bytebear

There was a prophecy given in 1830, before any temple had been built. This same prophecy and promise is repeated several times in the D&C (D&C 42:36, D&C 133:2) This was fulfilled in 1836 at the Kirtland Temple:

When baptized, you are given an interview. In that you are required to basic comitments and beliefs. The interview questions are listed here: Baptismal Interview Questions Here are the guidelines for someone giving the interview: LDS.org - Leadership Chapter Detail - Interviewing Once you are a member, you may be asked to fill a calling. It is completely voluntary, and you can say no, but the ward is run by it's members and as a member, you may be asked to help run things in some way or another.

You claim to understand LDS theology, and you seem to be hung up on the character of Joseph Smith and his "magick" use, but you either are ignorant or choose to ignore the overwhelming evidence that his actions are not out of step with Biblical prophets. How can you rationalize your condemnation of one and justification of the other?

Replace "farm boy" with "fisherman" and you could just as easily be describing Peter. None of the original apostles were theologians.

Oh, I just think she needs to step outside of her comfort zone just a little. It's hard to admit that your own religious leaders have betrayed you. It's really the biggest flaw the "traditional Christians" have. They are not honest about what LDS theology is, nor about what the Bible really teaches. But things are improving. "How Wide a Divide?" is an honest look at LDS theology by an evangeical. It doesn't rely on strawman arguements or tired false conclusions so most evangelical bookstores won't even carry it. In other words, Mormonism makes sense in the correct context, both historically and theologically.

I would do a little research before condemning Smith for using so-called "magic". Here is an article (from a non-LDS source) about how many Old Testiment prophets used what people today would consider occultic practices. Divination, magic & occultic activity in the Bible I guess I just get frustrated when people claim to understand the Bible, and then accuse Joseph Smith of improper practices that were common to many prophets of the Bible.

Fashion sense (or lack of it) is not a sin. If all you have is a clean tee shirt and shorts, then that's your Sunday best. Modesty is encouraged, and certainly the garment encourages that, but not in all situation and not for all occasions. Just because someone is wearing a tank top does not mean he or she is trying to be seductive by wearing it. Sometimes we are oblivious to what others may think, but that doesn't mean we are being sinful.

This article might be of interest. If your sister comes from a baptist background, it might help her see that the Book of Mormon actually embraces many of the doctrines and beliefs she is familiar with. If anything, you can prove the book isn't "bad" or "evil" as is often the case with people who are refusing to give it a fair shake. The Baptist Version of the Book of Mormon - by Lynn ridenhour

Joy and sorrow will always exist. Even God feels sorrow for His children, but he also feels joy. It isn't his actions that cause this opposition in emotion. It is ours.

Here ar some to consider: Amazon.com: Building the Kingdom: A History of Mormons in America: Claudia Lauper Bushman, Richard Lyman Bushman: Books Amazon.com: 40 Ways to Look at Brigham Young: A New Approach to a Remarkable Man: Chad M. Orton and William W. Slaughter: Books Amazon.com: 500 Little-Known Facts in Mormon History: George W. Givens: Books Amazon.com: 500 More Little-Known Facts in Mormon History: George W. Givens: Books Amazon.com: The Mormon Experience: A HISTORY OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS: Leonard J. Arrington, Davis Bitton: Books Amazon.com: Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition: Jan Shipps: Books

The church learned a very important lesson in South America. The church was booming, and people were being baptized left and right. Activity rates were high, but leadership roles were hard to fill because there weren't enough experienced leaders to fill the roles of Bisphop or Branch President. So, the same priesthood holder would be called to be Bishop over and over again, some were called so often, they went inactive just because they couldn't handle the workload any more. So, the church scaled back. They consolodated stakes and the church appeared, to their opponents anyway, to be shrinking. But it wasn't shrinking. It was just a shift in the way conversions were done. The church slowed down so they could first build up a generation of leaders. Once those leaders mature, you will again see an explosion of conversions in South America. So, don't worry too much about shrinking conversion numbers. The Lord has a plan. By the way, the same program is being used in Western Africa. When missionaries are called to a home, they find dozens of people waiting to hear the lesson. Even with this slower more structured growth in leadership, the church has already built a temple in Ghana and Nigeria.

I don't know about the Topical Guide and Bible Dictionary, but the church doesn't translate the Bible itself into other languages. The church usually picks the most popular version, but has changed official versions when doctrinal issues are not translated well or when the Book of Mormon language translation is not fitting with the Bible translation (like using a modern language translation as opposed to a versoin with "thee" and "thou") The church has also re-translated the Book of Mormon to better fit the style of the language's traditional Biblical style.

If you want a couple excellent books on media bias I woud reccomend: Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the NewsA Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream MediaBoth are by Bernard Goldburg. They give detailed accounts of media bias. For Obama fans, know that the second book is not an attack on Obama, but more an observation of how the media is destroying its own credibility by being so non-objective in their reporting.

It's about competition. If I don't like what a business is doing I can just take my business elsewhere. With government, I am stuck with what I have. That is why social services should completely be privatized.

Excellent article. I really think the 20 something generation has had the Reagan years censored because they are sorely underappreciated.

I kept in touch with a few people from my mission, and still am in contact with one person some 20 years later. But, people move on. The distance is one big factor, but another is you are in a very specific part of your life as a missionary, and you end up going into another aspect very quickly. I think it's the same reason new converts fall away so soon. They are also in a certain place in their life, and after baptism they shift to a new place, and it's a tough adjustment, especially if they have relied on the missionaries for spiritual support rather than ward members. It is so important for the local members to be involved in the missionary activities, because the perminent connections should be made within your local ward, and not with a missionary who will be only in the area for a short while. you will encounter dozens of missionaries who come and go, but your ward is really your family. now, I do want to go back to my mission and look up one person I taught who had a testimony of the Book of Mormon but wasn't baptized when I was there. I always wonder if he and his beautiful family embraced the gospel fully.

The church never discriminated based on skin color. Pacific Islanders, New Zealanders and other various groups could always hold the priesthood and they often have skin which is very dark. Far darker than the typical African American.

It reminds me of when the movie Witness subtitled the translation of "Amish" as "Mormon" in some languages, and got everyone confused.

the first edition was a bit of a scandal, but the LDS Bible Dictionary is largely compiled from Mormon Doctrine.

I used to think that the priesthood ban was a prejudice thing, but then I studied how the church grew in Western Africa. 20 years before the priesthood ban, black Africans in Ghana and Nigeria were embracing the gospel. They started their own LDS branches on their own, taught and converted people to the gospel, all the while waiting until the priesthood would be sent to their countries. The church did send out representatives but could not establish churches because there would be no priesthood to lead them, so the church told these leaders to continue what they were doing. One story tells of the mission president of the South African mission going to meet these leaders in Ghana, and finding at the airport a dozen men waiting to greet him. Not just the number surprised him, but that none of them knew about each other. The church grew, and finally in 1978, the ban was lifted, and the church had thousands of black Africans ready to establish God's church in those countries. They had stakes, wards and branches opened almost immediately. Now there is a temple in Ghana and another in Nigeria. it is my firm testimony that this great work could never have happened if the Lord did not preapare these people in the way that He did and teach them sacrifice and patience and trust in the Lord. They are now known as the African pioneers and have struggled and toiled for the Lord and been blessed just as the pioneers who crossed the plains in 1847. Their faith is strong in the Lord because they were tested. That is why God waited until he did.

i did a little research, and I wonder if she got mormons mixed up with the Icarians who were a utopian society from France who settled at least partly in Nauvoo after the Mormons left. Maybe, when people visit Nauvoo, they get the groups mixed up. Icarians - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Everyone has free agency, and this church is a rarity in that we are not given every single answer in the world. We aren't told whether coke is good or bad, so people decide for themselves. You will always encounter people who are more strict on perceived standards, like coke and clothing. It is up to YOU to decide for yourself through study and prayer what those rules mean to you in your life. That;s what's great about the gospel. you don't have to believe anyone. Not even the prophet. But you are obligated to discover for yourself what the truth is.

It sounds like she got the Nephi story a bit mixed up. This happens a lot when people hear bits and pieces, and try to piece it all togehter. Just explain, and maybe have her read only 1 Nephi, and then talk to her about the story. That might be easier for her than having to read the whole book.

Did you know you are fulfilling prophecy right now? 2 Nephi 29 1 But behold, there shall be many—at that day when I shall proceed to do a marvelous work among them, that I may remember my covenants which I have made unto the children of men, that I may set my hand again the second time to recover my people, which are of the house of Israel; 2 And also, that I may remember the promises which I have made unto thee, Nephi, and also unto thy father, that I would remember your seed; and that the words of your seed should proceed forth out of my mouth unto your seed; and my words shall hiss forth unto the ends of the earth, for a standard unto my people, which are of the house of Israel; 3 And because my words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible. 4 But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it shall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people. And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles? 5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people. 6 Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews? 7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? 8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also. 9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever. 10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written. 11 For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written. 12 For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it. 13 And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews. 14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever.

Only to the ignorant. The LDS Church uses the King James Version of the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon. Get a copy and decide for yourself if you think it's fake.