hungrytrash

I divided by 1,000,000 twice. We started with 50,000,000,000 planets per galaxy, then divided by 100 to get 500,000,000 planets in a system with temperatures that can sustain life. Then we divided by 1,000,000 to bring it to planets that actually had all of the correct conditions for life. Then we divided by 1,000,000 once more to say that life actually started. Dividing by 1,000,000 is an assumption, I was basically quoting the movie "Contact". Unless Earth has something special that other planets don't, the assumption is generous enough. The numbers alone were enough for Stephen Hawking. If you believe that life wouldn't start in even one in a million planets where all of the conditions necessary for life were met (I'm talking about a planet that could support life environmentally, obviously if ALL of the conditions were met there would be life automatically), then we are different . Sort of irrelevant though. Looked through with the lens of faith, we know that God has created countless worlds, and those countless worlds all have life.

I had written a very long and thorough response answering every point I saw, but then I decided I could summarize it with one scripture. "Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, THAT IS EXPEDIENT FOR YOU;" D&C 88:64 If getting completely helped through a panic attack isn't expedient, we won't receive it. God usually helps us in small ways that are hard to recognize. He helps us just enough for us to be able to get through it. The biggest and best way He answers prayers is through helping to strengthen us, building our character, and helping us grow. In the end, what is truly expedient for us are those things. Almost any core desire at the root of a prayer can relate, at least partially, to a true desire for growth in character. If it doesn't, it probably isn't very expedient. No matter what happens to us in this life, if the desires of our prayers aren't eternal in effect, it isn't as expedient as it could be. That's not to say we shouldn't ask for temporal and temporary things such as money and things that give us comfort, or that we won't get them in answer to our prayer. It's just to say that God isn't literally bound and required to give us those kinds of things the way He is bound to give us those things we NEED, that have eternal effects. The promise isn't that ANYTHING "righteous" that we ask for in faith will be given to us according to our exact specifications. The promise is that anything expedient for us that we ask for in faith will be given to us, according to God's exact specifications. Don't get the two confused! :] The thing that separates those people who work miracles through faith that their prayer IS expedient, and that it will happen exactly as they prayed for it, is the Holy Ghost. Many prophets were moved on powerfully by the Holy Ghost to offer a prayer, were guided in exactly what to say, and obviously had their prayers answered. We should all be striving to have our prayers led by the Spirit as much as possible. But when we aren't getting spoon-fed the words, faith in a prayer isn't faith in the exact way something will turn out. It is faith that: 1) God CAN do what you're praying for 2) God WOULD do what you're praying for if it was expedient 3) God WILL do whatever is best for you And finally, hope that what you prayed for was guided by the Holy Ghost, that it was expedient, and that it will come to pass. And if it doesn't, you don't need to worry about whether you didn't have enough faith, or why it wasn't God's will, because your faith already accepted that God will do what is best. Miracles happen through faith, and couldn't happen without faith. But even the prophets couldn't just have faith that something random/cool would happen, for no reason, and have it happen. The faith to perform those specific miracles started with a different kind of faith, was guided by the promptings of the Holy Ghost, at which point faith in those specific miracles began, and at which point they accomplished them. They didn't work miracles independent of God's will through faith alone. They had faith, were guided to act according to God's will through the Holy Ghost, and through their faith were able to be tools in the hands of God to accomplish great things according to their inspired prayers. Faith doesn't bind God to submit Himself to the will of man, it allows man to submit himself to the perfect will of God. Christ is the perfect example. He performed miracle after miracle, but He clearly said He did NOTHING of Himself. Everything that He did and said was guided by the Father through the Spirit. It wasn't Christ's high favor with God convincing God to let Him do all of those miracles, it was God directing Him to do all of those miracles in the first place (though Christ would not have wanted anything that God wouldn't have been willing to provide, for everyone's best interest). So what is the strength in faith if it isn't forcing God to comply with our wishes? What makes a faithful prayer better than a normal prayer, and a normal prayer better than no prayer? There are countless answers, a couple of which I touched on in my previous post. :) However it should be noted that that's not to say our desires have no affect on God. God's purpose is to bring about our joy. When we ask for something, it is a desire, and we would have joy in that desire's fulfillment. So when we pray for something, we can, in a sense, convince God to do something for us. A faithful prayer with great desire can move God into answering that prayer, where He wouldn't have done it without the prayer. In the case of great miracles, I'm confident that the faith to do it always came from being directed by God to do it in the first place. But some great things are brought to pass simply by the great desire of a righteous soul, and God being moved with compassion. Generally, highly righteous and faithful people are so in sync with God that they pray for things that are actually for their best interest, and God has a lot more flexibility and reason to answer their prayers the way they expect.

God will do what is best for everyone, regardless of whether or not we pray for it. Does that mean there is no point in praying for things? No. The act of prayer in itself prepares us to receive more. Praying for something can let us receive something, and have it be for our best benefit, where if we hadn't prayed, that wouldn't be the case. Prayer is an amazing act of humility, faith, love, gratitude, and obedience. Prayer grows our character SO much. We won't always get the things we want. But a lot of times we will, and it'll be best for us if we do. We can't know the difference, but God wants us to pray for everything righteous that we need or desire. He knows what to actually give us, but prayer in itself is a blessing that we all need to utilize. If we start to think that it doesn't matter if we pray or not, "God will do the same thing anyway", it is much like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The truth is that the result WILL be different if we do pray, as opposed to if we don't. God is still doing what is best for us, but what is best for us changes as we grow through the experiences of life, and particularly, prayer. Life is supposed to be hard. Sometimes life is right on that line of being too hard, and sometimes we mistakenly think it is past that line. Life is also supposed to be confusing. There is a mist all around us to cause us to lose our path. But we have an iron rod. If we hold onto it, the times of confusion and doubt will pass, and satisfaction, peace, and faith will resume. We often mistakenly think we have had enough of a mortal probation. That we've experienced enough opposition, and that this "one" current problem in our life won't actually help us grow. It will just stress us out and even cause us to regress because of the problems it creates! Because of this, we cannot understand why God doesn't "help us through it". But the truth is, He does. We need to not be so blind as to not recognize it. God doesn't help us by removing all obstacles and carrying us the whole way there. Think of God like a spotter when you work out. As you get to those last reps and aren't quite strong enough to lift it back up, your spotter lends you JUST enough strength to lift it again. It sure doesn't feel like you're getting any help. Your muscles are completely dead, you're in pain, and you're out of energy. It was so hard, so painful, how could you possibly have gotten any help? If you had gotten help, you'd have been comfortable the whole time, right? But yet, somehow, when your muscles were completely dead, and you were out of energy, you managed to lift something heavier than you could lift on your own, and you came out of it stronger :). Would you have been stronger if it had been your spotter working out, not you? Don't be so worried about whether or not your prayers are getting answered. Just pray and trust in God. God knows you and cares about you. He knows when you're doubting, or lost, or struggling, and knows just how to help you. The help isn't going to come (probably) as a glorious angel announcing the glory and reality of God and gifting you with a problem-free life. That wouldn't help you. It would stunt you. We didn't need faith in the premortal world, but we reached a point where we couldn't grow any more. If you're expecting God to lift the weights for you, stop yourself. Look for His guidance and help that is already blessing your life. The more we recognize how we are already being blessed, the more room we have to be blessed in the future. As we see the small witnesses, we start to receive bigger and bigger witnesses. I've felt lost and confused, as though prayers weren't being answered for years. But out of those times I have grown SO much, sometimes it's hard for me to believe. The amount of faith and understanding that I have now versus then is incomparable. I know for a fact God helped me when I didn't see it. So, to summarize: If you feel like your prayers aren't getting answered, don't pretend you're alone in the world. Everyone has been able to relate to it at some point in their lives. And most people have gotten through it and can testify that God helped them through. It's not that our desires "just don't fit into God's plan", it's just that God only does what is best for us. If your prayers aren't getting answered, rejoice! Because God is doing something even better for you than if you had your prayers answered the way you expect. One of my favorite verses in all of canonized scripture is "Jesus wept." As glorious and infinitely high above us as God is, He weeps for us. He isn't laughing while we struggle. He knows our pains and they are as real to Him as they are to us. But He also knows of our future joy and the best way to bring it to pass. God very often DOES answer prayers just the way we want them. All righteous prayers are fulfilled. But not always in the exact way that we pray for them. We can pray for a promotion. We may not get the promotion, but if the reasons we prayed for that promotion are accomplished anyway, in a better way, would you complain? It is that inner motivation for specific prayers that will always be accomplished, if righteous, not the specifics. If I pray for money because I don't want to be stressed out about it anymore, but I don't receive any money, just comfort in life, enough to get by, and a higher capacity to deal with stress, my prayer was answered! And in that sense, ALL righteous prayers asked in faith ARE answered. Period. So don't expect answers to prayers suited to your specifications and then say "GUESS IT WASN'T GOD'S WILL." Look for how whatever motivated you to give that prayer is fulfilled, and say to yourself, "Guess it WAS God's will :]."

The third option. But who knows how long we were spirits. It could have been thousands, millions, or billions of years. And some spirits are older than others. I'm certain we had an incredibly powerful understanding of what the universe really is. We understood the priesthood. We understood elementary particles and how they work together. We understood what intelligence was and why it can be self-aware while other matters can't. We understood space and time, gravity and electromagnetism, strong and weak force. Any laws that govern the universe as a whole, we understood firmly. Understanding those laws firmly, in the context of learning as a spirit, not a mortal, would mean understanding everything that modern science teaches. Except better. Our mortal brains are intentionally limited. Spirits have perfect and unlimited memory. Any science is a derivation of knowledge of the universe and its fundamental laws. So I don't believe there is a single thing scientifically that we will learn in mortality that we didn't already know. With our premortal knowledge, we could make the greatest scientists in history look blind in their understanding. Which is why I can't wait to combine my experiences in mortality (both here and the resultant journey in the Spirit World) with the incredible and vast knowledge gained from the premortal world. In that moment of resurrection, so much growth in every aspect of our being will be attained. With the resurrection, our memories will return. We will lose the natural man, we will lose all subjection to the devil, we will lose all normal types of opposition. With knowledge of who we were before, everything about us will improve. If we were good spirits before our resurrection, how much more good after receiving our memories again? If we were obedient before, how much more obedient after? The truth is, the moment we become perfect is our resurrection. We can still grow in knowledge and glory, but we will be completely free of sin. Completely clean, forever. The only people who are resurrected without being perfect are sons of perdition. Even heirs to the Telestial kingdom will be completely clean and will never sin again. They will be following a lesser law than those of the Terrestrial and Celestial, but the law that governs their kingdom, they will never disobey, because they are perfect within that law. The resurrection is the most important saving ordinance there is.

I think a word as strong as "arrogance" can be used, despite no "proof" of ET life, because of sheer numbers. The amount of solar systems out there is so incomprehensibly high that to think a single one didn't have life would defy all logic. "Scientists have estimated the first cosmic census of planets in our galaxy and the numbers are astronomical: at least 50 billion planets in the Milky Way. At least 500 million of those planets are in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold zone where life could exist." If there are 50 billion planets, 500 million of those being "not-too-hot, not-too-cold", in our galaxy alone, and there are several hundred billion galaxies out there...well, alien life becomes a practical certainty. Unproven, but so statistically likely that it is for all intents and purposes true. Even if only one out of a million of those "not-too-hot, not-too-cold" planets in the universe had the overall fine-tuning and necessities for life (and that's probably being generous), and only one out of a million of THOSE actually had life, we still have something like 50 million planets in the universe with life. With numbers like that, it almost does become arrogance to believe Earth is the only planet that supports life. The rest of the universe would be a whole LOT of wasted space. And this is only the observable universe.

Didn't I give it to you? “This earth and all that pertains to it, including every form of life on the face thereof, was first created in a terrestrial or paradisiacal state. Incident to the fall of Adam, the earth itself and all life on its face fell to their present telestial state” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed., p.633)."

Evolution is a very big topic. Multiple theories about the same thing exist within it. To say 'Evolution is not a "belief", it is fact,' is far too general. Two people can believe evolution works differently, but still acknowledge that it happens. I acknowledge that there are mutations and that a species can and will change over time. I acknowledge the majority of evolution, but not necessarily the conclusions and ideas that are drawn from its existence. I don't, for example, believe that because of evolution, all examples of life on this Earth are the descendants of a single instance of life that reproduced and evolved over countless millenia. That would make the idea of spirits being made in the form of their future physical bodies a bit strange to comprehend. I believe in facts. I am careful about the way that I interpret supposed "fact" relative to the revealed words of the Lord.

Well, as I sort of mentioned, God has appeared to us even in this Telestial world. The Terrestrial kingdom won't have the fulness of the Father, but I would venture to say that He would definitely visit. We know that we, as exalted Beings, can visit Terrestrial worlds. To say that God would never do so seems a bit strange. The difference is, the Celestial kingdom is LIVING with the Father, rather than the occasional visit.

If you don't believe anything is infinite, look at time itself. Do you suppose there will be an end to time? If humanity was never wiped out, who would be the last human to be born? If it's easy for us to believe that time won't ever end, why is it so difficult to understand that it never began? You're used to thinking that nothing can exist without it being created. Nature shows the exact opposite. Things can be created in the sense that they are changed and formed out of existing things. But creating things from nothing defies all logic. Why do so many Christians not recognize the fallacy of saying, "Well, who created the universe then? Someone had to create it!" If that was the case, then someone would have had to create God. And if it's logical for you that God can exist eternally, why is it any less logical to say that the universe existed eternally with God? Thinking about God existing eternally by Himself, with absolutely nothing else. Time, space, none of it existed. Well, at least to me, it sounds a bit ridiculous. God was there for an eternity by Himself and then one day He decided to create the entire universe out of nothing? No matter which way you look at it, the concept of infinity is forced into your beliefs. Either God was created by some Super God, and the Super God was created by some Super Super God, going forth forever, or God Himself had no beginning and existed forever, or everything (God and the Universe) had no beginning and existed forever. The concept of everything eternally existing makes sense. That's sound doctrine. It is satisfying and fulfilling. And if anything, I feel that it glorifies God more. It makes Him real. It makes Him to a degree, knowable. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." No matter how long I lived, no matter how much knowledge God imparted to me, if God was what most Christians think He is, I would never be able to comprehend Him. Why? Because that idea of God doesn't make sense. I like when things make sense. Anything real makes sense. And should make sense. That doesn't mean I expect to be able to understand even a portion of the mysteries of God in mortality, but I do expect that there is order to it all and that, if granted by God the intellect to know them, they would make sense.

It is specified as seeds, but I'd be fine with accepting it as symbolism. The world was Terrestrial when God created it. The Fall made it Telestial. "...that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory." Telestial bodies don't live in a Terrestrial world. The entire fact that Adam fell should make it clear. He fell from Terrestrial to Telestial. “This earth and all that pertains to it, including every form of life on the face thereof, was first created in a terrestrial or paradisiacal state. Incident to the fall of Adam, the earth itself and all life on its face fell to their present telestial state” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed., p.633). God talked face to face with Joseph Smith, only requiring that he was transfigured (and thus had a temporary Terrestrial body). Adam and Eve weren't permanently in God's presence, but were visited by Him. Being immortal, they could withstand His presence. ---------- "Also, Adam (Michael) was celestial before getting the body, wasn't he?" In a sense, yes. But physically he wasn't. I'm referring to physically. I don't know by what method of progression our spirits excelled in the premortal world. We were intelligences before we gained our spirit bodies, and I don't know what kind of law intelligences live by. What I do know, is that experiencing opposition was necessary for every single person that has ever and will ever live, in order to have a fulness of joy and reach maturity. If it weren't so, all spirits that could have progressed to a "Celestial" point in the premortal world would have been reared to such a state, and then instantly given resurrected bodies. There would have been no point in this entire probation. The fact is, we reached a point where we couldn't progress any further in the mansions of our Father. There's a difference between living solely in the Celestial home of our Father and us each having our own Celestial home. A child can live in the house of his parents, but just because he lives in such a beautiful home doesn't equate that he possesses the maturity and growth necessary to acquire a similar one of his own. Solely living with God was never the hard part. We achieved that millenia ago. God wants more for us. He wants us to grow up. The only way for us to grow up was to leave our home and experience life without being spoon-fed by our Parents. We needed to become somewhat independent. Our Parents are always there to help us when we need it, and to guide us on the best path, but in order for us to reach our potential and become independent, we had to be separated from the presence of our Father. Isn't that the glory of it all? Life here is about more than just receiving a body. God could have given us all resurrected bodies and we'd be dwelling in His mansions right now. But that would have permanently halted our growth, and the amount of joy we could experience. God is our Father, and He wants His children to grow up and be happy. He wants us to become independent and start our own families. Had we not these experiences of opposition, we'd never have been prepared or capable of rearing our own families in the eternities and having our own houses. The definitions of Telestial, Terrestrial, and Celestial are somewhat tricky. They hold up best in reference to a Being that already has a body. We obeyed Celestial law in the premortal world, and in that sense, we were Celestial. But there was more growth to be had, obviously. When I say that God can't create something Celestial without it first being Telestial, I'm referring to with bodies. I believe that once a person is resurrected, there's a degree of permanence to many things about them. And if someone is resurrected prematurely, their state becomes somewhat permanent and their growth is, to a degree, halted. Thus why there is no progression from kingdom to kingdom. Thus why there is no marriage given after the resurrection. So maybe God could give us Celestial bodies without a probation, but it would be wrong for Him to do it. He'd be stunting us, as we'd never be able to feel opposition with those bodies, and our spirits would be unprepared to possess the bodies. I really just confused myself a whole lot. Need to ponder!

If Lazarus could be recreated as he was, I have no problems with Adam being made from the Earth. What we see as pointers to a common origin could easily be the result of God designing all life similarly, and with the same code (which isn't surprising), with certain fundamental characteristics common to more and more life the further back you go. I believe in evolution on some level, but not in its entirety. I don't know how evolution works together with the Fall. It doesn't bother me, but the Fall is one of the things I am most curious to understand. There are important things we can learn from it. 1) God couldn't create us Telestial. He had to create us Terrestrial in order to be in harmony with Eternal Law. 2) We couldn't become Celestial without falling to the Telestial. To fall to the Telestial, we had to do it on our own through breaking the Terrestrial law, and thus falling to the lower Telestial law. The Fall is something like a loophole. God wanted us to fall, which is strange to think about, since to fall is to sin. How could God have wanted us to sin, ever, and still be perfect? Perhaps it didn't matter, since that sin would be forgiven through the atonement, thus God couldn't sin by wanting Adam to sin, knowing Adam's sin was already forgiven through the atonement and that the result would be good. Time doesn't work for God the way it does for us. Likewise, the atonement is also a loophole of sorts. I don't think we'll ever really understand either of them in this life. I reject the conflicting commandments idea also. I do not believe God is allowed to do that. Another idea. The Atonement affected people before it happened. The Fall could have as well. I personally believe Adam and Eve were physically immortal. They had Terrestrial bodies, equivalent to the body of a translated person. The fruit could have mortalized their bodies, if it was literally a fruit, which is up in the air. We know specifically that the plants of the Earth are here because seeds were brought here from other worlds. They didn't evolve from one common origin of life. It's strange to think about, because one would think that the method of creation would be the same universally. Why make life out of existing life for plants, but create Adam spontaneously? Everything is so confusing >_<

I'm really glad you made this thread. My prayers are much much more meaningful when I do visualize and try to comprehend the reality of God and Him hearing my prayer. I just picture the reality of the situation to the best of my ability and go from there. I always try to keep what I say in my prayer the same as what I would say to Him if He was right in front of me. Because the two are one and the same. He would hear us the same were He directly in front of us as He does wherever He is when we pray. So I also visualize Him being right in the room in front of me.

"There is also another point in this connection to which attention may profitably be drawn. It is the too frequent use in the ordinary conversation of the Saints of the titles "Prophet, Seer and Revelator," "Apostles," etc. These titles are too sacred to be used indiscriminately in our common talk. There are occasions when they are quite proper and in place, but in our every-day conversations it is sufficient honor to address any brother holding the Melchizedek Priesthood as elder. The term elder is a general one, applying to all those who hold the higher Priesthood, whether they be apostles, patriarchs, high priests or seventies; and to address a brother as Apostle So-and-So, or Patriarch Such-a-One, in the common talk of business, and the like, is using titles too sacred to be in place on such occasions. It, in a lesser degree, partakes of the character of that evil of which we are so often warned -- the too frequent use of the name of that Holy Being whom we worship, and of his Son, our Redeemer. To avoid this evil the Saints in ancient days called the holy Priesthood after the great high priest Melchizedek, while the royal and correct title is, "The Priesthood after the order of the Son of God." The use of all these titles continuously and indiscriminately savors somewhat of blasphemy, and is not pleasing to our heavenly Father." - Joseph F. Smith

That's a possible explanation, but I tend to doubt it. The vision was relevant to the Savior's organization of spirits and their missionary work. It'd make no sense for a bunch of spirits to be there, and then Moses and Elijah with bodies. Besides, the Spirit World is right here on Earth, we just can't see spirits. I don't think translated beings become invisible, thus people could have seen two translated beings talking and associating with invisible spirits. That doesn't fit within my logic well, but I guess it's possible. Of course, my whole understanding of the Spirit World could be wrong, and it could literally be something of a different realm. But I've always understood that spirits could see us, but we just couldn't see them. If it were a different realm entirely, I don't think they could see us. But what do I know. Perhaps Moses' translation was only until his mission at the Mount of Transfiguration, after which point he died and thus was in the Spirit World with Christ, and then was resurrected afterward. Any other thoughts?

TREE(3) is so much bigger than Graham's that I don't know how to describe how much bigger it is.

Take every atom in the universe and put them in a straight line. Reshape every individual atom so that it looks like the number "9", then read the number presented. That many years...not even close to eternity.

How was Moses in the Spirit World in D&C 138 if he was translated?

Bummer, I'm just outside of your mission. Otherwise I'd totally go out with you and your companion for some LTMs .

If she's there. I imagine it'd be pretty hard once the habit started to stop your mind from wandering.

Resurrection--Joseph Fielding Smith "In the resurrection there will be different kinds of bodies; they will not all be alike. The body a man receives will determine his place hereafter. There will be celestial bodies, terrestrial bodies, and telestial bodies, and these bodies will differ as distinctly as do bodies here ... Bodies will be quickened according to the kingdom which they are judged worthy to enter. Elder Orson Pratt many years ago in writing of the resurrection and the kind of bodies which would be raised in these kingdoms said: "In every species of animals and plants, there are many resemblances in the general outlines and many specific differences characterizing the individuals of each species. So in the resurrection. There will be several classes of resurrected bodies; some celestial, some terrestrial, some telestial, and some sons of perdition. Each of these classes will differ from the others by prominent and marked distinctions; yet, in each, considered by itself, there will be found many resemblances as well as distinctions. There will be some physical peculiarity by which each individual in every class can be identified. (Doc of Salv 2:286-287.)" I would venture to say that our bodies as they are now are Telestial. Adam and Eve before the fall, and anyone who is translated has a Terrestrial body. Anyone who has been resurrected has a Celestial body. But there are multiple kinds of Celestial bodies, relative to the kingdom of glory you inherit (or lack of glory you inherit). All of them would be perfect, immortal, etc...but some would be more comfortable in the presence of glory than others, perhaps relative to the glory imbued within the body itself at the resurrection. It's not that someone of the Telestial kingdom literally couldn't exist in God's presence, because a resurrected body can't die. They would just be far less happy trying to live in the Celestial kingdom than in the Telestial. In a sense, God does people a favor by judging them to the Telestial kingdom. He sends everyone where they would be most happy.

No one is really getting at the question I'm asking . Are all resurrected bodies Celestial bodies?

My question is this: Our mortal bodies, as they are now, are often called Telestial, while translated bodies are called Terrestrial, and resurrected bodies Celestial. Will people have a different type of resurrected body, though, according to the kingdom of glory they inherit? Or is it the same type of resurrection/body, just a different level of glory? I suppose I'm asking if there are Telestial/Terrestrial/Celestial resurrected bodies apart from the standard mortal/translated/resurrected interpretation.

The real sin behind breaking any part of the law of chastity is lust. Thinking about someone (real or imaginary) in such a way, outside of a legal marriage, is wrong. It tends to lead to pornography at the very least. But when people talk about where a sin leads, they assume it's okay by itself as long as it doesn't go further than that. But it's not. Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly! "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" Anyone claiming or thinking that they can masturbate without encouraging lust is wrong.

Here's the thing. The triune God is a God without law. He can do anything short of something that would defy His perfection. The LDS God, or rather, God, is a God of law. He creates laws, and He follows laws. God is bound by more laws than anyone else. But those laws are what give Him His glory, wisdom, love, joy, power, etc... Anyway, the triune God isn't compatible with the universe, nor eternal law. The triune God would cease to exist the moment it was brought into the universe, or at the very least, be so bound that It would be unable to "fight". Another thing, God works through the priesthood, and holds all of the keys to it. The triune God, being lawless, would not preside, thus would be powerless under God. No one can exercise priesthood power or authority, save it is authorized by the proper keys. All keys come from God. Unless He gave His keys to the triune God and sanctioned His actions, the triune God would be powerless. And the triune God can't preside or possess those keys because He ignores eternal law. The simplest answer is that they are not compatible within the same universe, and thus could never fight. The wicked seek to be free of law. The righteous seek to be free of sin.

A good way to understand the big gap between Joseph Smith and the last dispensation is to look at the situation of the world at the time. To me, it follows, that the apostasy following Christ's dispensation would be the longest and worst of them all (dark ages!) People killed Christ and his apostles. All throughout the New Testament, the apostles are constantly writing epistles to people who are changing doctrines/ordinances and trying to keep them in check. The moment the apostles were gone, there was nothing to keep them in check anymore, and the Catholic church happened. I have nothing against practicing Catholics, but history makes it pretty clear why God didn't call a prophet sooner. Anyone who went against Catholic beliefs would be killed. America was founded for this very reason. The Protestant movement helped pave the way for religious freedom and tolerance, which made the time for the restoration ideal. When Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet, America was likely one of the only countries with that true freedom. God never seals the Heavens, we do. The moment the world was ready to listen, God called a prophet once more. We live in the last dispensation :)