Gramajane

There are also LDS therapists, and LDS Services can help you find some. :) I doubt your doctors understand that LDS bishops are not paid a salary to be bishops but that they have to work to support themselves and their families etc, though most Pastors get paid and a house?

I think the word "rebuke", might be better replaced with "recall" -- like to righteousness? Even the Savior said "Go, and sin no more" to the woman taken in adultery. He didn't say-- go on you way- with no word about that what she HAD been doing was wrong. We can with love, encourage and entreat but we SURE need the Holy Spirit with us that we not have any spirit of that we are better than they are, because of their poor choice actions. Maybe more (if it is true?) we/I miss you? or You seem less happy/at peace or ?

I also think some serious communication is best. Open, not judgmental. I wasn't doubting my (and my families) faith as a 16 year old so I was absolutely shocked to have my mother suggest that I do some "comparison" shopping of religions! She said that as I didn't know what others believed, how could I know ours was best? She did ask, that I continue to our meetings (not the back to back ones we have now) and I did, and it strengthened my testimony while still being a kind of hobby of mine to this day. :) --- I recommend that the study be from what they say of their beliefs, NOT what others say they believe. Basically, seek to communicate with you son! Fear not, as the truth is the truth, but force rarely finds favor!

I also think some serious communication is best. Open, not judgmental. I wasn't doubting my (and my families) faith as a 16 year old so I was absolutely shocked to have my mother suggest that I do some "comparison" shopping of religions! She said that as I didn't know what others believed, how could I know ours was best? She did ask, that I continue to our meetings (not the back to back ones we have now) and I did, and it strengthened my testimony while still being a kind of hobby of mine to this day. :) --- I recommend that the study be from what they say of their beliefs, NOT what others say they believe. Basically, seek to communicate with you son! Fear not, as the truth is the truth, but force rarely finds favor!

Thanks, and I agree. I do find that we might benefit from some adjustments to truisms though. maybe like "With most humans, power tends to corrupt..." and also like "Moderation in MOST things" ( I don't want a moderation of snakes in my home!) Thanks for your work here.

Little kid, after having stomach flu along with all the family. "Mommy, I'll sure be happy when we all stop throwing up and just throw down again!" Mother with puzzled look on her face, "What??" kid-- "You know, where the food gets hard and goes down instead of up!"

opps, of course the Bible IS in the cannon of LDS!

I do not believe there is any teaching about it in the cannon of the LDS faith. There are some from several different churches that add up the writing on what is said to be on the Popes hat, and say that it adds up to 666. I do not know if this is true. The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints has nothing about that in the Book of Mormon, though it comes from the Bible, I understand to my knowledge (but then my knowledge is limited ;0.. Why is it important to you??

Actually, I doubt Joseph Smith could be titled "a protestant" as he had never joined any church, though he had attended many meetings. The King James Version is the most widley accepted and it is to that that the largest and most complete concordances I know of have been made (Strongs Exhaustive, and Crudens) . It might be of interest to some to see the FREE MOVIES about the translating of the Bible into English that are to been seen on the LDS.org site. Titled "Fires of Faith"- there are several in the series and very good about what happened to give us the Bible. It helps me appreciate it more! enjoy!

I can't seem to be done here-- Grandpa was 93 when he killed himself, and that we are fairly sure was because he started seeing things and people who weren't there, and he could not tell reality from delusion. My husband had gone to check on him, (after his last conversation with me, where I could tell that he was seeing a person in his cabin next door, who could not be there__ I called my husband to come help his dad) My husband did talk with him, and assured him, with having Grandpa prod the area with his cane where he said the man stood, but the cane hit the wall. My husband that that Grandpa was ok again, now that he knew that no one was there, but when added to the other times of delusion, I guess it was too much, and so he shot himself in the head. My husband found him just maybe 10 min after, when going to get him for lunch. It was pretty awful! At least Grandpa had always said he would kill himself if ever he couldn't take care of him self. But we though we had helped him see that we would always be here to care for him. I suppose that his childhood situation was so awful that he never wanted to be dependent. : / ---- I AM so thankful that his last words to me were not unkind. It is a blessing to me.

I should say, that there are more than Grandpa, that I have had to work to forgive. Him I have forgiven, and at least the LAST thing he said to me (just before he shot himself) was an acknowledgment that I was trying to watch out for his needs :) Though he still said it SLIGHTLY sarcastically, it was so LESS sarcastic than his usual self, that it felt good! I figure, that now that he is on the other side, he will (if he wants?) be able to see my heart and intentions have always been good towards him (ok, a little upset at times in response to his actions.

One thing that has helped me to "let Go and let God" is to work putting in place some protection that at least that same person or situation will not be able to impact me in the same negative way in the future. :) Also, seeking to find out what the other persons situations were that caused them to think doing what they did to hurt me, was a good idea has helped. Often that alone, has been the easiest way to get distance on the forgiveness path. Understanding my Father-in-laws terrible childhood as an abused orphan who ran away from relatives who beat him etc, and that he thought of me as competition for his only childs love and attention, helped me have compassion and hope that he would finally come to know and accept me. Even when I discovered that he was STILL, (as he had for years) working to get my dear husband to divorce me (even when we had five kids!!!) I could see him as the scared little kid. It was sad really.

I have found that I am still needing to continue working on myself to forgive those who have caused me pain and loss. I work and work on it when ever it comes up and think it is done, just to have another bit surface again, so I work again to dig out the offending bit and go forward again. At least the pain which brings anger, comes up less and less :) This is certainly more peaceful. :) (kind of like the time I fell and slid in an area of stickers ((goat-heads)) which were driven into my open hands I had thrown out to catch myself, my mother worked with my to remove all the barbs we could find, but still days and weeks later more bits would surface))

I have been unable to choose just one favorite of MacDonalds. (I have collected every title of his I ever heard about and especially love the unedited versions. ) --- First I ever read was the edited version called The Shepherds Castle, and our teenagers (at the time, now all married with kids and still love his books!) super appreciated it too.! :) also- Sir Gibbie, and on and on!!!! He is sure WAY high up on my list to go find and talk to when I graduate from this earthly boarding school!!!!! :)

It was Hansel and Gretel that gave me nightmares as a child, younger than 3! My mother told me I came to her at that age demanding "Hadow Gradow!" till when she couldn't understand my pleading, I took her to to the book. I do remember that I stressed over trying to remember I must gather white stones, as bread crumbs would be eaten by the birds! --- one answer to much of what media our kids are exposed to is to be sure our communication is open with them, and we talk over what impact we might expect, with asking them if they have any concerns or questions!

So I wonder, did Lord Acton, think God is corrupt, or that God does not have absolute power? Or is letting, or making sure man has his free agency, taking away from Gods power? just asking

I can't resist going light hearted (minded?) on this topic, because of the title. :) --- so "What do Christians believe?" ans= Jesus Christ but then we get the question of if we have his teachings translated correctly in the Bible, and if we have all he said ? --- ans = obviously not as one can read all in New Test claimed to be his words (in the red print version) in about 1/2 an hour and he lived 30 years, and taught directly for three of those! So- back up to at least a study of what we do have, in most accepted Bible (ans KJV) and using prayer for guidance of the Holy Spirit we can come to know we should pray and ask God for help- as also a young 14 year old boy did years ago. It also helps to look around to see for yourself who (which church?) is most like the one Christ organized? Or which church is following the teachings of the Bible (esp New Test) most closely? --- or is it MOST important how we ACT? if we follow Jesus love one another actions etc, then I believe we will come to know him, as if we claim to "know" him and do not obey him are we no then called liars in the Bible? John 1 2:4

happiest is happily married second happiest is happily single then there is unhappy single most unhappy is unhappily married is what I understand. JUST married- does NOT mean happy! I agree with you, that you have some issues that are holding you back from being most happy. I suggest you check out "The Work" on line, FREE self therapy by Byron Katie, with 4 questions and some turnarounds. They have videos to watch others work with the questions, and they even have a few FREE counselors to help you if you have problems working on yourself to remove your road blocks. It helped me with some of mine and opened up way more joy and appreciation in my life. God bless you!

yes, pretty vital to check before you hand a kid a book these days. also check what they bring from the school library. My daughter in elementary school brought home a book that had the little girl go around kicking people because she was upset, and she got no consequences- I protested about the book to the school and they decided to discard it. -- Our kids claimed I could open a book at will, and get to the very worst part (language etc) in a few seconds. (they didn't know I prayed first ;0 but they also learned that I found and bought many GREAT books they would love to read, so they would often ask me to recommend for them. -- I recommend to ALL- George MacDonald of the 1800s who both JRR Toilken and CS Lewis claimed as their inspiration!

Another option is to see if you can take in a female boarder, maybe with a baby? Help out a repentant unwed mother? Get income AND a companion for your wife? be SURE you pray about what to do WITH your wife as the main decider- yep her relationship with her folks is major here! Do they let her be an adult?

Another option is to see if you can take in a female boarder, maybe with a baby? Help out a repentant unwed mother? Get income AND a companion for your wife? be SURE you pray about what to do WITH your wife as the main decider- yep her relationship with her folks is major here! Do they let her be an adult?

I do not get on here much, but I wanted to know if the long quotes that the Kabalist (sp?) quotes from are from a book that I could buy? I do not always have internet access plus I have other responsibilities and wish I could pursue this when I have more time. (I didn't get to read it all right now, and I want to study it more!) Were some of the remarks by the Jewish member on here? So interesting, and should not just be read fast! : /

Somethings that may help you is to think of the Church as kind of like a school. We are all here to learn and to help each other. I've been totally active all my life ( attended 4 years of seminary in high school, getting straight As) and I'm still learning (I'm 64). I understand (but I haven't seen it Yet) that there is a video of a ward sacrament meeting on either LDS.org or Mormon.org for people to get an idea of what a meeting is like. I made a hobby of studying other churches (while still attending my own) since I was a teenager, so I know that churches vary a LOT! LDS do not have any congregational kneeling in church, or any repeating out loud (well we do say amen at the end of prayers, not during) and we sing. We do not call down people to come to the front to join etc. You can not just join when you go, as it needs to be ascertained that you know what you are covenanting to with your baptism. So they need to at least give you an interview, but the best is to meet with the missionaries enough to be sure you have the basics and that you intend to continue in the faith. Repentance steps, and understand about chastity etc. I gained a friend who lived on a distant island in AK, who listened to the radio - Armstrong's Worldwide church of God, and from that realized she needed to be baptized. So as we had gone there in our commercial fishing work, and met their family, when she came to town, she told me she had decided to let our church baptize her. I was sad to find that she was not interested in what LDS believed, (yet) she just thought that baptism was generic (as it is in most faiths). I suggested the Baptist church down the street, (I had friends in that) who I was pretty sure they would baptize her. She was upset as she felt as she was honoring me and my faith, but finally came to understand so well, later, that she actually got some missionaries to come to their Island, just to teach them! She joined and is still active after all these years, though it was hard to not be able to attend meetings.

We were foster parents for 10 years. The first child placed with us was a 5 week old part Native American baby girl. We had her for about a month and she was sent back home, only to be sent back to us sick and without any of the clothing or blankets we had sent home with her. She seemed to have colic really badly and reacted VERY differently to car trips than any child I knew, as she would scream the whole 1/2 hr each way I was forced by the system to drive with her to go visit her birth parents, every other day. The parents refused to ride the bus (no car- no job) to come visit her. It would take me the whole rest of the day after a visit to get her calmed down again, and she would cry most all the time OF her visit. I waited in the hall and could hear her. I tried EVERYTHING to help her deal with the drive, (sleep in car seat to begin trip - she would wake and scream, sleep before so she was totally rested, feed her before, or during or give bottle to her parents to calm her, different car seats, music during trips, heart beat recordings, another woman friend of mine, (former Foster care child herself, who was also Native American) to attend to her as I drove, with pats, gentle giggling, holding her hands etc, stopping 1/2 way through the ride to calm her as she would begin to totally lose it, tears and deep sobbing etc. --- nothing helped. Finally I was feeling so bad for her like it was almost abuse to transport her plus I wondering if I was getting Post Traumatic Stress from not being able to help her, and so I requested that Foster services provide other transport for her. Right in that phone call request, they told me that they would not do that, but would come and get her to place in another home instead. I quickly told them, I would transport her! They said, no, that I wasn't her culture anyway, and they now had a Native American foster mother for her. I begged, that she was used to us etc, no good. I cried quite a lot after that, and decided I would never ask for help again. I later found out that the Native American foster Mom, declared the baby had colic so bad that she had to put her in Day Care, as she couldn't do anything to calm her down! (now I think the baby was going through drug or alcohol withdrawal and that is why the drive upset her?) And no, the day care people were not Native Americans. The baby was only 1/2 anyway! But the good news was she finally went to her fathers mother, who had a sister still living at home who was a nurse, so I believe she got in good hands. :) -- It was hard but I would do it again, as I see it as baby sitting for Heavenly Father. :) The kids need as much stable love and good care as possible!

So sorry that your husband, in his present condition, should not give you a priesthood blessing (of course) but that does not mean you will be without priesthood blessings, as you should have good home teachers, (be sure and tell them of this situation!! and if they do not come or be helpful, ask for an upgrade :) and hopefully you have priesthood in you own family?) that can give you blessings when you need them. You may need to read scriptures by yourself (but maybe if he is searching for TRUTH he would be willing?) but you can do the assigned study for Sunday School, and study on your own, as most Moms do anyway. Though some have more kids and so less time ;0. --- You can do this. I'm so sorry that you have this challenge, but please remember that if you keep the commandments, you WILL get to have all the blessings of the celestial kingdom in the next life (even if it means being sealed to another priesthood holder then?) In the conference we just had (check the Ensign for the Priesthood talks), one of those was on seeing the people around you as they CAN become and treating them like they are going to get there. Not pushing or shaming or blaming, but forgiving and being as Christlike as you can. Be sure you teach your child of the great things about their father, and respect all you can respect in him, and your very attitude can help him find the spirit child of Heavenly Father in himself. Probably your husband is already feeling so guilty if he did act the part to get your heart. My sister at age 30, married a man who wasn't LDS, but she prayed and my mother did too, and felt she should go ahead. After about 5 years he not only joined but has since been a ward mission leader and in a bishopric. You did your best, and just keep the faith, and trust God to help you with the rest. God bless you all.