daplautz

My friend and I have been in a bit of a disagreement. I want to know what you think. I wear my CTR ring facing me so I can read it and it reminds me to choose the right. He wears his ring facing away, saying that he knows he should choose the right; it faces the other way so other people know what to do. Both seem like valid arguments. What do you think?

I have heard some testify that all of us who are in the latter days are the Noble and Great Ones spoken of in Abraham 3:22-23. Yet others will say that although many of us are probably among the Noble and Great Ones, that title is still only applied to those who were foreordained as such. Even though the title is rather insignificant because it is between the individual and the Lord, what are your thoughts?

I recently started a specific study of the book of Isaiah and I am having trouble understanding his imagery in Isaiah 5:29-30 (I am reading out of 2 Nephi 15:29-30). Almost every source I have gone to has given no explanation; they just jump from 2 Nephi 15:28 to 16:1. The only thing I found was in a Book of Mormon study manual that said "Righteous Israel will gather out of the gentile nations. No enemy will be able to stop this great gathering." But I'm not making the connection. I was hoping someone could help me out. I understood the ensign to the nations part and the prophecies about modern-day transportation (the LeGrand Richards quote helped me out with that), but I don't understand what Isaiah means by those last two verses. Any ideas?

Hahaha I am going to go on a mission! I just have to wait until next year. I'm planning to leave in September of 2012. I wouldn't miss the mission for the world. And my girlfriend is incredibly supportive about me going on my mission. It is a serious relationship, but I know what is right in the Lord's eyes.

Please read this; we really need advice: I have been dating a non-member for almost four months. We are both 19. She never knew much about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints except for some of the weird stories that are passed around to anyone. Her parents really liked me, but non the fact that I was a Mormon. In fact, her father doesn't believe in organized religion at all, but thinks that titles are a creation of man. Her mother just follows what her father says, but also has read a lot of anti-Mormon things. When my girlfriend decided that she would learn more about the Church and what I believe, she met with the missionaries several times. Slowly, but surely, and after many commitments, she began developing a testimony of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and modern-day prophets. In two months time, she decided to be baptized. Her original baptismal date was going to be the 24th of September (two days after I wrote this post). She told her parents about her decision a week beforehand and her entire family went berserk. She was non-stop attacked by her three family members for three straight days, but her decision remained the same. Now, here's where it got really hard: She lives in an apartment with her sister, but they are being forced out because her sister works for the apartment company, but the company was bought out and the new company doesn't offer free apartments. My girlfriend's sister is going to move in with her boyfriend, but my girlfriend's options are limited due to her going to school and working on a pay-roll that wouldn't be able to support her on her own. Her parents wouldn't let her move in if she planned on being baptized at the end of the week. Not only this, but they intend on cutting her off completely. No car, no funding for education, no house, but most of all, they made it sound like they would ostracize her. My girlfriend had three moving options after this: 1) Get baptized, then move in with her best friend, start paying for everything, and lose her family. 2) Get baptized, then, move in with my sister (a member), who has an open room for my girlfriend and wouldn't make her pay for everything, except she would still have to get insurance and a car, and lose her family. 3) Don't get baptized yet, move in with her family, wait about a year until she could finish school and actually live on her own, and she would get to keep for financial situation stable and her family relationships stable. Option 1 was closed after talking to her best friend because my girlfriend doesn't have the money she needs to live on her own. Option two, theoretically, would be the best option according to someone who would say "just take a leap of faith," but my girlfriend doesn't want to lose her family. Especially since moving in with my sister would look like she is choosing my family over hers. Option 3 was the decision she eventually made after her parents finally listened to the missionaries and agreed that Mormons are Christians. By Wednesday night, my girlfriend had decided that she would respect her family's wishes, not get baptized yet, and move back home. All day Wednesday, my entire family was praying for my girlfriend to just know what to do. And my family is LDS so you know she had a HUGE praying brigade behind her. Our prayers were answered. After she had a great discussion with the missionaries and her parents, she felt the Spirit tell her that putting off the baptism was what the Lord wanted her to do. After all of the stress and anger, she finally felt peace for once. Real, genuine peace. This choice was difficult for me to accept, but I know that she was in tune with the Spirit. I cannot disagree with her. Today (Thursday) she called me and no longer feels this peace. She wants to get baptized, but remembers that the Lord told her to put it off (not for a year per se, but just to put it off). Last night, she felt peace and knew this was the right decision, but now she feels all of the anxiety coming back. She doesn't know what to do. I told her that sometimes we just have to remember the answers to our prayers even when they don't continue to give us peace. I mean, the Spirit isn't testifying the truth of the Book of Mormon to me at every second of the day. Nor do I feel the warm fuzzies every single time I read out of it, but that doesn't mean that the answer I received about it being true was the wrong answer. She did offer the possibility of just putting it off for a month, then if she still feels the way that she does now, then she'll get baptized. I told her that it wasn't a bad idea. And with her living at her parents house for a month, they might enjoy her company so much that she is allowed to continue living there even after she tells them that she is still getting baptized. What to do? Comments appreciated!

I knew I was a Mormon today because I was relieved to remember that church was only two hours. (Stake Conference!)

Closet-Mormon!?!

Welcome! I think that Jews are awesome. They have an excellent and fascinating history.

Yep. Don't feel bad because you are supposed to feel bad. Feel bad because masturbation is breaking one of the Lord's commandments. Council from the Bishop can only help.

I haven't been paying attention to all of the posts before this... but how does Christianity resolve its conflicts with the Bible?

Lets just get one thing straight. Guns don't kill people. I do. I always wanted to say that... Don't be angry with me.

In a subject that is not the same, but ties into what has been said: So when we pray to God, he hears and answers our prayers. I have a testimony of that to be true. There are people, though, who believe that when they pray to the God that is part of the Trinity, he hears and answers their prayers, but not our prayers, since we pray to Heavenly Father, a part of the Godhead. What happens to all of these people that have different ideas on the nature of God. Do you think he answers all prayers no matter if he is being called different names like 'Jesus', 'Heavenly Father', 'Jehovah', 'YHWH', 'Allah', or 'Hari?'

My Stake President has an iPad that he uses during his meetings and he loves it. Also, whenever he talks about what came before the iPad he can't remember the term "iPod." This could be because he is an older gentleman, though...

COPIES OF THE BOOK OF MORMON! I need to calm down.

I have heard that some Christians believe that Mormons believe that we worship a different Christ. Why do they believe this and how would I be able to answer someone if they came up to me and told me that I believed in a different Jesus?