mrmarklin

I lived in Utah for three years while attending BYU.  Since it's an atypical experience, I won't comment on the culture. 
But I had to get home to California ASAP because weather!

The Church merely requires its members to be chaste.  If that is anti LGBTQ, so be it. 

Had Hyrum not died when Joseph did, he would have been prophet of the Church. He had the position of First Elder, by which he would have succeeded. It was due to this anomaly that the succession was contested by Rigdon et al.  Another fact was that Joseph, in a blessing ostensibl named a son as a successor as well  This son went on to lead the RLDS Church  
we LDS of course, believe that the succession contest was settled in the correct manner. 

The Church merely requires its members to be chaste.  If that is anti LGBTQ, so be it. 

The Church merely requires its members to be chaste.  If that is anti LGBTQ, so be it. 

I'm fairly sure is scriptural in the D&C, but I'm too lazy to look it up.

A friend of mine mentioned she would love to see a picture of the 12 Apostles next to the statues of the 12 apostles.

It doesn't matter, the story of Jonas never happened so we can take this all as figurative. Joking aside, that is a good question. This is either a translation error, or a general statement specifying it was three days (which includes the night of the third day even if he left the tomb mid-afternoon).
Possible answers:
1) Translation error
2) We do not have an accurate account of time of when he entered the tomb and when he was resurrected
3) General statement specifying three days.

After seven years of broken promises your wife couldn’t take it anymore.  You have lost her. Move on. 
 
She has. 

After seven years of broken promises your wife couldn’t take it anymore.  You have lost her. Move on. 
 
She has. 

Personally, I would judge a mission's success by whether you devoted all your efforts to it.   If you gave your all to both members and non-members alike and planted as many seeds as you could, you did well.  Most of the time you'll NEVER know whether your seeds led to baptisms.   First, a seed is just a kind word or ANY impression upon someone.  It could be planted with a handshake or a good morning to a complete stranger you never see again.  My first seed was planted by a member I worked a fireline with many years ago.  Molly.  I don't remember her last name and I doubt she remembers me at all.  Another seed was a missionary in a food line that casually said two words to me.  I'm sure the interaction meant nothing to her.  It meant little to me at the time.   
You also can't judge success on baptisms or activity.  The seeds planted in me ended in baptism, but what if I left the church tomorrow?  My baptism led to 3 other baptisms.  Seeds become forests.

UPDATE:

So. . . The Lord works in mysterious ways; obviously!  In December (2018) the house was finally ready.  It was a long hard road with a lot of repairs and contractors having to fix things they screwed up.  The tile in the Master Bathroom shower had to be re-done 4 times!  Anyway, we had holiday plans, and we got a phone call late December to have us close before the end of the year.  We explained our plans and that we had been waiting on their timeline for repairs to be complete and that we would not be able to close on the home until the first week of January.  That wasn't okay for them, so they kept calling us almost daily to try and convince us to close before the end of the year.
Eventually, to make it clear to them that it wasn't going to happen, I told the top guy I was working with that we could either close first thing in January, or they could terminate the contract and refund our earnest money.  They called us back with their final offer and ultimatum:  Close by the end of December and they would write us a check for $1500 as incentive; close in January and they would charge us a penalty for closing 'late'; terminate the contract and get 100% of our earnest money refunded.
We knelt in prayer and afterwards felt confident that we should terminate the contract.  My wife was crying; I was sad; we had invested so much time and effort into designing everything about the house, including how we would use it after moving in.
Just before calling the guy back to cancel our contract, I decided to look on Zillow just to see if anything was on the market that would give me confidence that we could find a house at a price that would work well for our family.  The very first house that popped up was $45,000 more expensive than the house we were building, but it was also 2x the finished square footage and still had unfinished area.  It had 6 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms; the house we were building came with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, with the possibility of 1 additional bed and bath in the unfinished basement.  I had seen the house on Zillow before when perusing, but dismissed it because it needed 'work' and was more expensive; this time, however, the Spirit prompted me that we needed to look at this house!  I called my banker immediately to confirm we would qualify; he confirmed.  I called our realtor immediately to schedule a viewing; she arranged it for early the next morning just before we were leaving town. 
Right after all this, I called back the construction company; they didn't answer; I left a message letting them know we would be exercising the option to cancel our contract and receive a reimbursement; I also sent an email to make sure they got the message.  As expected, they were very upset.
The next day came; we visited the home.  The seller was having the walls painted; it just so happened to be the same color as we had chosen for the home we had been building!  We weren't in love with the home, however, we could clearly see it was a functional fit for our family of 9.  We got on the road and on the drive, we discussed; I was convinced and felt strongly that this was the house for us; my wife agreed, but was frustrated that while it was what we needed, it was not what she/we wanted.  We prayed about it (while driving); the answer was essentially, 'Do I really have to spell it out for you?' We called our realtor and were ready to place an offer.
The house was for sale by owner, so rather than writing up a contract immediately, our realtor reached out to the seller directly to get a feel for how much they would come down.  Afterward, she called us back, and we discussed what we were prepared to offer.  There was some back and forth with the seller, but finally we settled on a deal that was $4,000 below their initial asking price.  Our realtor wrote up the contract; we signed it that evening so that she could get it to the seller as quickly as possible!  The seller accepted and signed the contract that evening.  We were ecstatic!  Just 24 hours prior, we had no house to count on and were stuck in our small 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom home with 4 girls in one room and 3 boys in another!  The Lord had put things in place to answer our prayers before we even said them!
We had completed the offer contract process on Saturday evening.  On Monday we got a call from our realtor; the seller received another offer for $15,000 above their asking price, which was $20K more than what we had offered!  However, it was too late; the contract was legally binding, and the seller could not accept another offer unless we somehow chose to back out, or did not meet contractual deadlines.  If we had not hearkened to the promptings of the Spirit and acted immediately, and in a way that some would judge to be rashly, we would have completely lost the opportunity to have this home!  In the end the home appraised for $40,000 more than our purchase price!
We closed on the home on the last Friday in January and spent the first night there this past Friday.  Amazingly, the appliances we had purchased for the home we were building fit perfectly to replace the broken and missing appliances in the home we ended up in.
None of this was coincidence; this was the hand of God acting directly in our lives!
Hindsight is 20/20:
Initially when I started this thread over a year ago, I wanted to know if anyone else had an experience where they felt impressed to go into debt for something that was needed, but was more want than need.  Now that I have been through this process, I can see clearly how the Lord has blessed us through this process.  Here are some of my takeaways:
During the process of building our family grew from 7 to 9 (5 children to 7), our spacial needs increasing as a result. The house we ended up purchasing was $45,000 more than the maximum budget I had set for us when we initially started looking for a house and began the process of building. Going through the process of building a home made it very clear to us what we wanted and also what we needed. Through this journey our eyes were opened to the real dollar costs that go into building a home. At the end of the process, we were mentally and spiritually prepared to pay even more for the home than I initially would ever have been willing to pay.  I would have completely passed on this house without a second glance because I would have considered it out of our price range. I learned so much about construction through the process of building (mostly because I had to research and point out all of their construction mistakes); it helped me know exactly what to look for in the home we bought. Because of the great deal of stress brought upon us through the process of building a home, the physiological symptoms led me and my doctor to the discovery of a hereditary, non-serious, medical condition that otherwise I may not have discovered for a long time, and which is now properly treated.  This also led my younger sister to the same discovery and enabled her to receive treatment as well. We initially felt a strong impression that we needed to be in this specific area when beginning the process of building; this helped confirm our decision as the home we bought is nearby to the home we were building and is in the same ward.  Interestingly, we actually have to drive by the house we were building to get to Church! There are many more things I could bring up and ultimately the Lord's plan is still in the works.  We know we are exactly where he wants us to be, but we do not yet know what he wants us to do next.  I am both excited and nervous to find out!
At the end of the day, to answer my own question, like Zions Camp, the impressions that we received from the Lord that confused us early on have became clear.  With few exceptions, no matter which options and upgrades we had ultimately selected on the house we were building, the home we ended up buying would have been more expensive, and a much better deal overall.  Hence, we were inspired by the Lord to make choices that would seemingly put us in a great deal of debt, but which instead prepared us in many ways for the greater blessings he had prepared and lying in wait.
Follow the Spirit, even if it seems foolish or like the wrong thing to do!  God is the Gardener!

Your husband needs to choose. His brother or you. 
 
Be be prepared to leave. This early in your marriage,this is a big red flag and deal breaker. 

My daughter's baptism and confirmation were done on the same day. It was to accommodate family who were traveling a long distance. Only a knucklehead wouldn't accommodate for that reason. It's like the letter of the law vs the spirit of the law. You are justifiably upset.

I"m surprised they are being so strict on something like this.  Circumstances happen when family members have to travel. There is always room for making allowances.  

Your husband needs to choose. His brother or you. 
 
Be be prepared to leave. This early in your marriage,this is a big red flag and deal breaker. 

PS-  I'm also a professional evolutionary biologist.    I do wear pants to church when I feel like it (aka when my skirt gets eaten by the laundry gremlins).  I play video games, jam out to Linkin Park, play D&D, am "one of the guys", am married to a non-member, and do Sudoku all during church to help me focus. And no, I don't do Relief Society crafts.  No I don't have any musical talent.  Nor do I traditionally* cook anything fancier than spaghetti.
And I am still totally a daughter of God.  I sing "My Savior Loves Me" in my own voice, and no one else's.  
 
*Traditionally being a key word here-- my daughter LOVES to cook so now I do cook with her on our regular mommy-daughter dates.  

All 3 of the kids from my previous marriage have been able to bond with my current wife, to the point where one of them has even openly stated that my wife is more of a mother to him than my ex.  Another goes out with her and they do activities together, even as she doesn't feel comfortable being around my ex at all.
In a case like this, biological mom doesn't get a vote.  Her emotional abuse toward them, a consequence of her own issues, has driven her away from them thoroughly.  She probably hates that the kids (who are all adults now, btw) have bonded more with their stepmom than with her, but nobody really gives a wet fart about that.  Not anymore.
So be careful who you refer to as the "real mom."  A real mom is the one who shows genuine love and care toward the child. 

By a very long way your marriage is far, far more important than your relationship with your brother in law and your husband's relationship with you is far more important than his relationship with his brother. Your husband needs to understand this. 

Since God is a physical being,I can only assume he resides in a physical realm.

I have attended many services that are not LDS. I’m respectful, but don’t recite the Lords Prayer or any creeds with the audience. Why would I parrot something I don’t believe in. 
 
Trump did OK.

Many assumptions being made with the purpose of forcing ones beliefs on another.   So who cares that the FORMER POTUS's recited it.   Freedom of religion!!
As I get older I get more and more tired of correcting the assumptions of others.   People can make assumptions, but, as far as I'm concerned, they are responsible for the accuracy of those assumptions.   And if they're wrong, it's on them.   And no one else has the responsibility to correct them.    After I came home from the service, I had to relocate for work.   When I hadn't attended church for several weeks, the home teacher assigned to me caught me coming to my apartment on a Sunday evening.    He told me that as an Elder I should know what I was doing was wrong and went on to chastise me.   He made assumptions, he didn't do his home work.   AND I didn't correct him.   The facts, my mother was very sick and had been for a while.   She never mentioned it while I was overseas.   And with a new job, I had no vacation, so I was making the 100 mile trip right after work on Friday and coming back late Sunday, so I could spend as much time as possible.   My father died of service related injuries when I was 4-1/2 months old.   My mother never remarried.   I more than owed it to her to be there for her and not let her be alone.   
Assumptions are dangerous, especially when the person making them is responsible for their accuracy.
 
 

4)  We would have left the Pre-existence because we had reached the limit of our existence.  We could stay there as we were for the rest of eternity, always as children but never growing to our maturity, or we could strive to be like our Father.  As such, we would need to gain bodies and be tested to see whether we could/wanted to obtain the same glory as we saw with our eternal parent(s).  It is the natural way for children to grow and be like their parents.  This is why we left the Pre-existence, to grow up and become more like our Father and mature into our own right and degree of glory.
5) Why  not?  If the ideas about exaltation are correct and we are to have an eternal posterity...it would make sense that it would follow in the same pattern that was established for us.
Where will these baby spirit children live, and where will they grow until they too are ready to obtain physical bodies?

Joseph Fielding Smith was wrong, plain and simple. The Proclamation teaches otherwise.

The short answer is: Yes, Adam and Eve really and truly fell. The longer answer is: If you do not understand and believe LDS doctrine, you have a false concept of what the Fall is.
Non-Latter-day Saint Christians think that the difference is that Latter-day Saints believe that Adam and Eve acted heroically in disobeying God and hearkening to the voice of Satan. And indeed, some Latter-day Saints (including some LDS leaders) do indeed appear to believe exactly this. But that is not the actual root of the disagreement.
Rather, the root of the disagreement is this: Latter-day Saints believe that the Fall of Adam was a necessary and indispensable part of the plan of salvation of our Father in heaven. In contrast, non-LDS Christians in the main believe that the Fall of Adam was some sort of tragic mistake, a horrifying gaffe in the perfection of God's works.
This disagreement in turn gives rise to a complete contrast in how various people view Adam and Eve. Traditional Christianity views Adam and Eve, our first parents, as evil people who disobeyed God and brought his wrath upon themselves and all their descendants, opening the way for eternal misery for all who do not follow (what they believe to be) Christian precepts. Adam seems to be viewed as not just a wicked man, but a soft-headed fool who apparently thought with his gonads instead of his brain. Eve is treated even worse in larger Christian thought, the vile temptress who so easily was seduced by Satan's lies and who then dragged her husband down with her into condemnation.

In stark contrast, Latter-day Saints view Adam and Eve as noble, righteous people, our first parents to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude. Many consider Eve's disobedience to have been a noble choice for which we should be grateful. (Our current Church president and prophet appears to subscribe more or less to this view.) Those of us who do not go that far nevertheless view Eve as a great, intelligent, wonderful woman who, despite being deceived by the wicked one, gracefully fulfilled her part in the plan of salvation. Adam is one of the greatest prophets of all time, the very Ancient of Days to whom we look back on and forward to (and the same personage as Michael, called the "archangel" and apparently one of the greatest and noblest of God's premortal sons, perhaps second only to the premortal Jehovah in righteouness and valiance.)
Hope that helps, @prisonchaplain.