estradling75

If you are looking for people to tell you that your husband is a dirty, rotten, pathetic loser, with major issues... Well I am sure you can find some(just not with me). But that is not going to help you save your marriage. And since your husband isn't the one online and asking, anything that we say he should do, isn't going to help you. I would recommend reading the book His Needs, Her Needs

Nope... But from the limited amount you have shared it seems you are a matched set when it comes to being oblivious to each others needs

The question I ask myself whenever someone comes up with a date is... How would knowing the date make a difference in my life? The living prophets have already council us to be ready. If believing that it was going to be on a certain date causes me to fear or panic or rush then I have not followed the council given and I need to be in a panic or rush to get ready, even if the date is turns out to be wrong. But if I have followed the council and I am as ready as I can be well, then the date doesn't matter.

Not buying it Vort...You are an intelligent guy and you have shown great skill with words. You are addressing a topic you know to be heated. You throw out terms like barbaric abomination, penis amputation, and genital mutilation. Which are very loaded terms to begin with, and you expect a forum full of parents who struggle every day with trying to make the best choices they can for their kids, not to go up in flames about a choice that for the most of them is already made. You might not be producing any flames but you provided the fuel and the spark knowing the likely result. When I had my son's circumcised I did it after talking with the Doctor and my wife. We made the choice made on best information that was available to us at the time. I don't feel one bit guilty about that. Since then more studies have been done, more information has come available to me. If the same choice was make available to me now with this new information I might very well choose differently, but I am not going to beat myself up over what is in the past.

So... no matter who wins... we all lose?

If the bet is picked up you will probably need to define the something and nothing into less vague terms so that accurate assessment can be made.

If one needed to be worthy to receive revelations. Then no one would ever get their foot in the door to receive the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, or any other foundational truths that we are expected to build our testimony on. After all how can you have faith in Christ (which is a worthiness issue) unless you have something to work with. It might help your understanding if you don't view worthiness as a binary on or off state, but more like a ladder you can move up or down. The President of the Church is a man with typical human shortcomings that he works to over come yet he is worthy to receive revelations for the whole world. Someone investigating the church with just a bit of effort can be worthy to receive a revelation that the Book of Mormon is true. Both are worthy for what they get, but both are in wildly different places. Consider the scripture that says to whom much is given much is required. I believe it does also apply to worthiness and revelation. God will give you a little then sees what you do with it. If you embrace it and live up to it then you are 'worthy' to receive more. If you don't well then you are not listening and no more new stuff will come until you live up to it. (He might repeat the old one) So when the Leaders are saying that you need to be worthy to receive revelation it is being worthy up to what you have been given. Now in the case of stumbling into sin yeah that stops the progress and even drops you back a bit. Its bad, no doubt. But to be worthy to receive help overcoming sin we only need to be sincerely trying to over come it and to ask in prayer. That means its always possible to get help from God if you want it.

Really you should just ask... Move on over to general discussion or LDS gospel discussion depending on the nature of your questions and ask.

Indeed and I am sure I am just one of several people on this site that has taught the Temple Prep class at some point or who have simply gone through itemple and who are willing to talk. Its keeping it in the proper reverent and respectful manner that such subjects deserve that is hard to do over the internet

It might have been better phrased as it takes more effort for women with the larger ones to have the same level of modestly as women with smaller ones. The level of modesty doesn't change, but the effort does, do to simple physics.

I have to pry my 12 year old off transformice.... He is even writing Fan Fic for it <shudder>

Dahlia there are two levels of the Word of Wisdom that commonly get mixed up. First there is the minimum needed to be worthy to hold a recommend. Many members consider this all there is to the Word of Wisdom. But there is more, there is the fullness as it is contained in the D&C 89. The minimum makes no reference to caffeine, the fullness doesn't reference it either but it does talk about using wisdom and knowledge to make wise food choices and avoiding things that aren't good. The fullness side can fit in a caffeine restriction quite easily but it is all about using personal judgement so it a big fat grey area. So we have people saying that we should avoid caffeine because of the Word of Wisdom guidance and their understanding of the effects of caffeine. And others saying it is perfectly fine because it in not a worthiness requirement. We tend to focus more on worthiness aspect and then individual make personal decisions on higher stuff

I think alot of that admiration comes from it being a bit usual to those that admire it. After seeing some of the nastier side of what some people will go through to prove their side right, having someone say don't come to us can be like a breath of fresh air.

We believe that it is by Grace we are saved after all we can do... So being works based is a common complaint we hear

I think you are still missing the point... Saying yes to the abortion(or other of similar type) question does not mean a person can't be baptized... It means ok sensitive area needs to be bumped up. The purpose of the second interview is the same as the first only done with someone with (presumably) more skill and experience in handling sensitive matters. They will ask questions about the persons current mindset toward such action (in addition to the past) If the current mindset is good (aka have the desire to forsake such sin) they will be allowed baptism. If not then more work needs to be done to help them build up their faith and understanding of what God wants of them to help them prepare for baptism.

It the eyes of God all sins are bad because of the separation. In the eyes of humanity all sins are not equal because they are harder to completely repent from and forsake. We believe that God has given the authority to act in his name and perform the necessary ordinances of the gospel to flawed human beings. He has also instructed these flawed humans to not allow anyone unworthy to partake. This requires mortal judgement (barring God making his will known). For baptism the requirements are three. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The desire to forsake all sins (Please note the word desire no one is perfect but the desire needs to be strong) , and the willingness to join flock of God (aka the church). The failure to retain people after baptism is because for one reason or another the new convert loses one of the three. All the baptism question focus on given the flawed human that is called to make a judgement enough information to make the best judgement they can. Experience has shown there are certain areas that need greater resolution. Abortion stands out to you, others areas would stand out to other people.

That is what the question leads to. They are however sensitive topics that 19+ year olds have very little practical experience dealing with so it gets bumped up to someone with more experience. They ask about the situation at the time to determine why it happened and ask about how they have changed in attitude and behavior from that point to now. Their current outlook toward their past behavior is what makes the difference. And yes they are all flawed human beings, much like all the prophets and apostles in the bible. Yet in spite of their many flaws they are the ones God put in charge of running things here on earth. Which is why the baptismal questions also ask if you believe that the church has been restored to the earth through Joseph Smith.

Because the Church is not Christ. Barring direct revelation from God the leaders of the church will not know the intents of a persons heart. A baptism is only as good, and as cleansing, as the power of the faith and repentance of the person being baptized. Without those you are just getting wet. All sins are bad before God but certain sins have greater impact on a persons life then others. The questions that stand out for you are questions that society is more and more is saying its ok to do, but by God's standard is a serious sin. The questions will not stop someone who has performed such act and then come unto Christ forsaking all the sins of their past life. It will stop those that think they can stand in both worlds.

girlygirl... Life is full of test and challenges. In my opinion one of the worst challenges is when we have problems with a leader or with something that they have done. Because there is only so much that you can do about it before you reach the point were you risk throwing all that is good and true about the church away because of it. Don't do this. You have made your case to the bishop, now take what faith you have left and take it to the Lord in prayer. Turn it over to him, let the Lord deal with it. Then ask him to help you forgive and to let it go. Its not easy to do this, the natural man rebels against it. But there is a miracle waiting here for you if you can reach it.

For me Priestcraft isn't defined on if someone gets paid for the work. For the laborer is worthy of his hire. No for me priestcraft is about motivation. Why is the preacher preaching the word? Is it to tend to the lambs of God or is it to be seen of men and to become popular? The first is correct way the second is priestcraft. So a paid minister isn't priestcraft unless the worldly wealth is what the minister is working for. Whereas a gospel doctrine teacher who uses the class to try to show off their knowledge so that people will think highly of them and their knowledge, that could very well be priestcraft without any money exchanging hands.

The problem with this is that it defers the payment of the bill as it were down the line to people that will never see the benefits. Let take your situation but knock 20 to 30 years off your age. You pay the same amount (if not more depending on the raising of taxes) and you in theory have the same promise of retirement. But given that you are going to miss the cut offs the retirement age retreats, and because the money just isn't there by the time you do reach retirement there is nothing but a whisper of money. Paying a whole lot money for nothing. Now you can say we are young we can plan differently for our future, and this is correct. But consider two things. First the whole idea of social security was to 'protect' those that for whatever reasons (poor planning, unexpected events) reached retirement with nothing. Those reasons will still exist. In fact they could be made more likely because the government taking more taxes out of the paychecks. Money that could have very well gone to building their retirement nest egg. And two how is it fair to shift the burden of care off to the next generation. Because lets face it this is not a new problem, but the older generation has always had more political power then the younger and they keep passing it off until we have reached this point

The only person that can answer your question is your bishop. It takes however long it takes. People might share their personal experiences and thoughts, but that is all they are. All I can say is... the sooner you start the sooner you can finish.

Different structures... The Government is setup to have other parts Check their power and to keep it balanced. Therefore without loyal opposition it would fail. The church is a Kingdom with a Perfect King, imperfect mortal administrators, and very serious opposition looking for any weakness to destroy it.

Ton - Not

The root cause of this confusion is that we do not understand the purpose of sealing of children to parents. What purpose does it serve in the eternities? It's clearly important and necessary but we have only the vaguest of answers on the why. Consider this example of an ideal situation. A pair of parents make it to the Celestial Kingdom and exaltation. All of there kids make it there as well on their own. What purpose will the kids being sealed to the parents serve once they are all there? We don't really know. Lets pull in another quote on the subject “The Prophet Joseph Smith declared-and he never taught a more comforting doctrine-that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God” (Orson F. Whitney, Conference Report, April 1929, p. 110). This quote to me says that even in the reclamation process the wayward kid doesn't get away from paying for their sin. In fact it sounds alot like what happens to those that inherit the Telestial kingdom. After playing for their sins in hell they are saved. Is there any reason Exalted Parents could not be present in the Telestial kingdom with their Telestial kids? (I understand the reverse doesn't work) Is there any direct promise that the wayward kids will be exalted? Any explicit promise of the celestial kingdom? I only read being saved which can be vague term in LDS circles.