pam
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Posts posted by pam
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I think the reason you don't want to go on a mission is totally dumb. And extremely vain and selfish. Sounds like all you can think about is yourself. Such a shallow shallow person. I hope you don't go on a mission to represent the Church with that kind of attitude.
- laronius, mordorbund and Carborendum
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9 hours ago, Jamie123 said:
Something's just struck me about the Book of Mormon. Almost no female characters. The Bible has Eve, Esther, Deborah, Ruth, Jael, Hannah, Jezabel to name but a few. As far as I recall, the only woman mentioned by name so far is Sariah. Why do you think this is?
(OK Mary is mentioned somewhere, but it is the same Mary as in the Bible.)
(I'm still racking my brains here. Plenty of mentions of "wives" and "daughters", but none that you would really call characters in the story. None that talk to snakes or hammer tent pegs into people's heads. Well, apart from Sariah. Not that she ever hammered a tent peg into anyone's head, but you know what I mean.)
Only 6 women in the Book of Mormon are actually mentioned by name:
Sariah
Isabel
Abish
Eve
Sarah
Mary
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7 hours ago, estradling75 said:
Your analysis is flawed...
A Culture's value of women will determine will determine how often they are mentioned in the historical record... And frankly most cultures have not had that high of a value of women. That is is just something we have to acknowledge as simply being sucky.
The first flaw I see is comparing a 4000 plus year record to a 1000ish year record... Just from the number of years covered you would expect that the bible would have 4 times as many (assuming the cultural value is largely the same) So while 37 verse 8 seems large and important once we divide by 4 for the time span 37/4 = 9.25 vs 8 seems like a reasonable margin of error.
Another flaw is that Nephites cultural began in 600ish BC. To be fair we would need to start the Biblical record count at 600ish BC or give the Book of Mormon all the counts prior to 600ish BC because that is a culture that the Nephites and the Jew shared and could draw on but that Mormon would skip in making a record.
So while a raw numbers count can be fun to play with... but to make some kind of valid point you need a lot more rigor in your analyses
I hope you noticed that he used the tongue out emoji. What he said was pretty much tongue in cheek.
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Mosiah 5:7 can be a bit confusing. Here is what Joseph Fielding Smith said:
"The Son of God has a perfect right to call us his children, spiritually begotten, and we have a perfect right to look on him as our father who spiritually begot us.
"Now if these critics would read carefully the Book of Mormon, they would find that when the Savior came and visited the Nephites, he told them that he had been sent by his Father. He knelt before them, and he prayed to his Father. He taught them to pray to his Father, but that did not lessen in the least our duty and responsibility of looking upon the Son of God as a father to us because he spiritually begot us." (Conference Reports, Oct. 1962, p. 21)
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2 hours ago, Jamie123 said:
I was familiar with Jesus' story of the mustard seed before I ever heard of the Book of Mormon and I initially thought this was what the missionaries were talking about. Maybe they just said "seed" and I subconsciously inserted the "mustard" myself. Thanks - and sorry to get flustered over this.
Don't be sorry. It made me do a little research and study which is always good. Never apologize for your questions here.
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This is what I found in the Book of Mormon about seed. It doesn't mention mustard seed but it does mention a seed and a tree springing up.
If we give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed…behold, it will be to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within your yourselves–It must needs be that this is a good seed. Alma 32:27
If we nurture that seed patiently and diligently, Alma says, eventually “it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life” (Alma 32:41).
Alma later explained to his son Helaman, “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6).
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So I do have a question that might be silly but it just hit me as I was reading in Mosiah 2. (Yes I'm behind).
I was always under the impression that all people in the land were invited to come hear King Benjamin speak. Yet in this chapter, King Benjamin uses the term "brethren" a lot. So were only men there? Or was he speaking more to the heads of households so that they could teach their families?
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In Mosiah 1:3 it mentions the "mysteries of God." Just what are those mysteries that King Benjamin is referring to?
"The term mysteries of God as used in the Book of Mormon denotes the saving principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are termed mysteries because they are unavailable to the natural man, not because they are mysterious or difficult to understand. They must be revealed from God through faith and obedience. They are designed to lead God's children to eternal life."
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So I've known that the Book of Mormon was written in Reformed Egyptian but what I didn't know is something that Hugh Nibley (LDS Author and Apologist) said:
"'We now realize that the ancient Jews could write quickly and boldly (in Hebrew), in an artistic flowing hand, with the loving penmanship of those who enjoy writing.' And the Nephites got rid of this to learn in its place the most awkward, difficult, and impractical system of writing ever devised by man! Why all the trouble? Simply to save space. What space? Space on valuable plates. When did the custom begin? With Lehi. Where and when did he learn 'the language of the Egyptians'? In Palestine, of course, before he ever thought of himself as a record-keeper. Did the wealthy Lehi learn Egyptian characters so that he could sit in his house in the land of Jerusalem and by writing Hebrew with demotic (a form of Egyptian writing which differed from classical Egyptian hieroglyphics; it was used for recording deeds, books, etc.) symbols save a few cents a month on writing materials? And did he command his sons to learn Egyptian so they could save space when they kept records? Of course not: when they learned the language, neither Lehi nor his sons had any idea that some day it would be useful to keepers of records on metal plates. They had no other reason for learning Egyptian characters than to read and write Egyptian. It was only later when historians became cramped for space that they saw the advantage of continuing to write in Egyptian. And the Egyptian characters can only have been preserved for their use because the language was also preserved..."
"The fact remains that the abridging and editing of the Book of Mormon was in a language known to no other people on earth but the Nephites." (Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert and The World of the Jaredites , pp. 16-17)
In conclusion, what was the language used by the writers of the Book of Mormon? The short answer, "reformed Egyptian," is probably more helpful and accurate than the long answer discussed above.
- Vort, JohnsonJones and zil2
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6 hours ago, Traveler said:
One of the big questions coming out of the current conflict in Israel is how did the military intelligence fail and not see this coming? Not just the intelligence of Israel but that the USA had not idea either? Perhaps I can provide some insights. During my time in the military, I was attached to an army intelligence unit.
There are two parts of military intelligence. The first part is the collection of information and data. The second part is analysis of the data and information. Thus, there are two possibilities for failure – First, the lack of or incorrectness of data and information or second, the failure to draw the correct conclusions in analyzing the data and information.
The USA has had many failures in recent history. Both in collecting adequate data and information but I believe more so in analyzing the data and information correctly. I became aware of intelligence failures concerning the Vietnam conflict during my time with army intelligence. I was quite taken back because operational events demonstrated that well known elements of intelligence were being ignored – I believe strictly for political purposes.
I saw what I believed to be more failures during the Carter ministration when with the hostages taken in Iran. Then the continuation of failures that brought us 9/11 and ignited the gulf war under the Bush administration. Recently there have been critical failures from the sectary of Defense (General Lloyd Austin) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of our military (General Milley). First with the withdrawal of US assets in Afghanistan we were told that there would not be problems because Isis could not take over Afghanistan for months or years. There were other breaches as well. Then with the invasion of Ukraine where we were initially told that Russia would not invade (or was unlikely to invade) then we were told that Ukraine would fall within 72 hours to a week.
Now we are being told that there was no intelligence indicating that Hamas would attack Israel. I am concerned that we will discover that there was intelligence to the contrary but for whatever reason (likely political) was ignored or diminished. I am also concerned that there is intelligence that critical terrorists’ risks are being birched at both our southern and northern borders. Again (though I do not have access to secure information or data) I believe it possible that critical data and information is being set aside for political reasons. I am also concerned that despite all the intelligence breaches and the severity of the breaches that no one is being relieved of duty and replaced.
These breaches come under both Republican and Democrat administrations. I believe this is much more than a political party issue. I am also concerned that in all the news services I only hear our new reporters blaming one political party or the other. I am beginning to think this is by design.
The Traveler
Intelligence is so much more advanced than it was during your time in Vietnam. This was just outright embarassing on all parts that their intelligence nor the U.S. saw this coming. Somehow Hamas was able to keep this so much under wraps that even with our advanced intelligence it wasn't detected.
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31 minutes ago, Lumin8 said:
In my opinion, this life is not to determine what you like or what would make you happy, that was the first estate test when we had all the options before us. This life is to show what the true desires of our heart are despite being in a fallen state. It is to show how much we like those things, to what degree.
I think a good metaphor would be the soldier in training who says they would never leave a fellow soldier behind but not everyone in the heat of the battle and in that confusing state would actually go back for their fellow soldier. When one has a chance to reveal what takes priority over other things, that is when what really makes a person happy or not is revealed. As Elder Bednar puts it, the true test of this life is to see if we follow the promptings and desires of the body or do we follow the desires of the spirit? That is what President Nelson said in his talk that thinking Celestial means being spiritually minding. It is just another way of saying, are we spiritually minded or carnally minded. What pulls at our heart the most? God will interpret our actions with that in mind, what is our true desire of the heart.
@Lumen8 I'm curious to know what part of San Diego you live in.
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16 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:
Comic books used to be so easy to find when I was younger. The would be in stores and even gas stations. They were everywhere. The last time I think I saw comic books in the stores was at a Walmart some years ago. These days I don't see the comicbooks around like they used to be.
The comic books today definitely aren't like the comic books I grew up with.
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On 10/2/2023 at 3:04 PM, prisonchaplain said:
Vancouver, WA kind of covers Oregon too, since it's just north of Portland.
Portland does have a temple. It may be to take some of the pressure off of it.
- prisonchaplain, Vort and JohnsonJones
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I'm happy to hear of another temple in Alaska and also Maui will now have one of their own.
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- Savai’i, Samoa
- Cancún, Mexico
- Piura, Peru
- Huancayo, Peru
- Viña del Mar, Chile
- Goiãnia, Brazil
- João Pessoa, Brazil
- Calabar, Nigeria
- Cape Coast, Ghana
- Luanda, Angola
- Mbuji-Mayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Laoag, Philippines
- Osaka, Japan
- Kahului, Hawaii
- Fairbanks, Alaska
- Vancouver, Washington
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Roanoke, Virginia
- Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
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I think AI is great. To a point. However, when it comes to some things I prefer being able to research instead of having someone or some thing answer it for me. I learn more that way. Or maybe I retain it better when I have to actually do research.
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22 hours ago, Traveler said:
I am of the opinion that AI is not quite what a lot of people think. Sometimes not even those that create the software. Sometime ago I designed controls for AGV’s. AGV stands for Automated Guided Vehicle. In essence this is a cadre of unmanned fork trucks under complete control of computers. After running simulation of the factory against known parameters it was determined that 30 AGV were needed to handle the load. Currently there were 20 manned fork trucks, but the factory was being expanded. It was determined that the company could only afford 15 automated AGV’s. I added a simple change to the AI algorithm (learning algorithm) that I thought would handle work assignments quicker and more efficiently.
Bottom line – 12 AGV’s were able to handle all the work assignments – even for the expanded factory. There were other surprises discovered by the plant sustainers (system operators) that allowed them to operate the factory more efficiently and reliably (with one exception – but that is a whole other discussion).
I am excited that the Church is developing its own AI. But this is not a kind of entity that is capable of thinking on its own – only within parameters. This is why it will never guess or attempt to tell anyone where the next temples will be built. The advantage AI has over humans it that it is able to scan much more information than people. Like a robot in a factory, it can perform more specifically defined tasks under much more stringent and defined parameters than people.
The Church AI can access more information than a person or even a number of people – in addition the AI can organized and craft the information faster than people. This can be a valuable tool to those interested in ways of utilizing the data and creating reports. But be assured that an AI crafted by anti-LDS accessing the same information would produce very different results.
The Traveler
Is the Church developing its own AI? This one that NT just showed us isn't affiliated with the Church at all.
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1 hour ago, Ironhold said:
Not everyone has reliable internet access even nowadays, but there are still places where over-the-air TV and radio are big things.
I was just saying I personally watch on their website.
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I just watch at the church's website.
If Unmarried When I Die Is Exaltation Out Of The Question?
in Marriage and Relationship Advice
Posted
I feel for your situation. I'm basically in the same. Been divorced for 23 years now. I'm just a couple of years younger than you and not sealed to anyone. I worry about my exaltation as well. I don't think you and I are the only ones in this boat.