bytebear

Please, don't feel guilty. That's the last thing I want for you. Now I fee bad.

No worries. She has some fascinating theories. She just crossed the line when she tried to take those theories into practice and put the mantle of authority upon herself. Anyone can come up with any concepts and theories they want, but when they try to circumvent the authority of the prophet and apostles, it becomes a problem.

It's not taboo, but understand that Margaret Toscano was excommuniated. Not because she talked about Heavenly Mother, but because she taught and preached things that were not doctrine as if they were. Particularly, she encouraged prayer to Heavenly Mother, contradicting what we know about the proper method of prayer, that is, we pray to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. She also has a very big chip on her shoulder.

Stephen Robertson in the book "How Wide the Divide" recalls a story of when he was in the deep south, and the church was involved in an interfaith board established to stop some sex shops that had recently opened. Well the Baptist church withdrew their support if they had to be on the same board as the Mormons. Robertson's comment was that he discovered that "some Evangelicals oppose Mormons more vehemently than they oppose pornography". That's the depths of their fear and hatred of the LDS Faith.

I thought the Nephites were the Olmecs. Olmec - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Maybe the Lamanites were the Maya.

I disagree as to why the creeds are an abomination to God. It isn't necessarily about the doctrines of believe stated in them. For the most part they are fairly similar to LDS belief and doctrine, particularly in the role and divinity of Jesus Christ. The problem with the creeds as I see them, is that they take authority upon themselves to define the doctrines of God. They were not established by prophets of God, and no doctrine can be defined except by authority from God through prophecy.

Check with the local ward. If they don't have what you need, they can order it for you. The church does sell some baptismal clothing online at ldscatalog.com. I found baptismal jumpers, white dresses (but don;t know how waterproof they are) and a womens' baptismal liner (which sounds like something you might wear under a dress, but there was no photo, so don't really know the details. They even have a baptismal bra! But, unless you want to keep the dress yourself, just have the ward or branch order what you need. Talk to the missionaries, Relief Society President or the Bishop/Branch President

I think a testimony of the Book of Mormon falls into the second category. You believe the words of others who testify of Christ. I know that I have met people who already knew the Gospel was true before they even heard about the church. They just knew, and they were actively seeking the church which taught the truth that they already know. So, I don't think it is that you don't get a witness from the Holy Ghost, but that some people out there already have that witness, but just don't know how to apply it until they find the church. For the rest of us, we have to study, ponder and pray to gain the same testimony.

The Laie Hawaii temple was dedicated in 1919, and then renovated in 1978. It had a pulbic open house before the rededication. It is currently under construction again and will be rededicated in 2010, and will probably have another open house. Laie Hawaii LDS (Mormon) Temple

Book of Mormon anachronisms/Snow - FAIRMormon

I think salvation in LDS terms can be referred to as keeping your second estate. The first estate was granted to those who fought against Satan in the war in heaven. Abr. 3: 26, 28 26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. • • • 28 And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him. Jude 1: 6 6 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. The second estate is those who believe in Christ, enter in covenant with him (through baptism) and have been judged as keeping that covenant at the bar of judgement. Here are some guides to poinder:

I think a story from the New Testament is in order, to understand why the LDS Church would perform proxy baptims even when people have been baptized in another faith. Acts, Chapter 19: 1 - 6 1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, 2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. 4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. From this story, we learn a couple things. First that even if we are baptized, if it is not the right kind of baptism, it doesn't count, and must be redone. And second, that the Gilft of the Holy Ghost is given after baptism by the laying on of hands. Now, if you die not knowing the correct baptims, and you meet someone in the spirit world, as these people met Paul then wouldn't you want to be rebaptized? According to 1 Peter 3:18-20, we learn that Christ visited the spirits who were disobedient at the time of Noah and preached to them. 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. So, these people learned of Christ, and had the ability to accept his gospel in the next life. Anyway, that's the doctrinal reason for baptism for the dead, and the reason LDS don't accept the baptisms of other faiths.

I always give my mother fresh flowers from proflowers.com (not a plug for the website, but they have always been awesome for me).

The difference is that the LDS Church does not force tithing on anyone. It is completely voluntary. But, so is the Word of Wisdom, church attendance, scripture reading, prayer, temple attendance, and pretty much everything else. No one forces anything on anyone. But, many know the great blessings that come from obedience. And tithing is a great example of the that principle. People don't pay tithes because they fear retrobution, but rather, because they know blessings will follow. By the way, tithing was not established during the great depression. it was just reemphasized. It was established in 1831 by revelation to Joseph Smith and set forth "until the coming of the Son of Man". (Doctrine & Covenants 64:23) Oh, one recommendation too, if you have time, do some volunteer work Perhaps you can even exchange some time in the church's social services instead of actual money.

Voyager is the best series, period! For movies, before tonight I would have said First Contact, and then Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. But now, it's all STAR TREK! Amazing movie!

LOL. I always get that messed up. One of my best friends is named Kirk, and I cannot make my mind think Kirt for the life of me. Oh, and I didn't mean to imply that because I believe it was a preparatory temple, it wasn't a "real" temple. But baptisms never were performed there, so it was not fully functional or had 100% the same purpose as temples have today.

I would start here and just start searching the scriptures: Topical Guide: Man, Potential to Become like Heavenly Father Topical Guide: God, Perfection of

I think it is not just so we don't offend other people. But we are supposed to be researching our own ancestry. Whoever submitted Obama's mama was doing it not for the sake of her, but more likely, because he or she wanted some kind of glory or kudos for submitting such a prominant person. The prominant people are easy to find. Their records are easily accessable. Anyone can find the records of Isaac Newton, or Albert Einstein, or even Adolf Hitler, but what about the millions of others who we cannot easily find. We have so little time and so much work to do, we shouldn't waste it by spending time on perfect strangers. Instead spend it on your own ancestors, as they are who we are told to find. Who is going to do the work of your great-great-great second cousin once removed, if not you!

The Kirkland temple, I believe, was a preparatory temple. It was designed to reveal the further ordinances of the temple, but was not designed for them. It has no basement, and no baptismal font. Baptism for the Dead was revealed after the completion of the temple, and were performed in rivers or lakes until the Nauvoo temple was built. Interestingly enough, the meeting areas of both temples were designed with curtans that could be pulled to create sub rooms in the main chaimber. The building was built with two sets of pulpets, one for the Melc. Priesthood and the other for the Aaronic, and the benches could reverse their backs, to face either of the pulpets. The Nauvoo had the same set up, as does the Salt Lake temple, and many of the earlier temples. The Los Angeles Temple is the last one to be built with an assembly hall. It wasn't until the move to Salt Lake, when the saints began building tabernacles and later chapels for regular worship. The prarie saints met in homes or outdoors, or they met in the first floor of the temple. The best comparison today is the New York City temple which has the baptimsmal font in the basement, then mission and stake offices on the first floor. The second floor is a regular meeting house open to all, and the upper floors are for temple ordinances.

I don't understand your believe that the chruch has a literalist approach to the Bible. The chruch does not believe in inerrancy of the Bible as many other Christians do. They acknowledge that the authors may be mistaken or input opinion. For example, Paul says women shoud not speak in church. I believe that was his opinion, and not doctrine. Yet it is canonized. The church does not pick and choose what parts of the Bible to accept or reject (although I believe the Lord told Smith that the Song of Solomon was not scripturally sound). Since there is no modern doctrine to clarify the events of Christ's birth, we can only come to our own conclusions. So, I have no problem with Luke recounting the story differently that Matthew, because they may have heard and/or understood the story differently. What about the versions of the First Vision? Some people told the story slightly differently, and sometimes even contradictory, but it was to their understanding. I am sure if you told the story, you might tell it differently too, but that doesn't mean the story is false. The bigger point is this: God does not give us all the answers. He presents truth through imperfect means, and it is up to us to decide through the witness of the Holy Ghost what truth is. You should not just read the Bible blindly and believe it. You should seek out truth, and confirm it through study and prayer.

How do you know that either book isn't mistranslated? But, from what I understand, the story of Christ's birth was transferred orally before it was ever written down. Clearly neither Luke nor Matthew were witnesses to the events, so they are telling the story from what they know. There are other apocrophal versions out there as well that were not canonized. Why do we accept the gospes as they exist? Because that is what we have. Joseph Smith asked God about apocraphal writings and the Lord told him they had some truth, but were not vital to the church. Similarly, I think small discrepancies in the Bible are also not all that important, and we may not ever know the complete story of Jesus' birth and upbringing until we meet him and find out first hand.

Isaiah 1: 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (noticed it was already posted, but it was the first one that came to my mind) Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Also, do a search on lds.org. There are many great talks and lessons on repentance and forgiveness.

Loudmouth, I didn't mean to single you out. I just think, particularly with this being a hot topic politically and socially, we tend to assume it is the big sin, but in reality, there are so many problems with families these days that are now so common, that we the Saints tend to diminish the harm done by heterosexuals who don't cherish their fidelity and chastity.

I agree. The premortal Savior was a personage of spirit. Only at his birth to Mary did he gain a physical body, and only after the resurrection did he gain a glorified immortal body of flesh and bone. It was either a vision of the future, or the BoJ saw a spirit body (which does look the same) and assumed it was physical.

In other words, all the things gay folks have to deal with every day.