Backroads

I'm not trying to be antagonistic at all.  I've been told by priesthood leaders, directly, that certain callings are expected to be clean shaven.   Do I have to follow my priesthood leaders?  Of course not.  Should I follow the guidance of people called by God to lead His church?   Of course I do.   

People get so caught up in what they don't HAVE to do they neglect to think "hmmmm, should I follow the example of the Prophet?"

One time, at Scout camp, where we happened to have a large number of church members teens/young adults, there up started a little scripture study group.
It was amazing how fast it got out of hand. 
People start up stuff with the best of intentions, I'm sure. I don't know if I blame the adversary or just the chaotic nature of humanity and maybe that road to hell they talk about, but I think there is wisdom in not letting your followers of a creed go complete nuts in name of creed.

Has anyone else watched a Peter Santello video or three?  Dude has a youtube channel with 3 million subscribers.  He basically goes into different communities in the US, finds some folks willing to talk about those communities, and asks a million dumb questions and learns.  Indian reservations, Chicago's most violent hood, Appalachia, Las Vegas sex workers, US border towns, Amish, Hasidic Jewish enclaves, etc.   I've probably watched a dozen over the last few years.  They are fascinating glimpses into worlds I know nothing about.  Dude shows up with genuine interest, his only goal is to go, as an outsider, into a place, and learn straight from the source.  
3 days ago, he released the first of several promised videos on Mormons.   
Cool stuff.  He found a BYU student history buff who walked him all around SLC and Provo.  I look forward to his next LDSocentric videos. 

Thank you for providing that.  I'm sure these people have very good intentions.  I wish them the best of luck.  And I hope that their good intentions bear fruit.  But I see a danger here as well. 
There is a reason why the Church has discouraged private "study groups" for the Saints.  If it is not led by the Priesthood in an official capacity, there is a danger of a hierarchy forming within the group and becoming a splinter group.  Imagine if they form a lot of their policies to follow Church policies and values (as best as they can interpret).  Then they find out that the Church actually says something contrary to those policies/values?  How easy is it for the faculty (and student families) to mistake their well-intentioned policies as doctrine?
If they're wise, they will change their policies accordingly.  But as a non-Church-affiliated entity, they may find that more difficult due to legal issues.  If they are foolish, they will begin to murmur against the Church for making some "changes" with which the faculty disagree.  And that may lead down a different road.
The school my children go to has an interesting way of dealing with that.  They allow non-LDS families to attend.  You might think that's worse, but actually it is better.
The faculty and student population is about 90% LDS.  But it is that 10% that keeps us in check.  We want to promote the LDS values without turning it into an LDS-doctrine-based school.  And for the sake of the non-LDS students, we cannot follow exact Church doctrine.  We have to merely have those values "in spirit" within the school rules.
It is also because of that "slight non-LDS influence" that we are able to maintain a balance.  We simply cannot have it be a completely LDS doctrine based school.  But it is kept as a school that LDS will always feel comfortable.
My 2 cents.

For a satirical take on password woes, create a new password using the Password Game! https://neal.fun/password-game/

This was even more fun than my random password generator.  (I used to have a random password generator on my website.  I also had a random decision maker that was very popular with a group of guys who used it daily to decide where to go to lunch.  They were quite distressed when I had to take down my server and switch to a hosted website (where the random applets wouldn't run).  Since I didn't want to rewrite the code in something that would run on the hosted website, I pointed them to random.org.)

These are both private schools, though ones that provide distance education. Good options if a family is willing to move away from a more pure homeschool idea. 

These are both private schools, though ones that provide distance education. Good options if a family is willing to move away from a more pure homeschool idea. 

I don't think there are any official LDS home schooling programs (for education, there is always "Come Follow Me" for families, but that's more gospel education, not secular).
I did find a few links that listed LDS inspired or those programs written by LDS individuals.
 
LDS Homeschool Curriculum
homeschoolhere homeschool curriculums
 
These list several which are LDS inspired or LDS creators.
Some that popped out at me
American Heritage School - offers LDS focused online classes, appears to be more of a local school though.
The Good and the Beautiful - Already mentioned above, was originally created by someone from the Church.
LIahona Prep Academy - I'm not sure how full of a home education program this is.  It appears it could also be a local type school.  It is from Utah.  It strives to produce a gospel focused secular education.
Ensign Peak Academy - I do not know how connected it is to the actual Ensign Peak, but it's reference is unmistakably towards the Church owned Ensign Peak.
The next article lists some others... 
Family School - They note that this is the most popular for members of the Church and Homeschooling.  They point out that it is LDS focused. 
 
LIfe School K-12 - Is stated to also be a program focused on LDS families. 

Thank you!  I'll forward it to her and let her know to search for similar.

The one that immediately comes to mind is The Good and the Beautiful. 

I'm quite sure it's just a rumor. I believe the Church has yet to release its official church-sponsored homeschool curriculum. Honestly, I think it might be tricky to do, as different states have different education and homeschool standards. 
That said, there are a few curriculums that are certainly LDS-friendly. 

I am sad whenever I hear someone stuck in techie purgatory.   
My password-encrypted password file now has 80+ entries.  I use it at least 6X/month.
Maybe once or twice yearly, I have to endure a 45 minute call with a real human, where I say things like "I don't remember any of my password hints", and it's like I've just turned an air hose on them.  Sometimes they just don't know what to do.   So many "um, let me put you on a brief hold".   So much "Um... I'm going to send you over to tech support". 
 
You're not alone.  Take solace in that.

Today I spent three hours over two different calls on the phone with tech support for my work. The gentleman spoke with great kindness, patience, and intelligence towards my troubles. Passwords were reset over and over. Caches cleared. Notes jotted down. I eventually gave up in weariness with the hope of a new day. There is still an account I cannot get into. 
My heart is weary, my soul tired. I have finagled a few backdoor tricks to enable me to do my job that should give me a day or more. Perhaps I will even see if I can make it to Thanksgiving break this way, for I dare not call back the kind tech support guy who cannot solve my problem. My pride is too great.
You know what would solve my problem? Somehow remembering the answers to my security questions. Yes, this is the issue three hours can't get us past.
So, my question: is there some sort of program that could just run through every possible answer, perhaps based on a deep knowledge of me gleaned from the Internet, until the correct answers are generated?
I swear I'm only slightly off-kilter here.

The best they can figure at the point is that some configuration is resetting the password and they want to look at the computer (Which is actually fine with me, I think I'm due for an upgrade). 
I just want to get into my Google drive is all... (it's not as simple as getting into Google, it's getting into the company program that happens to use Google)

I did place another call today. We may actually be at the point where I may have to send my computer in and possibly get my employee account duplicated.

First, the tech support people's job is to help you do your job.  It doesn't matter how difficult or tedious their job is, it's their job.  (There's a reason they call it "work" and there's a reason they pay you to do it.)  So don't worry about calling tech support - they're getting paid.
Next, if the tech support person doesn't know how to reset a password without those security questions, something's wrong.  Does this tech support person work for the software manufacturer or your employer (assuming they are different entities)?  If for your employer, they should have some other way of verifying your identity and userID and should be able to then do a password change on the account (and either trigger the software to email you the new password or just tell you what it is and wait on the phone while you log in and then change it yourself).  If for the software manufacturer, the hoops for verifying your identity may be more difficult, but there has to be a way.  I guarantee you're not the first person to forget the answers to those idiotic "security questions".
(Of course, finding the person who knows the above can be a challenge - some tech support people can't do more than read the flip cards, others actually know the software.  And it may take a system admin rather than tech support to resolve the problem.  Finally, some people design really, really lousy software.)
Sorry I can't tell you more.  If you want to PM me to discuss specifics, I'll see if I can help any further - seems unlikely, but I'm willing to read whatever free / public info is available on the software and that might let me give you more pointers.

If I understand correctly, the problem is that you forgot the answers to your security questions?
I am afraid I don't have an answer to that for you. 
From what I understand that information would probably be kept on your computer, but in a file that is locked in a secure file that, unless you can answer the questions correctly, will remain locked.  Normally with an algorithm that cannot be easily deciphered, which is why it keeps whatever information there...secure.
Hope and prayer is all I can suggest.  I have had this problem in the past.  I was lucky in that I had a moment of inspiration and remembered what it was that I had set the password to.
After that, I hate to admit, but I have some notebooks I keep all my information in these days.  Very insecure for security reasons, but I have to be able to remember the stuff somehow.
There WAS a program they used a while back that they could retrieve information from a hard drive that had been lost or locked.  Of course, if the information was scrambled behind a secure algorithm, it would just appear like a jumbled mess.  It could get most of the information though as long as it was more of a text type of document.
All I can tell you is good luck and hope that you figure out the answers to the security questions or the password to get to your locked files.

I use mnemonic devices to help remember. And I use phone storage.
1. Passwords: I have a series of about a dozen passwords that I use.  I know them all intimately.  But I come up with really clear-to-me but compleletly-obscure-to-anyone-else clues.
Example:
Clue: Lightning fast answers
Word: Potter42
Relationship: Lightning reminds me of Harry Potter's scar.  42 is the answer to life the universe and everything.
Practice: In my phone, I create an entry for the company or website that I have an account with.  Then I type the clue into the notes.  If I know A, A leads to B, and I recall B.  Therefore, I know my password.
I have clues like "well, that's just great!".  That tells me a whole lot more than it means to anyone else.
"Lincoln Family".  That means absolutely nothing to anyone else.  But it is completely obvious to me.
"Planet"  No one in my family -- even knowing a lot of my tendencies, and realizing it only had 4 characters -- could figure out what that meant.  No, it is not "Mars".
2. I have a few that I use specifically for work because they require new passwords every 90 days or so.
Example:
Words: Apple, Buffalo, Charisma, Dragon
Number: usually, passwords require a number.  I use the 2-digit or 4 digit year; at the beginning or end of the word.  I choose at the beginning of employment which of those four options I will use.
Symbol: Some offices require a symbol as well.  So, I replace some letters with obvious symbols: Dr@gon, Chari$ma, etc.  This will not work in a situation like @pple becuase they usually require at least one capital letter and one lower case letter.
Practice: I use the words in alphabetical order throughout the year.  And every year the year changes, so it is a new password.  It passes the "old password" test.  HOWEVER, some high security places (My BIL works for a government contractor) only look at the first 8 characters for the "old password" test.  So, he had to shift the numbers from front to back each year.  He's a brainiac. So, he can remember stuff like that.
3. Verification questions:  I usually just type out my verification question answers in my phone.  But I put it in a specific order of entries that only I recognize.  To anyone else, they'd look like a jumble of words.  But I know which words are for which questions.
Example: Who was your kindergarten teacher?
Mrs. Smith. 
I'd put this in a list of completely unfamiliar names: Mr Foster (no one in my life is named Mr Foster); Mrs. Smith; Mr. James (No one in my life is Mr. James); etc. So, of that list, only I know which one makes sense for which question.
All this so that I can recall my passwords whenever I need.  But if someone else gets a hold of my phone, it won't do them any good.

The issue is that because a number of right-wing groups were going hardcore about conspiracies regarding child trafficking and prominent individuals, there are a lot of left-wing outlets, like Rolling Stone, who dismiss *all* discussion of the matter as conspiracy theory when it is in fact a real issue. 
This dismissal, in turn, leads the folks on the right to suspect that these outlets are covering something up, especially since some of these same outlets praised the film "Cuties". 
That's the issue.

An apostle since 1985, acting president of Q12 since 2018.  
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-m-russell-ballard-dies

My sympathies here are with two people: the leadership of the church and the liberal/moderate/agnostic on politics in the pews who just want to feel the spirit, go to the temple and not have their beliefs or voting actions questioned. The church leadership-bishops, stake president-(I am convinced of this) probably just sit there exasperated and say “Can’t we all just get along?!”
 
It puzzles me that LDS/Christians ask why their church is struggling in attendance and then insist on making divisions, playing the True Scotsman card, blaming “liberals”…you don’t need to be a communist to see how silly it is. If they do this to those groups and look for reasons to exclude people, they’ll do it to me too eventually. Even if I agree with them on everything and look the same!!!

For the prophet is human and can make mistakes vs the Lord will not allow the prophet to lead the church astray I heard the following story that helped me with it.  (That being said I am not a historian so I do not know if this story is a some what true story or a complete Mormon Myth)

Brigham Young was speaking in the morning session of Conference.  It was a fiery speech full of instruction and direction for the Saints.   Then in the afternoon he spoke again,  He began,  by saying "This morning you heard from Brother Brigham. This afternoon you are going to hear from the Lord."  And the rest of his speech completely reversed instruction he had given in the morning speech.
That to me is an example how those two ideas work together.  The willingness to do the Lord's will over there own is one of those characteristic that seem to exist in all our prophets.  So if someone wants to say that the Priesthood Ban was "Brigham speaking in the morning" and the Lifting of the Ban was the "Lord speaking in the afternoon" I have no problem with that.
The problem comes with the idea Brigham some how bound God and God could not correct the  course until Kimball that i do not accept.  Trying to protect an image of God by rendering him powerless seems foolhardy to me.   That being said.. . Trying to understand what God is accomplishing with the Ban... what greater purpose it served...  That can be a brain twister.  The church has not told us this. So we are left to our own logic an reasons.  I found mine but it is worth exactly nothing to anyone else.

I have a hard time considering undeveloped blastocyst, basically a spherical bunch of cells, to be a human life deserving of any sort of special protection.  It's more than a fingernail, less than a tumor.
I have a hard time considering a fetus that reacts to sunlight, has a sleep and dream cycle, reacts to pain, and has good chances of surviving outside the womb, as anything other than a human life deserving of all the protections we give human life. 
The first thing turns into the second thing.  Where to draw the line?  Your guess is as good as mine.  But we need to draw the line, so we'll know when to protect a woman's right to control her own body, and when to arrest someone for murder.   I'm big on there being clear laws on the issue.  If I have to think hard about it, I guess I'm ok with each state figuring out where they want the clear law to draw the line.  Humans gotta wrestle with this one, and a state full of humans disagreeing with another state, is better than 9 people drawing the line and ticking half the country off.
I'm big on judging within my stewardship, and not judging those who appear to have made different decisions than I'd hope my wife or daughters would make if they were in a similar situation.   It isn't "love thy neighbor unless you hear she had an abortion, then you don't need to love her."
I thought yesterday's 3rd Republican debate was interesting, in that one of the only differences in the candidates were their stances on abortion.  There were the "yeah, let the states decide" candidates, and there were the "20 weeks no matter what and we'll fight die and kill to enforce it" candidates. 

Several thoughts on the topic (which I believe I've expressed on these forums at various times in other threads).
I am not a doctor
1.  I agreed with the ORIGINAL judgement expressed in Roe vs. Wade (but not the consequent follow-ups such as Casey vs. PP).  In this, a DOCTOR should be allowed to make medical decisions on the health of their patient...not the government.  In accordance with that, the things that a doctor and patient discuss and decide in regards to medical treatment may also be kept private between a doctor and patient and do not need to be forced to be shared with the government.  I think allowing doctors to make medical decisions in the fields where they are experts should be something we should advocate for.
2.  A thought I've had on abortion attacks those who are pro-choice.  One of their arguments it that it is THEIR body and therefore should be their choice.  They also say that if the fetus cannot support itself, that it is not really viable and thus more like a parasite.  That as long as it is their body and the thing inside is not able to support itself or be an independent thing, it is still their body and thus their choice.
However, NONE of us are independent.  None of us can survive on our own.  We all need the Earth (and especially oxygen at a most basic level, dying without it within minutes) as our support.  In that way, we are exactly like the fetus's in some ways that they want to easily dispose of.  If we are for preserving human life, no matter if it is thinking or not (for example, I do not think most advocate for the elimination of the elderly once the elderly have lost much of their mental faculty.  There are some, but I think a majority are opposed to just killing an elderly individual who has lost their mental faculties and still consider that murder), then simply doing away with human life because it cannot support itself without something else, ultimately could come back to condemn us all.