bytebear

I have a much bigger problem with surrogacy. Why are people paying for someone to produce a child when there are so many kids out there that need homes already? And I agree with those who have said that gay couples parenting is better than unstable homes or abusive or neglectful foster care.

I would look into Native American traditions, or maybe Ancient Greek pantheon. Or possibly Jedi.

Elder missionaries and sister missionaries are set apart in the exact same way. There is no priesthood office required to minister as a missionary.

I think a huge difference between LDS clergy (full time or not) and clergy in other church is that Mormons don't seek out such positions through education, degrees, scholarly knowlege, etc. You can't work your way up to a bishop, or get a degree in Apostleship.

It's important to note that full time church leaders still have families that need assistance. Mission presidents, for example will receive living stipends for their spouse and children. But it is still a voluntary position since they do not recelive a salary. They only receive enough so that their kids don't lose money that would have been used for their college, for example. It's not fair to the family to remove their only means of payment, and so the stipend is really for them, and not for the leader himself. Let me restate. All church leaders are volunteers. The stipend is for those who are not called but who would be adversly affected because the church leader accepted a calling that did not allow him to provide for his family.

It's not just for their salvation. There is some connection in redeeming our ancestors that is necessary for us to fulfill our potential. http://scottwoodward.org/redeemingthedead_wecannotbeperfectedwithoutdead.html We save ourselves by saving them. Perhaps it's God's way of letting us share in the salvation of others, just as he lets us share in procreation.

I had a friend serve in South Africa in the early 90s, and have a coworker from Johanasburg. Welcome.

I think it's important to note that the difference between Terrestrial glory and Celestial glory is that one must not just believe, but convenant with God. You must make an outward sign of your committment, and be numbered amongst God's people.

The reason it changed was because of the web. HTML considers all white space (spaces, tabs, new lines, carriage returns) as a single space. It was so you didn't have to worry about spacing in scripts. And because of that, the standard changed. I don't like it, but it's what it is. Oh and the reason two spaces were standard was so you could tell the end of a sentence from an abbreviation. By the way, paragrahs have changed as well. Notice, no indentation, and a double space to separate paragraphs. Again, because spacing (tabs) doesn't matter in HTML. This is the post formatted the "old" way. The reason it changed was because of the web. HTML considers all white space (spaces, tabs, new lines, carriage returns) as a single space. It was so you didn't have to worry about spacing in scripts. And because of that, the standard changed. I don't like it, but it's what it is. Oh and the reason two spaces were standard was so you could tell the end of a sentence from an abbreviation. By the way, paragrahs have changed as well. Notice, no indentation, and a double space to separate paragraphs.

So many people misunderstand the King Follett discourse. Read the whole thing, in context. It's much deeper than what you usually hear about and it is absolutely not polytheistic.

Dr Zaius and the forbidden zone.

I don't see how they can't do subtitles. I can see them doing a voice over on television, but are they going to hand out headphones to all the conference audience? I do think it's a perfectly reasonable thing to have some speakers speak in their native language though. I also see the hand of God in making sure that English became a universal language.

This is why I wanted you to read the D&C verses, because it bridges the understanding of the Kingdom of God and the state of ressurection.

What I find fascinating is that this verse is about the Old Testament, and that all that was "added" to the scripture was new to the Jews at the time. The New Testament was all new. In fact, the apostles pretty much declared a whole new set of Gospel principles introduced by Jesus Christ. Now, were all of them recorded in the Bible? Probably not. We have many, and clearly the main ones are there (Faith, Repentence, Baptism and the laying on of hands to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost), but details about temple worship, salvation for the dead, the nature of the glory of the ressurection, are there in bits and pieces. I am sure that the apostles knew all the exact workings of these things, or at least were continuing to receive revelation from God as to how His church should be run. Paul was continually correcting church leaders and members on doctrine and practice. And at some point, an apostacy occured where God no longer had the apostles to reveal corrections through. So, things got corrupt. The reformation was an attempt to correct the corruption, but without apostles, and direct revelation, it was still just an interpretation of the incomplete writings. This is why a restoration and direct revelation were required, and it is why Mormons believe their interpretations are correct.

Verse 41 talks of three glories (sun, moon, stars) and verse 42 talks about how the resurrection is formed from corruption to incorruption, but also in degrees of glory. A point is also made that each glory is unique (like the stars), but that the distinction between the three major glories is extreme. Although we use Heaven as a descriptor, it's actually the state of our resurrection, so you are arguing semantics at this point. I do see an equivalency in the term "Kingdom of God" and "Celestial Kingdom", so again, it becomes preferred terminology. The simple truth is, Paul does teach three distinct resurrected states. Simply put, Joseph Smith's insight into this verse are beyond anything Protestantism has defined, and in fact, I have never heard another church even touch on the implications that Paul presents, and in fact, I find a very lack of emphasis on a physical resurrection at all. But, all this goes to your initial point, which was that the Bible had no such teaching as three heavens, when clearly this was the inspiration for Joseph Smith's revelations on the subject. Now, going to Alma 32, how can you possibly expect the Holy Ghost to reveal this truth, if you are already closed to even the notion that it may be true. I also recommend reading D&C 76 and D&C 88, and notice that the term "Kingdom" is always associated with glory, in fact Section 76 doesn't talk about specific kingdoms at all.

Except that doctrine comes from the Bible. 1 Corinthians 15 to be exact. So, perhaphs the restored gospel is enlightening on already revealed truths that have been lost.

http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category3_715839595_10557_3074457345616706252_-3_N_image_0 Just go to the store and pick German as your language.

They are online in many languages, including German. https://www.lds.org/scriptures?lang=deu&cid=rdscriptures

My dad did put a chain link fence up in the side yard, and planted grapes along it. They filled it in, and we had tons of grapes and grape juice.

Wood. We just put in a back yard fence, and the "nice" side faces the neighbors (since they have a more prominent view and they paid 60%). The framing is a ligher tan, and the boards are darker wood, and I absolutely love the look. It is beautiful.

Ok, so you guys are posting huge volumes, so I haven't read all of these posts, but I want to point out one simple fact. The Great Apostasy is not about losing truth, or corruption of Christ's Church. It's about loss of authority, specifically the keys of the Church, the loss of the keys given to Peter, James and John, and the priesthood keys held by the apostles. Truth (or lack thereof) is a side effect of not having those keys. Now, anyone can argue that they have the keys, or that the keys were not lost, or that they are no longer requred, but LDS doctrine teaches that these keys were restored to Joseph Smith. And historically, Mormons look at the shift from central authority of apostles to a shift and competition at the bishop level to who was authorized to run His church. There was an Eastern and Western schism, and various minor groups that all claimed authority. That schism and loss of central authority is the Great Apostasy. But that does not mean that all truth was lost, or that the people were evil or planning on corrupting the churches. We could have lost the BIble altogether, or had a perfect copy of it, but the apostasy would still exist. Simply put, another church could have the identical doctrines and practices as the LDS Church, but still lack priesthood authority. Mormons reject RLDS and FLDS claims of authority because they lack a lineage of apostolic succession (or more specificically, we don't recognize their claims of succession). Simiarly LDS reject the apostolic succesion of the Orthodox and Catholic churches, and their various protestant branches. No, the key to understanding the Great Apostasy, is understanding the Restoration and the various keys given to Joseph Smith.

Don't foget your handy dandy Topical Guide, my source for scriptural references. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/tg/marriage-celestial?lang=eng&letter=m Marriage, CelestialSee also Covenants ; Family ; Family, Children, Responsibilities toward ; Family, Eternal ; Marriage, Marrycleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh: Gen. 2:24 . ( Gen. 2:18 ; Matt. 19:5 ; Moses 3:24 ; Abr. 5:18 . )whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: Eccl. 3:14 .whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: Matt. 16:19 . ( Matt. 18:18 . )What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder: Mark 10:9 .neither is the man without the woman … in the Lord: 1 Cor. 11:11 .a man … shall be joined unto his wife … be one flesh: Eph. 5:31 .heirs together of the grace of life: 1 Pet. 3:7 .whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven: Hel. 10:7 .new and everlasting covenant of marriage: D&C 131:2 .shall be of full force when they are out of the world: D&C 132:19 . ( D&C 132:1–66 . )See also 4 Ne. 1:11

I have the discussions (1989-91). They had the missionary booklet, and a cooresponding pamphlet which was a summary of the lession. I don't have the pamphlets though, only the missionary discussion booklets.

Newport Beach, CA (or anywhere in Southern California that's not LA). Yes, the cost of living is higher, but there are some afordable areas inland from the beach cities. There are four temples relatively close (LA, Newport Beach, San Diego/La Jolla and Redlands). I love the coast, and being close enough to do a day trip to LA or San Diego. And of course, there's Disneyland.

Exceptions have been made to the color of garments for military personnel, so I suppose the same could be made for baptism clothing.