RipplecutBuddha

And it seems that tongue just won't stop wagging Oh well, if we can endure the trials of the forums, maybe we have some additional hope to use

I agree regarding the implied separation, but only to a point. There is no denying the doctrinal differences that separate the LDS Church from a majority of other Christian religions. Does this constitute us not being Christian? Not at all, but then that very issue has been at the core of the debate for nearly two centuries now. What I like about the article is how we appear to the objective viewer from outside our faith. Our humanity is everywhere present, just as it ought to be, but the sincerity of our intent and the importance of our faith is not attacked or degraded at all. The picture that is presented in the article is neither protagonistic or antagonistic. It presents the facts in a complete image. a very good, and very rare, article. Thank you.

Oh, there goes the neighborhood...

The essential "cute girl" I have in mind...and if I recall correctly, she's pretty good at baking too!

Work on your testimony prayerfully. I know it sounds weird, but I felt the same thing. I then began a new study of the Book of Mormon, and as I progressed, my confidence in the church meetings improved greatly. Perhaps your intimidation is regarding spirituality, or spiritual strength. Also, volunteer to help in the ward. As you get to know the people better, you'll be more comfortable around them in most any situation. Good luck.

Um...the last time I dropped something in front of a girl, I was universally ignored on campus for a month. So what if it was a massive water balloon? I thought it was funny. Although, I am wanting a GF to hang with...and the recipie sounds great....hmm...maybe a trip to Albuquerque....

FYI Your daughter is keeping to a very common standard in the church....for full time missionaries. That's the only time I can think of that such a restrictive standard is set for the listening of music. Different types of music inspire different people in different ways....that's why there's so many varieties and genres from which to choose. However, if something is not pleasing to you that is not sufficient reason to assume it must be wrong for everyone. For example, I don't really care for country music too much. There are a lot of great songs in that type of music, and many of them have strong religious themes in the lyrics, but I simply cannot listen to it for long.

Didn't I say that on page one??

1. I had this pocket knife that my dad had just helped me sharpen. I was eight or so. I was laying in bed looking at the blade, when I saw the cord to my stereo. I decided to see how sharp it was and gently carved into the plastic of the cord. Soon I heard a bang, and all the house went silent. This was at about 11:00 at night so everyone was asleep. I realized the whole breaker panel had tripped, or at least the entire basement. I folded my knife up and went to sleep. In the morning I opened my knife to see two nearly complete circles cut out of the edge of my knife where the short hapened to jump between the wires. I kept the knife, but never let anyone see the blade again. 2. I wanted to see how smooth the exhaust pipes were on my dad's motorcycle. he had just gotten off of it, and I grabbed them right next to the motor....where they're really really hot for some reason... I had to have my hand wrapped with burn gel for two weeks...in first grade. 3. Same reasoning, one year later, with the disc brakes on my dad's airplane, a Cessna 210. Same situation; we had just landed after flying home from Idaho. Same hand...same result. 4. I tried drifting in a work truck my dad gave me to drive for high school. One day I decided to show off for my little brother. Bad idea. I drifted too far to the right, was headed off the road...so I hit the brakes. When we landed, both tires blew on the driver's side, and my little brother (sans seat belt) was nearly in my lap. We got out okay. It earned me (us) a two hour walk home in 90 degree weather, three hours of finding a spare, and a portable air compressor, filling up the front tire, replacing the rear tire, and explaining to my dad how I managed to get a 24 inch long gouge on the inner side wall of the back tire...after he immediately noticed there was a new tire on the truck that wasn't there earlier. He wasn't too mad since I paid for the tire myself, but my driving was very closely monitored after that....for quite a while.

okay, now it's Lines in The Sand by Dream Theater...gotta listen to a different album I guess.

Dr. Fennyman <---- spelling?? As early as the sixties he was concerned about the loss of what he called "true science". In essence he stated that the science he was taught was a discipline of study that tested for ALL results in an experiment. Be whatever results they were, they were real results and must be accounted for in the hypothesis and/or theory. Instead what he saw was a discipline of study that only accepted the EXPECTED results as valid, regardless of whether they were a complete picture of the experimental results. I have the quote at home, and I'll post it here, but that's the main problem I see in the scientific world today. When the results don't match the expected outcome, then the experiment is assumed to be the part that is flawed, rather than the hypothesis or core theory.

I work nights too, so I know what you're talking about...of course, being a member already, they don't bother me much at all. Hey! that's it...join the church, and they'll let you sleep in peace...

I never met a chocolate brownie I haven't been able to eat all at once...but I stink at baking...so this challenge will have to wait...*depressed*

Place a sign on your door stating that you are asleep and that you work nights. As a missionary I always passed on those doors posting such information. There isn't an official opt-out situation as the tracting patterns are kept by the missionary companions themselves, and nowhere else. There isn't an official tracting map or list kept by the LDS Church, or the particular mission you are in. Another option is to ask the missionaries, on their next visit, to please write down your address and keep it as a 'please do not knock on this door' situation, and explain why to them. Your kindness in doing so will be appreciated, and chances are the missionaries will be happy to keep your request in mind.

*final update* 2-22-10 Well, it's over. It happened earlier than I expected. She had another rotten day with her man and his mother. I guess while she was asleep, they stole her wallet and all her money amounting to thirty dollars or more. So while she was at work, I talked to my brother and his wife, and they were eager to meet her today so she could move in and start getting her life together. The meeting will not happen though. Saturday evening she had a vicious fight with her guy, and she called her parents at home in Colorado to say she was done up here and needed to get there. They were up here in three hours, and she quit the diner immediately (while I was still sleeping for the night shift). She called me from Colorado to let me know what happened and to thank me for helping her out of a bad place. So...she's done with Mr. Teriffic, safe and able to see her 4-year-old son, and looking at a great summer job already. Once again, I must thank all of you for your input and advice. JudoMinja, I thank you especially because I gave her your comments to read, and she told me that they set her firmly in what she needed to do. She also thanks all of you for helping me. This is one happy conclusion I will always remember. I hope there are many more in the future.

Yeah, I've already found two places in town that will take her in immediately if needed. That's beside myself and two of my brothers and their families in town that are willing to do the same. Sobriety is doing wonders for her, and I am very amazed at her personal strength. She has been clean from day one, and has no regrets so far. Apparently her husband is a little better, but still severely jealous. Since she's much happier recently, I'm back in watch and be a friend mode. When she's ready she already knows I'm there for her as well as another employee here. Thanks again.

I would laugh if the actual number was 42.....

Just for the fun of it, I'd like to include a few related questions. When was there ever a son without a father? What father was not first a son? We see in nature a perfect pattern of life. Each example of life reproduces offspring. That offspring carries within itself the potential to become as the parent is. The question thus becomes; are we really children of God the Father? If we are, then what of our potential? Would it follow through that we carry within ourselves the potential to become as God is?

It's only worrying if you assume that our current understanding of the universe is absolutely correct and complete. This would be the same in my mind as saying that the understanding of our intellects determines our reality. To use an example, because people once thought the earth was flat, then that would mean that it really was. The universe is what it is, independant of our understanding of it. As we gain a greater understanding of the rules it must follow, and the laws involved in the behavior of matter, the more we understand that there are some things that simply must be true and unchanging; else the universe would not keep itself as orderly as it is. Of course I could be wrong, it's happened before.

Ah, well at least I managed a common misinterpretation. It's way more embarassing when I invent an entirely new misinterpretation.

I recently craved chocolate to the point of distraction. I was absolutely bereft of my drug of choice, and being broke, totally unable to find peace or satisfaction. In a fit of madness I opened the refrigerator and in stunned silence beheld the bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup. I had totally forgotten all about buying it just the day before. As soon as my craving was silenced, (and after I washed the chocolate out of my goatee) I put the near empty bottle back in the refrigerator and resolved to buy a couple more on payday. After all, being prepared for emergencies is part of the gospel.

Wouldn't the probability of either 1 or 0 automatically establish a 50/50 situation? (just putting in my two cents)

This is what happens when we attempt to square current scientific understanding with what we find in the scriptures, and I find it disappointing and sad every time. The scriptures have never been intended to be used as a scientific guide to our history. It has been intended to be used as a spiritual guide to our history, present state, and future potetial. Of the two, which do you find more useful? "We are not physical beings busy having spiritual experiences. Rather, we are spiritual beings busy having physical experiences." I forget who said that, but it wasn't me. All the same it resonates with me whenever this type of argument comes up. We are seeking, and correctly so, to gain a greater understanding of what the acutal conditions of the flood were....How did it happen? What was it like on the ark? How many animals really did get put on the ark? These are all valid and important questions....but also totally unanswerable. There is no scientific, or even logical method of gaining a full understanding of how it worked. There are several instances of this happening throughout the scriptures. They're called miracles. How did Jesus peform his miracles? What about Moses, or Elijah, or any of the other prophets that did what they did? If you aren't willing to accept "By the power of God" as a valid answer, then any further discussion will ultimately end in what has already happened; bitter arguments, tangental jabs at other posters, and most importantly, a loss of the Spirit. We cannot answer all the questions about the flood, because we don't have all the facts surrounding the event. We cannot even accurately determine how many people attended President Obama's inaguration, and that was only a year ago. We must remember the limitations of human nature, the corrosive effects of time upon recorded history, and the severe holes in what we have managed to preserve of our history. More importantly we must remember the actual purpose of why we're here, and what we need to accomplish in order to fulfill our potential. The questions surrounding the flood will be answered in the due time of God. As of right now, the particulars of the event itself beyond what we now know are of no eternal importance to us. There are more important issues to worry about than this. If it were otherwise, God would have revealed it to us. The flood happened. There are eternal lessons and principles that we need to learn from it that have significant importance to us spiritually. These are the reasons the story is in the bible. These are the things we need to learn....not how Noah managed to get all the animals on board...not even necessarily where it all happened. There's nothing at all wrong with saying "Right now, I just don't know.", because right now, nobody does.

1+1=2 It's been true since before the earth was in existence, let alone before man was placed here. It continues to be true now. It will remain a truth through the eternities, long after we are finished with our learning here. No matter how you choose to represent this simple equasion, regardless of the language, or physical objects that could be used to represent each figure, it still remains a truth, and there is no other proper answer to the question. 1.99999999 is wrong just as 2.00000001 is wrong. They're both very very close, but still wrong. Because we can understand and accept this simple mathematical formula as a reliable, if not eternal truth, we can then begin to stretch our understanding to other, and more significant, eternal truths. Find a foundation, then build upon it. A foundation based upon truth will withstand all that comes against it.

Hell's Kitchen by Dream Theater. It's a pretty good instrumental by the best progressive rock group on earth....IMHO.... I'll get it uploaded to my page in a second. Or not. It seems I can't do that just yet for some reason. Oh, well. It' still in my head, so I'm good for now.