lord wants us to have. 3 I am guessing but from what you described as the speaker you liked he is most likely a high priest stake representative, they usually come to a Ward once a month to check in and bring business or messages from the Stake leadership. 4 The Joseph Smith bit I wondered about at first as well. When I thought it through I could see where a young man would make up a story about being visited from God as a way to get attention. However after the first couple of times being picked on about it, then chased away, then beaten up, which acts kept increasing up to being tarred and feathered, tossed in jail several times, driven from home after home. At some point on this journey any sane person would have said you know what I was joking, I made it up, stop hitting me etc. I would have done it after the first rock was thrown personally. The only way I would be stupid enough to keep saying it was true was if it really was. 5 The bread was broken up during the sacrament hymn and before it was blessed. The bread just represents the body so it is not sacred in itself. In some areas where bread is not available or expensive other food items such as crackers etc are substituted for the bread. The item used really does not matter, it is the purpose behind it. 6 Hope you continue to enjoy the journey of discovery no matter what final destination you reach at the end of it.

Personally I hate Harry Potter but my family loves it. When I saw this thread I did some checking on the net. There is a likely hood of 2 nude scenes. One which the evil dude is tricking Ron by having him watch a romantic scene between Harry and Hermione where Harry is in a state of undress, there is conflicting information on the attire and involvement of Hermione. It also states there is at least one more nude scene but didn't say where. So the death scene would make sense. My daughter is nuts about Harry Potter and has been waiting for this movie. IF there is any nudity at all even if nothing sexual is visible she wont' go see it. Nor would we allow her to see it. When you guys see it let the rest of us know what is up with it.

I've been using that for over a year now every time it comes up about how much home teaching is in the basement. "Well Bishop if we did as the Lord tells us through the handbook of instruction then it has to work. why don't we try it?" I noticed the new manual means we still don't do it the right way which I mentioned to the Bishopric on my way out. I think the new manual will be good. I really like the sample Ward Council they did during the training. But it only makes a difference if someone in the Leadership actually decides to follow the new manual.

I just mentioned this to my wife and she remembered that a software producer was coming out with a Mac version in November of this year. Type in Family Tree Maker by Ancestry.com - The #1 Selling Family Tree Program

1 Get married by the Bishop cost is $0.00 2 The idea that a marriage is just a piece of paper is a way of keeping an escape hatch clear of obstructions. Before my wife and I joined the church we met, fell in love, moved in together for the purpose of seeing if a relationship would work, when we got married roughly 18 months later we figured it would be easy adjustments since we were together. We went through an unexpected adjustment period of several months because our perspectives had changed without realizing it. We went from a non committed relationship to a committed one. There is a mental shift that you are not really aware of it. Think of it this way, when you buy a cell phone plan you sign a contract to meet specific obligations for a specific period of time, no matter if you begin to feel like a new phone might have better features or look more appealing etc you still have a contract to consider, while you can break them you have penalties to pay in doing so which makes you really stop and think about it being worthwhile or not. A phone that isn't part of a contract means that there is no issue when you decide to discard it and replace it. It is surprising how much we run on our subconscious to adjust our conscious thought processes. I am not saying your fiance would go around thinking I wonder if I should replace her or not. But when things get rough having that piece of paper or contract makes the situation much more substantial and it much harder to decide to walk away. One would thing a child would be even more of a hold but we have convinced ourselves as a society that children are better off with separated parents then unhappy together ones. When I got married I went around for months saying I was now stuck with my wife for life. (I did stop because she didn't like it.) my thinking was to drill into my head that I was now committed for life, so my choice was since I was stuck for life I had best do all I could to make it as enjoyable as possible!! It is more then just a bit of paper................It is a commitment of love, effort and trust.

My wife works for a company that develops genealogy add-on software. Her boss is a huge Mac Lover but as he has said many times there is just not enough Genealogy Mac users to make it worth the huge expense involved in developing Mac version Genealogy software. The IBM market is just too large, for example he ran a promotion this week and today alone I am helping her send out over 100 CD's. I am sure there must be a few Mac version software but they might take some searching to find. Good Luck with your search

How do you apply the same principle to fasting? The church can help out those who pay tithing but need financial aid. You can't have someone who should not fast doing so because there is no way to rectify the situation. The church would not want anyone to put their or other peoples health at risk. While the Lord has told us to pay tithing I was allowed to join the church refusing to pay it. I didn't pay it for three years until I finally had the understanding of how it worked. People are not excommunicated if they stop tithing, nor does a Bishop sit there with a calculator and audit peoples payments. I pay it because it benefits my self and my family. The money I give back to the Lord goes to support the church, to pay for buildings, to help with disaster relief, to help provide funds beyond fast offerings to those in need, to help those who can not help themselves, to fund church programs in our ward and worldwide. My small contribution multiplies many times and does far more good then I ever could with five times my income to help others out.

Big difference. First the church tells us to fast only if we are able, if we are of ill health, with child etc then we are not to do so. Second as I had stated earlier the Lord does not expect you to loss your house. That is why there is the church welfare program. The Lord expects you to pay your tithing. Then if you are in need you have a venue through the church to get the help you need to make ends meet. I believe in Logic, tithing made no sense to me until I did it. I found since we started paying it that avenues have always opened up when we needed it most. I can not explain in logic why it works that way other then being blessed for doing so.

Another issue is if we did as you (Joheri) suggests then how does one determine where needs stop. Do I pay tithing on money before I pay my phone, internet, cable etc or after? What about a car, if I need it for getting to work then is the money to pay on it tithing free? What about if I need a car but instead of buying a $2000 car to get me to and from work I buy a $50,000 SUV instead? Where is the line? What counts as a need and which is a want? A home is a need but do you need a $300,000 home or a $150,000 one. Every time I get my paycheck my family's ability to live is increased. Therefore I pay tithing based on my increase which is whatever my paycheck tells me it is. That is what makes sense and what the Lord would expect. As I said before if you then can't make ends meet then the Lord has allowed for that help as well. But first we must obey his instructions then he can help us when we need it.

My concern is that I enjoy this site because it focuses on LDS but welcomes non members to feel like they can come on this site and express themselves, grow in understanding of what the LDS gospel is really about, and explain their points of view. Also to get an understanding of how different church members think about various things. If we have 18-21 Full Time Missionaries going on the same sites all the time giving official church doctrine as representatives of the church then I worry that. 1 The site has always made it clear that information posted is the opinions of people not official church policy. With "Official" representatives this is going to create mixed messages for people who have no idea what an Elder is. What is official information and what is personal interpretation and from who. 2 If it was 1 or 2 Full Time Missionaries assigned to a particular site would be one thing but with 18-21 of them how fast are non members going to feel like they are being set up by the site. Instead of being a place to safely express views and offer a non threatening look into the LDS Gospel it becomes a recruiting site for the church. Don't get me wrong, I was a Ward Mission Leader, I honestly respect the efforts of the Full Time Missionaries but as I am seeing in my Ward at Present when members get talk after talk about Missionary work then member participation disappears. I would hate to see that happen on this site. Perhaps someone should see if the Mission can more regulate which Missionaries go to what sites on the Internet, otherwise it will be like an entire Mission going to the same houses over and over again. As I said I support Missionary service and have helped bring people to the gospel but it is easy to push people away instead of bringing them closer to the Gospel if you do it wrong.

As I have told all new members coming into our church tithing is returning 10% of what we get to the Lord. When I joined I was told what that 10% constitutes is between the person and the Lord. I tell them to do what I did, come up with what seems right then take it to the Lord and he will let you know if he agrees or not. In 15 years as a member I have never heard that it has to be Gross income. Some do gross, some do net, I knew one member who estimated the value of Christmas gifts, Birthday gifts etc and tithed on that. I personally was told by a Bishop it did not need to include money given by the government ie Unemployment, welfare etc. Every member should pay tithing not matter what their financial picture. I had this argument when I joined, I was working 2 jobs to allow my wife to stay home I told the Missionaries there was no way I would pay tithing. I was allowed to join anyway. After a couple of years I got it and started to pay, we always found a way to make it work and we didn't do without. Then one month we needed medications for the kids and the only money in the house was tithing so we used it. Next month we were even worse off so the tithing went again. Third month things were still screwed up so I forced myself to pay tithing first, by the end of the month we were back to normal. If you can't afford to pay tithing pay it anyway, if at the end of the period you are stuck then you are to go to the Bishop and get aid. If you really need it you will get it. That is how the Lords plan works.

Yes, lets get the government to go after fast food joints because parents allow their children to eat too much fast food and not exercise enough!!!!!!!!! That's right up there with funding Breakfast Clubs during school instead of going after the parents who don't feed their kids. If they can't afford breakfast then the kids go without during weekends and vacation. If the parents are too lazy to feed them breakfast then this just makes them lazier. Lets try holding parents accountable for what we are doing or not doing to our kids and get the government out of it. I don't need a government to spend millions of dollars implementing and managing a law when I have all the power I need to prevent my kids from eating things I don't want them to eat no matter what toy comes with it.....Two letters NO

We had that problem two years ago with the Missionaries using facebook. Bad for them since the parent who found out printed the texts and complained to me about it. I sent it off to the Mission President. According to the Mission President then they are allowed to email during P day. They are not allowed to Face Book. Many missionaries I talked to had family or friends change the missionaries face book password when they left so they couldn't go on. As for where they do it from, it's not hard to get to the Library, some corner stores or cafe's, or having access to a phone that allows it. Also as sad as it is many members allow it as well, not to mention non members. I had two missionaries who after they transferred out I found had spent a couple of hours at an "investigators" home playing video games under the guise of fellow shipping by showing an "interest" in the "investigators" interests. Roughly 8 weeks averaging around 8 hours a week or 64 hours of game play with not one visit by the "prospective" person to church nor even one lesson taught!

Welcome From Canada

the Lord designed our bodies to require regular intake of food, monthly fasting Sunday aside of course. Therefore we need to do some work, we get simple meals, but we take time to put dishes in the dishwasher, put leftovers back in the fridge etc. Since my wife and I are the only LDS in either of our two families it sometimes causes the need to compromise. This year we had Canadian Thanksgiving on Sunday which is not normal but it was the first time in many years my wife's brother was able to be home for Thanksgiving and Sunday was the only possible day to do it. We prepared all we could the day before and left most of the pots etc until Monday but we still did much work on Sunday that day, on the other hand we also had the chance to brighten and make someones Thanksgiving a wonderful memory when he might not get another chance for many years. I figure the Lord was okay with our choice if not then I'll atone for it, I am sure. Farmers still need to feed livestock, milk cows, etc. many members are doctors, military, hospital workers, hospitality employee's, fire fighters, police, etc. They need to work on Sundays. Sometimes it is the only work we can get to sustain our families. The point is the Lord has instructed us to keep his Day holy. To focus much of our energy on him and on renewing our selves for the coming week. Home Teaching and church meetings beyond the regular ones are acceptable activities for the Sabbath, I personally don't do Home Teaching on Sunday since it takes me away from my personal family however we accept our Home Teachers in on Sundays as it works for them. To be honest since I work a back shift 5 days a week the afternoon is usually when I am asleep so the first activity I generally do when I get home around 130 is have an hour nap. After that it varies we usually play a board game or two as a family, sometimes relatives visit, sometimes we do family history, prepare talks or lessons, watch one of the before mentioned movies, do scripture study or just chat. Our children know and their coaches know that birthday parties, sports etc do not happen with our household on Sundays period. But I know LDS families who allow those things. As I said it is mostly between my family and the Lord to determine what works for us and him, as long as we are within the guidelines laid out. Others are way out of bounds with what they allow but again that is between them and the Lord.

I didn't take time to read all 110 posts so if I repeat something said....sorry. When I was a Mission Leader I looked into why so many leave the church what I found was this..... The church gets focused on the front end of Missionary work and often neglect the back end. Meaning that we focus on the finding and the baptizing but ignore what is often the harder part, the retention of the new member. The church is a different culture with a different language, different values and a different way of doing things compared to the outside world. Most new converts have to alter their life view and life style in order to conform but often we don't give them enough support and understanding of the difficulty they have with this. We get so used to the gospel we fail to realize how confusing and open to misunderstanding the basic doctrine can be. Mixed in with people teaching the gospel according to them instead of the Lord, with Leaders following what they think is their role instead of learning what the Lord as laid out. It is surprising that as many stay as do in my opinion. This is not guess work but reality. I spent 80% of my time on retention and only 20% on finding and we baptized more members and kept more new converts active then any other Ward in our Stake. I spent months teaching cooperation with the other auxiliary Leaders and how their callings could be made easier by working more with New Converts up front instead of waiting until they fell away and then trying to get them back. Even though I mostly ignored the finding we led with Baptism's because when we took the time to care and teach each individual they responded by bringing those they cared about to experience what they now had. The new Mission Leader and indeed the new Stake Leaders went back to preaching finding as what Missionary work is. Too date most of those we had kept active have now left. And we have had 1 baptism this year. We just finished Stake conference and as my facebook page said I attended a Missionary Fireside disguised as Stake Conference. Only 1 of 9 talks\testimonies was not about Missionary work. Doctrine and Convenants 4 is on Missionary work. The field is white already to harvest. This is true but after you harvest your crop if you then ignore it to harvest more then it just lays in a field and rots.