mrmarklin

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Everything posted by mrmarklin

  1. Not quite. Too many loose ends for my sake.
  2. My current experience mirrors yours, but here in California. Young people simply cannot afford houses in my area, and consequently there are few. Even renting in a decent area requires close to a six figure income. So Wards have hollowed out and are shrinking. In other parts of the State this is not true. There is a building in our stake that was designed for four Wards anticipating what was thought to be future growth. The building is gigantic. One ward is in attendance. I think the article has little to do with "church" culture and a lot to do with Utah Valley culture.
  3. Some people need to get out more. Not all of us live in Utah. In fact, I think Utah Mormons are a minority in the Church. Some of us live in California, Texas, New York and even (Wait for it) foreign countries!!!
  4. The Church is not required to file any forms regarding tithed funds. There is, nor will there be any government reporting regarding these.
  5. You all realize that Pocahontas did not marry John Smith, right? She died in England in a mansion. Unfortunately she was a very young age, like mid twenties. There are descendants.
  6. Your sarcasm emoji was turned off...…………………………………… OOOHH....You meant Pocahontas' good name...….
  7. It was not DJT that used affirmative action for personal benefit. She deserves her epithet. The real problem the so called progressives have with DJT is his intense push back of all their memes and PC. The opposition has not done that before, and they don’t like it.
  8. This is not unusual. There are many believers that due to personal reasons don't attend church. But they do consider themselves believers. We had a member in our ward that was a life long smoker, couldn't give it up. He came to church every Sunday, and was a very faithful home teaching companion. Oddly, his wife was not a member. I belong to a club of several hundred people. Because of past leadership roles, I know many members personally. Some have not been to a club meeting in years, but still consider themselves to be loyal members. And they are.
  9. I don't see anything in OP post to indicate she is the victim of any abuse. Before I offer further "advice" I need some feedback from OP.
  10. Whether I am or not, I think I’m giving good advice.
  11. "We Must Confess Our Sins Confessing our sins is very important. The Lord has commanded us to confess our sins. Confession relieves a heavy burden from the sinner. The Lord has promised, “I, the Lord, forgive sins, and am merciful unto those who confess their sins with humble hearts” (D&C 61:2). We must confess all our sins to the Lord. In addition, we must confess serious sins—such as adultery, fornication, homosexual relations, spouse or child abuse, and the sale or use of illegal drugs—which might affect our standing in the Church, to the proper priesthood authority. If we have sinned against another person, we should confess to the person we have injured. Some less serious sins involve no one but ourselves and the Lord. These may be confessed privately to the Lord. " You have done none of the above sins, and are now remorseful, Presumably you have repented and confessed to the Lord. Don't make more of this than it is. I personally wouldn't take the chance of destroying a family unit by "baring all". I don't think you've done anything that bad, really. Not a lot more than a routine fantasy. many of us may have. The point is that you have stopped. And in twenty or so years, no one will ever know the difference. You can then joke with your husband about the so called emotional affair you had back in the day. And no, if you take my advice, you are not going to hell. Where do people get these ideas...………….
  12. Delete all evidence of this activity and never tell anyone. You have a responsibility to your children that overrides all other considerations. You need to keep your family intact, if possible. The fact is, you did not have any sort of physical relationship. Over time, any guilt you may feel will be wiped away by the fine family you will raise. You will not go to hell by taking my advice That’s total nonsense By raising a great family you will have repented Dont do anything stupid like talking to your bishop. He will likely have you tell your husband, destroying all. Go to an independent counselor if you must talk this out with somebody.
  13. There’s a reason California real estate is expensive. Mostly seventies up and down the state.
  14. I certainly don’t consider card counting as cheating at all. All good card players use memory skills to get an edge on their opponents, no matter what the game. That being said, it IS against the casino rules, and a player can be ejected from play by using the technique. Therefore, I would avoid doing it. On another note, the idea that playing a game where one has an edge of even one percent and calling it gambling, is incorrect. If there is an edge, the person with that advantage will eventually win all. This is how casinos make their money. The casino edge at a craps table is as low as <1%. Still, the casino always wins.
  15. I’m going to England to visit friends today. I will report.😀
  16. Not for a secular job. It’s irrelevant.
  17. As a matter of fact, the opposite of peace is war. Stress is different and just part of life. IMO life is a series of problems to be solved. And no matter the nature of the problem, stress is necessarily involved. Because thinking and actions will have to be done.
  18. I just spent a week traveling with three Brits on a trip through Europe. All are befuddled by the Brexit mess. AFAIK, the referendum function in the U.K. is advisory, not binding. The consensus among my friends is that the whole thing was mishandled from the beginning. Boris is trying to comply with the vote whether there is a so called “deal” with the EU or not. The reality seems to be that no one is at all sure where any of this all leads politically, hence the appearance of anarchy.
  19. No one truly believes there is any presidential wrong doing at all in the so called Ukrainian phone call. But it’s good press and another reason to keep after the president. Just like supposed Russian conspiracy. Behind closed doors, the Dems all laugh at the joke.
  20. I know no one who does all this, and never have. It’s the sort of thinking that leads to self destructive guilt trips. Most of us need to work on one thing at a time. I’m an early riser, but I don’t think I’ll be out of the elect by sleeping in once in a while. And I seriously don’t aspire to any Church offices as well. This among many other defects in my character I believe that being elect and going to the Celestial Kingdom is a process. One that we won’t necessarily fulfill in our mortal lifetimes.
  21. I’ll quote myself to elaborate. Obviously there are problems with both the Book of Mormon and the Biblical narratives. Aside from the supposed anachronisms in the B of M (the list is getting shorter) there is also the problem of how did the Lamanites and Nephites migrate? JS stated that the landing was near Valparaiso, Chile. That would seemingly place most of the events in the B of M in SA. The early Mormons adopted a big view of where things took place, assuming the narrow neck of land was the Isthmus of Panama. But this can’t be true, because the isthmus is not passable. I discovered this from my uncle who surveyed the Pan American highway. The highway ends in Panama and continues in SA after a boat ride. So B of M events in this area are impossible. That leaves SA as the main area of events, leaving North America the recipient of the northern migrations mentioned in the text. But not the center of events. Of course JS could be wrong in his opinions of the landfall. No wonder there is scant archeological evidence. We don’t even know where to look. Plus, given the terrain of NA, we have only scratched the surface of places to look.. Adam and Eve are also problematic. How do we explain pre Adamites? Dinosaurs, sabretooth tigers etc etc? Assuming the Biblical narrative is true, and I believe it is, there is a lot of explaining to do! so it comes down to faith. Only the Spirit can tell us the truth. We will discover all truth when the veil is lifted.
  22. Unless the Book of Mormon is real, it doesn’t make sense to believe anything it says. Same with Adam and Eve. I could make up some sort of value system, and populate it with made up characters myself. It would mean nothing unless I could sell it and gather believers to my system. Some people have stated to me that the Bible is totally made up by people to obtain some sort of control over the gullible. So, in order to contradict this sort of thing, the people, places and events in the Bible must be largely true. Otherwise it doesn’t make sense. Like Mark Twain said, you can’t pray a lie, and you cannot believe in one either. Not really For us believers, the Spirit has testified these things are true. If it were otherwise, there would be no Spirit. And there would be no believers.
  23. I’m of an age when most people are already retired. But im addicted to a very good lifestyle. I like event vacations in foreign countries. I like my vacation home, and it’s not cheap to maintain. I enjoy several fairly expensive hobbies. Life is good and I have no desire at all to live on a restricted budget. So, I keep working, albeit at a semi retired pace. I’ll need my 75% when I decide to retire. But more power to those of you who are willing to forgo the niceties.
  24. Rule of thumb in the financial planning business is that one needs about 75% of one’s normal earnings to be able to afford to retire decently. This assumes one has eliminated commuting expense and other work related costs such as eating away from home and special items like suits and ties or nicer clothing for women. I have a joint life table on my desk at work and for married couples contemplating retirement, I show them with the use of the chart that one of them is likely to live 30 years. And they need to prepare for the accompanying inflation etc. They won’t be buying their “last” car, nor will the roof on their house likely last that long. Many of these decide to work and save a little longer.
  25. Maybe. I’d like to know where these pics were taken. Pres. Nelson travels to a lot of third world countries. He wouldn’t take his Patek to any of those. He would wear such a watch as pictured. 😐