Milluw

Except they live on, just not here. Their story on earth is still part of their own experience. I don't think that we can claim ownership of that even if they have passed on. At least not on such a traumatic and personal experience.

It absolutely does. I cannot help but think though, would she have wanted the story to come out? The argument seems to be that it would help those that suffer today. To break the silence on sexual abuse and then use it as an example for the benefit of those living today. Which all sounds like a worthy goal. But is it really our story to tell? Our example to give? If she did not leave any personal account or speak on it herself, i would have thought that it would have been respectfully left private. While sharing your story is admirable considering the shame that surrounds it, it isn't a given that a person would want to do that. Especially in such a public light. Even if a person had told me something similar, no matter if it was in private or public setting (for others to hear too).. i wouldn't take that story and tell myself that it was my responsibility to share it for the greater good. She might have passed from this world, but shouldn't she have the same respect for something so deeply private as any one of us? But what do i know. I have only read the article and a bit of debating on it in the comment section. There might be some more behind it.

Following the reset link on the mail, it would not accept my password. But then i went onto lds.net and i were already automatically logged in. So i went into settings to reset password and there it worked. Will it be enough to have changed it on there? Or does it have to go through on the link on the email? ** Oh! Nevermind I got an email to write the new password and then it takes me to a lds.net site that looks completely different. So it must have worked. I cannot log in on that site though, but i assume its just updating.

Merry christmas everybody!!

I shall do. Thank you for the resource :)

Hi all, sorry for the late response! Thank you all for of the inputs. It gave me a lot of food for thought! Just to clarify, i did not intend to equate paganism to satanism. It would probably have been more correct to write "paganism and satanism" in stead. Sorry! :) The mention on satanism was more relating to Halloween specifically, and the claims about those being linked together. I do know of the pagan aspect of our culture in the North. However have found that there is a lot more to know about it than i do already, after seeing these replies. I don't have a completely solid understanding of the pagan roots here just yet. Would like to look more into it. As for holidays, it has been weighing on my mind a lot for a while. But i have come to the personal conclusion, that if the core of those holidays really are that much against God as is being claimed, then we surely would have gotten the message somehow from the prophets. And if we have yet to recieve that message, i will find out when and if the time is right. But as of now, it doesn't feel wrong in my spirit to celebrate the holiday. So i am excited for christmas yet again! If anyone feels they have more input to add though, i am always interested.

It also depends on what invironment you live in and which social circles you move around in. You may experience some tension between other religions where you are at, but for someone else it might be different. The only place i experience that tension is online, mostly. To me, more people without faith, particularly atheists or those whose faith is of the norse religion, tend to be very easily offended by anything relating to christianity. We are all human though, and thought there are societal tendencies, i believe the best thing we can do is to not generalize and take each person in front of you as the individual that they are. Because we don't know what causes them to be so easily offended. We all have different life experiences and reasons to the opinions and conclusions we make.

I have been seeing a lot of sources talk about holidays and them having roots from paganism/satanism. And that things like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, ect. have some pretty dark/twisted history and symbolics to them, and that they aren't as innocent in nature as the majority of us believe. A lot of people are apparantly of the opinion that no real christian would celebrate them. Which when i hear the facts that they are claiming are facts, i can see why it would go against christianity.. but it seems i have only scratched the surface. Personally i have always loved traditions. So i am so bummed about hearing some of these claims.. but would rather know the truth than not. At this point i would like to see which claims have legitimacy or not, but its a whole sea of information out there on this. So i am curious if anyone has searched this subject - and what their thoughts and conclusions have been? Have the church spoken on it? Any input would be appreciated :)

My sister in law shared it - i must have seen it at least 12 times by now

This might just be the cutest thing i have ever seen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vanP07y1Xgw *Explodes*

A few years back a friend of mine came to visit. We had not spoken for years. In those years time we had both changed a lot. She also said i was hardly recognizable, because back then i were a bit of a wild cat, but now i were a mormon - and it had made a noticable difference. She had changed as well, but still had a few of the bad habits that we used to share. So we talked all night long. Being mormon isn't a commen thing here in Denmark, so it is not uncommen that people think of it as some sort of cult. Though people does seem to have become in general a bit more informed. Well, questions came rolling in, and i tried my best to answer them :) and found myself increasingly feeling the spirit as i defended and explained my fondness of my faith, as you do. Much to my surprise i found out that she had felt something too, while talking about it. And for the next months we talked back and forth and within a short time in those months she had begun getting missionary visits. Long story short, because of all of this she stopped her bad habits one by one and then she was babtised after about six months period. You never know what happends in people's heart when they see your passion. And how the holy spirit works with them. It certaintly surprised me.

Thanks pam!

(I couldn't figure out how to make the link show as a video, sorry!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAjZ8mfoYw Have watched this countless times through time. It is such an uplifting message, that i wanted to share it here too. :)

That might also be. One can only wonder. Perhaps we are more protected than what we know of, when we choose to do right. It could be that God allowed Joseph Smith to go through that, for whatever reason. Somehow if demons can that "easily" possess a human, i can't help but think that we would be real sitting ducks if we no protection had. Makes me think of the blessing you can get on your household as you move it for example :)

I have heard theories such as that astral projection and even practices like yoga can leave you spiritually vulnerable to opening up to attracting evil spirits. But also i have heard that a spirit cannot enter you unless you welcome them - sometimes unknowingly and through deceit, others fully aware. A lot of the theories i came by also claimed that it is not as uncommen as we think. And that in fact many people work with those darker forces, and that it is not always just a sitting duck that gets possesed. As you can probably imagine, it is snowball theories that a lot of others spring out from too.. so emphasis on theories. I only know that spirits will talk to and decieve people that naively reach out to them. Not from personally doing so, but i knew a friend in my teens who especially dabbled with it and wanted to show it to me one day, which he did. Direct possession though, i have not seen with my own eyes. That is - what i know of.. another theory goes too - that sometimes people walk with bad spirits, not nessicarily looking as in something like The Exorsist. Could imagine mental illness has a play in it, if so. Schizofrenia is often mentioned in this regard. It is all from conspiracy theories i came by on youtube though, so besides a bit of biblical interpertation accompanied with them, it is not something i myself have been able to confirm or disprove. Just theories to think about. And all very hear-say :)

Is her husband open to being asked if everything is ok? In case she is not able to be approached. Ofcourse that could backlash, if she would be offended that you not go directly to her. It is hard to advice when i don't know them personally, on how to approach it. If neither can be approached.. then i am not sure if anything can be done, other than what it sounds like you already are doing.

Between age 13 to 19 i were an inactive member. I both distanced myself to members/friends/family, but also some members/friends would distance themself to me. If i would walk past anyone i knew, i would greet in passing, but some members would walk by like i did not exist. They were few though in comparison to those that always were open and friendly towards me. Those people, looking back, made a bigger difference than i thought they did at the time. I did not really give reason to my family or anyone either, it was more of a rebellion against everything. It was a pretty wild and dark time in my life. So when it came to being around other members, i just felt it would be better if i stayed away. Both because i could not deal with the pressure of people wanting me to return to church at that time, but also because i might have dragged others down. I were living quite recklessly, and somehow alcohol, drugs, and what comes with it.. it did not fit. What would we talk about? Another side of it was also, that whenever i looked at members, the missionaries and such, i felt so unhappy. Because i remembered the spirit and happiness, and every time i looked at them it reminded me of what i had left behind. Distancing myself made it easier to walk away. And it left me feeling guilty and judged to see them, even if i probably judged myself most. It was not just members - i remember once i saw the scriptures lying near me, and i just sat there staring at it and started sobbing. I threw it away eventually. I would also get angry when any family member talked to me about anything gospel related. Wanted so desperately to be accepted as who i was, rather than who they saw me for. It did not matter if i were acting true to who they thought i was or if i were acting like who i really was. I needed to be accepted for who i was at that moment, enough that i did not feel i had to change into what other people wanted me to be. Which from their perspective.. all of the lessons and promptings to repent or better my life was done out of love. But when in a place like that, it can seem like your person it getting critisized, which i did enough of myself. There is a golden midway though, where everyone can be true to themself and each other, without pushing apart from each other. But it is quite a balancing act at first. It took years before we perfected that (my family and i). Because of miscommunications i went off the radar a lot of times.. ending up around in different cities, being out for weeks partying and then coming home to crash for a day, and then repeat. At one point i ran away from home and i did not see my family for some months. The point with it is - that the miscommunication from both sides, made the easiest solution for me to just be abscent. Ofcourse, none of us was happy with that. But i could not see another solution. Mind you i could have been much better at dealing with... well, everything at that point. I just know of others that have felt the same when leaving the church or becoming inactive. To cut it short, i returned home one day - to church and family, and everything is very different now :) The moment i stopped feeling judged and unwelcomed, things bettered almost instantly. I stopped seeing simply church members and started seeing fellow humans, and they started looking at who i was and not through me to what i could be - i think we all started healing in my family from then on. That does not mean you can't be honest about your faith. It is when it is pushed onto another person, especially someone with anger towards it, that it can backfire. Just be a friend. It is mainly in the hands of the person who is leaving the church though. If you show them love, you will know you have done all that you can. But regardless if you do or don't, each person has their own free will to choose the road they wish to take. It can be hard to accept when it is someone you care for... all you can do is never to give up. You never know what the future holds. :)

Welcome Matt :)

Welcome :)

Banana split

Ah okay :) i did not know that. Thanks for the answers!

Even when they become adults, can they not make the choice themselves?

*First of all i don't know how to change the name of the thread, i realise it could have been worded better * I have wondered about this on someone elses behalf for a while. This is not my situation, but when i were asked i did not know how to answer it. She married a few years ago and her husband has three children. His ex wife is not an active part in the childrens life, other than rare visits in between months and contact via. email/skype/facebook. In effect of the mother of those three children not being there, she has become the motherly figure that takes care of them every day. It has been a struggle for her to adapt to this role of being in between, but as for taking care of the children and handling it, she has done a lot better than she gives herself credit. Anyhow, the question she asked me one day were about temple sealings. Their biological mother is not happy about the religion, and initially did not even want the children to attend church. They do attend every sunday now and has worked that out. Still she does not agree with the religion though and lives her life very differently, so it is doubtful that she would agree to anything with regards to sealings and such. Is it completely impossible for those three children, their father and their not biological mother to become sealed together? Also.. is it possible for two women in a situation like this to be sealed to children or would it have to just be one? Mind you not in a situation of polygamy, that is not something anyone here is interested in. If someone has thoughts on this they would be greatly appreciated.