Madriglace

Everyones view of heaven is different. In MY mansion its .... DOG SHOWS ... someone else can sponsor football.

Well that brings up an entirely different can of worms.

No one is left in limbo ... the Lord gives commandments and then we have the agency to follow or go our own way. No one is telling me I can't do something. The Lord says this is what I want you to do but you can choose. Joshua comes to mind .... "Choose ye this day whom you will serve ... as for me and my house ... we will serve the Lord." It is an individual choice ... but the Lord doesn't lower the bar just so more can come over ... He expects us to rise to Him. I firmly believe that it is not good enough to endure to the end ... we need to endure and do it well. Question ... is your occasional beer something you have to have or something you want to have? Overcoming the natural man is putting aside wants and looking to something better.

Go for a breed with a hair coat as opposed to a fur coat. OK stop laughing ... although the picture that came to mind as I wrote this was pretty comical. Labs, pit bulls etc have a fur type coat. Poodles, lowchen, shih tzu have a hair coat which is just like human hair. They shed the same as we do and do not have the same type of dander a fur coated dog would have. People with allergies can usually live with a hair coat.

Moderate is not a word that can be assigned to the LDS church or the gospel of Jesus Christ. You either move forward or you go backward ... there is no such thing as fence sitting. I had a friend who told me one time that she and her husband went out to dinner after church each Sunday ... she said that she knew that the Lord had said keep the sabbath day holy but the Lord would understand. Backwards or forwards? He doesn't qualify what he asks us to do ... we do that and try to justify what we do by saying "once won't hurt" or "the Lord will understand". The LDS church is not so much a religion as a way of life ... we try very hard to live what we believe. To quote a plaque I gave my father once. "He never said it would be easy ... only that it would be worth it." Moderate will never happen in the church. If we seek to be only moderate we can only expect moderate blessings ... somehow that just doesn't quite seem good enough to me.

Sorry for seeming dense but what do you mean by "moderate memberships"?

So why is there no groan button? I have Lowchen and one moldy oldy Italian Greyhound. (moldy odly being interpreted as older than dirt!) My dogs are the love of my life. Hell for me would be some place where they couldn't go ... so I wouldn't go there either.

Forgiveness like repentance is a process. Both are required of us. Work through your issues but don't let them drag you down or hold you back. Remember who you are and who loves you. You have journey ahead of you ... good luck.

I know Pres Hinckley used to give his security fits by popping out of his car before they could open the door for him. He loved the members so much he was always way ahead of everyone waving his cane. How I miss that wonderful man.

They always say that the best and brightest are needed with the children ... personally anyone under 12 scares me silly! I have my teenagers (14-16) in SS and I love them so much. Most don't want to teach the teens .. although I do miss teaching in RS.

The point being that it wasn't going to happen .... .

Follow the counsel in the hymn ... turn to the Lord in humble ernest prayer and you will have the peace you need. Once you have the peace act on it and it will change the turmoil you are feeling at home. For now that will get you on the right track. When you are stronger and can really work out what you need and where you need to be then will be the time to make the hard decisions. Good luck.

Congress innocence ... is that like military intelligence????

I know a gal who is related to John D Lee be very surprised when she found out I was a member of the church. She said I was intelligent and she couldn't see me walking a step behind a husband. I just laughed and said she hadn't been to church recently. If you want something done ... call the Relief Society. I think the worlds view of LDS women being down trodden and repressed is comical ... they haven't met my mother.

What you say makes sense. Polygamy is part of who we are, it is our heritage. I don't know why folks get so bent when someone says , "Oh ... you believe in more than one wife." Basically that is a missionary moment ... go for it! If this is as hard as the persecution gets we are home free ... but don't get comfortable. No matter what anyone says the church is perfect and the work will roll on ... we have better things to do than get in a huff about something that has been over since 1890.

Go to the back and pick a topic that is opposite what you are feeling (joy for sadnees as an example) then read all the scriptures listed for that topic. By the time you are half way through you will feel GREAT! It's hard to pick a favorite part unless it is when the Savior calls the little ones to Him and they are encirlced by fire and ministered to by angels and he gives each and everyone a blessing personally. Such a powerful example of His love for us.

D&C 130: 15 15 Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter. This would have put the Second Coming just after the turn of the century. Polygamy and all that went with it were basically the refiners fire. Kind of like 40 years in the wilderness for the children of Israel.

And what one has seen tends to pop up at really bad times ... like in the middle of church. You sit here trying to take in the what is being said and enjoy the spirit and BANG there it is. At which point a good hymn running through the mind is a big help.

The health care system is totally out of whack. I can't complain now ... my new job gives my full benefits that I pay nothing for with $500 deductable and $2000 out of pocket limit. However, I had some testing done and saw the lab statement to the insurance carrier. The charge was $241, $200 was discounted because it was in-network and the carrier paid $41 ... if it had been a private pay I would have paid $241 ... so basically the private pays carry the burden and doesn't go to the DR until it is too late ... that's just so wrong. This is the first time I have ever had good health insurance and I am 55.

Hel. 13: 38 38 But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head. That kind of says it all .... it scares the stuffing out of me anyhow. There is absolutely nothing to take the place of the temple. How bad do you want this and how important is it to you? In the start of your thread you say you are trying to be worthy ... maybe it's time to stop trying and do it. Sounds hard doesn't it? Can you guarantee that although you love this guy and he loves you that you won't start second guessing yourself later down the road if you go for the easy way out? There is no guarantee that a civil marrige will lead to the temple ... odds are that if you can't get it right now something will come up. This is why the GA counsel the youth and singles in general not to spend all that time alone. I can pretty much guess what your Bishop has told you and I know from experience that it is breaking his heart to see this happening over and over. As has been said before here ... repentance is just more than being sorry ...which is what you do when you mess up and go to your Bishop. Repentance is being sorry, forsaking the sin and having a mighty change of heart and enduring to the end. That's the part that gets left out ... endure ... and do it well. Good luck ...

Laura Bush was and is a class act.

AIG had a contractual agreement to pay the bonus out of their money ... that is our money so it does not qualify. The only reason AIG got bailed out is because it is where alot of Congresses bennies are held. The radio station I listen to had a thing going the morning of the election ... they asked "If you were elected president what would be the first thing you would do?" One lady got my vote ... she said to put all of Congress, the senate and the pres and his buddies on minimum wage and see how fast they worked out the problems.

No one is above the laws of the Lord ... is a Bishop or Stake President or Propeht was in need of this part of the process they would be the same as anyone else. You have to realize that we believe that our leaders are called of God and like it or not they must fulfill their callings ... all of it. A disciplinary hearing is very difficult for those who must convene it ... it is a heart breaking thing to see those they consider literal brothers and sister in such pain. Generally the leaders don't go out and dig someone up to discipline ... the people temselves realize when they need the extra help due to the nature of what they have done and go to their leaders. I have been there ... it did not go to a hearing but my Bishop was in tears none the less. Generally we are our own worst judges which is as it should be but we also believe that the Lord's house is a house of order and there is a way in which these things are to be done. These proceedings are held under the direction of the Lord and with a great deal of prayer. In the LDS church a diciplinary hearing is not interfering but assisting. The Savior set it up this way to help us be the best we can be and to make a way back if we will be humble and repent and move forward. Believe me ... it is a good thing ... not easy by any means but what a relief to see it done. I felt like I could float ... I had been beating myself up for many many years ... it came time to forgive myself and I needed the help to do that ... my Savior had forgiven me long ago. We have to learn to take it in the manner it is offered.

Prayer is absolutely the way to go and while you are reading have a pen and paper handy to write down your questions ... don't count on remembering them later on ... then ask questions. I have found in my short time here that these people are really wonderful about answering in the spirit in which it was asked. They go above and beyond to exercise the true love of Christ ... which after all is what it is all about. One suggestion ... clear out all preconceived attitudes and ideas and read in a humble manner and the Spirit will lead you.