Elohel

And that's your perspective on the issue. Seems as if you choose "man needs hope so he created Christ". Absolutely your choice.

That's what I'm talking about. I feel I have manifestations from the Spirit. Someone else feels I'm crazy. Christ came so man may have hope. Man has to have hope so he created Christ. I say it's white you say it's black The glass is half full The glass is half empty .... My point is that it's just perspective. One can choose to look at it and say "man makes hope" or one can choose to look at it and say "Christ came and gave us hope" Your call. The only thing you can do it try to find out for yourself, right?

I guess it just depends on your perspective. I feel like I receive direct manifestations of feeling and thought from the Holy Ghost. Someone else feels like I'm crazy and I'm just making stuff up because I want to. Only thing you can do is find out for yourself and test the waters.

I've heard of all of them, mostly on my mission. They are all rediculous. I can explain the last one, though. Decades AFTER Joseph Smith's death, some guy said he heard Joseph say that he thought the Moon was inhabited. What a joke. I heard President Regan loved catfood, seriously. Just kidding. Here's a nicely worded quote from LDS FAIR" Finally, we consider a statement attributed to Joseph Smith that may prove to be the one most frequently cited by modern critics. An article in The Young Woman's Journal 3 (1892), 263-264, indicates that Joseph Smith, as early as 1837, had declared that there six-foot people living on the moon, who dressed like Quakers and lived nearly a thousand years. Because of its absurdity, some critics have included the article in their list of Joseph Smith's "false prophecies," though it is by no means prophetic in nature and despite the fact that the article does not attribute the belief to divine revelation. (Joseph may have been joking.) The statement regarding people on the moon is both second-hand and very late, and there are no known statements from Joseph Smith himself. The source is the Oliver B. Huntington Journal, Book 14, and is from a journal entry dated 1881, nearly forty years after Joseph Smith's death! It is hardly a reliable source.

I work in the IT field. Lostsheep's best option would be to use DNS level filtering. No sticky software, only a slight modification to the settings made in the router. OpenDNS | Providing A Safer And Faster Internet It has an almost 100% catch rate with pornographic material. And it FREE, no strings, and no software needed. And, if it's any help...I attended a 12 step program for help with ceasing my pornographic viewing habits. They do help and I realized there was a deeper issue for viewing pornographic material than just physical reasons. There have been good posts and bad posts concerning how to break the habit. What worked for me? Realizing that pornography very much damaged my life. Realizing that pornography ruled my agency and thoughts, at times. And realizing that I should just take a step back and not beat myself up over any of this. This is an emotional battle, one where you will need all the loving support from anybody willing to give it. I can tell you that I love you more than you will ever know for trying to deal with this problem. I still struggle, at times, and what keeps me on the right track is remembering to never look back with disdain, but to keep moving forward with a perfect brightness of hope. Remove negative feelings, and replace them with positive ones. Pornography is horrible for the soul, but that does not make you a horrible person. Yes, this is a battle, but one, in my opinion, you shouldn't dwell on unless absolutely necessary. Fight when you have to, but rest when you can. If you constantly worry, stress, fret, or feel anxious over this than Satan is getting to you. Heavenly Father loves you, supports you, and wants you to be joyful. Keep up the good work my brother, I love your honesty. Lastly, have someone you can always confide in. My wife is so supportive of me in this. If I ever feel tempted or if I ever give in, she always comforts me and helps me to move on. I think this can be one of the best things you can do. You always have us here who are willing to help, but nothing is like having someone really there for you. The Atonement heals brother, I believe in you!

My reply was just fine, sorry you felt that way about something not even written to you. I think the only "air" of pity was felt in your statement. What I wrote came sincerely from my heart and I am very much insulted by your foul comments. Keep them to yourself next time if you don't have anything better to say. :mad::mad:

does God not mourn the loss of one of his children? Does a missionary not mourn the loss of a convert? Does Christ not mourn the loss of a sheep? Please, I will mourn with the best of them. Cheers, whatever.

No argument ever convinced anybody. Nobody ever gained a true witness from the Holy Spirit through debate and argument. You seem like a well versed scriptorian, and a true Evangelical. I think I might be a bit mentally outclassed, especially when it comes to these subjects. As a matter of fact, I don't even meet your criteria for a well read previous Protestant. What I do know, however, is that the Book of Mormon is true scripture. To entertain your idea, though, I will give my common reply to my issue of the Trinity. It is by no means a complete discourse of all my issue with the Trinity, but it seems to be my strongest. There were some discussions about what this term meant on my mission, as I served around many Catholic areas. One of the scriptures I heard the most from the Bible to support Trinitarianism was John 10:30. Some time after I returned I looked up the meaning of the greek in Strong's concordance as well as verified it's authenticity in Stephens 1550 Textus Receptus. The word was "heis". This is what Thayer's Lexicon had to say about the use of the greek word: "to be united most closely (in will, spirit)" This is what Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words had to say on the use of the greek word: "(b) metaphorically, "union" and "concord," e.g., Jhn 10:30; 11:52; 17:11, 21, 22; Rom 12:4, 5; Phl 1:27;" Anyway, just my .02. Thanks!

Lilac, no coffee? That will excite the missionaries, for sure. I've taught in basements, backyards, street corners, in front of gangs, prostitutes, and every other kind of place/person you can think of. They'll just be happy they have a roof and a place to sit. The only thing I think you should expect is to feel the Spirit. I know what they'll be teaching you is true, hope you can find out for yourself as well. Hope to see you around here some more, and, feel free to ask all the wacky questions you want!

This just makes me sad. TO THE UNKNOWN GOD, reads Paul. I have no more left to comment, you're welcome to your views, lattelady. God has a body, the Son has a body, and the Holy Ghost is a Spirit. Three seperate persons, but with the same goal and purpose. That's what we believe, obviously not what you believe, and you have been backed up to the wall of faith as you are unable to substantiate your claims. Even the OLDEST GREEK MANUSCRIPTS of the New Testament DISAGREE with your claims, yet you hold true to your precepts. I, for one, commend you for your steadfastness, but mourn nonetheless. God wishes for you to know him, not only in a spiritual sense, but in a literal sense as well. God does not have an ego problem and he does not have some odd need for us to worship him for eternity, that is not our purpose in this life, he can get along fine without all of that. He loves us, wishes for us to understand his divine nature so that we too can live up to our eternal potential just as he lived up to his. I know that God lives and loves us. I know that his Son, who does only that which his Father showed him - came to the Earth, performed the Atonement, and returned to his Father's presence. I know, without a single doubt, that God the Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith and proved to the world the undeniable nature of God the Father and his Son. I earnestly invite you to honestly read the Book of Mormon and pray about it's contents, for this is the way I gained my witness of the truthfulness of this message. Nothing we say, prove, examine, tear apart or build back up will prove to you the truth of what we say. But the Lord promised that those who really want to understand, not debate, those who honestly seek the truth from God with an open heart and with a true desire to know for themselves can read the Book of Mormon and pray for a witness of its truthfulness and receive that witness through the power of the Holy Ghost.

LDS.org - Ensign Article - I Have a Question From this article, the author says there are two ways to endure such an experience. Either 1.) The individual is Quickened in the Spirit and allowed to see the vision temporarily by the power of God. 2.) The individual is a sanctified being and God is unable to withhold his presence from that individual. (Think brother of Jared) It seems to me, from this article, that there MIGHT be a Priesthood key to visions, but that it would be held only by God the Father and Jesus Christ themselves.

Snow, I think it's safe to say that we have been informed of the truth, therefore, we know that lattelady is unable to substantiate her claims of the trinity. But we already knew this, didn't we? Lattelady, I think that you might be the first person ever to try and prove the trinity to a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. Just kidding.

Danite, what are their last names, if you don't mind me asking? You can PM me if you would like, I'm all for privacy on the intarwebs.

I wanted to thank you personally, Hemidakota, for helping me to understand better how to see these modern revelations. I will be sure to ask God for better understanding as I read these types of discourses and lectures, even though I fear I might get mixed signals and think something is true that really isn't, which is more common than I would like^_^

lattelady, I hope you read my post. The original Greek disagrees with your position.