Faded

Okay, NOW I'm feeling cheated. The people who stand outside Conference and protest our Church are hilariously ridiculous (just don't tell them that to their faces.) I think it way too much fun that we get to get protested, because the protestors are so pathetic. I mean seriously, what are they protesting? Our right to worship? Our right to exist as a religion? I don't think they really know either. But man, I NEVER ONCE got to see the "Red Button Singers" ... maybe I did but in much smaller numbers? Don't think so. Never, ever a line up like that. What do they do exactly? I remember seeing some non-member (I think) kid protesting the protestors one year. That was fun. "People with signs are stupid!" on one sign. "If you can't be right, be loud!" on the other side. Not something that any member should do, but my wife and I got a good laugh out of it.

In the neverending battle of, "I'm right and you're wrong" a person can claim just about anything. The trouble with LDS theology, history and beliefs is that there is a neverending quantity of false information. There is false doctrine and false information within the Church and it's faithful church-attending members. False doctrines and false accusations from outside the Church. I can say whatever I want and not be held LEGALLY accountable. I could say, "Mormons worship cows! It's a well known fact! If you don't beleive me, look at this picture of their 'sacred temple.' There, do you see it! It's a big 'sacred' bath-tub sitting on top of 12 cows. It's idol worship and animal worship, and there's your proof!" <-- So would this accurately represent what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ACTUALLY believes? Of course not! Anyone who actually took such a person seriously in those statements is extremely gullible. So it comes down to this: You must build your own credibility. You build credibility by finding credible sources, linking them and citing them as a basis for what you are claiming. Also, you can build a degree of credibility from personal experience, but that is nowhere near as strong or believable.

If you need to understand something one point at a time, that fits perfectly into the LDS Gospel Discussion - LDS Mormon Forums section. Take it one concern at a time obviously, and keep an open mind. You have nothing to lose and everything go gain by resolving your doubts, but the important thing is confronting them head-on.

Hi Soul_Searcher. The truth of it is that nobody can truly answer your doubts but yourself, but you should understand a few things. My wife, Tarnished, has shared her thoughts on the matter, but you should realize that through her self-induced spiritual vulnerability, she nearly lost her marriage to sin. She would not have ever done any of the things she did if she had not followed her doubts and turned her back on the Church. Then she started having doubts about her marriage. When the opportunity to stray came, she took it, largely because she was following her own doubts. Doubts about me. Doubts about the Church. I tried everything to help her to resolve her doubts and to come back to Church. The trouble was, there weren't any definitive questions. Just a general idea that she didn't feel comfortable and she was determined that she would only go back to Church when she could say she was going to Church because she wanted to go. Not for me. Not for her family. For herself. The day that she told me she had had an affair was the most utterly and completely stunning and devastating day of my life. And after she explained how she had gotten herself into such a mess, the truth of what was happening all along struck me. "You realize that you just got completely suckered by the adversary. Satan led you away from strength and safety and look what he has led you to!" She definitely needed to sort it out for herself. She definitely needed to come around to wanting to go to back to Church herself. The massive disaster certainly helped her see where everything was going and was a reality check in a big, big way. But what a price to pay! She was so very stubborn and so much tragedy resulted from that stubborness. You're circumstances are different but you should realize that the root cause is the same. Doubts in your faith come from the adversary. Feelings of doubt come from the adversary. Feelings of embarrassment about what you have been taught are from the adversary. Stubborn determination to not have anyone tell you what to do - DEFINITELY comes from the adversary. He has plans for you if he can get you away from safety. So please be very careful how you proceed from here. If we take the idea that, "Needing people and organizations of people is weakness" to it's logical conclusion, then we would all run off and become hermits, shunning all human contact for the rest of our lives.

Plagiarism and Copyright laws are intended to prevent two things: 1.) Person B copies the works of Person A verbatim for the purpose of making money without acknowledging the fact that they copied Person A. Essentially, Person B pretends it was "all my idea" and so forth. 2.) Anything along the lines of a research paper. Person B finds a Doctorate Thesis written by Person A, so they copy it exactly and turn it in as 100% THEIR OWN. In a web forum environment it is pretty much impossible to violate copyright laws. Nobody here is getting paid for their posts. Nobody's posts here are credit towards a college degree. Consider this: It is 100% legal to copy the entire contents of a music CD onto a Cassette Tape. It only becomes illegal when you start selling the cassette tapes for money. Audio Home Recording Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Captains link pretty well covers it though. "Fair use" of existing material is generally understood as using someone else's statement or material without making money or claiming an entire work as the copier own creation.

Queries, please bear in mind that I'm definitely not in the mode of criticizing you or trying to make you feel bad. I think YOU realize it, but I'm covering myself before someone else decides I'm attacking you or being unfair, or being mean, etc. Right now I'm trying to think of how to advise you in creating a safer environment for yourself. From what you've said, your circumstances are FAR from ideal for being able to create a "safe-zone" for yourself. Do you have any ideas that you might use to help yourself? Self discipline is seldom enough. I'm trying to think of ways that you can stack the deck in your own favor.

This verifies something that I had suspected. Chat programs in general are your own personal "online porn addiction." What I mean by that: A person who is addicted to online pornography feels a compulsion to go find porn whenever they are online and nobody is watching. Being online is not the problem. The compulsion to fall into bad behavior patterns whenever the addict is online is the problem. You're addiction is to seek out online romantic interests, flirt, and proceed down an even more destructive path, leading directly to adultery if you don't stop yourself. I'm beginning to wish that the Church Leaders would focus on the addiction trap that Queries fell into: Addiction to online flirtation and online romance. It is visibly far less obvious in it's danger when compared to pornography, yet it is FAR more likely to lead directly to adultery and/or fornication. And the worst part is, once you've learned the behavior pattern and followed it all the way to infidelity, you're going to seriously struggle to not fall back into the same habits whenever you are online. Having an online romance lead to infidelity once makes it a learned process. That is now your default behavior. You'll default to running down that road and take it all the way to being unfailthful every time without flinching. If you're lucky, you'll stop yourself short of finishing the deed. You definitely need to go through a 12 step program and I hope that helps. What can you do to prevent yourself from ever going there right now? You need to make it impossible for yourself to have access to continue bad behaviors until further notice. How might you accomplish that though? If you're husband was still around I would ask him to lock your computer and not let you on unless he is in the room. But obviously, that's not an option currently. I'm open to suggestions on how you'll manage it. If I act like a know-it-all in relation to online addiction, it's because I've been there and done that. I know what it is like to be addicted to similar things.

First of all, I'm sorry to hear that you're going through a rough time of it with the new Elder's Quorum President. Not fun. My initial reaction to this? Sounds like the guy just got into a calling he wasn't fully ready for it and is now trying to over-compensate. I'm a life-long member and I know that I'd probably freak out if I were called as Elders' Quorum President. No doubt in my mind, I'd be a fish out of water. Some people's way of compensating is to act like they know everything and know what they are doing -- trying to project confidence when they have little or none. I know for a fact, there have been times that I've done that sort of thing myself, though certainly not to the degree you're describing. A couple positive items that you're looking at: The guy sounds very anxious to do a good job at his new calling, he just isn't realizing that you're getting run over in the process. You're first step is to talk it through with him personally. I would try to keep a positive outlook. Let the guy know that while you appreciate his enthusiasm, he needs to calm down, be more respectful of your schedule and life circumstances, and stop acting the part of a brand new Second Lieutenant running his troops into battle. Instead, he needs to take the time to talk and work with his councilors, learn what already works and then worry about trying to make the existing system better. Wouldn't hurt him to go over Doctrine and Covenants 121:34-46 once a day until it sticks in his head. Try not to question the motives of everyone. Yes, I know there is a very strong tendency to call men who are married with children to such positions. Perhaps there's some rhyme or reason behind it. Perhaps not. But the moment you let yourself feel resentful of others for the fact that you do not get X, Y or Z calling and they do, you're venturing onto thin ice spiritually. You never want to let yourself think of it that way. It doesn't help a bad situation, and letting bad feelings for the mistakes of others, whether imagined or real, isn't going to do anybody any good (especially yourself.) Remember that they are human and as such they are less than perfect. Remember that when inspiration to call people to positions comes, it is not always based upon who is most qualified. Often, the person called needed to learn from the calling. "Where ere thou art, act well thy part." That is the best advice I can give you on the matter. Perhaps you can help the new Elders Quorum President learn to be better than he is being. I would at least make it clear to him that you intend to help and be of service, but he must be respectful of your life circumstances and schedule. Just try very hard to not approach the conversation in an accusatory manner. Putting him on the defensive isn't going to help anything. So start off with telling him that you appreciate his enthusiasm and obvious zeal for his new calling. Start on a positive note, then proceed to very tactfully tell him your concerns. Go into it with an open mind. Assume the best of him until he can thoroughly prove to you that the worst is the true reality. Pray hard and dig deep for guidance from the Lord beforehand. If you approach that conversation prayerfully and give the situation every opportunity to work, and if things are still completely unworkable (and make sure that the Lord agrees that opinion) then you'll have done everything in your power to remedy a bad situation, but were unsuccessful. Nothing more can be asked of you than that. If the situation is still unlivable after that, from there you would go to the Bishop and start the discussion about being released, I suppose. Do let us know how it all goes.

An unrepentant spouse giving up on a marriage is not very uncommon at all, unfortunately. The truth of the matter is not setting a rule of "never give up." The truth is, the Lord will tell you when you have given enough. The Lord will not condemn you for giving up when the sins of your spouse exceed your ability to handle. The world says you can walk out anytime for any reason. The Lord says differently, but the Lord does not say that you cannot walk away. He simply sets the bar higher. Lovely quote you have there. Are you going to tell us where you got it? I don't disagree with the contents of it as general rules, wherever it is from. A lot of the wording seems off to me, but it's hard to tell since we don't know where it came from. But it does not command that one must stay in the marriage. It makes the case that there are times when you probably should. I don't disagree with that in the least. But bear in mind that there are times when you CAN walk away. There are also times when you SHOULD walk away. Only the Lord can tell you when that is.

When Jesus Christ gave the Higher Law on marriage, he said that unless there is adultery, men and women should not divorce. He never claimed that a man or a woman must stay in a marriage with an unfaithful spouse. Remember, this was a significant change. Before the ministry of Christ, a man could divorce his wife for pretty much anything. Christ limited it to adultery. But Christ absolutely positively did not say that a man should remain with an unfaithful wife and that a woman should remain with an unfaithful husband. Clearly, He knew perfectly well how destructive and devastating this is to a marriage partner. I keep seeing you come back to this mystical combination of words, "True Love" and that if any man has True Love then he will cheerfully stay married to a woman no matter what. Likely, this means that the man must stay with his wife even after multiple unsuccessful attempts on her part to murder him. But where are you getting this concept from? It is making me more and more puzzled and I'm trying to understand where you're getting all of this. While it sounds fine and well in a fairy tale, it's a massive distortion from actual reality and it seems incredibly unrealistic.

I've always been a supporter of people living the American Dream, but the American Dream is way out of hand. CEO's and top executives are paid way too much -- FAR more than ANYONE deserves. A big part of me hopes that the current turn of events will see that injustice sort itself out, but I doubt it. But I think that the example of Ford can be very instructive. You can decide to NOT take federal money and go solve your own problems. If you're taking Federal money, be prepared to have politically motivated attacks on your upper execs. Be prepared to be messed with, generally. If you didn't anticipate that going in, you're not very bright. If you want your top brass to NOT be thrown under a microscope, then don't take the money from the Federal Government. If you're company is in such terrible shape that you have no choice, then is it quite likely that poor management is to blame. If the potential for the government meddling with banks and corporations does nothing else, I hope it discourages companies from taking the government's money and it encourages them to pay back and regain their freedom from government meddling.

The incorrect assumptions I'm seeing are as follows: 1.) "Church Court exists as a means of being mean and punishing people for sins." This is not the way is supposed to work at all. Church Court exists to help a sinner realize the seriousness of what they've done and to help them chart the course to repentance and reconciliation with God. If a Church Disciplinary Council is being mean or nasty to the individual, then they are operating contrary to the will of God. 2.) "The Coucil will pressure the girl to put the child up for adoption." Not putting the kid up for adoption is not a sin, it's just saddling herself with a responsibility that she's not likely ready for yet. Abortion would be one thing they'd want to steer her well clear of though. Whether she keeps the baby or puts it up for adoption, the bishop and the council should be supportive of her decision. The LDS Church has an excellent service for adoption if things go that direction and it would be irresponsible for them to not tell her about it. Not doing so would be failure to educate her about all of her options. Church Disciplinary Councils are not made to be mean. Why is it assumed that they will be? It is unusual for a full council to be used in cases involving teenagers though.

LOL, I think that the worst possible way I could approach my wife about looks or weight would be, "Sweetie, I'm starting to be more attracted to other women than I am to you." If I wanted to dig the knife even deeper, I'd mention names and start pointing out girls that I thought were better looking than her. This isn't a major problem for me though. My wife has gained a significant amount of weight, it is true. Yet I've managed to continue falling back in love with her again and again. She's beautiful to me. Yes indeed, she'd be MORE beautiful to me if she were to lose some of weight, but she's still the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I think that this is a gift from God combined with just being in love. When I find myself more attracted to other women than I am to my wife, it is virtually always because I've drifted spiritually and I'm not right with God. Funny thing, that. I think that I've seen too many cases where married person cheated on their very attractive husband or wife with someone that was hideous. Don't doubt for a second that Satan has his hand in it. He can convince you that an ugly person is attractive and that a beautiful person is not as attractive as they really are. So best to stay clear of Satan's influence. I still think this is an issue that women and men should be able to communicate better about. Physical attractiveness issues are not irrelevant and they can be a very big deal. I think it's tragic that there is so much lack of communication and so much suffereing in silence. I think that any circumstance where honesty is not welcome is a bad thing.

Surest way to fail at any fitness program is to do it on your own. She may not want her husband to be an exercise partner, but I strongly suggest she gets one. It's easy to fail at exercise when you are accountable to absolutely nobody. Let's face it, exercise ain't fun, especially when you're just starting out. It hurts and makes you ache all over. It's very, very easy to quit right after you start. So I would suggest that you're friend encourage his wife to work toward a system that includes a training partner and someone who will hold her accountable for setting and achieving goals. It would not be the least bit surprising if she doesn't want her husband to be either of those things. That's fine, but if she wants to succeed, she'd be foolish not to offer herself every chance of success.

I think a better answer to your question would be to explain the covenant relationship we have with Christ. Now the majority of all Christians agree that not every single person will be saved and that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ does not apply to every person. Why? Because they do not seek it. They do not seek Him, so they do not find Him. Alternately, let us consider those who have found Christ. They enter into a covenant relationship with God. Jesus Christ pays for the sin, the sinner tries to do his very best to keep His commandments for the rest of his life. So if you have entered into that covenant relationship with the Lord, you are covered by His infinite atonement. But you can also turn around and walk right out of the covenant. The man referred to in the original post walked away from Christ and left the covenant. From that point on, Christ's atonement was not cleansing the man from sin because the man had taken his life out of the hands of God and Christ. Now that he is returning, he wishes to re-establish the covenant with the Lord. His sins are extremely serious, and for that reason the repentance process is one that requires a lot more effort and humbling himself. Church discipline is what God has prescribed in cases serious sin. The intent is not to shut the sinner out, it is to ensure that the sinner knows how seriously their actions have offended God. The road back is long and hard, exactly as God intended it. He does not want us to leave Him again. He does not want us to take sin lightly. But if we are on the road to sincere repentance, then don't doubt that God will take care of us. I hope that helps.

LOL, I thought the correct answer to, "Honey do you think I'm fat?" was to resolutely say, "No!" and then immediately find the best possible reason to leave the room and end the conversation. The truth of the matter, when a women asks her husband if he thinks she's fat, the last thing she wants to hear from him is, "Yes." Typically, she's fishing for either reassurance or a compliment -- probably a good bit of both. So for the VAST majority of women, if the man answers honestly when she brings it up is a disaster -- unless of course she is not overweight in the slightest. Even then it can be a disaster. Any answer to that question can be disastrous. Society has led to women turning the topic of weight into a mine-field. Yes there are ways to navigate it safely, but the men will not be given a map of where all the deadly land-mines are because the women don't really know. It's an emotional issue and for that reason there is no way to predict the woman's reaction to ANYTHING. A man only has to go charging into this mine-field a couple times to realize he doesn't want to be there. I think that each case is different. Some women will blow up over things that will not bother other women. Marriage creates a broad sense of security that leads both man and woman alike to start acting more like themselves and less focused on winning the affections of the opposite gender. What are the chances of single man to win the heart of a woman if he is seldom affectionate and seems uninterested in every woman he dates? What if he is rude and unpleasant at every turn? What chance does he have at winning the heart of a girl? What are his chances? Lousy. Pretty much next to nothing. What are the chances of a single woman who goes to absolutely no effort to keep her self physically fit, make herself look good, etc. What if she is rude and unpleasant at every turn and pesters each prospective future husband about everything she thinks he should be doing differently in his life? What if she greets her date for the evening with hair that is all over the place, no shower and looking like she just woke up in the morning and called it good. What are that woman's chances of winning a husband? Lousy. Terrible. Next to nothing. After getting married and being married for awhile, both men and women default to exactly those sorts of behaviors. They default to their true selves, and that is fine and well. But they also default to not hardly trying anymore, figuring they don't need to. So women complain that the romance disappears and their husband is not so attentive nor complimentary nor gentlemanly. Men complain that their spouse gains weight and seldom bothers to wear makeup or try to look pretty anymore, and that their spouse is constantly nagging them. My point is, we treat are spouse with less dignity and respect that we would have dreamed of doing when we were single. In my estimation, THAT is the underlying problem. But I think women need to understand this much: 1.) Men do not go into marriage anticipating drastic weight gain, so it's a disappointing shock for each man it happens to. 2.) At the same time, the man knows full well that the woman did not TRY to gain weight. It just happens. He doesn't stop loving her over the matter. 3.) Extra weight ain't pretty. It's just a fact of life. Any woman who is overweight and knows it can rest assured that her husband would greatly appreciate it if she lost weight. She doesn't need to ask and she doesn't need wait for him to bring it up to know this. 4.) If the man is bringing it up, then in most cases, he's been suffering in silence for a very long time. Any idiot knows you just don't bring it up, but sometimes it bothers you too much for too long and you just can't take it anymore. The thing that puzzles me about the topic more than anything else: It is virtually impossible to have honest and open communication on the subject. I think that is extremely sad. And as with any other topic in a marriage, if you can't have honest communication on it, there will be damage to the marriage while the one person keeps their mouth shut and says nothing. That is the real tragedy.

My suggestion would be to take whatever contact she gives you and try not to disrupt it. She is reaching out to you and apparently that is very difficult for her. So tell her how much you appreciate the fact that she is reaching out to you and how much you have missed her. Avoid focusing on the negative feelings that have resulted from the circumstance -- that won't do anyone any good. I think you can be honest with her about the fact that her husband contacted your family, but I would avoid sharing the family's negative opinions about what motivated him to do so. You might use that to acknowledge that you know where she is, but PRAY VERY HARD BEFORE YOU DO THAT! Pray for the bad feelings in your own heart to be lifted so you can be there for your sister without going crazy with all the things you want to say but can't. For right now, she is testing the waters with you it sounds like. Be patient and kind. It can go three different ways. 1.) She can withdraw again and nobody will hear from her again, at least for a long time. 2.) She will continue to communicate with you, but only you. 3.) This will be the first step toward re-establishing communication with the whole family, and your relationship will be the key that makes that happen. I'm more than a little puzzled by the husband. Is he not a member? Is he anti-Mormon? Is he abusive? Does he have some other excuse to harbor ill-will for your family? Or is it possible he is not the problem at all, and it is all in your sister's mind? There are just so many variables.

Willow, I think that most women would be surprised to find that the man in their life will certainly continue to be compassionate and caring when they try and fail to lose weight. There are a lot of physiological problems that can contribute to weight gain. The reason that your doctor likely thought you weren't trying is because, in the vast majority of cases, the obese person, be it man or woman, really isn't putting forth any kind of serious effort. The far-too-frequent truth is, because obesity is so common and widespread today, the people with a root cause like yours can easily get missed. Too many men and women out there say, "I've tried to lose the weight." yet their version of trying is exercising once a month. Some have every intention of establishing a system of getting in shape, but repeatedly not continuing with it or not putting enough into it. And then, all too often, they will lie about it to doctors and other such people. So a doctor hears from YET ANOTHER man or woman who says he/she, "Work out all the time, I just don't seem to be losing any weight," then the doctor's likely to figure he's talking to yet another one of those folks who say they try, and don't. Willow, if you want your hubby to lose weight, then by all means encourage him to do so. This issue is a two-way street and every significantly obese person in the world is shortening their life by carrying around the extra weight. The truth is, most men are a lot less sensitive about the matter. That means that bringing it up isn't likely to get you killed. You can count yourself lucky that you won't spend a week or more apologizing for even hinting that your man might want to lose some pounds. Do not base your own perception of yourself on what you see in the mirror. You just might expect yourself to be physically ideal beyond your human capabilities to be physically ideal. You don't have to be an anorexic runway model. The measuring tape and clothes sizes can be your best gauge of success. Muscle tends to replace the fat, so actual weight can be very misleading. You are not going to have the body of that woman on the cover of a magazine, and even if you get there in reality, you won't see it in the mirror. I don't fully know why that is, but I know that 5'5" 105 pound women can still think they're fat. The woman with the "perfect body" on the magazine cover also thinks she's fat. If my wife wants me to shave the hair off my back or chest or anywhere, I will. I don't want to leave something unattractive out there when I can do something about it. Hair loss is not a big problem for me, but if it was, I would look into options for fixing it. Might even ask if she'd like me with a shaved head -- an inexpensive alternative -- but only if she likes it. Basically, if it's within my capability to fix the unattractive part of myself, I'll do it! I can tell you that the person mentioned in the original post will probably continue to love his wife unconditionally, but he said he's not attracted to her. That means that sex is probably an unpleasant chore. But his wife will probably never hear him say that because he loves her and doesn't want to hurt her feelings. I think it's truly sad that he will probably have to wait until after death to be attracted to his wife again. And there's nothing he can do about it. I feel sorry for the man.

Please tell me a right way to say, "I think you're fat and I really wish you would lose some weight." <-- That is the short, simple and completely honest truth that so many men want to say. Many will spend years and years wanting to broach the subject. But they do not dare say a thing, for fear of having their throats slit while they sleep. I do not think there is any possible way to state that truth without making a woman go completely ballistic. If women would be so kind as to provide the magical combination of words for the men in their lives, then the men in their lives won't have to go crazy in silence, wanting to say something but knowing they can't, for fear of slow and painful death. If any woman can answer this riddle, she will be praised and adored by men for all-time, for she will have accomplished a feat that is truly impossible. She will have solved, the ULTIMATE RIDDLE.

The sad part about this topic is quite simple. The heart-breaking thing IS NOT that your wife is gaining weight. It is the part where the wife chooses not to do anything about it that is upsetting. The trouble is, the husband is completely incapable of bringing any of this up to his wife because he is doomed no matter how he manages to broach the subject. No matter how it is brought up, women will universally crucify him as an insensitive SOB who, "Is supposed to love them no matter what and they shouldn't be bothered by me gaining weight. I didn't try to gain weight, it's not my fault ..." And on it goes. Well, the fact of the matter is ... it matters. A good husband will love his wife at any weight, but he will find her a lot more attractive when she isn't overweight. The question isn't whether or not the husband loves her no matter what. More often than not, he does. But love and physical attraction are not always the same thing. It's not easy to feel sexually attracted to someone who is a hundred pounds or more overweight. This shouldn't shock anyone because it is unbelievably obvious. The wrong question that gets asked is, "Why doesn't he love me anyways? Why doesn't he love me no matter what?" This is understandable, but it's also thinking only of oneself and not the other person. The question she should be asking is, "Why don't I love my husband enough to want to try to be pretty for him? To be my best and to be my most attractive? To try to lose weight? To do my best to make myself beautiful for him? Why don't I want to do it for myself?" In many, many cases it is the effort to improve that means more than the results. The fact that your wife wants to be prettier and in better shape for you, and that she's willing to go to a lot of effort to accomplish that -- that is a tremendous demonstration of love and consideration and it will not go unnoticed, one way or another. I know this is a sensitive subject for women, but I don't understand why women let themselves be blinded by their own self-consciousness and feelings of inadequacy. No woman seems to feel shapely enough, nor fit enough nor pretty enough. It's a culture of obsessing with lack of physical perfection. But the question is not about physical perfection. It's about being the best you that you can be, and not settling for less than that. The culture of "never good enough" has everyone taking entirely the wrong mindset and it blinds us to an obvious means of improving your marriage and you're own self-confidence. Men and women both will improve their marriage by being physically fit. And it doesn't hurt that being physically fit will probably make you live a lot longer as well. Yet by painting the notion as "Offensive" keeps so many people from seeing what is so obvious. It is mind-boggling that both women and men are so unwilling to try to be their best for their spouse. Why not?

A spokesperson for God is the simplest definition.Anna in the New Testament and Deborah in the Old Testament were both described as prophetesses. Several women in the LDS Church have also be described as such. Eliza R Snow for instance.

I think livy111us covered it pretty well. Just remember that many of our beliefs are going to seem strange to people who were raised in other religions. That's all I'm saying. Granted I don't know why we're going through Journal of Discourses. Lots of good stuff in there, but it can be quite confusing without the proper foundational understanding. But I'm not going to jump to the conclusion that Jim is trying to pick a fight. I think he most likely read it somewhere and wanted to get an LDS explanation rather than assuming the worst about us. Ultimately, only Jim can know what his motives were, right?

As Jim is not LDS, that's a fairly silly conclusion to come to. I think the man is asking a sincere question and is being perfectly polite about it. We Latter Day Saints do get over-accustomed to being attacked, that sometimes we retaliate when there was no attack.

In February of 1843, Joseph Smith corrected a couple who thought that "a prophet is always a prophet," [in other words, every word spoken and every action take by a Prophet of God was always inspired and a message from God no matter what.] instead explaining that "a prophet was a prophet only when acting as such," Now take that statement together with what Wilford Woodruff said, and yes he was speaking as a Prophet in the name of the Lord at the time: The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the program. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty. (This was in relation to the abolishment of the practice of polygamy, so a lot of members expressed a their doubts about the decision. It had been revealed by the Lord after all. President Woodruff was explaining that he was not leading the Church astray on this matter.) So what we find is that: 1.) We shouldn't take everything that a Prophet of God says and does as revelation from God. If Thomas Monson likes Sprite better than 7-up, there isn't an inspired message with eternal consequences involved in it. 2.) Prophets of God are mortal and fallible men and it is important that we remember that they are not perfect and they are not all-knowing. Only Christ was perfect after all. 3.) If a prophet of God is acting as a prophet of God (and they will make it very clear when they are doing so), then they are acting under the direction of God. They will never lead the Church astray, their counsel will always be the revealed will of God as if spoken by God himself, and the Prophet will not err. God would remove them (most likely that means they would die) before he would allow the Prophet to lead His people astray. 4.) Prophets of God can have their personal opinions on things. Those opinions are not necessarily the revealed will of God.

Welcome or welcome back, take your pick.