Melissa569

OP--- I think god does see keeping your home clean as a sign of how clean your mind is... But not everyone can have kids, or even afford to take care of them. So that really should have nothing to do with weather or not you get into heaven. Gwen-- Hehe... I'll feed the missionaries and keep my house clean, but that's about it. Can't do the children thing right now, because my husband wants nothing to do with kids, and we couldn't afford to take care of them anyway, because we are barely keeping our own heads above water. We haven't gone to the temple, or taken any of those "populate the earth" vows... But even if we did-- having kids at this point would be blantanly irresposnible of us. Both to our living situation, and to the economy. We need to get to a point where WE OURSELVES can finance food, clothes, a home with more than one bedroom, and medical bills, before we go having babies... Otherwise, we will all be shacked up in a one-bedroom apartment together, depending on the state welfare system for everything, and making the economy worse. I'm gonna be working 40+ hours per week pretty soon here, INCLUDING Sundays, so I'm not gonna have much time to be too "involved". They told us in class at church that maybe we shouldn't take a job, if it asks us to work on Sundays... But... HELLOOOO? Have you seen the economy lately? I live in a county with one of the highest unemployment rates in California! lol. Unless you've got all kinds of in-demand skills, you better take whatever job you can get. Beggars can't be choosers, ya know. And you better believe I'm gonna be in a bad mood once in a while-- because I'm not a robot, I'm an actual human being, with real emotions from time to time, lol.

I will say that when we open up to people, we let the bad in with the good. But that's really all we need to focus on-- that we ARE letting in the good. It does sound like anxiety issues, and I have suffered with that myself. I did the "Midwest Center" program by Lucinda Bassett (its called "attacking anxiety and depression"). Its a 6-month program you do by yourself, at home. It's just tapes or CD's, and the work book. It teaches you HOW to fix all your emotional challenges, and how to get around them. How to deal with difficult people and situations. What kids of things to tell yourself, and when to do it. The original program is like $500. But I ordered mine off eBay for like $30. It was used, but I didn't care, it still had everything, lol. I love that program, its helped me so much! You've probably seen comemrcials for it, because its on late at night a lot. If there is any possibility you could save up for a cheper version off ebay, I strongly suggest it. Its cheaper than insurence, lol. I refer back to it whenever I have trouble, and I'm soooooo much better now than before. Lucinda Bassett DOES believe in god, so there is some religious influence int he program. In fact, she is recovered from anxiety and depression herself, and when she had her worst break down years ago, she prayed to god, promising him that if he helped her find the way out-- she would share it with the world. That's why she made the program so people could do it on their own at home. Its a touching story! If its possible to get a cheap deal on it, you could combine that with the church's teachings, and the women in church, to help pull you out and heal you. The only thing I will warn you of is, whatever help you decide to get-- you're going to change... You will become stronger, more open, outgoing, more willing to tackle big projects in life, and more independent when you are healed. Now, that's a wonderful thing, at face value. But it might scare some of the people who are closest to you. They might not like it, especially at first, because they are not used to you being that way. They may fear they are losing you. You just have to keep reasuring them. Or blow it off, until they realize that the changes are good. I would also suggest finding out if there is an "recovery" program in your church, or at a church near you, and go to it every week. Because its not just for drugs, alcohol, or gambling... Its for EVERY kind of unhealthy routine we tend to cling to. Meaning its also for depression, anxiety, co-dependency, sexual problems, whatever issues you might be having. My husband is struggling to overcome gambling issues, and I took him to the Stake Center's addiction recovery program last Tuesday, for the first time. He asked me to sit int here with him for support, so I did. It was nice to meet men and women, with all of the above issues, and feel like it was OK to talk about it all there. I even felt like maybe I shoudl go, jsut to maintain what the Midwest Center program taught me. Everyone talked, everyone said their piece. I cannot go into specific details, because there is a strict rule that what is said in that room, STAYS in that room. But its a good place, and its church oriented. They also provide you with a recovery booklet, and weekly recovery assignments. I think it would be a great source of strength and healing for you.

My husband struggles with this problem. He's just so hyper, he can't sit through someone else's entire sentence or statement! lol. Lots of other people get mad at him too for this. In many situations with people, HE does most of the talking, because others can't get a word in edgewise, lol. Even when I am talking to one of my friends, he will suddenly cut me off and start telling my friend something, as if I weren't even there. And again, he does that to everybody. I don't like to be a mullish wife, but I often find myself having no choice but to stick up for my (and everyone else's) right to speak. Others don't know my husband as well as I do, so they're not going to be nearly as blunt with their demand to finish what they were saying. So I have to stick up for them. When he cuts me, or someone else off, I just say, "Shawn..." To let him know he's 'doing it again' (we've talked about it before). Or, Just "Hey..." or "Uh, excuse me..." . Then in the case of other people getting interupted, I say, "Shawn, he/she was talking." Then I look at the other person, and say, "Go ahead." I know that sounds snotty, but nothing else works, lol. I find its sometimes important to discover WHY the person does this. It helps you to understand them, and can sometimes make it easier not to get angry at them. And from there, you can figure out the best way to approach them about it. Usually, you can figure it out by looking at other areas of their behavior for signs of their inner nature. Its not always a simple matter of waiting their turn... It could be a lot of things: * Arrogance-- The person thinking that what THEY have to say is more important or interesting than what anyone else has to say. * Hyper energy-- Like my husband, they just get bored being silent and listening. * Overly social-- They're just extremely involved with other people, and they feel the need to be VERY active in the conversation, constaly. * Short-term memory-- Some people interrupt because they know that if they don't say what pops into their head RIGHT NOW, they will forget. * Fear of fading into the background-- Some people are afraid they will be burried in the conversation if they don't break into it periodically. Which is true! But they simply are not not very good at judging when to do so. * Unaware that a point is comming-- They may not be aware that you are gradually working up to make a point. Some people like to make their point right out the gate, and they just assume others do too, or expect it. So after the first few words, they figure its ok to interupt. Because if THEY were talking, their important point would have already been made. Like I said, try to figure out which of those things it could possibly be. True, all these people need to work on their social skills. For example, if they tend to forget what they were going to say, maybe they should keep a small notepad handy, and jot down a thought so that when its their turn, they won't have forgetten. Or maybe they need to take classes on social behavior. But until they do, you're going to have to start calling them on it. Maybe by saying something that gives the hint you don't want to be interupted, like, "Before you say anything..." . If you're telling them a story, try saying, "Oh, this is good, you gotta hear this whole thing...". If that doesn't work, and they still interupt, you might just have to interupt them right back. Or just say, "Hey, you know I'm always your friend, but you tend to interupt me...." Then there's the old "confirm and move on" trick. Tha'ts where every time they interupt you, you quickly confirm what they said, and continue on.

"Schoolyard Crush" -- Ever We Fall Lyrics: Ever We Fall - Schoolyard Crush Lyrics

"Race Me Down" by Latin Quarter :) Here are the lyrics to the song: LATIN QUARTER RACE ME DOWN LYRICS

You have to remember-- the bible was not originally written in english. It is also largely imcomplete... If they had included ALL the original documents in the bible, the bible would be like FOOT thick! And not many people have access to exactly what the missing documents say. Some of them are protected from anyone other than church leaders (primarily Catholic, but a few others too). Basically what the translators did, was read through ALL the original texts, and decide which storied they believe were the most important, or which versions they liked best. They included those texts in the bible, and stored all the others away. Furthermore, the rest of the omitted texts also included OTHER VERSIONS of the same story. For example-- the Jewish version of Adam and Eve included reference to Adam's first wife, Lilith (she was banished from the garden, for demanding equality). The Arab version of Adam and Eve says that they were both tempted and ate the fruit at the same time. There were severlal other versions too (not just of Adam and Eve, but also almost every other story). But those versions were not selected to be included. Who knows why! I'm guessing the translaters included onlyt he stories that suited their preferences and ideals best. I think that was very wrong of them to do, because now we have fought religious wars and are having tons of arguments based on what those people just "decided" to include, or not include. I mean so it would have been longer with everyhting included! Big deal! Couldn't we have jsut made several volumes, like we do with encyclopedias? Anyway, the point is, we can't really say EXACTLY how far back bible history goes. Furthermore, we don't like to explore this much, but... The bible has been re-written, and re-translated into many different languages. Much of the wording was lost in translation, because some cultures have phrases and words for certain things that other cultures do not have. It was not coppied word for word. It was a combination of "settling" for the most similar translation, sometimes "guessing" what the original writer may have meant, and confusion because many of the original cultures words sounded similar, but meant something different. For example, in Aramaic, they would often use the SAME word, to refer to the following subjects: Culture Masses of people Society World Dirt Property Land Country Nation Kingdom Area Region Much in the same way as the English language uses the word "Earth" to refer to the planet, dirt, landscape, etc. Likewise, there are certain words that refer to numbers, such as "hundred", "thousand", "ten thousand" or "hundred thousand", etc., that have either been lost in time, or confusingly similar to each other. Which means that the lifespans and distance in time stated may be off... Because of this, many people argue that the human race as we know it may be oder than 10,000 years. And that Noah's flood did NOT flood the entire planet, but rather, only a certain area or nation... When you read the phrases "The whole of the earth" and "all nations", and then you switch the words "Earth" and "Nations" with any of the other words in the above list-- those statements suddenly take on a completely new meaning! Many believers get defensive about points like this, assuming that those questioning people are "doubters" who are suggesting the bible is "a lie". But that's kind of silly... As far as doubters go, if anything, I'm more worried about the people who are afraid to investigate... The only reason you would be afraid to investigate something, is if you were afraid you would find out it was a lie. I believe, but I also welcome other possible ideas about the bible's translations. It may be able to reveal even more. If it is true, then digging deeper will only prove it even MORE true! Just like if you were to dig deeper in the the statement that "3 times 4 equals 12".

First off, I hope everything turns out alright... Second, I doubt you have really lost him. My cousin William did the same thing with his parents, but he eventually came back. This sounds more like a battle of wills, than a hatred thing. He got curious about all the "forbidden" things out there. He is trying it all for himself, and he is about to find out WHY all those thigns are bad, soon enough. Some teens will give you a little grief, but they will primarily listen to the major things-- they will stay a virgin until later, stay away from drugs, get normal-to-decent grades in school, and go on to college... But some teens (and even some grown adults!) cannot take another person's word for anything. They want to know for themselves. They are determined to make up their own mind about things in life, and they will do so, even if it hurts them badly to find these things out. Gaining first-hand experience is even more important to them than getting hurt. To them, it doesn't matter who is right or wrong, it matters that they have first-hand experience in as many things as possible, without actually dying... Its usually teenagers that feel this way more than adults, because teenagers have reached an age where they CRAVE the right to say that they "have many experiences too". They are either trying to match their parents' level of experiences, or surpass it. Teens are often called "naive"... But on the contrary (at least to them), the reason they do these things is because they are desperatly trying to escape their naivety the about the world. They will have to learn on their own why drugs are bad, why sex outside of marriage can be damaging to the heart and mind, why playing around in the spirit world is very risky when you are not fully prepared to face the spirits you might encounter. And on that note, if you ever speak to him about that, here's a good warning: Being prepared for that is not easy... We all think we are so tough, but an evil spirit can just look at you and see straight into your heart-- it knows EXACTLY what to do and say in order to terrify you out of your senses, or to cause you emotional distress, and it plays on those things in order to break you down and weaken you. It knows a weak and terrified person is easy to control. It takes a HECK of a lot to stay brave and keep your wits about you around an awful thing like that... He will come back after he has fallen on his backside a few times. He's gonna be a bit seasoned and different thought... He will either have been turned down by too many jobs because of marijuana, terrified by the sheer evil of a bad spirit, hurt by a girl, or maybe he will then appreciate the true value of every dollar he earns through a job. That's what happened to my cousin. He walked out on his parents at 17, and came crawling back when he was 27 (still visited holidays, and random weekends, lol). Now he's drug/alscohol-free, married to the love of his life, and attending church again. Not saying it will take that long, but he will eventually figure out that compared to the rest of the world, the people who raised, loved and fed him his whole life aren't so bad after all, lol.

Ultimately its up to you. But I think everything will turn out the way its suppoed to be in the end. Now, the way its supposed to be later on, it just might be the way you want it to be right now... But it also might not. Regardless, there are a few possible things that can happen here: 1--Let's say you do decide to go... If she is your eternal companion and god agrees you would be happiest with her, then he will keep the two of you from growing too far apart during your mission (if you both pray for that). 2-- Again, say you decide to go. 2 years is a long time. And you are going to be traveling, meeting new people, seeing new things... Almost nobody comes back from a mission as the same person... Its really going to change you-- the things you want in life and how you plan to get them, the depth of your mind and heart, even your personality a bit-- but all in a good way, I think. It will open your eyes to the world even wider than before. More often than not, those changes (while good) have caused many high school sweethearts to come to the conclusion that they would be better off parting ways. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go, it just means that if you do-- be prepared for that. 3 and 4-- You can stay home and marry her, then have a wonderful life. Or you can stay home, marry her, and you still eventually decide that it wasn't the best match. But then what? Basically, you should go over all this with god, and make the decision that sounds like the smartest (not the most dramatic) thing to do, that's truly right for both of you.

Honestly, I think we are all judged (at least partly) according to the circumstances we were dealt. I can tell you for a fact, that god is far more forgiving than most people might tend to think...

I honestly think it depends where you are comming from. If you believe in god, and you WANT to believe in him, then you don't really need proof. And even if you do search for it, you will find plenty of it-- because you WANT to. Your desire for him to exist is more than enough. And quite frankly, if that desire is strong enough, you will still believe, even in the face of ALL scientific proof aggaisnt him. I have a strong interest in science myself.. But I find that the more I learn about it, the bigger and more complex it all is. And the more I see of it, the more I know there MUST be something amazong out there behind it all. Also, the more all these theories scientifically make sense and can be explained, the more clear it is that its INDEED possible for a greater being to understand it all better than we do, to the point that he can have full control over it. In my opinion, god is the greatest scientist there ever was. Making Einstein's mind look like the mind of a flea, in comparison to a human's. On the other hand, if you are walking around "refusing to believe in god until something PROVES it to you" -- that is tempting the lord. But that will never be you, as long as you still want to beleive that he is real. Only people who don't like the idea of a god will be challenging his existance.

I read the books description-- its about a bomb that goes off and knocks out all the electrical power in the USA and other places...?? Hehehe... Well, we actually may not have to wait very long to see something like that! As you may or may not know, we have a solar storm every 11 years... And we are due for another one in 2012. There was one in the 1950's that caused a temporary power outage. And one in the mid- 1800's that WOULD have caused a longer power outage, if power were their primary function... A solar storm is basically when the sun shoots out an extra strong burst of radiation. Takes a matter of hours for it to reach the earth. In some cases, only 20 minutes or so... We do have a special magnetic field outside our atmosphere that protects us from most of the sun's heat and radiation (if it were not for that, the surface of the earth would probably be FAR too burning hot for any life to thrive, depending on what our atmosphere does with the heat.. During these storms, we do have to bring our NASA boys home for the duration, because if they stay out there in space during a solar storm, they will literally get nuked... Most of these storms are fine, nothing really happens. Although the last one was powerful enough to allow us to see the "northern lights" as far down as northern California... Here is a page with photos of what was seen in California, although I was in the farest northern area, so for me, it was the WHOLE sky, not just part of it: California Aurora - October 29, 2003 It happened again in 2003, as you see on the website. Leftovers I suppose? But in 2000, I remember it was more intense than that! Back then, I lived up in the country, still California, but near the Oreon boarder. I went to let my dog outside around 1:00am, and my heart almost jumped up in my throat! The entire sky, from horizon to horizon was GLOWING RED!! Like in those photos, only it was the entire sky. I was freaked out until the weather man on TV explained what was going on. 2012's solar storm is supposed to be VERY strong though... Best case scenario: We will get another pretty light show like the last one, only far more spectacular. Not-so-good case scenario: the huge burst of radiation will knock out the eaths electrical grids for 4 to 7 years! This would be a very dangerous problem, because it would shoot us back to the stone age. No military communications, no sattelites to watch the weather, or watch for asteroids, no earthquake or tsunami warning systems, no news broadcasts, no telephones, no 911 calls, no functioning hospitals, no cars, no running water, no businesses or machines to harves fruits/vegetables, no grocery stores... Nothing. For 4 to 7 years. That's not the worst part though... See, most of our power sources come from nuclear power plants... The plants must keep the nuclear materials cool, down under a pool of cold water. Otherwise, they will overheat, and eventually go off like a mega bomb! We have several of these major plants right here in the USA. Without electricity, we cannot operate the machinery necessary to pump cool water in the large pools to keep the materials cold... Without power, nuclear power plants would be exploding all over the world. That means "nuclear winter"... The sun would be blocked out by a suffocating blanket of thick, dark, poisonous clouds. The entire earth would grow very dark and cold. Rain and snow packed with the deadly poisons from the clouds would fall everywhere, and we would have another "ice age". Very doubtful any humans would survive. But like I said, that's only the not-so-good scenarios... Absolute worse-case scenario: A SUPER solar storm... For this, you can watch the movie "Knowing" with Nicolas Cage. In this case (and in that movie), The human race, and all life on earth would go completely extict. At least for the next few million years, anyway. The sun would spit out a super blast of radiation, that would basically raise the temperature of the earth's surface (and the oceans) by thousands of degrees, and nuke pretty much everything! The ice caps would melt and flood the entire earth. Before that though, the radiation / heat could penetrate up to a MILE DEEP in the ground, so even deep underground shelter wouldn't be any help. Niether would any amount of preparedness, in either of these two worst cases. So um.... Yeah, lets just hope all we get is another pretty light show this time, hm?

Hey, I say if she loves you as much as you love her, then go for it! If she is your eternal companion, then she will gladly wait. Or really, maybe you'll both be waiting for each other, if she goes on her mission close to the same time you go on yours. And if she does go around the same time, then she won't really have to "wait" most of the time, because she will be quite occupied, and not dating anyone else due to her own mission. You'll both have peace of mind on that. I imagine it can be pretty distracting to a young man's mission, when he asks a girl he loves to wait for him, and then he worries "what if she finds someone else?" the whole time he's away... If you two can get around that, it would be great.

Awwww, those poor fellas... Are you in a smaller ward? How does your Relief Society handle this? In our ward, on the first Sunday of every month, we pass a clipboard around the RS meeting with a calendar on it, and all the women write down a day of the week and a time when they are willing to cook dinner for our boys. By the time it gets around to me, the month is almost full, because there is always at least 25 of us in RS each Sunday. If not a lot of women come to RS, maybe you could ask your bishop to pass something like that around in the sacrament meeting, like after sacrament during one fo the talks. I don't know if that would be allowed ('ve been inactive for a long time), but everyone would all be in one place, so it might help... Our boys actually have the oposite problem, I think-- their schedules are TOO full, lol. They sometimes have to cancel certain plans, they had to cancel a dinner with us once because they forgot they promised to do it with another family. I would agree with others that pre-made meals would be nice, if they will take them... Our boys actually won't take any such thing from anyone, not even packaged from a restaurant, I don't know if its a ward rule, or if they just feel guilty... Or eating at a restauraunt, bringing your children along, because there will be lots of other people around, so you won't be alone with them. My husband manages a fast food place, so I told our boys "If my husband ever has to work on one of our meeting nights, I will meet you guys at his work, and hook you up with some free burgers!" they were pretty excited about that. My husband also told them that if they were ever near his work place and they had a craving for anything on the menu, they could stop by for freebies. lol Maybe another male church member could come with them to your house, maybe borrow a single member (like a young man at least 18 who wants to see what missionary work is like), or an older member...? Just let the bishop know and all, see what he thinks.

I find that people often bash LDS because they either don't believe in god, therefore anyone who does is going to be challenged and picked on... Or they are looking for reasons to think that their own faith is better than everyone else's. Or they were just misinformed, and are confusing modern LDS with the extreme Mormon fundamentalists (as an LDS member, I would say that common mistake probably irks me more than anything else, lol). And while even I myself have my own contradictiong opinions about at least SOME of our church's ways and history, I tend to just ignore the really serious bashers. The bashers tend to “strain at gnats and swallow camels” so to speak. They miss the big point, while arguing about the little nit-picky dogmatic and historical details of our church. And they do this as a means of finding excuses to poke holes in something they don't wish to acknowledge (for whatever reason). But quite honestly, I don’t think those are NEARLY as important as faith in God and Christ as a whole.

I have no clue WHY our guys seem so much more into looks... They just are. Some people in this thread have hinted that its because our guys really want to be careful in their selection, because its for an "eternal companion". But.... Aren't we all supposed to be "glorified" after we die? If that's the truth, then we will all be quite beautiful in heaven. So really, there's no excuse to demand perfect looks on earth. Then there's the excuse that thin women "aren't lazy", and because they take care of their bodies, they probably take care of everything else too. Not true. There are many ways of being thin that no not involve "taking care of yourself", and you would be surprised how many women turn to these alternative methods. Some women have rich daddys and get liposuction. Some women vomit. Some women starve. Some women don't manage their diabetes right. Some women were born with an overactive metabolism, and couldn't gain weight even if they laid in bed all day eating buckets of ice cream! Thin doesn't mean healthy or active. Its not always a sign of having your affairs in order either... Some of the most messy, lazy, mean and irrisposnible girls I know are the "bathing beauties". Many of them don't bother developing any other qualities, because they feel they can always get by on looks alone. But (most) men as a species, place greater emphasis on beauty and daintiness. A small, thin, light, pretty and delicate woman makes a man feel bigger, stronger, more protective, they will compete more ruthlessly for her... And therefore she is more of a valued commodity to have. Better to just "cut the crud" so to speak, and name the demon for what it truly is-- shallow mentality. They want someone who is beautiful, because they are not capable of being in love with someone who is not. And yes, saying that makes a person sound (and feel) less than righteous, or less than decent. So to make themselves feel better about their mentality, they invent all these "other" reasons for it, that sound more respectable. But its a shallow mentality, plain and simple. The bad news for these people is, one way or another, you HAVE to learn to love someone who is not physically attractive. That's part of god's perky sense of humor, lol. Even if you landed the most attractive person in the world, that beauty would only last as long as the spark of youth... Then you're back to square 1.

I say that if someone KNOWS for a fact that they are right, they should never be afraid to be questioned. In fact, they should welcome it, as Jesus did, because every question is yet another opportunity to prove that what you are saying is the truth. Fearing inquiry shows that you doubt your own debating strength. Either because of a lack of complete faith, or a lack of knowledge with which to defend your point. But if you lack either of those things, you should not be in a position of religious leadership, in the first place. AKA, a good religious leader should be ready and willing to answer both curious and debating questions, anytime, any place, anywhere. And as for seeking out more information on BOTH sides of a debate, or just knowledge in general-- Some religious groups (hopefully not us) also prohibit education, or seeking information from outside sources. Which I also think is rediculous, unless they think they are wrong, deep down inside. Education cannot disprove the truth, in fact, it enhances it. Makes it more obvious. You can teach a 3-year-old child to walk around reciting the words, "Three times four equals twelve", but it won't TRULY make sense to them until they reach grade school, and learn addition, subtraction, and their times tables. Now of course, if you told a child all their life that "Three times four equals 16", I'm sure you would be a little nervous about them going to school and questioning you... Because you KNOW they're going to find out its not true (or at least you would be unsure, because you yourself had always been told that and never stopped to question it). But in the case of the first statement, you would have no problem with the child probing the subject, because you know they more questions they ask, and the more they learn, the more it will make sense. As a faith, if we're right, what do we have to fear from questioning?

I’m confused about a story I heard from the bible a while back. Not sure exactly which verse it is, but basically, someone approached Jesus with the following scenario, because back in the day, when a man died without having children, his wife would become his brother‘s wife: --What if a man dies, and his wife goes to his brother. Then that brother also dies, and she goes to another brother, etc., etc.. Who’s wife will she be in heaven? And Jesus basically answered that there would be no giving or receiving of marriage in heaven, and people would be like the Angels. Does this mean there is no marriage in heaven? Someone once suggested it only means that if you don't find your eternal companion while you are here on earth, then you will be single in heaven. But its worded so vaguely, that's not really clear... Also, that's almost like being punished for not finding your eternal companion. But how is it my fault if I don't find such a person? I mean, what if he's just nowhere near me? lol

I think its something you have to work out for yourselves. If you get remarried, would you want to be sealed to that person? If so, dating/marrying someone who is already sealed to someone else may not be the best idea, unless they have changed their mind about their first spouse... But if you don't think you want to be sealed, and you are just together to keep from being alone for the rest of your lives, then simply getting married in a regular civil ceremony shouldn't be a big problem.

Just sick, cold-hearted people. That's all I can say. And they are everywhere! When I lived up in the countryside with my dad, our neighbor got angry because his wife and daughter left him. So he locked all their dogs and cats in the house, and set it on fire. Then he left. Living in the coutnry, we would all ban together to fight off a fire (in addition to calling the fire department) because we were so far from town, it took them a while to get there. If we all didn't help, it would be far too late by the time help arrived, and the fire would spread to everyone else's homes too. So we all went down to his house with our private water tanks and hoses, holses and shovels (for shoveling dirt and sand to put out flames) to help tame the fire a bit. We had to kick the door down to rescue the animals trapped inside-- they were going CRAZY, almost screaming like humans, it was a horrible sound.... Some lived, some did not. We tried, we really did. But the place was HOT and full of smoke, so we couldn't see much inside.. Or breathe very well. The smoke was so low, I had to tie a wet cloth around my nose and mouth, and crawl on my belly to grab hold of a terrified, trembling little puppy in the corner of the livingroom... We tried to coax him out, but he just wouldn't move. We didn't have much time, we had to work quickly, there were 2 propane tanks just outside the house, and we didn't want to be nearby when they finally blew... We kept the puppy, my dad still has him 8 years later. We named him "Fire", because that's what brought him to us, and when I pet him that night, he left black smoke residue on my hand. Also, even after 4 baths, he still smelled like smoke, lol. I'll see if I can attach some photos of him, he's cute :)

hmmm, I see what you mean. And likewise, if my husband and I ever did split up, I think I would be too broken hearted to start dating right away. It might take me at the very least a year to start getting over it, much less the legal divorce process and all. I love him to death, its just I think he might be falling out with me... I mean, I know he still cares very much about me, I just don't think he's "in love" with me anymore, if that makes any sense... And that really bites, lol. But it took me more than a YEAR of dating him to even admit to myself that I loved him. So I'm very slow in that process. It would take even longer if I had a broken heart, because there would be fears, raw spots, and trust issues. So I get what you mean about still being broken hearted. At least until I healed, I would probably stick with a family ward.

I just read one of MisterT's posts in another thread about YSA, and it freaked me out, lol. So if you're single, do you HAVE to go to a singles ward? Or is it a choice? It sounds like a logical idea, I'm just wondering if they push you to go. Even though its probably a good mingling place, I think if I were single, I would feel kind of self conscious there, like, "Okaaaay, you totally know we're all sent here for ONE reason..." lol

It really scares me to think of being single, in your 20's, in an LDS chruch, lol. I’m in my late 20’s. I’m married to a non-member (Catholic), who is also from a foreign country. My husband and I were (and still are) having tons of problems… We don’t know weather or not we’re going to stay together. I talked to my bishop about this, because I was worried about my status in the church, should the worst happen. And my bishop casually said, “Well, we do encourage families to stay together. But nobody will condemn you if the two of you simply decided that there is no way for you to meet in the middle. We have several members in this ward who’ve been married more than once. But this is actually why we encourage people to date and marry within the church, and their own culture. Its not about race, its just that a marriage is hard enough without those extra differences.” Right after he said that, I had this flash in my mind of what would happen if my husband and I did decide to break things off… I thought of all the times I would sit there in church looking around-- roughly 95% of the people there are either children, young teens, middle-aged married couples, and senior couples. I hardly EVER see any single adults in their 20’s, or for that matter, many singles at all. Well, except some missionaries, but I don’t really count them as “singles”, because they don’t date anyway. When I thought about that, I kind of shivered to think of being “single” at 28 years of age within the church… Its not just my ward either. It’s the same at my mom’s ward, and all the wards I attended when I was 12 years old and under. I’m starting to think that perhaps it’s a common life cycle for people to pull away from the church during their single “on the hunt” years, and then return to the church after they have settled, and are trying to raise a wholesome family….?? In that case, as a single adult in your 20’s, how are you supposed to meet anyone? lol I wanted to argue those points with my bishop, that the reason its so tempting to marry outside the church is because its just very slim pickings within the church, lol. Even if my husband and I do split, and I marry again later… It will probably be to another non-member, for all the above reasons. After all, the people I interact will all day, every day, usually are not members. Also because LDS singles seem to have this nearly impossible criteria to fit for regular people-- they want someone who’s been to the temple, or served a mission, or is still a virgin, etc, etc. Anyone else ever notice this? EDIT: Oh, ok, being inactive for most of my adult life, I didn't know there was a YSA ward, someone just told me. But still, it would be kind of scary going there too with the high standards active LDS singles might have... Lets just hope my marriage looks up then, eh? lol

I agree there are SOME who should not get into heaven. Like people who get a thrill from killing, abusers, rapists, people who mean to bring down destruction, people who do not agree that god should be the soul lord and master... However, people who just do little things (like maybe they cuss, or they don't go to church as often, or they've been divorced a couple of times, or have had alcohol, or shoplifted in their youth, or tried pot)-- those people aren't so horrible. And many still have very loving souls. BUT-- they should have to completely repent for those behaviors and totally give them up before they can come in. And if they die having not repented, then they should have to remain in kind of a "repent limbo" until they do. The reason I say this is because we cannot simply say "sinners shouldn't get into heaven" because, my friend, we are ALL sinners. There is not one human on this planet (save for maybe someone who died in infancy, or is still very little, or mentally challenged) who has never sinned.

I have absolutely NO problem dating a non-member. I'm married now (to a Catholic). But I do have 2 conditions: 1-- I will not be with an athiest, my man must believe in a LOVING creator, and an afterlife of some kind. 2--The man I'm with has to feel the SAME way about other religions as I do. My feelings: Different religions are like different children, who came from the same parent. If you notice, most positive religions hold the same values: No killing, no stealing, no lying, love and honor your family, be a faithful spouse, be kind to others, etc. Obviously, it came from the same original source. At one time, there were not many people on earth, and we were all of the same "tribe" if you will, with the same faith. But we all branched out and put our own twist on that faith, (even Mormons). We live in vastly separated locations, with different cultures, physical features, and different languages. So OF COURSE we will have different names / mental images for god. And different traditions in which we pay our respects. That much is to be expected. There is not ONLY one way. There are countless sources of truth and goodness in this world. Every culture and religion has priceless pearls of wisdom to offer that work universally. You have to listen to your heart for clues as to what is true. The qualities god admires most, are that you are capable of believing in the righteous teachings provided to you. Or like the Muse said, in the movie "Dogma" "Its not about who's right or wrong. No denomination has nailed it. Because they're all too self-righteous to realize that it doesn't matter WHAT you have faith in. Just that you HAVE faith. Your hearts are in the right place, but your brain's gotta wake up." True, it sounds kind of harsh, and I do think she should have specified that it doesn't matter how you PICTURE or PRONOUNCE God (because every person and culture has a different idea)... But it still holds a certaing ring of truth.

Are you sure we're not siblings??? lol. My mom cusses a lot too, but a lot of people still just LOVE her, and she is so genuine, fun, and sensitive... Really understanding, inspiraitonal, and one of the most spiritual people I know. So I don't really hold it against her. She's lived through some of the worst possible nightmares you can imagine though, and she's actually died before (for 5 minutes, recorded by the hospital) and she says that despite her many faults, she knows for a fact exactly what is "out there" and that god loves her. So I don't even trip about it, lol. As for me, I confess, I will swear somethimes if I'm really, REALLY upset (or if I just suddenly get hurt and forget myself, like stubbing my toe or smashing my finger). But ever since I've gotten back into church, I've really been applying myself to not cussing anymore. Sometimes I slip, but I just feel more respectable when I try. As for other people, I don't think you will go to hell for cussing... But I do think that cussing all the time sort of makes others see you as "having no class". Particularly women, as men often don't like a woman who cusses a lot. Even if they themselves do.