bytebear

I didn't read all the posts, so my apologies if this is already covered, but the church's goal is not to convert the world. Yes, it would be nice. but really, the church's goal is to prepare the Earth for the Second Coming of Christ, so the church needs to be a global entity, with enough reach to bring as many to Christ as it can. I suspect we need to wait until the communist countries open up before the work will be finished.

Sunday's session was pretty heavy on the Constitution, and was surprisingly frank. I liked it.

McConkie is largely responsible for the chapter summaries in all of the standard works, as well as the Bible Dictionary. His contributions to understanding the gospel are unparalleled.

It seem fairly simple to me. God the Father is too glorious for us to behold, so Jesus acts as a filter, but then again, he has a physical body, so cannot be everywhere at once, and appears in specific instances, when necessary, so the Holy Ghost acts as the conduit for us to feel the presence of God. But we communicate to the Father, and the response is from the Father, but manifested through the Holy Ghost.

I think you are confusing the brass plates with the golden plates.

On an interesting note, there are many symbols of the priesthood as well. The Star of David you are familiar with and represents the Priesthood of Aaron, and the seal of Melchizedek which is similar but uses two interlocking squares instead of triangles. The San Diego Temple was designed around this symbol. Also the early temples were built with assembly halls which had two sets of altars, facing opposite walls and each representing the lesser and greater priesthood. The benches in the Nauvoo temple flipped over so they could face either way, depending on the purpose of the meeting. The photo shows the Salt Lake assembly hall and you can see that it has two sets of altars, and the chairs can be arranged to face either one. The Los Angeles temple was the last to be built with an assembly hall. And the towers of the Salt Lake Temple reflects the two priesthoods as well, a motif used in several temple designs.

These platforms are "the public square" regardless of them being on private property. if you allow people to stump on your lawn, you have an obligation to allow free speech. Someone mentioned slander/libel, and that's fine, but there are laws for that, and the people posting the lies can be held accountable. But presenting a belief that is generally considered false is still free speech. And I believe you must allow 1000 lies if it reveals a single truth.

Doctrine can pertain to certain people at certain times, and not globally or eternally.

I wish they would just be constitutional.

I have the same view, although I wonder if Michael returned to his role after his mortality. But interesting if each patrioch is prepared in that role before mortality, which makes the JoD statement make sense that Joseph Smith was the most recent office holder we know of.

For what it's worth, the media has shifted their narrative from "Fake news" to "Not about Joe". Both of which are lies, but it looks like the story has suffered from the Streisand Effect, where an attempt to bury a story actually amplifies it.

I believe the Holy Ghost has already lived a mortal life and was baptized.

She is the attack dog, so expect her to play the race card as hard as she can against Trump. But she won't bring out the black vote. She has too much baggage as a prosecutor including questionable acts of evidence suppression. Oh, and she will not call the shots. The puppet masters will manage Biden behind the scenes. She is only here for the votes, not for anything she could actually contribute to the administration.

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. - Jude 1:6

Find the nearest church, and go. The rest will come.