mrmarklin

Scientifically, everything is either energy or matter in the universe. That being the case God had plenty of materials on hand for creation.

And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world. The scripture is from Moses 4:6 Satan does not understand the plan

Baptism is the Greek word for immersion.

- if he was truly repentant he would stay away Absolutely.

I hate to swim against the tide, but I would start with the Bible. The BoM is another testament of Jesus Christ. The Bible, in my opinion, is the foundation of the scriptures for all of us, including other faiths. It's timeline precedes the BoM. It would and should take priority.

I would not reply to this moral leper. You don't know his motives for reaching out to you. Why take a chance?

Moses and Aaron were both Levites. I don't think that we can generalize about all of us.

Sounds like harassment to me. you should definitely tell him that you don't want to see or be seen with him even at "public" events. You should keep him away from your kids. If his behavior persists after this typr of firmness, you should tell him you will seek a restraining order, and if it persists after that you should get a restraining order.

Yes, it really is fairly lax. In fact it's even laxer than I stated, although I can't remember all the parameters. I found this out several years ago when I had a Stake mission executive calling.

FYI there are very lax standards as to "activity". Attendance of once a month is considered "active" by church standards. The only required meeting AFAIK is sacrament meeting. Also the Bishops are more or less confined to the official questions on the list. Unless they know of some circumstance that would make this person clearly ineligible, the recommend would be issued.

Make your list of character traits as long as you want. But if you want to marry that person, you also must BE that person..............

It is axoimatic to the LDS that there is no conflict between science and our faith. The Lord is the Great Scientist.

Most guys are like your husband. Us guys are fairly simple souls. Except for his gambling habit, he sounds like a keeper. But there is a gambling habit, and this seems like a direct cause of your distress. There are three reasons for divorce: Adultery, Abuse, Addiction If addiction is a problem you need to find it out, and if not soluable, move on.

Differences about religion are a leading cause of divorce. You are wise to think about how this will affect your children, many people don't. Over the long run, you are probably better off seeking someone of your own belief system.

Don't worry, you will grow up and have your own family. Spouse, kids, the whole 9 yards.:-) My wife converted at eight years old as the only member in her family, and she's had the total experience, including sending sons on missions.

Like many raised in the Church (I was one of them) you seem to be basically what I call a "social" Mormon. Many are like you in the church. If you were to ask the average one he/she would probably say they believe in God, but don't really. They've gone through all the motions, just like you have, and realize many of the benefits of church membership and don't want to give them up. People feel "good" during meetings because the spirit is there, but when the meeting is over, well that's it: It's over. God is not an intellectual concept, but a spiritual reality. One can only know God through the spirit, and that means prayer. Remember the lesson of Enos who was a social Mormon. It took him two days to capture the spirit and receive his personal revelation. Since you are already treading on the path to sin, it could take you longer.

Eating meat should also be looked at in the context of the times in which the revelation was given. In pre refrigeration times, meat was a luxury, and cattle sheep etc were used more for their byproducts (milk, wool etc.) and not primarily eaten as they are today. Many of the foods we love today such as cheese, pastrami, ham, bacon were ways of preserving animal products in the northern climes so that there would be food through the winter when the vegetables and grains that were raised in the summer ran out. And of course animals would be slaughtered should the need arise in winter. Unless you lived in a large populated area you would not kill your cow only for meat, as there would be too much of it and it would spoil. Much of the harvest was lost in those days due to the lack of storage technology as well, so people did not have the abundance that we take for granted. Only a relative few lived substantially above subsistance level. So eating meat sparingly was just good general advice for living and good livestock management for a largely agrarian economy.

The problem with relationships with a disparity of age is that the parties are at different times in life and maturity. Typically a young woman in her 20s would want a family. If the older man was never married, he may also want one too. But if he had been married and had children, he may want to limit his options in that regard. There is also a 20 year gap in life experience, and that is also a very large consideration.

Augustus died in 14AD, so any taxation etc at the birth of Christ's time would have been during his rule. While Rome was not legally an empire, it was for all practical purposes ruled by one man: Caesar Augustus. And was what we would commonly think of as an Empire.

One only has to look at magazine covers to realize that the human form is very popular in our culture. So I suppose it's only normal that how to use it as art is taught in art schools. As a Mormon, I'm not sure it would be right to get into nudity etc commercially because of the things it could lead to.

Faith without "acts" or works is NOT faith.

The above is not enough, if you are not dealing honestly with your fellow man. I know a lot of members who do what you do, I see them in church every Sunday, but if they are not dealing fairly with their fellow man (that includes your spouse an children) it's not enough. Pay it forward.:)

You certainly entered the marraige under false pretenses, and received counsel that in 20/20 hindsight does not appear to have been correct. Unfortunately, you have 4 children. You don't state their ages, but I would plan on staying in the marraige at least until they are out of the house for their sakes. From your unhappiness, doesn't seem like you husband truly repented,and it seems like there are a lot of other behaviors that would also indicate this. He sounds like a bum, and you should leave as soon as practical. That being said, God has a way of sorting these things out, but I don't think you need to be condemned to misery in this life for a mistake you made when you were young either. I personally was very young when I married, and while my wife never lied to me, I was too young to understand that some of her background would contibute to many problems in our relationship over the years. However, while I hope I would never repeat the mistake I made then, we have been able to get along and love one another.

I have been in this situation, but without the combativeness. The best thing to do in my opinion, is to challenge both the investigator and the "ringer" to pray about the things that they have been taught, and the Lord will tell them the right or the wrong. There is no point in arguing. The scriptures are clear: "thou shalt not talk in tenets."

It can be a tough question. I quit doing "moves" when the person we were moving didn't even have their stuff packed in boxes or anything. They made no effort in preparation. Come to think about it, I have never asked anyone in the church to help me move, unless they were a personal friend. Last time I moved, I paid a mover. I have helped friends in the church move since the incident above, but have given up on everyone else. Frankly for me its service if I can see some effort on the part of the recipient, they can't really do anything more themselves and can't afford to pay hired help due to poverty.