Tarnished

I think some Bishops can get a bit out of line with their questioning. Or even out of line with some of their advice. When I was in college I had a Bishop who was very much a father figure for our college singles ward. I had many conversations with him and he actually helped me through a rough part in my life. However, I took exception with his advice when he told me not to marry my husband. He told me that if I married my husband (at that time boyfriend) that I would be miserable and that my husband would cheat on me and that we would eventually end up divorced. I went by what the spirit told me when I prayed to know whether I should marry my husband or not, and then I sent the Bishop a wedding invite. The truth is that Bishops are human, they make human mistakes and sometimes they take things too far. In the case of the Bishop I had in college he took his authority for receiving revelation for his ward too far, he had taken it to an individual level. For some Bishops they take other things too far like questioning for details when it really isn’t relevant. Was the Bishop in the OP wrong? Did he take it too far? I don’t know as I was not actually there, however it did make the original poster uncomfortable, so maybe he did. I personally think Funky Town’s answer was perfect for that type of situation.

I see it more as a confusion between words. Much as how certain words can mean different things. Outside of the church when the word intelligence is used it often refers to knowledge or an awareness. Inside the church I understand it to refer to a being rather than a sort of knowledge. Do I completely understand what is involved in the word intelligence as used by the church? No, as I see it a complete understanding of the word will probably be made known after the millenium. I think there are quite a few things where we really won't know exactly what it means until after we are dead.

Maybe, it is a weird phenomenon on him.

They almost look like marks made from fingers. Maybe he got burned earlier in life and now hair won't grow there anymore. Or maybe he shaves them there himself. Weird though.

Somehow I am not surprised that the Italians were doing this. Italy is one of the countries where you have to pay a bribe fee to send a package to someone there. If bribes have gotten into the mail system then I am not at all surprised that they used bribes to keep the place their troops were serving quiet.

I agree, about the tarp over the pillows. I think it was funny that one of the girls actually said, "I am now wishing that we took the tarp instead of the pillows." I thought, well of course, what were you thinking, that this was some sort of resort?? As for Russell's beard, some men just can't grow full beards, they have weird things that happen with their facial hair, bald spots and such. Maybe his face just doesn't grow hair there. Then again maybe he shaves them to make him look cool or something. I know my husband will not grow a full beard because he says he can't as once the facial hair reaches his cheeks it begins to do funky stuff.

I have met some great people on here, learned some interesting things from other people, now use this site for a good part of my news, and can honestly say that this site has helped my marriage. I am very grateful for this site.

I felt pretty bad for Shambo as well. I can understand why the other Russell sent her over to the other tribe but it does seem like the Galu is full of a bunch of people who really just sit around not worrying about stuff and when one of them does actually try to help out, and sometimes makes mistakes that they attack that person.

So this week's episode was interesting. I thought Russell's comment about how he wants to be the only one playing mind games was amusing. Here he is putting down the rest of his team for not playing the game and then the moment Liz starts to act as if she is actually playing he gets all upset. I also found it interesting how the rain really took the strategy out of Russell's game. As crazy as it is I think Liz's days are numbered because of the things she said to Russell. However, I also see Jaison making some comments that could bring his days with the tribe to a crashing halt as well. What I find interesting is during the immunity challenge Liz was the one who really held on longest with the whole thing. That may give her some leverage in the future. As for Ashley getting voted off, I saw it coming. And I think she knew her days were numbered from before when she had people putting down her name for being voted off before. I think the fact that she lost them the food challenge put the nail in the coffin. On the other side (Galu tribe) I think Shambo's days are numbered. I think that if they lose immunity again that she will be voted off. The people in her tribe really don't want her around. I think they showed that best at the food challenge where they sent her over (again) to the Foa Foa tribe, which meant that she missed out on the steaks and brats that her tribe got. Ouch! What I will find interesting is if they do something to mix up the tribes in the future. Looking forward to see what will happen next week.

I think often infatuation is confused with love. Dating can be exciting, especially with all the emotions that go through a person when they are getting to know someone. Emotions can be so strong at the beginning that they can feel like love. Or rather we think that the strong emotions are love when truly they are just emotions. I think love develops over time, and that you really have to work at it. I will tell you what my mother told me about having sex before marriage. She said: "Having sex creates a bond between you and your partner, you may not feel this bond but it is there. In marriage this bond is allowed to grow stronger and stronger as your marriage progresses, however if you create this bond with many people outside of marriage then there is not as strong of a bond. It is like being tied to many people and the bond is stretched thin." I have seen this in non-member friends of mine. One example is of a girl I am very good friends with. She dates a lot of guys and usually sleeps with the guy after about a week to a few days of dating him. She has never dated a guy for a month without sleeping with him before that month is up. She wonders why she is never able to keep a guy for very long and why they always move on. I feel that it is because she is willing to treat the special bond that is created by having sex so flippantly. Sex in the church is seen as a sacred action between you and your spouse, having sex before marriage is treating that sacred action with disrespect. It is sad that the rest of the world does not see it this way. In regards to love I think sex before marriage can create hurt feelings in a marriage. I like what Pres. Kimball said about it. He said that if you really loved someone you would never put them through the anguish that comes with breaking the law of chastity.

I am glad the question was asked as I was wondering about it as well. I personally can't drink Starbuck's hot chocolate, I had it once and the taste is so nasty that I had to throw it away. I felt pretty bad about it because someone else had paid for it. However, their strawberries and creme drink is something I could have everyday if it weren't terribly fattening for me.

When I was in Utah and the vote came to our state on whether or not to allow gay marriage I really had a tough time with the vote. At the time I worked with and was friends with a few gay and lesbian couples, I could see things from their side, I could understand their arguments and what they were looking for from the bill. And so when I went to vote I had a tough decision ahead of me. Did I vote for the way I believed or did I vote for my friends and co-workers? In the end I went with my beliefs, and I voted no against the bill. There were a few riders on it that made voting no easier, but I still had the moral dilemma that I had to stare down. It is difficult when it comes to these matters, especially when you know people who it affects. However, when it comes down to it for me, I want to stick to my beliefs on something like this. I don’t want my children not knowing the difference between right and wrong because political correctness has become more important than morals. I see it as fearing the arm of man more than we fear the hand of God.

Yes indeedy!

I think for your second example the key words are "who had a church in a small town in Utah", small towns have a strange little law of their own, and ironically they are often different laws for different towns. Considering how cliquey some wards can get I could see a ward in a small town deciding not to give business to a pastor of another faith. Is it right? No. Is it something that you would see from a majority of the members of the church? No. But seeing as it happened in a small town where there is a good chance that non-LDS were in the minority I could see it happening.

I would like to find a cure for cancer, something that doesn't mess you up for the rest of your life.

Hahah no, no kids yet, but when we do I will keep those names in mind.

I think Nuclear power can be a good thing if handled correctly. What I found most interesting about the article though is that they are not going to be using Yucca Mountain for nuclear waste storage. That fact alone makes me happy that I am no longer living in Salt Lake City. If Utah can handle a Nuclear power plant better than they have handled the disposal of nuclear waste then I think it could really be a good thing in regard to jobs and such, otherwise I could see it as a big problem.

I'm doing pretty good, I was actually the one who brought him back. Mentioned a thread that he might be interested in and suddenly here he was again. Great to have you back sweetie!

This is very true. If someone really wants to stop an addiction they will, however having a basis to work off of to keep away from temptation and things that might cause you to relapse is a good thing as well. I believe he really wants to change. I just want to try and help find him some good resources for making that change more effective.

I have always found that watching a show like this is more enjoyable if you have someone to discuss it with. I look forward each week to what people have to say almost as much as I look forward to what is going to happen next on the show.

I agree about Yasmin as well, I thought the statement she made about not working so that she wouldn't have people getting upset with her for what she was doing was idiotic. People get just as upset with someone who is not doing anything as they do with someone who does stuff but messes up a lot. I was actually quite happy that their tribe lost immunity because I think they needed to really experience the stress that comes with a tribal counsel. It feels almost like their tribe has become club med and suddenly losing is shaking things up for them. What really interested me was the division in the tribe. In the Foa Foa tribe they tend to vote together, probably due to Russell. However in the other tribe they were very split, with the leader of the tribe seeming to expect that everyone would follow him just because he was the leader. It will be interesting to see where it all goes. If their tribe loses more in the future then there could be some major shaking up of their tribe.

So, what were your thoughts for this week's episode? Personally I think Russell (from the Foa Foa tribe) hit an all new level of creepy, and I don't mean in his manipulation but rather from one of his comments. I found it interesting to see the dynamics of the other tribe after the immunity challenge. I have to say that they definitely act more like a regular tribe than the other tribe does. And I think it has a lot to do with Russell. I did find it interesting that Russell has moved on from Jaison. Very interesting episode.

I have a friend who is currently trying to fight a pornography addiction, he has had trouble with it off and on since he was five when a neighbor kid showed him a pornographic picture. Currently he is trying to change his life in such a way that he can overcome his addiction, but he is having troubles with resisting tempations and old habits. I know there are some awesome people on here who have some awesome resources when it comes to overcoming pornography. I am wondering if some of you could list some of those resources for me so that I can pass them on to my friend.

I don't know if there was one exact moment that I knew I was in love with my husband, but I do remember going home from college and leaving him behind and crying so much on the plane that the stewardesses took special care of me. Later when I came back when classes had started up he met me at the airport and as we walked out of the airport he put his arm around me and held me close and said, "Let's not do that again" meaning be apart for so long. I sure am happy I have him as a husband.

I think they would let the medical personnel in, if the person who has the emergency is in a session then they take the name slip and place it back in the stack of names to allow someone else to go through for that name. It is what my temple does for anyone who is unable to finish a session for whatever reason.