estradling75

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Everything posted by estradling75

  1. I always considered that a false argument. You got to compare best with best and worse with worse. The best two parent home will be better then the best single parent home. The worse two parent home will be better then the worse single parent home. But a bad two parent home versus a really good single parent.... okay yeah the single parent probably wins that one depending on the details of how bad and how good.
  2. I hope people don't mind me dropping in and out as the mood strikes me... The question was asked why did Laman and Lemuel go with them. The record does not really focus on giving us explanation of Laman and Lemuel's thoughts or reasoning... only that they didn't understand the ways of God. But I think we can connect the dots on what we do know. Laman had the birthright as first born. He had the right to rule and lead the family after Lehi passed. And he clearly wanted it. But to get it he/they had to stay with Lehi. If they fought against Lehi's authority they would cut the connection to their own claims of authority. They had to go to be able to claim the leadership role once Lehi passed. Now Laman and Lemuel might not have known the things of God... But they very much knew the story of Esau and Jacob. Esau had the birthright and Jacob took it from him claiming God did it. Once Nephi started claiming visions and talking to God, since they didn't believe they would have see it as a power move. Like Grimma Wormtongue poisoning the mind of the King in Lord of the Rings. Nephi was becoming a threat to them, and they needed to counter him (Again without knowing God and what we do know about them this seems to be a reasonable understanding of why they acted the way they did.) On the subject of the Liahona, Nephi tells us he made a bow to replace his broken one. And he tells us he built the ship with Gods help. He had no problem claiming what he did, so if he claims he didn't know, I believe he did not know. But Laman and Lemual without faith in God probably did think Nephi created it. Watch their complaints I believe they will use the term cunning devices. Can you think of a more cunning device for a power grab then to be able to claim to speak for God by changing the words on it to fit what you needed to? (Again I do to believe this is what happened... But Laman and Lemuel very well could have)
  3. If I were to guess.... (and it is only a guess) I would say that it is because the Missionary grooming standards are not going to change. And after Family and local church leaders the CES group might be the next most influential group for the future missionaries. Having less potential stumbling blocks seems wise. As for me personally I was clean shaven for a very long time. Then many years into my marriage my wife lets me know she likes the more scruffy look, so I have been doing that ever since. (I do not know why she waited so long to tell me her preferences on the subject)
  4. I am not much of a philosopher... But when I step into that role I think the question of Free Will is not the right question. The real question is "Is the all knowing, all powerful being Just?" Everyone is worried about this being's judgement... If they are Just then we can not be punished for things we did not/do not/can not control. If we are to be judged and the Judge is Just then we must have freewill on what we are being judged for. If we are not being Judged... or the Judge is not Just.. then nothing we do matters.
  5. There is a saying related to charity that I think applies. Give a man a Fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to Fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. If you are truly trying to be charitable as Christ taught. There are times when you need to give a Fish and a time when you need to teach how to Fish. The Bishop's Storehouse is setup to do/encourage both depending on what it needed. Other charitable setups the church has may lean strongly one way or the other depending on which issue it is attempting to address. Soup kitchens are about Giving FIshes and should be supported, but in many cases that is simply not enough. Ideally soup kitchens should be working to put themselves out of business, realistically that is not going to happen because their will always be a need. But addressing the cause and not just the effect is a greater act of charity
  6. I didn't look into battery chemistry... I was looking at vendor offerings... I am not smart/brave enough to try to do DYI type of Solar install. On the subject of water big tanks are more cost effective but they have a hard time being moved/installed... I saw a product that is a water brick that stack kind of like Lego. Its a couple of gallons per brick. This seems like a possible answer for making your water a bit more manageable. Grab a brick or two and you have your emergency water for the day. Otherwise you have to fill your water up from the big container, into another container and then move it where you need it. Also don't by the hype that water has a shelf life. Water doesn't go 'bad' It can get contaminated by stuff getting into it, but that is what filtering is for. Water that is clean but has been sitting for awhile might taste a little off, that because the dissolved oxygen is in water normally has escaped. Shake the water up some (or run it thorough a filter) and it regains it.
  7. I am in the process of installing Solar Panels on my house. I looked in to having batteries (Think Tesla Powerwall) but I couldn't afford them yet. But if you can afford it that might be best stay at home power generation option. But it is pricey. I have a Bluetti EB3A. Its the smallest one, I use it for Camping and Radio events. I wouldn't expect it to power a refrigerator or powertools (at least not very long) but for mobile device charging and smaller things it does just fine. With a solar panel attached I have no issue with having power all day long during camping or event, if I need to be awake and using things during the night it can run out, but I try to sleep during the night.
  8. For detailed prepping you have to answer a few questions. What are you prepping for? For example you cited economic collapse. That is a great answer but you prepare for it differently than if you are prepping for a wildfire coming through and destroying your neighborhood. Doing a 'shelter in place' gets you different answers then get a 'out of dodge' Power: For all types of generators there are a few things you need to consider, Peak power and Continuous power. All generators should have those numbers and the combined total of everything you want running at the same time has to be lower than what the generator can do. So this raises the question: what do you want to run? If you want to run your whole house you need a big generator and massive fuel storage, which costs a lot. If you only need your cell phone charged you can get by on a little solar brick. Another issue is fuel source. Generators need something to convert to electrical power, when that runs out then the generator does nothing. Solar is great in that the sun doesn't run out, but it is off half the day. Gas can run through the night but you need to either store enough or be able to refuel. We can totally go into more power details but what are you looking to power and for how long? Food: What can trip people up on food is preparing the food. How do you change that bucket of wheat into something you can eat in an emergency? Also do not forget food for your pets. Water: This one is hard because we need a lot of it and it is heavy and takes up a lot of space. Odds are you are not going to be able to store enough water except for the shortest of duration emergencies. So in addition to storage you need to be able to collect, filter and sanitize water from other sources. For trade goods the standard answer is feed the addiction/need. Cigarettes when smoking was more of a thing, coffee, alcohol. Being in Utah might be less effective than elsewhere, and as a member you might understandably have some issue with having those items, and that is fair. So maybe you go the sugar route instead. Anyways just some thoughts
  9. The dad wanted to see his kids (when he was allowed to). The kids wanted to see their dad, there was really no other family available. They were member of my stake and a family in my stake had taken the kids in. The family that took them in really did some great Christian service work there. But everyone knew it was a lot of work, so the stake ask for volunteers to help. That got me. I have to admit going to jail for the first time even as a visitor was a bit unsettling. Going to visit a convict murderer even more so. I didn't have much interaction with him, but when I did he thanked me for giving up my Sunday afternoon with my family so he could have time with his, and his general politeness and demeanor reminded me of a former bishop. I clearly still have work to do on my own levels of charity, because to this day I still have difficultly reconciling what I knew about him and what I experienced from him
  10. The closest I have come to a prison ministry is when I escorted two young teenagers to prison to visit their father. He was in jail for murdering their mother, and the kids needed adult escorts to and from the jail.
  11. The question has been raised.. How can we gain the Blessing of Obeying the Law of the Fast without Obeying the Law of the Fast, and I think we are having a Can't see the Forest because of the Trees moment. The heavenly laws of Fasting are not some special snowflake laws that behave differently from all the other laws in giving blessings so we can expand our question to how do we get any blessing from heavenly laws that are broken? The answer to that question is so profound that it is the foundation of our religion. Christ and his atonement. Christ fulfilled all the Laws of Heaven and through his Atonement (Which we do not really understand)) can extend all the blessings of obedience to us. The Law of the Fast is just as much covered by the Atonement of Christ as any other Law we might fail to live up to. Invoking the atonement to cover us has some pretty well understood steps. First is Faith in Jesus Christ. If we do not believe and accept that, then our works are dead works and profit us nothing. Second is repentance. Christ has given us commands and laws. We are expected to continually repent and try to live those laws. We will fail and that is expected, but as long as we keep trying, Christ will keep the blessings flowing. So how does this break down in practice? You have members that are going through the motions. They do it because that is what we do. They may be technically fulfilling the Law but for whatever reason their Faith is not active. So fasting is without effect for them. Then you have the members that are doing the Fast technically and with Faith, the Lord has Mercy on them in their shortcomings, the atonement works and these people get the blessings. Then you have the members legitimately can't meet the technicalities of a fast, but they really want to, so they take it to the Lord. They do what they can, maybe even offer up a substitute to help show their heart and mind, the Lord has Mercy on them in their shortcomings, the atonement works and these people get the blessings. The catch with that last one is that we as a people can't really tell who is sincerely trying and those whose Faith, if it exists, is weaker than their hunger so they make up an excuse or milk everything they can out of otherwise good reason. They are neither using faith or repentance, so they get no blessings.. And yes we absolutely need to be careful about encouraging that
  12. Indeed the task for the General Authority over such things is to find and communicate the will of God. That is a huge task and I wouldn't want it. But by that same thought the very people entrusted with those tasks are people that I trust more than I would trust myself to get it right. After all God tells us in Amos that by his mouth or the mouth servants it is the same. And God is responsible for making that true. So when we understand this we realize that the OP is wishing that God would have just given them what they asked for. I think we can all empathize with this desire for God to just give us what we want. While understanding that it is completely and totally wrong and that we need to repent and humble ourselves.
  13. I have to wonder if this is not the "Real" issue. The scriptures are clear God will not compel anyone... You choose to live his laws and gain his blessing or you choose not to and loose those blessing and face consequences. Yet when it comes to Seallings people forget this... They think God will some how break his own rules and start compelling people to be in relationships and situations they do not want to be in. I totally understand why it would be concerning issue I would totally have it myself if it were true... but it is a made up issue, stemming from a flawed understanding of the nature of God... That is the theological side. The emotional side, that is the human side, that is trickier. If we have charity we want our spouse and their ex's to become better people. Our spouse needs to become a better person just like we do for the sealing matter at all. And if the ex becomes a better person as well, then what? Well repentance does not mean we will gain that "exact same" opportunity that we blew up because of our sinful ways. Repentance and Forgiveness do not mean that old relationship have to be reestablished exactly the way they were before
  14. There is some understandable sensitivity about the comments made toward the second wife.. so I am not going to talk about her... I'm going to talk about me and a process many members find themselves. Hopefully the issue is easier to see when looking at others. There have been many cases when I through my studies, experiences, feelings etc. That I Think I know what is right. Then the Lord either through some personal revelation or through an inspired church leader, challenges that. That is the dilemma. Before that happens I am happily moving along doing the "Right thing" the best I know how. But once I am told (in one way or another) I have the dilemma. Either I am right and God is wrong and I do not have to change or God is right and I am wrong and I need to change something. Now writing that out the correct answer is a 'No duh' God is right and I am wrong.. but it is never that easy to see when I am in the middle of it, even more so when I do not understand how it makes sense. In this dilemma I either need to humble myself and faithfully follow the council given. If I don't, then my pride will kick in and I will rebel. And we know the ultimate destination of both those choices should they continue. It does not matter what the subject is... It could be Sealings, It could be Politics, it could be Money, etc. etc. because there is more then enough of them for each and every one of us to get tested in this way multiple times.
  15. My thoughts Yes... but Satan does not love God... God could save Satan but Satan refuses to be saved. God's love for Satan means he honor Satan's wishes. Satan's lack of salvation causes him pain, but the closer he is to God the more pain he is in, because of his lack of salvation. Thus God, because Satan will not be saved, is motivated by Love, to have Satan be far away. Thus God's love of Satan spares him 'some' pain, but not as much as it could because of Satan's rebellion. If Satan could start to Love God enough to change, God's love would pull him back. Satan and other "Perditions" would seem to be incapable of making that change. My 2 cents for what they are worth
  16. The Commitment Pattern has four Steps 1. Prepare (with the sub steps of) Build Relationship of trust Help other feel and recognize the spirit Present the Message Find out how they are understanding the message 2. Invite (What ever it is you are trying to get them to do) 3. Follow Up (Some time after the initial Invite) 4. Resolve Concerns (at any time in the process that concerns get raised) Its a tool and like any tool isn't really good or bad... How an individual uses or abuses the tool that matters.
  17. Indeed.. There have been many who basically say "If you do not agree with my proposed 'fix' of a 'bad' thing. Then you support a 'bad' thing" Abuse is one of the those bad things that people tend to do this on. For example I have been a member of the church all my life. In all my memory the church has taught that Abuse is a 'bad' thing and should not happen. And if it does happen then the person that has done the abusing needed to repent. That message came through loud and clear to me I agree with it 100%. But I have several issues with people claiming that the church is responsible and needs to do more!!!!! When I attempt to share these thoughts the response from these kind of people is that I am an enabler that I support abusive behavior. And I am sorry but I am not interested in being abused in that fashion.
  18. Indeed.... If the OP truly want to Educate about Abuse and Patterns of Abuse then they can't then get offended when we point out that 35 to 40 percent (using Mirkwoods estimates because it is hard to get solid numbers) of the victims of abuse are told that they will not be believed or that it can't happen to them. I mean everyone knows kids can be abused and there is nothing magic about having a Y chromosome that means after puberty you become immune to it. Yet instead of simply acknowledging and say 'Yeap everything I said applies to men to' The OP appears to have taken offense instead. That tells us more about them then it tells them about us.
  19. My understanding is that they can not build a flame trench or any trench really. They are just a few feet above the water table. So they would have to build up before they could reasonably build down.
  20. We would do well to remember there is an aspect of "The Lord's timing" as well to all his promises. We know this, we get taught this, and yet all too often we fall into the trap of "God as a vending machine" and we really should know better. The Book of Mormon promise is True... God will reveal the Truth of it to everyone who does what it requires. However we often add our own little expectation/requirement that God would do it right immediately after. But that is nowhere in the promise. It does appear to be how it works for most people, which can reinforce this idea, but it is not really in the promise. I know for me the answer came, but it did not come quickly. I was in "I choose to believe" mode for nearly a year once I got serious about gaining a witness. Then I got the promised witness, that allowed me to move to "I know" Why did it take so much longer for me? I have no idea, it wasn't from lack of faith or willingness to believe or willingness to do the work, because it clearly did happen for me. Clearly the Lord had his reasons, and one day I hope to understand them.
  21. What we should be thinking, pondering, and wondering if we should change something about... Are the things under our control and stewardship. Last I checked I had no control or stewardship over the designs of the Temple. The people that do I have every reason to believe are trying their best with study, prayer, and ponderings over such things. Will they be perfect all the time, every time? Nope. But such projects have several different checkpoints where they have to work with others that also have stewardship. I would expect these kinds of projects to be more correct because of this than I would ever be on my own. Ponder what you want to Ponder. Think about what you want to Think about. Study what you want to Study. Just remember what you are doing should be drawing you closer to the Lord. If instead it leads you to Fault Finding or Ark Steadying then it is an Evil Fruit and you need to redirect.
  22. In 3rd Nephi the Lord tells us that the "Spirit of Contention" is of the devil. That seems pretty clear, but it does open the possibility of being able to "Contend" without the "Spirit of Contention" That was how I always reconciled Christ's words with other scriptures with more positive takes on contention. Plus it seems to perfectly align with D&C on exercising priesthood authority (aka the dangers of unrighteous dominion) Now our Prophet is saying do not Contend. That strikes me as a council for our day. Like Boarding the Ark was in the day of Noah, or the Law of Moses, or even the Word of Wisdom. Council and direction for those living today in this environment. This leads me to wonder if our environment has become so toxic (or shortly will) that we can no longer Contend without having the Spirit of Contention... I mean that was already a very hard thing to do before... Is he warning and forewarning that it is no longer going to be possible?
  23. No individual scripture stands alone. No individual correctly understood/interpreted scripture contradicts any other correctly understood/interpreted scriptures. But we often have a problem correctly understanding/interpreting scripture. The scriptures are clear that only Christ paid for sin in the redemptive sense of paid. The scriptures are also clear that we will all pay for sin in the suffering sense of paid until and unless we exercise faith in Christ, repent and are cleansed by the power of Christ's atonement. Note that this Section and verse is not given to novices in the gospel, but rather to those that should already have a firm grasp of the basics. The section goes from the Paid for our Sins in the suffering sense to the being Clean step. The fact that it omits steps we all should already have a firm understanding of should not be taken they don't exist, but rather that is is not repeating things we should already know.
  24. It seems to me that this subject is ripe for Hammer problems.. When all you have is a Hammer everything looks like a nail. When all we understand is the mortal biological reproductive process... we make divine reproductive processes look mortal and biological. The scriptures clearly state that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, God ways are not our ways. It also seems pretty safe to say that God's biology is not our biology. Yet our thoughts, ways and biology are the only hammer we really have to try to understand God. The scriptures talk about God creating Adam from the dust and Eve from Adam's rib. A God that can create Adam's DNA from the dust, and Eve's DNA from Adam's rib, does not seem like he would have any problem creating Christ mortal DNA from Mary's egg. Did he though? I don't know... And that is another issue that affects this subject we do not seem nearly comfortable with saying and acknowledging "We do not know" Instead we try to "Hammer" the unknown into something we think we know. And more often than not we end up being wrong.
  25. If you are an idiosyncrasy... you are not the only one. I am also of the thought the accepting Christ is the only way out of Hell... He is the WAY after all. We are given a promise that with repentance God will remember our sin no more. However there is no promise or path given for God to remember the Good/Works that we never did. And Judgement is in two parts... Did we accept Christ and then by our Works. I think the problem many encounter if they (The Hell/Telestial group) are not evil then they must be good... and that is a false binary. If this holds then the dividing points of the three degrees of glory that make up the Kingdom Heaven is our willingness to do Good. The Telestial will not (They will not do evil either) Terrestrial will do good until it gets hard for them and the Celestial will do Good even when it is hard and carries a personal cost.