JThimm88

Howdy. :) Maybe a temple marriage will happen someday? I'm assuming you're a member while your spouse is not? Regardless, glad to hear your testimony in the church is strong!

Thanks for both of your answers; it explained it perfectly. :)

Deseret Book sells them. You can find the scriptures here. Or if you go to LDS.org and go to the distribution center, you can find them. Here's a link. As for costs, it really just depends on what you get -- a quad or not, what it's made of, etc.

D&C 131:2 reads "And in order to obtain the highest order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage];" What exactly is the new and everlasting covenant of marriage? That of eternal marriages, or that of plural marriages? (I know that we obviously do not teach polygamy anymore, but in this reference of scripture, I wasn't sure if it could have meant such?)

Wow... reading what was written on those other forums was kind of sad. I've never taken it too hard when people bash the church as I haven't had to deal with it thankfully, but some of what people were saying was really hurtful. Hmph.

To the OP, I don't know a lick about home-ownership (considering my husband and I will be floating around apartments around the country for a few years), nor do I know too much about foreclosure, so I don't understand what is wrong with the situation? Could you please explain it for me so that I could better understand? I'm interested in knowing. :)

Well, keep in mind that in being loyal to God, we're supposedly being obedient to our covenants that we've made with him. To the OP, I don't remember the exact reference, but to paraphrase, we're saved by the grace of Christ, after all we can do. So, if you wanted to break it down, it's by grace (faith), after all we do (works). I always look at as, you can't really exercise your faith without working at it... and we can't keep commandments (works) without faith. It just goes both ways. Although I'm assuming that even with all of the works we do, God has the ultimate judgment.

Welcome. :)

I can certainly do that. :)

Has anyone used Roots Magic to help with family history work? If so, did you like it? Why? And likewise, if you didn't like it, why not? My husband and I are teaching the family history class in our ward (we were just sustained in our calling today!), and took orientation at the family history center on campus (we're at BYU-I), and they really seemed to be fans of it, but I feel like I don't understand it completely. At any rate, I downloaded the program and will be playing around with it for a while tonight.

Hello! This is certainly the place for gospel discussion. It's great! :)

There is a paragraph in regards to this subject, though not heavily, and some might say that it doesn't even relate, but I thought this might help... It's from Ch. 1, Intimacy and the Purposes of Earthly Families, in the Parent's Guide: "Our Heavenly Father’s work and glory are “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life” of his children (see Moses 1:39). When explaining the glorious potential of each of his children, he said that if they do all things he requires of them, “they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever” (D&C 132:19). In other words, if we are true and faithful in all things, we will be able to become like God our Father and live forever in the family unit, working as he does to bless and exalt our children." When I went to D&C 132:19, I'd rather read D&C 19-21 (bold emphasis by me) which reads: "19 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. 20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. 21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory." And whether this is speculation or not, I've heard that by becoming like God, that we have the ability to create like him (hence the idea of planets, as you initially questioned -- as we will have that power to create just like he did). Whether or not that is true, I have no idea... guess I'll just have to wait and find out! Hope this helps!

Hahahaha! I WISH I could raise my hand. However, my husband and I have only been married for 7 months (though we've been "together" for almost a year and a half) and already we've (unfortunately) had to work like crazy to keep our marriage balanced. I suppose that's life, but I just had to say that I laughed at the possibility of anyone raising their hand, because I'm sure we all wish we just could!

Your bishop does have a valid point in stating your boyfriend being able to take you through the temple (of course he'd have to be your fiance at the point, hehe). I took my endowment out last October just a week before I got sealed in the temple, and my soon-to-be-hubby was able to "take me through." Once I was able to reflect on the meaning of such the act, what was said, and the importance of it all, it made that one time that much more personal and amazing. Aside from our sealing the week later, going through the temple for the first time with my then-fiance was just completely awesome and uplifting. Sorry, just my random two cents. :)

Welcome, to the church and to lds.net. :) I joined just a year before you did, and still feel pretty new to it (the church). Glad to hear that your children are baptized/getting baptized; it's amazing!

In all honesty, I don't plan on reading the books, even for enjoyment, and especially not in regards to the history of the church, as they're even found in the fiction section of bookstores. Any book I'd be reading on the subject would definitely have to be in the non-fiction section. :)

I'm assuming what you mean is why aren't the revelations that prophets such as President Hinckley or Thomas S. Monson, or men who have been prophets after the revelations of D&C were put together, in the D&C? I have the same question, if that is the case. I'm not sure that the posters above understood that, as they handed you the declarations, which they're correct to share those as they have been added (a.k.a. they're not Joseph's revelations), but you're probably wondering why recent revelations haven't been added?

My aunt and uncle were in a similar situation. My uncle works for a computer company, and they sent him over to Vietnam to do work for months at a time, and like the situation above seems end up going, he only came home for maybe 3 weeks at most, and then was back again to Vietnam for months, without my aunt. Regardless of mentality, it would be tough on anyone who loved their spouse to be apart from them. It was tough for my aunt, and eventually she was able to move to Vietnam with my uncle. They have been there on and off for the past year, only coming to the US for weeks at a time... the longest stay they had here was 6 weeks last summer. I'd say see if you can go with your husband. It'd be a great opportunity all-around -- your husband would be getting a great job experience that will definitely help him in the future, I'm sure, and you'll also be getting financial security along with it. (Who doesn't love that?) And if you can go with your husband, you two won't be missing each other so darn much.

In downloading what is considered legally on your computer, you must use a program in which you buy the song -- such as iTunes. Or, you can download it from the internet if you go to Amazon.com, search for the song, and there just so happens to be an MP3 file for download from the CD (Amazon makes some, if not all, of the CDs they sell available for download by individual track for $0.99, as iTunes would). I've used both iTunes and Amazon before, and have found they work just fine and are perfectly legal. :) (Edit) Keep in mind that I don't mean to give the idea that just ANY program that makes you pay is considered legal. Hence my only mentioning iTunes and Amazon.com, as they are 2 reliable sources where you download music, and by my understanding, the original artists of the song still get a part of the profit (as tiny as the amount per song may be, lol), which is what I assume makes them legal sources.

I grew up in a Lutheran church which taught trinitarianism, and still never found that viewpoint of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to be completely supported by Biblical teachings. Let's face it, the Bible may be slightly vague on the nature of God, leaving it up to the reader to interpret however they choose to... which makes me rather glad that the LDS church has the additional revelation ...makes it easier for me to understand because it's literally right in my face as I read it. That's just my personal experience, of course.

I've been doing a lot of reading about the Godhead in the forums today, and your post would be the perfect answer many investigators (like yourself) are looking for -- I'm just happy you found something and you were able to make sense of it. :)

I came across this post and just thought I'd share my two cents: My husband and I currently don't have children, but what we wear now is probably what we'll continue to wear around our children ... my husband never walks around with just his garments on, he always wears shorts over his bottoms, with occasionally (sp?) just the garment top on, though sometimes he wears a t-shirt. I personally feel that his bottoms are pretty revealing and it would make me uncomfortable for my children to see. I generally cover myself up completely; someone earlier stated that her garments are a little bit more revealing than her husband's ... so true in regards to the tops! Even before I was endowed I always wore pajamas, so covering them up seems natural to me. :)

Does the church have an official position on whether or not to drink soda? Dumb question, but being a convert, it just seems like more people in the LDS church "freak out" over soda due to the caffeine (at least when talking with some other members, that has been their reasoning). I understand that there is nothing in the WoW about caffeine, so I can't understand why a lot of members just refuse to drink the stuff, as if we've been instructed not to...??? Has the church come out and said anything regarding the drink? I just feel as though some members have taken the reference of coffee in the WoW and assumed that God said "no coffee" because of the caffeine content in the drink, and caffeine certainly can be an addicting substance. But my assumption of the WoW when saying "no coffee," and even "no tea" was due to the negative affects that the coffee beans/tea leaves cause on the body? (Coffee beans have more affects than just containing caffeine, of course.) More power to the people who stay away from the sugary garbage, but I'm just wondering why some people seem to be fanatical about it (to the point where they're rude when if offered one in our house...)?

My husband and I had a discussion about this today, actually; though your mother's wishes are that you not have her and your father sealed after they've passed away, you could (should?) still do the work for them. From my understanding, though we do the work for the deceased, they still have the agency to choose to accept it -- for example, if you did baptismal work for an individual and they accepted it and thus joined the church, you could still do their temple work for them, but they might still choose to NOT accept that work done, thus discontinuing their progression. Either way, as long as someone's doing the work (whether it be you or your children), that's what's important, that we're giving them the opportunity. :)

I've actually seen the movies... does that count? My mother-in-law gave me the books at one point, but they were huuuuge... looked so daunting!