bytebear

Depends on where you get the news...
 

From what I understand, Saturday is the original Sabbath.  After all, if you look at your calendar, Saturday is the 7th day while Sunday is the 1st day of the week.  Christians began to celebrate the Sabbath and worship on Sundays b/c that was the day of Jesus' resurrection.   

I lived in Utah for three years while attending BYU.  Since it's an atypical experience, I won't comment on the culture. 
But I had to get home to California ASAP because weather!

I grew up in South Salt Lake, and moved to Southern California when I was in my late 20s, and have been here for almost 30 years.  I find the church is known as a bit quirky, but well respected.  The LDS kids are usually the good kids in school, and non-Mormon families are happy to have them hang out with them in school, but not marry or be more serious because they don't want them caught up in a quirky church (putting it politely).  One of my coworkers was worried her daughter would get married in a temple and not be let in.   

But what still kind of surprises me about Utah anyway is the culture is so Mormonic.  Either you are in the church, or you are mocking the church.  I am used to the LA Weekly and the OC Weekly which are standard liberal news mags, but in Utah, the SLC Weekly was the same thing, but every single article was about how rotten those Mormons were.  The non-Mormons in Utah, particularly in politics are really bitter.  Even smoking.  Here in California, non-smoking laws are praised by the left, but in Utah, they are all upset about it.  It's really bizarre.
That said, I have thought about moving back, but the winters and family out here keep me here.  Thing is, there are enough Mormons here to make it feel culturally significant.  There are several church buildings nearby, so I still feel like I am home.  And some of the inland suburbs feel very community driven, like the neighborhoods I grew up in.  

Tell the testimony speaker to stay on topic.

Tell the testimony speaker to stay on topic.

Tell the testimony speaker to stay on topic.

Tell the testimony speaker to stay on topic.

Jordan Peterson.
He seems to be the most intelligent spokesperson for real freedom of conscience in our society today.

I know a lot of people get upset when many of the leaders are businessmen, but this is an international church now, and we need leadership familiar with the business and political world to achieve the goals of the Lord.  

Do you know the first non-US country to have two temples?   Germany.  Why?  Because of the savvy of our leaders, we were able to negotiate a temple in East Germany before the wall fell. After the reunification of Germany, the country had a West German and East German temple. That is simply remarkable, and could no be done if the Lord did not place those leaders in those positions.  A friend from high school was in the Austria mission before the temple and was one of the first missionaries to enter East Germany.  The Lord knew what was coming, and prepared the people years before it happened.

I would imagine that is all part of God's plan.  Being foreordained, Apostles would need to be in a position where they can walk away from everything for full-time service for the rest of their lives.

Even if the numbers are correct, the leaders would have put far more into the church via volunteer time and tithes and offerings than they ever would get out from a stipend?  The only time church leaders are paid is to compensate for their families (i.e,. the money is to support wives and children who would be affected if he was suddenly no longer making a living).  

A leaked pay stub from an apostle, showed his stipend at just under 90K in 2000.

http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4800350&itype=CMSID

Put that into perspective, and your typical IT specialist managing the church's website makes more than an Apostle.

I don't recall much social justice talk, bit I was happy to see Gladys Knight sing the national anthem.

So I understand it, Joseph Smith was told by the angel Moroni that they were "interpreters". And only later equated with the U&T when some church leader put two and two together.  Honestly, as you study the restoration process and Joseph Smith's Revelations and insight, this after-thought connection is very common.

Since God is a physical being,I can only assume he resides in a physical realm.

Since God is a physical being,I can only assume he resides in a physical realm.

Since God is a physical being,I can only assume he resides in a physical realm.

I think that God the Father created worlds without end, and i am maybe in the minority that believes that each earth has a savior, and that the story of pre-mortality only involved the people of this Earth, and not of God's other creations.  I am not arrogant enough to think we are lucky enough to have been assigned the one Earth in the vast universe to be the epicenter for the fall of Man via Adam and Eve and the assignment of a savior.

Moses Chapter 1 says:
 
So how do I reconcile "by my Son"?  I interpret it to mean, by the savior of that inhabitable planet, and that Moses was still under the restriction of "only an account of this earth" and didn't need to understand how Adams and saviors fit in the larger scheme of the Father's power.
So, to answer your question, I would say our savior created many worlds, but only one that is inhabited by (a portion of) God's children.
 

This is a variation on the old Unequal Comparison theme. "There's plenty of blame to go around! We're ALL at fault here!" Those words are just fine when they're true, but they are an impediment when they're false. And used here, they're false.
Don't misunderstand me. There are plenty of individual Latter-day Saints who use berating, condescending, or otherwise unkind language when talking about non-LDS Christians, and there are plenty of decent, honorable non-LDS Christians who work hard not to give offense when talking about what they call "Mormonism". I acknowledge that. But when you compare the typical sectarian Christian with the typical Latter-day Saint, that is simply not the case. And when you compare how the sectarian church organizations describe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members with how the Restored Church describes sectarian Christianity, both in modern times and even historically, the difference is stark.
So let's start out by doing away with the canard that everyone is equally at fault in this situation. Everyone is not equally at fault, not even close.

So I understand it, Joseph Smith was told by the angel Moroni that they were "interpreters". And only later equated with the U&T when some church leader put two and two together.  Honestly, as you study the restoration process and Joseph Smith's Revelations and insight, this after-thought connection is very common.

I think when you first go, you should go again after some thoughtfulness.  You'll discover a lot you didn't even get the first time.  The logistics of the ceremony are daunting at first, and you are so concerned about what you are doing you aren't pondering what you are doing.  Also, when you are in the temple, you are free to discuss the details, and get insight from temple workers, or even the temple president if you so wish.  I remember two very specific revelations given to me.  One was just a flood of "oh wow.  Never thought of that before" and another was a specific detail given by a temple worker, and I still hold those truths today, things I never would have gotten were it not for the temple experience.

Also, when I was a younger man, I attended several temple weddings of friends, including acting as a proxy father for my best friend at his ceremony (basically a glorified witness).  You can perform proxy sealings as well, if you want to experience that ceremony as well, and I recommend it.  Also, remember, children are sealed to parents if not born under the covenant of marriage.   And since we believe in work for the dead, you may want to look into your own ancestry, possibly including (depending on circumstances) being sealed to deceased parents.   Anyway, just wanted to bring up the idea that even though you've been endowed, you still have some future temple adventures besides proxy work for strangers.  And of course, we'll be waiting next year for news of other potential sealings.

This might help explain.  Good overall video, around 13:00 is when it starts talking about the post WWII "long peace".
 

When was this novel written?  It sounds like a rehashing of A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes novel.

Depends on how you define "Christian"  If you believe in Christ, you are a Christian.  But, you are not of his fold until you covenant with him through baptism, from those with the proper authority, and that is only found in His restored church.  The Book of Mormon simply helps you find His flock.