bytebear

Article of Faith #9
We believe all that God has revealed, all that [H]e does now reveal, and we believe that [H]e will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the [K]ingdom of God.
In other words, we don't claim to know it all, and we will continue to learn.

A lot of what you say is correct.

That, or replace the word "God" with the word "Father." How many Fathers or fathers are there?
Thanks, -Wade Englund-

I find the easiest thing to do is replace the word "God" with the word "Family of God" and then replace "gods" with "exalted persons".  And you will see there is one God, but multiple exalted persons that make up God.  The problem is, you are too used to thinking of God as God the Father, or perhaps the Trinity.   And that's true in some cases.  When God assembled with other gods, really what that means is the Godhead organized the Earth, and we all had a role in the plan.   Some just had a more direct role (Michael and Jehovah, specifically). 

Also, you may want to think of what defines someone "a god".  God is one who progresses forever, through his creations.  He constantly makes new worlds, worlds without end.   So, to be "a god" means you have no end, because you are continuing the creation process.   That's what makes God the Father "a god".   But we are also gods right now.  Why?  Because we are still progressing, still creating.  In other words, the definition of godhood is the opposite of damnation.  Until we are restricted, we are gods.  Some of us just will never be restricted.  This fits in to scripture when Jesus rebuffs accusations that he blasphemes by claiming to be the son of God.  They basically accused him of claiming to be God, to which he replied, "Does not your scripture say, Ye are Gods, even the son of the most High?" 
Psalm 82:6
6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are achildren of the most High.
Isaiah 41:23
23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
John 10:34
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are agods?

The Bible describes this as "milk before meat"  And God teaches "line upon line, precept upon precept" (https://www.lds.org/search?q=line+upon+line&lang=eng&domains=scriptures), meaning he teaches you addition and subtraction before multiplication and division.  Eventually we understand calculus.  And there's nothing wrong with diving into deep waters, just don't think the water is bad because you start floundering.

It's also probably why the missionaries get frustrated.  They aren't trained to teach the meat.  Sunday School is more for the meat, and even further.  There's a reason the church restricts temple access for a year.  It gives you time to study up, to become accustom to living as a Latter-day Saint, and to experience the Gift of the Holy Ghost (given after baptism).   Some spiritual gifts require covenant.
So, the missionaries job is to make you recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost, and to recognize answers from God, and to teach the basics required to make that first covenant of baptism.  And the baptism interview does not require anything beyond the basics, which is really just a belief in Jesus Christ and that this is His church and a willingness to obey His commandments.
 
1 Corinthians 3:2
2 I have fed you with amilk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Hebrews 5:12-14
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of amilk, and not of strong meat.

I think my biggest take on this is that asking God "What should I do?" will not help as much as studying the issue, formulating your ideas, and the specifically asking about your conclusions.  I.,e. "I've studied the issue, I have my conclusions.  Are my conclusions right?"   This, by the way, has worked for me in all aspects of my life.  "Should I take this job?"  "Should I buy this house?"  "Is this the right decision?"   I've had more occasions where I have gotten a negative answer, a feeling of "NO!"  It's almost like when you see in the scary movie, the character about to open that door, and you're screaming at them to turn around and run.  Other times, it's just me thinking about a decision and being apprehensive about it, and my body gets warm and tingly, and I get a feeling of anticipation and excitement, like I just know the future's going to be awesome if I take the leap of faith.

Exactly.  God is perfect.  Men are not, but we should strive to be.

I agree with this, pending we stress that the Father is the perfect father.  All earthly fathers fall short of Him.  Some are good fathers that try to be righteous, just, and merciful, like our Father.  Some earthly fathers though are... frankly they shame the title and turn their back of God's ways.    For example, my husband's dad was horribly abusive and extremely unlike the Father.  

Maybe if you think of God in mathematical terms.  God is infinite.  We are finite, but have the potential to be infinite, like God.  Infinity + infinity = infinity.  So we add to God, but God is still God.  

Ice cream!

I have the exact opposite problem.  How do you get your kids to eat?

No, I don't think you can. That privilege has been permanently claimed by @my two cents One cent, sure, go ahead, three cents is even better, but not two cents.

If I can throw in my two cents. 
Think of it this way.  God has promised that everything will be eventually sorted out.  People who have never heard of Christ will still be saved through proxy baptism.  Those who were married will be sealed, and those who didn't want to be sealed will be unsealed, and perhaps sealed to another.  It will all eventually wrap up in a nice neat package where literally everyone will be accepting of their lot, and will be in a place that is best for them.  Hell is not punishment, but a lack of ultimate blessing, because we could not live up to the obligations of those blessings.  But even they will know their lot is fair.  
So, some people will most likely live in polygamous relationships, some people will be unsealed, and some people will be single acting as ministering angels, but all will be happy and it will all have worked out.
So, if that's the case, why do we even have a church?  Why do we bother proselytizing or doing temple work. Why do we search out our ancestors and do proxy baptisms for them?  Why are we encouraging you to be baptized, to attend church, to study scripture?
The answer is simple.  Joy.  Love.  Blessings.   We do it because it makes people's lives, and afterlives better.  There are countless blessings just waiting to be poured over you, but they cannot occur until you covenant with God (baptism, temple, sealings).   God wants us to be happy, but he cannot force us to be happy.  All he can do is teach you what will make you happy, and hope you make the right choices.  We try to work out situations as best we can, but we know our work is imperfect and incomplete, but it will be completed perfectly eventually.
So, I firmly believe that in the afterlife, you and your husband will be sealed in heaven, assuming he is a righteous man which, based on your posts, I believe he is.   But, I would hate for him to wait in the afterlife for someone to get around to doing a sealing.  I believe there are people in the spirit world hoping that someone somewhere will come across their birth record, or marriage certificate and submit the name to the temple, so they can be released from spirit prison into paradise.  But that can't happen unless we do the work.
I am reminded of this scripture.
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/18.10
12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.
13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!
14 Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
17 Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my salvation.

If I can throw in my two cents. 
Think of it this way.  God has promised that everything will be eventually sorted out.  People who have never heard of Christ will still be saved through proxy baptism.  Those who were married will be sealed, and those who didn't want to be sealed will be unsealed, and perhaps sealed to another.  It will all eventually wrap up in a nice neat package where literally everyone will be accepting of their lot, and will be in a place that is best for them.  Hell is not punishment, but a lack of ultimate blessing, because we could not live up to the obligations of those blessings.  But even they will know their lot is fair.  
So, some people will most likely live in polygamous relationships, some people will be unsealed, and some people will be single acting as ministering angels, but all will be happy and it will all have worked out.
So, if that's the case, why do we even have a church?  Why do we bother proselytizing or doing temple work. Why do we search out our ancestors and do proxy baptisms for them?  Why are we encouraging you to be baptized, to attend church, to study scripture?
The answer is simple.  Joy.  Love.  Blessings.   We do it because it makes people's lives, and afterlives better.  There are countless blessings just waiting to be poured over you, but they cannot occur until you covenant with God (baptism, temple, sealings).   God wants us to be happy, but he cannot force us to be happy.  All he can do is teach you what will make you happy, and hope you make the right choices.  We try to work out situations as best we can, but we know our work is imperfect and incomplete, but it will be completed perfectly eventually.
So, I firmly believe that in the afterlife, you and your husband will be sealed in heaven, assuming he is a righteous man which, based on your posts, I believe he is.   But, I would hate for him to wait in the afterlife for someone to get around to doing a sealing.  I believe there are people in the spirit world hoping that someone somewhere will come across their birth record, or marriage certificate and submit the name to the temple, so they can be released from spirit prison into paradise.  But that can't happen unless we do the work.
I am reminded of this scripture.
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/18.10
12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.
13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!
14 Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
17 Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my salvation.

I found similarities with the Temple experience and Mass, in the presentation methods used, not necessarily the content itself.

I think this is an interesting point.  If you read the Doctrine and Covenants, the scripture where Joseph Smith documents many of his revelations, oftentimes, he starts with a question, just as you have, and takes it to the Lord.  And the lord reveals the answer.   This is how many of the doctrinal truths were clarified.

In this example, Joseph Smith was pondering the validity of the Bible, just as you have, and wondered if there is wisdom in studying the Apocrypha, and whether the Bible was accurate.   His revelation is recorded here:  https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/91?lang=eng

And this issue with imperfections in the Bible continued to where he actually began but never completed a "translation" of the Bible.  Really it was an inspired clarification, and not necessarily a word for word translation as the Book of Mormon was.  He would read the Bible, and make notes of clarification, sometimes just changing a single word, and sometimes making large changes.  The work was never canonized, although in this effort he did have what was later canonized as the Book of Moses a clarifying revelation and retelling of Genesis, which can be found in the collection we call the Pearl of Great Price.  The LDS edition of the Bible contains footnotes for the "JST - Joseph Smith Translation" but again, they are considered study helps, and we stick with the standard KJV translation of the Bible.

So, we trust the Bible, but we have clarification as well.  We know some things are wrong, we know some things are less useful, but we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, and we don't diminish what the Lord has preserved.

I think this is an interesting point.  If you read the Doctrine and Covenants, the scripture where Joseph Smith documents many of his revelations, oftentimes, he starts with a question, just as you have, and takes it to the Lord.  And the lord reveals the answer.   This is how many of the doctrinal truths were clarified.

In this example, Joseph Smith was pondering the validity of the Bible, just as you have, and wondered if there is wisdom in studying the Apocrypha, and whether the Bible was accurate.   His revelation is recorded here:  https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/91?lang=eng

And this issue with imperfections in the Bible continued to where he actually began but never completed a "translation" of the Bible.  Really it was an inspired clarification, and not necessarily a word for word translation as the Book of Mormon was.  He would read the Bible, and make notes of clarification, sometimes just changing a single word, and sometimes making large changes.  The work was never canonized, although in this effort he did have what was later canonized as the Book of Moses a clarifying revelation and retelling of Genesis, which can be found in the collection we call the Pearl of Great Price.  The LDS edition of the Bible contains footnotes for the "JST - Joseph Smith Translation" but again, they are considered study helps, and we stick with the standard KJV translation of the Bible.

So, we trust the Bible, but we have clarification as well.  We know some things are wrong, we know some things are less useful, but we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, and we don't diminish what the Lord has preserved.

In my mind this relates to the degrees of glory discussion. For Latter-day Saints, we believe in something because of a revelation that was received. For the 3 degrees, it's because of the Vision (D&C 76). For the Restoration, it's because of the First Vision and the translation of the Book of Mormon, and the visitation of angels with keys, and additional revelations! With the 3 degrees revelation, we then look back to the Bible and see, gee whiz, there really is something to this. We didn't think there was before, because there's not a concise revelation on it in the Bible, but once we have that framework, we see how well the old texts fit.
With the restoration, we finally understand what Moses and Elias were doing on the Mount of Transfiguration! With the restoration, LDS historians begin to see how gradual deviations slid the Church from Christ and Peter's foundation. With the restoration, apologists better understand why Paul and Clement argued so passionately for the early saints to listen to the elders (respect priesthood authority) and return to the faith taught by apostles. 
Note that in the above, the first sentence is about the lay member, for whom the apostasy exists simply because the Restoration happened. That is typically the level of detail we get into with our regular curriculum. The other examples come up by people who want to then verify this assumption and begin looking for evidence of it. As @Blossom76 noted, it comes with varying degrees success and integrity.
By and large, the doctrine of the Church is that there was a Restoration, not particularly that there was an Apostasy - just as the doctrine of the Church is that there are 3 degrees of glory, not that the heaven/hell dichotomy is flawed.

Sun, moon and stars don't always represent heaven, as in that case, and there's a verse in Revelation 12:1 " A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."  This particular verse is used in the symbolism of the Salt Lake temple architecture, but has nothing that I am aware of, to do with the degrees of glory.  But maybe the significance of the temple covenants does reflect that.

Individual missionaries are only in one area for a few months.  And sometimes elders and switched with sisters, so if you have a bad set, wait a week, and chances are you'll get new people.  Be aware, that the new missionaries generally don't keep tabs on past activity other than maybe a name and a number, so they will have no idea of your history with past missionaries unless you tell them.  My advice:  Do any or all of the following:  Go online to talk to missionaries there.   Meet with members in the ward/branch in addition to missionaries (i..e go to church).  Wait for another set of sisters to come in.  Bring your frustrations and questions here, and we'll all try to help you through it.  But honestly, church is your best option for answering questions and getting to know people.  But don't let a few grumpy grumps push you away.

This is the big lie.

This is the big lie.

I like the thought of each world having its own personal Savior who shared His mortal existence with the inhabitants on the same world they live. The thought of an alien Savior is bizarre and impersonal to me for such an atoning relationship to exist.
Now, the problem with multiple Saviors existing for every world out there is we know it was by the very Jesus Christ who lived on our Earth through whom God the Father created many worlds. So I doubt you would have a scenario where Jesus Christ from this Earth created another world in which another perfect being assumes the role of the Savior. That just gets too confusing.
Another theory could be Jesus Christ not only lived and died in this world, but He relived the same experience over and over again on all worlds He created. Just the thought of our Savior experiencing atonement after atonement for a number of worlds innumerable to man makes me not want to support this idea either, although I suppose it would be equally enduring for our Savior to atone for all worlds in one lifetime, as it would be to break up the atonement to pertain only to the world Jesus is living on at the time.

I believe for every Adam there is a Christ.  I believe that God the Father has worlds without end, but when talking about the atonement, and the path and destiny of this world, i.e. the children of this world, he is only speaking of this world.  Seems I may be a minority in this view. There is only one savior to me, just as I have only one Father in heaven, but there are infinite persons who share godhood, but may not be directly associated with me or this world.

Nursery leader, before and after.