Heather

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Everything posted by Heather

  1. How about because Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and you are a Mormon, what does that tell you about him?
  2. I know. It was getting too hard to moderate the posts to stop people from talking about why to favor one candidate over the other, so I made a sweeping rule. This thread is a test to see if it can be discussed without favoring one side or the other.
  3. To see if people can discuss him as a Mormon and what that means :)
  4. With the announcement by McCain tomorrow of who will be his running mate, there has been a lot of speculation about Romney taking the roll. Don't use this thread to discuss political agendas or who one should or should not vote for, but discuss Mitt Romney specifically with regards to his background as a Mormon and what it means to be a Mormon. Mitt Romney Mormon
  5. I do appreciate you giving me the setup to be obnoxious and snide though :) Kevin, yes. Plus I am allowed to be sarcastic and shed my robotic shell if the opportunity presents itself. I'm glad we're on the same page. And with that note, I better go to bed before I become even more human and growing a sense of humor as well.
  6. I can make and break any rule I want. So there?
  7. Heather

    1 Nephi 2:2-4

    1 Nephi 2:2-4 2 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness. 3 And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him. 4 And it came to pass that he *departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness. Quotes for Discussion 1 Nephi 2:4 What Lehi Left Behind House Land Gold and silver Precious things What Lehi Took with Him Family Provisions Tents Scriptures (see 1 Nephi 3:3) “For a man to lay down his all,” Joseph Smith taught, “his character and reputation, his honor, and applause, his good name among men, his houses, his lands, his brothers and sisters, his wife and children, and even his own life also—counting all things but filth and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ—requires more than mere belief or supposition that he is doing the will of God; but actual knowledge, realizing that, when these sufferings are ended, he will enter into eternal rest, and be a partaker of the glory of God.” Lectures on Faith, 6:5
  8. Heather

    1 Nephi 2:1

    1 Nephi 2:1 Lehi takes his family into the wilderness by the Red Sea—They leave their property—Lehi offers a sacrifice to the Lord and teaches his sons to keep the commandments—Laman and Lemuel murmur against their father—Nephi is obedient and prays in faith; the Lord speaks to him, and he is chosen to rule over his brethren. Between 600 and 592 B.C. 1 For behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and said unto him: Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done; and because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this people the things which I commanded thee, behold, they seek to take away thy life. Quotes for Discussion 1 Nephi 2 Some men are “morning stars” of the first magnitude, possessing a luminescence so unique, so compelling, that lesser mortals bask in their reflected glory like so many planets orbiting the sun. This eternal principle of attraction functions like a spiritual law of gravity (D&C 88:40). It originates in that God whose dominions forever flow unto him “without compulsory means” (D&C 121:46). For the spiritually minded, the foremost of such men in this world are those towering figures comprising the prophets, seers, and revelators of the ages. Few in number, they are heaven’s pillars on earth, upholding the various gospel dispensations. One of these was Nephi, a truly superlative man. Indeed, he was the prototype of those renowned Book of Mormon prophets and kings who came after him. These and many unidentified prophets reflected Nephi’s faith, courage, and commitment. Rodney Turner, “The Prophet Nephi,” First Nephi, The Doctrinal Foundation, p. 79 1 Nephi 2:1 All inspired dreams are visions [see 1 Nephi 8:2], but all visions are not dreams. Visions are received in hours of wakefulness or of sleep and in some cases when the recipient has passed into a trance; it is only when the vision occurs during sleep that it is termed a dream. Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 208. Where faith is, there will the knowledge of God be also, with all things which pertain thereto—revelations, visions, and dreams, as well as every necessary thing, in order that the possessors of faith may be perfected, and obtain salvation. Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith, Lecture 7, p. 69
  9. Wow that's really exciting! Thanks for sharing your experiences from being interested in the Church to meeting with the missionaries. I wish you the very best.
  10. I would be more surprised if he wasn't an exmormon. Sounds like he got jaded by something and has a bone to pick for some reason.
  11. You can help promote this video by digging it here: Digg - Mormon Conspiracy - The REAL Mormon Conspiracy
  12. The falling out of the chair bit is from shock. First at the whole conspiracy idea, and then how a Jewish radio host is the one to set him straight.
  13. Clip from Michael Medved's show and set to video. This one is really, really good. You'll fall out of your chair, and once you pick yourself up, you'll fall out of it again. Help promote this video. Digg it here: Digg - Mormon Conspiracy - The REAL Mormon Conspiracy
  14. Skippy, you should look at that youtube video. I think the best part is hearing President Hinckley having a hard time finishing the joke because he's laughing too hard. JBS - I wish I could see the video of that!
  15. God Shall Give unto You Knowledge by His Holy Spirit GORDON B. HINCKLEY 25 September 1973 I think I know something of the frustrations of life in general. I have had my head bumped and my shins barked. On some of these occasions when I have needed a laugh I have turned to a letter which I think is something of a classic, which was first published in the Manchester, England, Guardian and later reprinted in the Deseret News. A hurricane had hit the West Indies, and a bricklayer was sent to repair the damage. He wrote to the home office as follows, and I hope you can get this delightful picture: Respected Sirs: When I got to the building I found that the hurricane had knocked some bricks off the top. So I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrels full of bricks. When I had fixed the building, there was a lot of bricks left over. I hoisted the barrel back up again and secured the line at the bottom, and then went up and filled the barrel with the extra bricks. Then I went to the bottom and cast off the line. Unfortunately the barrel of bricks was heavier than I was, and before I knew what was happening the barrel started down, jerking me off the ground. I decided to hang on, and halfway up I met the barrel coming down and received a severe blow on the shoulder. I then continued to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my finger jammed in the pulley. When the barrel hit the ground it bursted its bottom, allowing all the bricks to spill out. I was now heavier than the barrel and so started down again at high speed. Halfway down, I met the barrel coming up and received severe injuries to my shins. When I hit the ground I landed on the bricks, getting several painful cuts from the sharp edges. At this point I must have lost my presence of mind because I let go of the line. The barrel then came down, giving me another heavy blow on the head and putting me in the hospital. I respectfully request sick leave. Life is like that--ups and downs, a bump on the head, and a crack on the shins. "God Shall Give unto You Knowledge by His Holy Spirit" - Gordon B. Hinckley
  16. Use this thread to list the funniest stories from Church Leaders given from the pulpit. Be sure to include the date, speaker, name of the talk, and link if possible.
  17. The Joseph Smith papers will be amazing. What an undertaking. They're suggesting it will be 30 volumes now. What an amazing resource it will be.
  18. the first rule of the site still applies. I don't see a problem with this kind of discussion if church rebuttles and insights are always included, like info from fairlds.org. As I have said in the past, I would rather those who have questions find the answers here.
  19. Vort - im at a conference and just laughed outloud at your comment. Great tongue in cheek post.
  20. I've heard a lot of theories in my day, but I must admit, this is the first time I've heard this one. I don't agree with it, but always interesting to hear new takes. I do think a lot of women have had issues with not having the priesthood at one point or another. I remember I didn't think it was fair that I didn't get to pass the sacrament when I was 12. Beyond that, it never was that big of an issue to me. When I got married, I found comfort in knowing that there were certain roles that I took on and certain roles my husband took on. I could never trade the experience of pregnancy, of carrying a life inside me, for anything. Why would we need a husband or a wife if we could do it all ourselves? I love being a mother. That's something I wouldn't trade for anything. There are certain things that I am far better at than my husband is and vice versa. That's why we're so great together. I for one would never want to hear my husband say I'm more spiritual than him because I'm a woman. That just sounds like a cop-out for him not to put in the effort. I think there have been many points in our marriage when one of us has been more spiritual than the other.
  21. Whoops! I thought I included it: The Message and the Messenger: Latter-day Saints and Freemasonry It's worth a lot :) I like you too HiJolly!
  22. I agree. You're not going to get anywhere with this guy. My advice is to block him. He's past reasoning, understanding, and definitely has no interest in allowing himself to be taught by the spirit. He's trying to argue with you about the "endowment," yet the endowment does not exist in Free Masonry. He is talking about similar rituals that have different meanings to the LDS members and Masons.
  23. It's a fraternity, not a religion. There is no historical evidence to support a continuous functioning line from Solomon's Temple to the present. Even if there were, there is going to be some changes to fit the needs of the children of God today. We're not going to be preforming ritualistic slaughter of animals as was done in Solomon's Temple.
  24. Chitty Wrote: WHY IS THE MORMON TEMPLE CEREMONY LITTERED WITH SIGNS AND SYMBOLS TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM THE FREEMASON DEGREES? DO YOU THINK ITS ONLY A COINCIDENCE THAT JOSEPH SMITH INITIATED INTO FREEMASONRY AND THEN WITHIN THE MONTH "REVEALED" THE MORMON TEMPLE CEREMONY, WITH ALL ITS MASONIC ELEMENTS? AND LASTLY, DO YOU FIND IT ODD THAT OVER THE YEARS THE MOST OBVIOUS MASONIC ELEMENTS (THE PENALTIES, THE FIVE POINTS OF FELLOWSHIP, ETC.) HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE MORMON TEMPLE CEREMONY? "So we have the endowment and then we have the messenger: the ritual. How the endowment is taught and this is where I believe Masonry played a part. Joseph Smith sat in Lodge, he watched as humble farmers--most of whom he knew probably couldn't read and write well--learned complicated, difficult ritual and he said in his mind, 'Ah! This is how I'll do it. This is how I'll teach the endowment to the Saints.' Why? Because they already knew the ritual. They wouldn't pay attention to the ritual; they'd pay attention to the message because they already knew the ritual. And so, there is that kind of genesis, that ritualistic form, that asking of questions back and forth that we get. All of that comes as Joseph Smith tries to communicate these truths. Now the temple endowment did not spring forth one day in Nauvoo fully functioning. The temple endowment came over a long period of time and in Kirtland we got what we call the washings and anointings. They have no equivalent in Freemasonry. Freemasonry does not do washings and anointings or anything even remotely like them. This is the other part that critics of the Church never bring up, they never bring up the differences, they always bring up the similarities because the differences don't serve their purposes. So we've got whole sections of the endowment that have no Masonic origins or similarities and that was the early ritual as found in Kirtland. " Chitty wrote:"www.fairlds.org" is about the furthest thing possible away from being a scholarly site. Be that as it may, I'm thinking the scholars at fairlds.org have more education, prestige, and credibility than this guy does. Years studying? Hardly. He's only quoting the fat of anti-Mormon propaganda to you. He heard a few things and let his own thoughts run him into the ground without any true study of Masons or Mormons. FairLDS scholars could walk all over him.