HEthePrimate

Too bad there wasn't a wormhole in the first temple, to take your quickly to the second one.

What does "only true church" mean? Does it mean that everything every other church teaches is completely false? Or does it mean something else?

I'm not comfortable with that approach. If one spouse expects respect from the other, he/she needs to be willing to show respect to them, too. Being a doormat doesn't solve anything--it just avoids dealing directly with problems that could later bloom into something worse.It is possible to agree to disagree. Or to say, "Look, I disagree with this, but we'll do it your way this time. Another time we can do it my way." But marriage is a two-way street, and just assuming you're always wrong or at fault and your spouse is always right does not seem healthy to me. The words "give in" are very telling--they imply discomfort or a lack of willingness, and that's not good. It could all too easily lead to resentment building up.

I don't know you personally, and don't know your history, but my first impulse is to say, "Don't give up yet!" That, and "Don't panic!" Having an argument and sleeping in different rooms for the first time in six years probably don't merit separating. These things happen. Many/most/all couples have their disagreements and arguments, and if you give up now, you may miss out on all kinds of wonderful times with your wife in the future. I'm speaking as a widower--your time with your spouse is precious! I do not miss the arguments I had with my wife, but oh, how I wish she were alive today to have an argument with! And then make up with. Don't give up without trying hard to save your relationship. There are times when separation is warranted, or even necessary, but make darn sure this is one of those times before doing it. To quote Treebeard, "Don't be hasty!" Good luck to you, HEP

I think God speaks to people in their own language, so they can understand. Not just their "speaking" languge, but their cultural language. This may at least partly account for different religions containing so much truth. It may also argue for the advisability of listening to people of other, and seeing what we can learn from them, as well as what we can teach them.

Well, it's good to know they've changed to all private showers at the MTC. Good for them! :)

I think you're right that people are starting to go overboard. It is a bit over-the-top, for example, to be giving lessons on dressing modestly to four-year-olds, and to expect them to wear clothing that would cover non-existent garments for four-year-olds. Yes, teach them from when they're young, but there's a time and a place for everything. Let's let kids have a childhood, for heaven's sake!Plus, they're defining 'modesty' too narrowly. It may be partly about clothing and hair styles, but not only that. It's also about not getting puffed up with pride, not putting yourself above or before other people, and not doing the Rameumpton thing. Likewise, our discussions about morality should not be only about sex--it's much broader than that.

Considering that your pieces are handmade, and not mass-manufactured, and nicer than the others, it's fair to charge a higher price. Obviously you'll need to consider how much it costs you to make the headbands, in terms of materials, labor/time, and overhead. But you also need to consider what people are willing/able to pay for them--if the cost of making them exceeds what you can sell them for, you might want to try a different product line. The people in the shop next door to where I work sell high-end young children's clothing. I've had friends go shopping there and decide that it was too expensive for them. But their business is thriving nonetheless, so even if not everybody can afford what you're selling, you don't necessarily have to give up! There might be a niche for you.I'm not an expert on marketing, but one thing you might consider is giving a few (not too many!) away to friends who have infants. That way you'll have children modeling your wares for you, so you have the extra "cuteness factor," and the parents telling people where they got it. Word-of-mouth can be effective, but you'll still want to pony up and buy some advertising. Or donate to charitable causes that will advertise your business in return. And do the footwork--physically go around, introduce yourself to people, and show them what you do. And above all, GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE! Be nice to people. Seems like a no-brainer, but my business competitor seems to keep forgetting it, and we get their ex-customers! BTW, the Facebook gallery is a good idea. More and more, people are going online to shop. The folks next door (the ones with children's clothing) have found that they get MORE business online than walk-ins, and as a result are reducing the hours they're open and focusing more on Internet sales. They still maintain a storefront, but are changing the workflow. Where I work is more established and we get more walk-ins than they do, and even more phone orders. Good luck! I know running your own business is tons of work, and I wish you the best. :)

It's heartbreaking that some people have to go through the garbage to get enough to eat. I like those programs where grocery stores and restaurants take foods at their expiration date and donate them to food pantries. That way it doesn't just go in the garbage, and it helps the needy. I guess food doesn't immediately go bad at the expiration date, but it's a reminder that it needs to be eaten soon, eh? I'm glad that you're in a better situation now, and wish you the best for the future. I've faced tough times before, too, but not quite as bad as yours. ((HUGS))

I've known several people with doubts who still remained active and held callings. It's not that unusual. It bothers me that it's so very taboo to have doubts about the Church. I thought we believed in freedom of thought and inquiry! And it seems natural that over the course of a lifetime, a person's perspective would change from time to time, and new questions come up that she hadn't asked previously, along with challenges to one's faith. That's not something to be ashamed up and hide from. We should be talking about these things openly--that's what church is for, isn't it? If we don't acknowledge questions and doubts and openly discuss them, how else can we help people deal with them? And treating them as something to be ashamed of is not a good way of encouraging discussion. I hope things go well with you and your wife and family. Since I don't know you personally, I'm not comfortable giving you too much advice, but I will say that some people I know have doubts, but continue participating in church anyway. It may be partly for the sake of their family, which is a very good reason in itself, but also because they see that there is plenty of good in the Church and they agree with some of what it teaches, and that's good enough. Other people decide it's better for them to stop attending, but still support their spouse in attending, and that works for them. I'm not sure the "either you're completely in or you're completely out" paradigm is all that useful. I'd rather see a person show up only half the time than not at all, and I'd rather be friendly with nonbelievers and work together toward common goals than have them leave entirely.

To me, it's more important to understand the character of God. That is, what kind of personality he has, his relationship with us, what we can expect him to do, etc. From the scriptures, we know that Jesus imitates the Father perfectly, only doing what the Father would do. So whether you're dealing with one or the other, you can expect the same sort of response to you from either one of them. Observing the relationship between the Father and the Son can teach us some very important lessons about how to be with each other, too. So I focus more on understanding his character traits, like love, patience, benevolence, wisdom, giving us commandments only for our good (because he loves us), that he has parental feelings towards us, etc. We're supposed to be learning and practicing to be more like him, to mold our character to be more like his character. His eye color, hairstyle, or whether there's one god or three is less important than understanding what kind of character God has, and we are supposed to be trying to emulate. That said, knowing some other facts about God can be useful. It's very helpful to me to know that God, in the person of Jesus, came down and lived among us, suffered temptations, illnesses, injury, and death so that he could understand from our point of view what it's like to be us, and succor us accordingly, and not just knowing according to the spirit. That's very comforting, and does tell me something about his character, how incredibly loving and humble he is.

I don't recall there being individual showers when I was at the MTC, but then, that was a long time ago. It's possible they have them now. I heard the sisters had private showers (though I do NOT know from firsthand experience! ), and I don't understand why they would, but not the brothers. Are men supposed to be less modest than women?

I disagree with the notion that all sin is equal. Following that logic, baring one's shoulder is just as bad as going completely naked.And the idea that any sin keeps us out of the presence of God was pretty much disproven by Jesus' entire life and ministry. God came down and lived among wretched, sinful human beings for over 30 years, ate with them, forgave them, loved them, and died for them.

Yes, Vort, everybody who disagrees with you is an anti-Mormon troll. Is it too much to ask that you simply address the topic at hand, rather than getting all hostile towards the person asking the question?

Are they still doing aversion therapy? I thought they discontinued that years ago. If they're still doing it, then yeah, they're going too far. If someone's homosexual, then they're homosexual, so rather than trying to "turn" someone hetero, the focus should instead be on controlling one's behavior so they can live the law of chastity.

Kind of like how The Book of Mormon condemns polygamy, but the Bible doesn't, and yet Mormons are among the few Christians to have historically practiced it? Gotta love the irony!

People can indeed derive a lot of benefit from studying The Book of Mormon and other scriptures. :)

Dang, what happened to the 'Laugh Out Loud' button?Anyway,

Probably for the same reason Mormons are trying to save you by converting you. What it comes down to is this: You need to do what you believe is right. If you do join the LDS Church, I suggest that you make extra efforts to remain friendly with your non-LDS family and friends. Show them with your actions you are the same person you were before, that you have not "gone off the deep end," so to speak, but now you're a better you. Tell them what the gospel means to you, and that part of the gospel (the most important part) involves loving and serving others, and maybe that'll help reassure them you'll be okay, and you're not going to leave them. Peace, HEP

I want to agree, but when one side is trying to help the other side understand that he's going to burn in a lake of fire and brimstone for all eternity because he likes boys, you can see why the gay guy is not going to be interested in listening. Maybe BOTH sides can come up with more constructive things to say.Anyway, back to what we agree on--Dan Savage behaved like an idiot on that occasion.

Well, visibly upset and wiping tears from their eyes seems a bit of an overreaction. I might have walked out, too, but more out of anger for his being an idiot.Perhaps I overstated.

What about dowsing?

:rolleyes:Oh, come on! I'm not going to say the dress is appropriate, and yes, kids should follow reasonable dress codes, but "abominable?" Really? Can we ditch the hyperbole, please? She's a kid who made a mistake. Big whoop! No need to go all hellfire and damnation!

Does it really matter?

What Savage did was ill-considered, to say the least. Though I partially agree with him, that the Bible does contain offensive material--or material that could be taken as offensive when considered out of context of the biblical message as a whole--he could have made his point less aggressively, and in a less offensive manner. Especially when speaking to youth one has to be mindful of what's appropriate and what's not. On the other hand, people do need to stop freaking out whenever someone *gasp!* disagrees with their religion.