Backroads

I have long felt that every bishop should go through the "profiles" on the ordain women and get to meeting with anyone they find their from their wards. Stop advocating for apostasy publicly. It is and always has been excommunicatable.

It's about dang time for John Dehlin.  I used to follow his facebook page, until I started wondering why I was following the page of someone who so openly was rejecting the truth claims of the church. 
 
Dude is in the chess club.  If you're in the chess club but love checkers more, you should go join the checkers club, not try to remake the chess club.

Maybe the Relief Society is responsible. They are the ones that got permission and agreed to the conditions of using it.

I disagree... The responsible party is the one who lit the fire and let it go out of control.  That is were the responsibility begins and ends.
 
Since that person is not stepping up and taking responsibility the ward members, the church and the neighbor are all affected/interested parties.  To various degrees they all have a vested interest in trying to make this right, unfortunately without an identified responsible party some one is going to have to sacrifice to make it right and should be the ward members/leaders.  

Have you looked into down payment assistance programs?  Many cities or counties have programs where they offer first time home buyers funds for a down payment. Sometimes it's a direct grant, other times it is a second loan that doesn't have to be repaid until the house is sold (that's only a good idea if you are going to stay in the house long enough to build enough equity to pay off the 2nd). Increasing the down payment will lower the monthly payments and often allow a lender to offer you a lower interest rate. Usually the city or county will require you to take financial and home buying classes in order to qualify.

The way I see it, church members were working the garden.  Therefore, church members (the ward?) are responsible.

Your Ward has permission to use the land, they then should replace what one of their members burned. Comes out of the Ward budget.

Can't someone take up a collection or something?
 
As a user of the garden, even if I couldn't pay all, I would at least try to come up with something. 

I'm happy for the family, but I'm sure they'll be tested by the persecution they'll endure, indefinitely. I would agree with the thought process that the public does not know all the details pertaining to this event, which of course, is always a cash cow for the media.

Trips to the library.  It's all e-readers now.

My advice:
 
Move, not just to a different place but a different location, different city, different state, etc.
 
3 bed apt. for 1900 means you either live in DC, NY, SF, LA or one of those extremely high cost of living places.  I have a house I'm about to sell (4/3) and the most I could get for rent is 1200 in a decent area.  Plenty of really good places to live exist in the US with decent jobs.
 
The rule of thumb for buying a house used to be 20% down + 6 months living expenses.  In general, if you don't have that one should not buy a house.  10k in savings is not much when you've got a house.  New HVAC 6k+, roof 6k+, plan at least 100 a month in maintenance.  Make sure you are truly comparing apples to apples.  With a house, you have insurance, taxes, mortgage insurance (if you don't have 20% down).
 
In general having a 30 year mortgage is a fool's game, the same with rent.  The average time to move is 7 years.  7 years into a 30 year mortgage one has paid very little into the actual principle, in addition if housing prices go down one can be stuck in an area for a long period of time with a mortgage.  The only way a 30 year mortgage works is through the magic of inflation and moreso wage inflation to be specific.  But it requires a lot of assumptions. Assumption 1) Wages will increase making the payments less painful, 2) Work 30 years without a substantial job layoff or major life crippling event 3) stable location.  In today's society those are a lot of assumptions.
 
I own 2 homes, 1 completely paid for 1 half paid for (about to sell)  so I certainly believe buying a house is the way to go, but it requires the right circumstances to do so.
 
Buy the cheapest house you can possibly live in and pay that sucker off, 15 year, double payments, etc.  You will be amazed at how fast you can accumulate wealth when you have a house 100% paid for.  I thank HF everyday that for whatever reason I had the foresight and inspiration to not mortgage up.  If I had mortgaged up, today I would be in a very desperate situation, even more than I already am.  You never know what kind of a screwball, life will throw at you and the best way to deal with it is to be as prepared as possible.
 
Good luck, I used to live in an extremely high cost of living area; I can definitely understand some of the pain.  I knew my income level could never get to the level of comfortably affording what I hoped for.  My ultimate solution was to move.

The only thing that I'm up in arms about is consulting congress. I understand by law he has to consult congress before an exchange and he did not do it.

What do you have when your executive branch sends the legislative branch an apology for not letting them [congress] pretend they still have any real power? Even my senator, Senator Feinstein, who I absolutely hate, is upset about this.

This situation has felt like a slap in the face to me.  Maybe it's because my brother was serving in Afghanistan less than a year ago?  I think about what was sacrificed to put these Taliban commanders away in the first place.  How many were injured?  How many died?  I worried for a year and was so blessed that my brother was able to come home.  I'm sure there were families whose worst fears were realized.
 
Not only are these men extremely likely to return to their terrorist activities against us, this administration has taught them that abducting U.S. soldiers is a great idea.  If we're willing to trade 5 of theirs for one deserter, how many would we trade for a loyal soldier?  How many innocent Americans will suffer when they succesfully plan another attack?
 
I'm not heartless.  I wouldn't want Bergdahl to continue to suffer even though it was his own fault for leaving his post, but negotiating with terrorists is the wrong way. 
 
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bowe-bergdahl-released/obama-bergdahl-somebodys-child-no-apologies-swap-n123501

That's fairly naive. In my opinion those unwilling to fight and die for their rights do not deserve them. I do not support violence. I, also, despise the idea of killing and violence. But I cannot reasonably say that there is never a good reason. There is a time to stand with arms and defend your home, your country, and your rights. If everyone took a "never" view on fighting and killing, we would all become slaves to evil.

Talk to your Bishop and explain the situation.  There is a missionary fund that can assist and sometimes even members of the ward will assist if they are asked.

I assume that committing to serve a mission means you must have had some personal revelation that you are supposed to serve a mission.  That means it's a commandment.  The Lord will NOT give a commandment that you can not fulfill.
 
Don't worry about the money not even one second more.  Counsel with your Bishop.

Let's see... you followed your Bishop's counsel on saving up for a mission... and a more noble and necessary expense came up... and you were prepared.  Perhaps your Bishop's counsel, in the grand scheme of things, was meant for you to be prepared for this?
 
When I was preparing my missionary papers, I needed to see the dentist.  I called one up and asked for an appointment.  They said "We won't have any time for 2 weeks, but you can come in right now."  I asked "How much?"  "$116".
 
I didn't have any money of my own at the time.  So I asked my mother - who just came back from grocery shopping.  I said "Mom, Could I have $116 for a dentist appointment right now?"  After shopping for a family of five, she had EXACTLY $116 for me to see the dentist.
 
Sometimes things just work out.  Have faith that where there is a will to serve the Lord, a way will be provided.  I can't think of a more noble cause than to help with medical expenses for your mother who has cancer.  Trust the Lord, and have faith in your leaders.  You will be able to serve.

I think the intentions for this are good, but as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  The idea is the same reason that (as was discussed in another thread) sexually active teenagers are less likely to admit to sexual activity with parents present.  Sexual activity (and various chemicals used to prevent pregnancy or enhance sexual performance) could radically change the diagnosis or treatment.
 
The problem is that the instant any government or subsidiary gets power it will be abused. Really as soon as nearly anyone gets power, it WILL be abused.  This is, has always been, and always will be human nature in a telestial state.
 
Doctrine and Covenants 121:3939 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
 
Or as someone else put it, giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
 
Government is raw power.  As we see all through the Book of Mormon, a righteous person with total power can be a strong force for good, but if a wicked man comes to power (or a righteous man falls and becomes wicked), you've going to have a disaster.  The ONLY way to limit the power of a wicked man in control, is to also limit the power of good men when they are in control. 
 
Another way to look at it is what I call "the worst enemy test"  Would you be willing to let the worst person you can think of administer this law?  If not, you're giving the government too much power, because you might not have an evil person running things right now, but history shows us that eventually you will.
 
Having hospitals talk to minors unattended is opening the door to all manner of horrible disaster. 

In my view, this has nothing to do with the finer points of sex and morality and potential abuse and yadayadayada. 
 
What this does involve is the state stepping into the parental role with rights for no good reason.  This is the State saying "We have more rights to your child than you do."
 
Sure, mention all the instances of family abuse you want.  Guess what?  There are already options in place for those iffy situations.

In my view, this has nothing to do with the finer points of sex and morality and potential abuse and yadayadayada. 
 
What this does involve is the state stepping into the parental role with rights for no good reason.  This is the State saying "We have more rights to your child than you do."
 
Sure, mention all the instances of family abuse you want.  Guess what?  There are already options in place for those iffy situations.

I would agree with the first part of this -- great idea.  The second part I'd be willing to let slide where she's committed to join a Girl Scout troop.  Assuming she actually does that with gusto, it will easily serve as a wholesome, enriching, and even uplifting (albeit not spiritual) alternative to Mutual activities.

As not a Mormon, I certainly never talk to a Bishop about anything, and even if I was completely against the idea of the law of chastity (I'm not but we can pretend I am) you believe in it, and it's clearly hurting you.
I mean I could give some spout about not caring about it, live life for you-all that craziness but ultimately you yourself stated the right course of action.
 
Are you looking for an out somehow?

No it has not...
 
You are still letting fear dictate your actions...
 
The advice will always be go to the bishop... confess and work on becoming clean.
 
The longer you wait the greater power you let fear have and the longer you carry the burden of guilt and lack the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
 
Call and set up an appointment right now.

While I may not agree with this issue or with those that are okay with it, we do have to remember that we, as parents, have to do for our children what we are comfortable with.  That's the bottom line.

Whether it's leaving your kids at public school or after school care or involving them in sports..it's the parents CHOICE.
 
They could homeschool, they could watch the kids all day or teach them sports themselves.
 
The problem is that this is government enforced. This is where Anatess said very correctly that government mandated = you will be murdered if you don't comply (most likely from a gunshot to the head). Your child must have private time with a stranger and if you don't comply the police will be called, if you resist you will be taken into custody, if you resist incarceration with force you will be killed.
 
Q
what it really comes down to is those who trust government more then family. I could say if you want your kids having more private time with strangers, then go ahead. But that's not how progressives think, they think the solution to everything is more intrusive, invasive and powerful government. I don't feel that way. I think in general parents care more for their kids then "the village". I don't trust DSHS, the teachers union, the politicians etc, to care more about my children then I do. From what I've seen...if there is a mess somewhere..they step in and make it worse. If you don't see this, you really need to keep up on current affairs.