Madriglace

Yep! She said when the pizza came there was this blop of white stuff in the middle ... she didn't know what it was so went ahead and tasted and it was warm mayo. Cultural foods are fun but the cross overs tend to loose something in the translation. My folks had a pension while on a mission in Peru ... this is where they get meals prepared by their landlady. They had rice, chicken and beets 3 times a day for a month. My mom now will not eat beets ... just one more thing to add to the fun of a mission.

The scouts would not be reselling the bars ... they didn't sell them in the first place ... there was a donation given ... a sale implies that merchandize changed hands. So they need to sell the bars. I remember many many moons (40 yrs) ago selling candy for my brother and his troop to go to camp and the national jamboree ... I hate those turtle candies to this day!

Could the little dog just sort of "run away" ?

I saw a piece on a Seattle station the other night where they said that the a state got 1.5 mil of pork from the stimulus package to research why pigs stink .... what???? They had an entire list but that one was the most rediculous ... but not by much ... so I remembered it.

Agreed ... call animal control. They will come out and check out the situation and handle it. To bad the owners can't be tied out and see how they like it.

A friend of mine who was baptized just over a year ago said that being LDS is a way of life not just being a member of a church. We are counseled to be anxiously engaged in a good cause and what better cause than the Lords work.

It's not so much a matter of image but of obedience. Line upon line precept upon precept. Like I tell my SS kids ... choose your battles ... piercings is an easy thing to decide on ... so decide and put it away. I have multiple holes in each ear from before the counsel from the GA. No big deal ... one pair of earrings is enough ... if they said no earrings I would cry but becuase I know who Thomas S Monson is it would be no problem .. I made the decision and let it go. We learn to crawl, then to walk, then to run all leading up to being able to FLY! It's a matter of if you can't be obedient on this then you need to work on the lesser stuff and grow to be able to do this. The important thing is to grow.

Congratulations ... I have a friend who went to Japan and absolutelt loved it ... expect for mayo on pizza ... that she had some problem with. Have a great mission.

Not here ... I know people in that state. People have even been told they have to get divorced so that they can draw because a married couple can only get food stamps. Welfare here goes by the number of kids ... the more you have the more you get. May be isolated cases but it happens. i don't mind a hand up everyone needs help at one time or another but blatantly defrauding the system is wrong.

I have been watching this thread with great interest ... and I really have sympathy for your questions and can see how sometimes we LDS who have a strong testimony may sound a bit dippy to a non-member by just saying that we know or that we just believe. For some of us it really works that way. My suggestion ... with all due respect ... would be if you have not read the BofM cover to cover ... do so. Aside from being scripture it's a great read with everything one could want in a great book. After you have read it ... like was said a few posts back ... prove the Lord. He doesn't expect you to just believe blindly He gives you the opportunity to prove Him. Put everything else aside and prove that the book is true .. and if you do what He asks the way He asks you will have your answer and the rest will fall into place. As for proof of Nephites and Lamenites ... well ... maybe the names are not known that way now in the world but if you look at the history of the Americas it all falls in line. The Anasazi of AZ just kind of dissapeared .. they can't say why ... no reason has ever been established. I have seen their ruins. But we know from the BofM that the Nephites were wiped out. The cliff dwellings of AZ & NM suggest to me that someone was running scared and hiding ... if you don't know where to look you cannot see these ruins. I have been to Mexico and seen a stone that is carved in what is so obviously Lehi's Tree of Life Dream, I have been to Peru and seen what is very obviously a baptismal font in the ruin of a huge city. I have seen the tree of Life on a hill on the ocean in Peru ... I have heard the stories from the natives of a white God with blue eyes and light hair who came and promised to come back ... which was the cause of alot of heart ache as they welcomed the early conquerors. To me it is a matter of looking at the evidence from the stand point of the BofM and not what the scholoars "think" or "speculate" happened. All this is interesting to speculate on but when it comes right down to it unless you have the witness of the Holy Ghost all you have are questions. But questions are good it shows your mind is open and at some point the answer will come along that will be just right and touch your heart. My folks tell the story of a sister in Peru who had had the lesson 9 times and when they were able to teach her she said it had never been so clear. It wasn't them but the Spirit knowing her heart was ready. The Savior is pleased with your search.

Bishops put in alot of hours ... some weeks it could be 40 or others could be 140 and the time on their knees and in prayer is endless. It really isn't expected it just is ... they take the call very seriously and most tend to do their job very well. The hours the rest of us put in varies according to what we are called to do or what we are involved in. I spend sveral hours a week on my 2 callings and do as much toward the Humanitarian project as I can. Plus VisitingTeaching. It is up to the member whether to accept or reject a calling. I have never turned down a calling ... I did however tell the Bishop that I don't do Primary or Nursery ... the little kids scare me to death .. but I absolutely LOVE the teenagers ... go figure. Elder Eyring has said that the Lord magnifies those who magnify their callings ... so if we willingly fulfill what we have been asked to do blessings will come that will allow us to do what we have been asked to do. The Lord never asks without giving.

No problem ... I know where you are coming from. Like now ... how many are really out of work or are just out of work because the money is so easy to get? Ticks me off big time. Then there are the 3rd, 4th & 5th generation welfare families ... big soap box for me.

Why is it snowing??? Because it can! Mother nature has atwisted sense of humor ... all those flowers blooming and she smacks 'em a good one!

Welcome from SW Washington ... Chehalis area. This is a great bunch of people here.

I have worked all my life from the time I was freshman in high school (55 now). I have paid in on what I got during the time ... through no fault of my own ... I was out of work. I also paid taxes on the money. For me it was increase so I paid the Lord. if I hadn't I would never have made it thorugh. Now I have a better job and am paying in more taxes to the system. For me inappropriate would be the ones that sit on their lazy butts and use every cent of the unemployement before they look for work not a pittance in gratitude ... 10% of $220 isn't much.

Understood ... I guess as a reformed non-tith pay I wonder why members of the church work so hard trying to figure out what NOT to pay the Lord? I have been told that you pay on the net not the gross because you don't get the tax money, or like someone told you that you don't pay on unemployment or gifts or what ever. My way of thinking is that the Lord gives all of it to us and that 10% of what ever comes in is so little to ask and when you factor in all the blessings it is really nothing.

Dear sweet sister ... never ever feel that you are unwanted or unloved. You have been through a horror in your life and have come out the other end following the Saviors counsel to endure to the end and do it well. What a wonderful thing. Not the trail but the result. You have not been diminished by this but have grown and learned. You will love again .... never fear. For now put this behind you, move on and learn to walk your own path and be the daughter of God you were born to be. My heart hurts for you but it also is full of love and hope. In all the times of trial in my life it seems the music of the church has been a strength for me so here's another one for you ... this one I have loved since I was able to serve the young women of the church. Walk Tall (Your A Daughter Of God) words and music by Jamie Glenn -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Right now I have a prayer deep within my heart, A prayer for each of you there is a special part. That you remember who you are and him who lives above. Please seek for him and live his way; You'll feel his love. Long before the time you can remember, Our Father held you in his arms so tender. Those loving arms released you as he sent you down to earth. He said, "My child, I love you. Don't forget your great worth." This life on earth we knew would not be easy. At times we lose our way his path we may not see. But remember always that you are not alone. He'll take your hand, He loves you! He will guide you home. Walk tall, you're a daughter, a child of God, Be strong and remember who you are, Try to understand, you're part of his great plan. He's closer than you know, Reach up; he'll take your hand.

Is that anything like ... you catch 'um you clean 'um?

Tithing is related to the individual person and their individual circumstances. What you pay is absolutely not my business. And yes the more you pay your tithing and offerings the better it gets. No doctrine, no proof just alot of experience. I have also noticed that the blessings increase not only with what you pay but how you pay as well. Say if you pay your tithing grudgingly you are still going to be blessed ... but if you pay tithing and offerings with a glad heart, in gratitude ... the blessings grow and grow. Remember the Savior said the widows mite was better than all the tithes of the elders because she gave all she had. So it's not a matter of who you are or how much (dollar wise) but where your heart is and how much (all you have). PS One of my favorite stories in Church history was of Mary Fielding Smith ... she had her family gather all the best (not just part of the crop but the BEST) of her crop to take to the Bishops store house to pay her tithing. When she got there the person in charge told her she didn't need to pay because she was a widow with a family to raise and she couldn't spare the portion of her crop. She basically put them in their place by telling them that if she did not pay her tithing she would never be able to take care of her family. All I know is that the more I stretch and pay my tithing and offerings, adding alittle here and there as I can ... the better it gets.

Like prospectmom I am a simple person and tend to bring everything down to a managable level. After reading the entire thread (I am nearly cross eyed now) I have a question .... well first a statement and then a question. I know what I am doing to make the world a better place and I know what my Ward, Stake, Church and Country (you know ... the corrupt one) are doing .... my question is to Aesa what are you DOING to make the world a better place? All the words in the world will get absolutely nothing done with out action behind it. Are you out digging wells, teaching farming, building homes, sewing clothes, teaching, caring , loving your brothers and sisters across the world? You can go on and on about what you feel a perfect society would be but if you are not DOING ... your words are just so much noise.

I was out of work for a year and paid tithing on unemployement every week ... if I hadn't I wouldn't have made it throught to the new job. I take Him quite literallly in His promise to pour out more blessings than I can handle. During the time I had no money coming in I worried because I could not pay tithing but had the peace in knowing that the Lord knew my circumstances and was aware of my desire to do what He had asked. The more you pay the better it gets ... the Lord isn't stingey with His blessings why should we work to keep His money from Him? If it comes in ... pay on it ... and then watch what happens.

Our Sacrement meeting was fabulous. One sister sang the new hymn "In His Hands" (?) from the Ensign and had trouble making it through. The message was very powerful. Another sister spoke and told a story about man who met Christ and never opened his heart until the crucifiction and was found dead of a broken heart at the bottom of the cross. She also sang "His Hands", then we sang "I Stand All Amazed" ... I lost it ... the witness to me was so powerful I could hardly see. The lessons in SS & RS were great as well. BTW the lessons for SS & RS are as outlined and under direction of the General Authorities. This binds the enitre world together because we are all studying the same thing the same day ... although I think I am a lesson behind for my teens ... must have messed up during Stake conference. All in all a very very very spiritual day.

Your choice .... live the letter of the Law or the Spirit of the law .... it's all the Lords money anyhow. When in doubt pray and follow the spirit of the law.

Washington Motto ... Alki ... meaning Hope for the future Right now the motto in Olympia (state capitol ... home of the blonde in the mansion) is "Spend til your eyes bleed"!

Well ... let's see ... only working 12-15 hours a week, works with ex, "visitis" with numerous women one line. Keeps job because he likes to golf. Couldn't handle preganancy (Where was he? In the kitchen when it happend?) I know we should for give and help those tha need our help but dear sister you are worth way more than this. He should be treating you as nothing less than the daughter of God that you are. You need to demand that he treat you the way you deserve. So I guess my advice would be ... complete the 6 week program .... and then .... KICK THE SKUNK TO THE CURB! Heavenly Father wants you to be happy .... this guys is happy now just as he is ... and doesn't seem to care if you are or not.