Backroads

THere's really not enough comparison between View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon to be conclusive it was taken from it. Besides, Ethan Smith and Josepth Smith have referrenced each other too many times for any sneakiness to be very plausible. It's not really all that surprising Ethan Smith wrote the book... some of those ideas were being discussed at the time. But it's just not all that conclusive it was stolen for the Book of Mormon, from a scholarly point of view. Do people still argue the "Manuscript Story" anymore?

But really, don't worry about it. The Church practiced polygamy. So did people of the Bible. So does many, many world cultures today. If your friends harass you about the 17 wives, shock and awe them with the 55 correction. Just see what they do.

Yeah, it was closer to 55. Seventeen may have been Joseph Smith's number for wives... Eh, oh well. When you say "Mormon" you are nowadays referring to quite a few churches, the official church and some offshoots. There are quite a few that do practice polygamy and polyandry, though the official church does not. I'm tryin gto remember a few of them... I think the Restoration Church does... a lot of the more fundamentalist ones do.

I pray at least once daily, before bed. I'm trying to get into the habit of morning prayers as well. Honestly, I don't ask for forgiveness much... I should work on that, and maybe ask to be more aware of what I need forgiveness for as well. The personal guilt thing isn't kicking in. Or maybe I'm just a good person. ;D As for avoiding repetition, I don't think repetition is necessarily bad in of itself. There are things you should be always grateful for, and there are things you should always be asking for. I think that when it becomes thoughtless a problem arises. I try to be more specific about particulars, even if it's a variation of one of my "normal" prayer bits. I'm grateful for my family, but what in particular has struck out to me that day? I almost always kneel in prayer, though at night I kneel on the bed.

As the engaged girl... this depresses me! =D

Hmm... I'm a cat person. I don't know how this will work out. Welcome! Personally I think a relationship with the Supreme Being comes before bothering with any religious identity.

That's actually a concept I always use. Any psychologist will tell you the human memory is notoriously untrustworthy, and I'm always fighting with people about the details of various events and when they actuall happened. I don't know a single person who gives all information at once when they're concerned with such-n-such particle of it over other such-n-such particle. Thank-you.

Thank-you. This is wonderful advice. And yes, I was telling him that I doubt the First Presidency sits around trying to think of ways to make his life difficult.

I love all of these! Especially increasing the musical options. Frankly, I find it silly that all music must come directly from the hymnals when there are such beautiful, spiritual options out there. Now while I think an electric guitar is a bit out there and inappropriate, there is quite a wide variety of musical instruments.

Yes, I'm definitely praying. I like to keep things in perspective. I was actually talking with a co-worker and she said how important it is to discern between essential doctrine, interpretation of doctrine, apostle's comments, policies, and even the form of the doctrine versus the essential nature. I avoid bitter sites, but official church history can suck. Thank-you so much for your comments!

Thank-you both, this is very informative.

Now keep in mind... if I have to go to one Sabbath meeting, it is sacrement. I believe the sacrement is holy and vital to the church. I will make that meeting even if there is skipping the other two hours. However, after the sacrement, my attention wanes. I like the beginning. I like hearing an opening song. I like hearing any announcement. I try to make the partaking of the sacrement meaningful. But after that... seriously, there are so many times when I just open my scriptures and read. I even had few qualms about leaving after the sacrement, if my schedule requires it.

There's a lot of truth to this! I'm thanking you because this is EXACTLY what's going on with me and kind of the reason I joined this forum. In response, I really think the Church could help just by being a little more open with history, having its points on these early history/doctrinal thing available. I've known a lot of people that find out such things and go inactive, while I feel more secure because I've known so many things since childhood. But on that same note... I think that some people want Sunday at church to be a wealth of information and not a time of public worship. They wonder why things aren't being brought up, and get offended that way.

My fiance and I plan on being married in March. He has been married before. After that divorce, the sealing was cancelled. We've only been engaged a month, and a couple of weeks ago he began talking to his bishop about what we needed. Yesterday morning, he texts me, furious about needing a temple sealing clearance now. He needs a letter from his ex, and he was rather upset that he needs all of this when the other sealing was cancelled and he is temple-worthy. He's calmed down since, and is filling out the forms, but that does make me pose the question of why another clearance is needed even after a sealing was cancelled several years ago. It seems that this is fairly recent church policy, and we would like to know the reasoning behind it.

This is my very first post on these boards, and I really am excited to be here. I am actually here for help, and putting this in the introduction section so you can know where I'm coming with this. I have been a member of the Church since I was eight. I really love the Church and the Gospel. I love being Mormon. BUT I don't know if I'm the best Mormon. I'm not promiscuous, never have been. I don't swear, I keep the word of wisdom, I pray daily. Here's the deal. I belive in God. I believe in Christ. I believe in modern-day prophets and revelation. I believe in temples. I believe in the Book of Mormon. However, the rest of all the little doctrinal things I really could not care less about. I've heard all the historical/doctrinal "horror stories" ever since I was a kid, and they've never really bothered me. But yesterday this all really hit me. Am I bad Mormon because I don't concern myself with the number of First Vision accounts but just what affects my own spirituality and salvation? Is it wrong that I put a relationship with God first and religion second? And yesterday I was perusing some church history sites that did get me thinking about various discrepencies. It's just been a very difficult past two days. I'm just looking for some advice and insight.