LDSJewess

Original sacrifice in Moses day though had nothing to do with salvation or the need for sacrifice for the purpose of where someone goes in the after life. Many Christians also confuse the Israelites reference to "Messiah", which to them did not and does not mean someone to save them from hell through sacrifice, or give them a better place in the afterlife. It is referred to instead as a King (human King) that will rule in a peaceful world "When all the world will live in peace." Animal sacrifice was done for the sole purpose of gratitude and prayers for further blessings of favor and increase and freedom from slacery, war and famine. The afterlife and salvation as known by Christians was never an issue regarding animal sacrifice.

It makes no difference whether it is a hyphen or an underscore. Prior to typing and a key board there was no hyphen or underscore just a missing letter. Just as a reference, in the Torah scrolls there are no vowels. This makes for a challenge for anyone who is called to read from the Torah in a synagogue. In Hebrew school or when reading Hebrew in other texts, vowels are present, but in the Torah scrolls there are no vowels, in ANY words not just those referring to God. It is assumed that the reader knows the words to keep in their hear for memory. Also there are some organizations that since they are considered secret I will not mention by name. However, their ritual work involves memorization of verses or texts where there are missing letters so that the person who participates in the ritual recites from memorizing the words translated from abbreviated words that are missing letters.

I do know of some who do this extreme couponing. Personally I don't think I would have the discipline or be willing to take the time to do this. I do not feel any transaction is dishonest providing both parties are in agreement of the transaction, For instance if the manufacturer of the product, the grocery store and the purchaser agrees to the terms of the coupon it is a legal and likely a win win situation for all parties involved. The purchaser receives the goods and through their word of mouth )(and the TV shows that depict this practice), the stores and the manufacturer are getting free National advertizing. Also the grocery store is rebated by the manufacturers of the products being sold, and the grocery store continues to carry more of the product to lure buyers into the store. The manufacturer sees the coupons as good business advertizing and a fantastic write off on their taxes, and the customer gets great deals. So I see it as a win win situation. BUT, this being said, there is a part of this practice that I see as potentially wrong. That is when the purchaser stocks up on more food than they are likely to ever be able to use. I am whole heartedly for food storage, but I also find that it is unlikely anyone needs hundreds of bottles of bar b que sauce etc: If the buyer is couponing for entertainment and they wind up hoarding and the food winds yup going to waste, then this is a big problem indeed. One person that I know that does this however, is a Jewish lady who every year on Yom Kippur answers the "appeal to charity" where people donate to their local food banks. She buys all this stull (hundreds of dollars) and pays next to nothing and then donates it to the food bank. If the food is being put to good use, it's all good for all concerned. But if it is hoarding and gluttony for the sake of entertainment then it is not good. One more question though regarding this: Let's say someone buys $1,000.00 worth of food for $100.00 because of couponing. Are they not in a sense getting a $900.00 increase on the coupon savings? And if so, would it not be prudent to tithe $90.00 (ten percent of the increase) on the savings?

I could not have said this better myself so I will stand at the side lines and applaud you. Perhaps this is indeed a new age that we live in, but what ever happened to "what happens, (or does not happen), behind closed doors, stays behind closed doors." I will say this though, if my husband ever discussed the personal and private intimacies of our lives with anyone else, I would lose complete trust in him. When two people marry, and even more so when sealed, their personal life is entertwined with each other and is exclusive to outside discussion or interference.

Pam, Again I do apologize if my earlier post seem condeming toward those asking and I see your point. Sometimes when we are dealing with the internet and anonymity, we can get caught up in the lack of understanding. Some posts be it on this forum or not can come from very young underage people that just entertain themselves engaging in adult conversation. I will say that no matter where I visit, I have not found many adults so free to discuss such intimate topics in detail. Perhaps some of that comes from my own frame of reference where people my age grew up not discussing these things so openly. (I'm not saying that is always good but where I was coming from). Sorry again. I would not want to discourage someone asking for help.

The most important thing about prayer is that we are communicating with our Heavenly Father. My favorite post prayer that I say often is: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you Lord....." The bottom line is that we oray with the purest heart possible. As for the position of our bodies while we pray; I think whatever makes us feel most spiritual or closest to God. For some it is kneeling because to some people this signifies and expression humility. For some it is cross legged or laying down or sitting or even standing. For me it is in the most comfortable position possible so that I am not distracted in any way from the communication with my Heavenly Father or the purpose of my prayers. The important part is that we do pray with love, utmost sincerity and faith.

Pam, I apologize for being hasty to judge. Truly it sems difficult for me to understand why so many have such emotional suffering and pondering over sexual issues. I can say that from a biological and logical standpoint that so much emphasis is plased in the issue, than one would think it could get in the way of prayer, learning and service God in so many ways. Regardless of our religious affiliation, it is statistically a fact that approximately 90 percent of all males from age 14 to 25 have at some time in their lives mastrubated. Also that men think about sex at least once per day. Considering that some of these men are not old enough to be married and some that are old enough are single; are we to assume that such a high percentage of males are sinful? Is this sinful in and of itself? I don't have the answer to that. I consider the fac that this is very biological in nature. It is my personal belief that this biological and hormonal urge has nothing about being tempted by the devil. I do question why men have such urges more so than women, but the consensus is that they do have a much higher libido at an earlier age than women do. They are wired this way. They came into the Earth in their bodies this way. Does this mean that I think they should use these urges recklessly? Of course not. But I do believe that thinking of sex non stop and being addicted to porn, (but I would need to hear what the definition of addiction is in this case), would hinder one from placing their thoughts upon God and serving him. However, it is equalling hindering if the person who not only thinks or acts upon sex, will then spend even more time in guilt and ponderance of the issue until they are consumed by 1sr their biological urges and 2nd their feelings of guilt. Mastrubation, thinking about sex etc: is not worldly. It is a normal urge of men no matter what their beliefs in God are or are not and no matter what church they belong to. Personally, (and this is only my opinion), if I had a young son who was trying to deal with normal biological urges, I would confirm it is a normal response, but not to be ocnsummed with it so as to not function and progress in reaching his highest potential. I would certainly not advise him to quit his college education so that he can work on controlling normal sexual urges. The result of this can often be people marrying too young so that they can have sex and not worry about the law of chastity. At a 51 percent divorce rate in this country and so many children being raised in single parent homes, this is not the solution to overcoming the law of chastity. We have to combine out God given common sense with the desire to serve God.

It's all about being grateful and thankful for all that we have. Let not a day go by where we are not mindful for all that we have and give thanks. We are so fortunate to have such overflowing abundance where we had more than we needed and can use it for the following day. ;o))

This is such a sad story and my heart goes out to the family. I am not a big proponent of "Free Range" parenting even though when I was a child brought up in the City, riding public busses, walking a mile to school and going to playgrounds to meet up with friends was relatively safe and they way things were. It is only this most recent generation where children ride busses to school, wear helmets to skate or ride a bike and sit in car seats till they start school. Yet even with all this protection, there are as many of not more childhood injuries and deaths than ever. In the case of the 8 year old Hasidic boy; it is very much a cultural thing to allow children to move about with independance within their neighborhoods. In a tight frum community as this boy lived in, the people do not think and live as modern as most people, and they tend to look out for each other. There is crime everywhere and anything can happen even in a tight knit frum community. Very sad but I would not place blame on parents here.

Ok considering how bad the economy is, if we run out of money maybe we will be sacrificing our pets. LOL All joking aside and I did mean this as a joke; you first have to understand Jewish culture as interpreted by Jews and not by Christian interpretation. Here is why Jews sacrificed animals in the first place. 1. Consider it like tithing. Israel was commanded by God to bring their first flocks to the Temple as a sacrifice to God. Now keep in mind that animals in those days were the sole wealth of the people. In the days of Moses, people were not buying and trading with money. Animals were the source of one's wealth for a nomadic and eventually agrarian society. So they were giving back their portion to God as a thank you for for their sustenence as well as hoping for blessings just as we do today with our tithing. 2. Another thing to keep in mind is not EVERYONE owned flocks. Servants tended to flocks but had none of their own to sacrifice. Jews do not believe in the same concept as heaven and hell whereby anything needs to be sacrificed for one to go to heaven or "be saved." Salvation for the afterlife is not a concept at all in Judaism. 3. Also very important to consider, is those that brought their sacrifice to the Temple did not go inside the Temple. Only the priests accepted sacrifices from the people making the sacrifice, and the burnt offerings were performed in the Temple as an ordinance. It was the Priests job to do Temple work. That was their purpose. Now here is why Jews stopped sacrificing animals: 1. There are NO Temples. After the destruction of the 2nd Jerusalem Temple there was no place to make such sacrifices. 2.. Because there are no more Temples, neither are there Jewish Priests, meaning no one to accept the sacrifices on anyones behalf and no direct line to God as the Priests were. 3. Even as the Israelites became an agrarian society where crops could be sacrificed, once there was no Priest to accept them, and no Temple to perform the offeratory work, the practice had to cease. Note: Today there still is no Temple for the Jews. Places of worship are now synagogues where no such rights can be performed. Synagogues are places of prayer and learning; and the leaders are Rabbis (leader/teacher but Rabbis are not Priests), and scholar/ teachers, and board of Directors like Presidents, V.P. and chair persons. But no place to sacrifice anything. Affiliated Jews, (those who hold membership in synagogues), pay membership dues, not tithing and not sacrificing. I do not personally know any Jewish community that practices animal sacrifice today. Perhaps in some remote sect in some remote country. But that would be as unacceptable to mainstream Jews as polygamy is to the current LDS church. Will sacrifices happen in the future? No way of telling. Most Jews believe that the Jerusalem Temple will someday be restored, (another reason why Israelis will not give up Jerusalem to the Palestinians). But if and when the Temple is restored, no doubt there will be ordinances restored as well, but unless one's wealth is comprised of flocks, I tend to doubt the sacrifices would be animals.

LOVE the Carinessa fabric and style. They seem to run a little large so I got stuck a little with missed sizing but once I found what worked for me, I'm a happy camper. That I love most about the tops is that there is no seam across the bustline and if I wear a tee shirt seamless bra over the top, it is very smooth with no seams and lines. For those like me that wear a lot of work out spandex type fabrics, the Carinessa fits sleek and smooth under everything. I prefer the bra over the top for that reason and also so the markings won't show under thinner tee shirts. The bottoms also run a little large but with some tweaking of sizing I worked that out too. What I would LOVE to see happen is that they came out with garments (specifically bottoms) that were thicker with more spandex like shapewear so we could hold everything in and not need to wear shapewear panties under them. A snug fit would also hold liners in place better. I don't find the fabric too hot and it's mid summer in hot and humid Florida. Of course it is hot here all the time and we get used to it regardless of what we wear.

It really depends n how long you are paying into it and if you wait to collect at maximum age. Barring any major financial issue I will collect at 66 in just a tad less than 3 years. I have been working and paying into it since I was 14 and working full time since I was 17. I became self mployed 3 years ago and no longer paying in so I paid in full time for 43 years. When I collect at 66 it is highly unlikely I will live 40 years from now. Now my husband started working full time at 18, and retired at 50 (good union plan company with a pension). So he paid in 33 years. He is in excellent health and if he lives as long as his father did he will have collected for 45 years. So assuming SS isn't abolished for those already collecting he may be ahead of the game. The problem is though that those who knew they would be collecting, planned that money as a part of their retirement income, even if they had pensions etc: If social security is abolished or taken from those already collecting, many retirees will lose their homes. It looks as if they will need to do something, like keep moving the age up. Stands to reason since statistics say we are living longer. And it would be fair of younger people had the option to invest in their own retirement rather than give it to the government to be spent frivilously. It's a catch 22. I guess we do need to step back though and count our blessings because people in other countries are starving.

But the original social security act reads like this: Social Security Act of 1935 And it was sold to the people that they would be investing for their old age fund.

Social Security is NOT an entitlement. Those of us that are collecting or hope to in a few short years have paid far more into it than we will ever get out of it even if we live way beyond our life expectancy. If my husbands check which is automatically deposited and then automatically withdrawn to pay the mortgage does not arrive, the mortgage does not get paid. And when the bank wants to know where the payment is I think I'll just tell them to sell the bill collections notice to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. With the amount of post war babies collecting SS right now, and the senior population being as high as it is, Obama can kiss his job good bye. I also think that when social ecurity was implimented no one thought about the ramifications, because when it all began the majority of the work force was men and their average life expectancy was 64, and the age to collect was 65. Today if a man or woman collects at age 65, they have a good change to live an additional 20 years or more. I don't think Uncle Sam expected us all to live that long.

I agree Slamjet. I have wondered for a while about the legitimacy of a number of similar posts. I am not judging here; rather making an observation. One of the things that appeals to people investigating the church is the high moral standards that are not only set by the church, but also to the standards members set for themselves. I have to say that I visit a lot of internet message boards from Jewish Boards, Beauty Pageant Boards, Health and Fitness Boards, Travel Boards, Political and social action Boards, you name it. But I have yet to visit another message forum where there is such an extreme focus on people telling all about their sex lives from having sex with multiple partners like on this OP, to mastrubation, porn addiction etc: Seriously, for a new investigator of the church, one may come across this forum and think that LDS people think of nothing but sex, and that Bishops are sex therapists. The content of some of the posts look more like a transcript of the Jerry Springer show rather than a religious forum. Maybe it is my chronological age or sense of maturity, but I don't know people from any religion, including athiests, that have such need to discuss their personal life on a public forum. Which of course leads me to wonder about the reality or legitimacy of some of the posts here.

I'm just curious. How long have you been married. Did your wife always dress as she does now? If so what attracted you to her BEFORE you married? If she always dressed as she does now and it didn't bother you before marriage, perhaps it is a jealousy thing about worrying about other guys checking her out. I do not know your wife and so cannot comment on her modesty or lack there of. I will say though, that the majority of women do not dress for men, rather because of how they perceive how they look to themselves. They also dress to impress other women (not from a sexual standpoint), but from a fashion standpoint. Even in church women are complimenting each others hair, clothing shoes etc: Happens all the time.

Peanut my friend, of course I will be praying for you. Keep in mind now that you are not responsible to convert your nephew and there is no battle if the warriors don't show up for the war. By trying to debate anyone who believes differently than you, all you are doing is fanning the fire. Here is my advice and I have used this advice a number of times on friends and family members. So here goes: When an offensive or off color post is posted on your facebook wall, move your curser to the X in the upper right corner and simply delete. If the person continues to leave negative remarks, simply remove that person from your friend list. Next, send a private message to the offending person and say something like this: "Dear Name...., I have removed your post and have deleted you from my friend list on facebook until such time that we may be able to mutually respect each others beliefs. I do not wish to engage in religious or political discussions that can reasult in arguing and negativity. You are free to believe or not believe as you choose, and I expect you honor my choice to believe as I choose. I hope that we may be able to resume a positive respectful relationship in the future. I wish you well." Love, Sign your name. I would not engage in any debate, and I would not tell him that I would pray for him since that in and of itself is challenging his non belief in prayer. I was in a Gospel Principles class recently where someone said, "salvation is forced upon no one." Right now it is not wise to try and be a missionary to your newphew, nor is it wise to feel responsible for their choices. Live by example in a state of letting it go, but also refusing to be a part of the negativity and contention. By refusing to engage and letting this go, you can better use your time to grow in your faith, and enjoy your experience in the Temple. I don't know if and when your nephew will soften his heart. But I do know that you do not need to make negativity a part of your world. Thoughts and prayers coming your way.

Very powerful that is for sure.

In Hebrew, God's name is pronounced a number of ways. It is not that Jews do not know or refer to the name of God. The first name used for God in scripture was Elohhim. God is also known as El Shaddai. This Name is usually translated as God Almighty, and is the name imprinted on the scrolls inside a mezuzah ans attached to the door post of a Jew's home. Another is Ha-Shem which is most often pronounced Ha-shame and means "the name." The Jewish tradition has nothing to do with God's name or the pronouncing of God's name. It also has nothing to do with fear. Rather it has to do with the writing of God's name. Traditional Judiasm teaches to not casually write any Name of God. This practice does not come from the commandment not to take the Lord's Name in vain, as many non-Jews assume. In Jewish thought, that commandment refers solely to oath-taking, and is a prohibition against swearing by God's Name falsely, (the word normally translated as "in vain" literally means "for falsehood"). Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better. The commandment not to erase or deface the name of God comes from Deut. 12:3. In that passage, the people of Israel are commanded that when they take over the promised land, they should destroy all things related to the idolatrous religions of that region, and should utterly destroy the names of the local deities. Immediately afterwards, they are commanded not to do the same to their God. From this, the rabbis inferred that we are commanded not to destroy any holy thing, and not to erase or deface a Name of God. As for Jesus, his name at birth and his bris (circumcision) as a Jewish baby boy was named Yeshua bar Yosef (Yeshua, son of Joseph) is the original Aramaic name for Jesus. His parents, siblings, disciples, and followers called him by that name. The name "Jesus" is a misspelling and mispronunciation that resulted from the translation of Yeshua's name after his death, first into the Greek Iesous, (pronounced "ee-ay-SUS"), and then from the Greek Iesous into the Latin Jesus. No one during Yeshua's life (prior to 30 CE) ever uttered the name, "Jesus." The letter "j" wasn't in the English language until the seventeenth century, so even in English, no one spoke the name "Jesus" until after that time. In any event we often get caught up in symantics and spellings, pronounciations etc: which history shows have more to do with culture and language of the times. And in our modern times many of the traditions are carried forward.

I have been in the airline and travel business for many years and began my career as a flight attendant. From personal expreience, there have been loud obnoxious drunks in first class that were more annoying than a crying baby. That being said, I think First class could be reserved for older children and adults so that those opting to pay the high prices for a first class ticket can get owrk done or sleep on their flight. This would be especially good for longer flights. My pet peeves are not crying babies. Babies cry. The issue is with uncontrolled children that are toddler to adolescent. Often I have seen parents just ignore bad behavior in children and that is not just limited toi airplanes but in other public places, busses, shopping malls, you name it (even church). I also have an issue with airlines that do not follow the FAA safety rules of disallowing ANYONE, (especially children and elderly people), to occupy the seats in the emergency rows. I have seen this all too often on some airlines. On one particular flight we had to do a flyover (aborted landing), and of course my instincts were to mentally count the rows t the nearest exit as a percautionary measure and the row was occupied by two youing parents, a toddler and a lap baby. Had there been an emergency landing, this seating arrangement could cost lives.

Anti's have way too much time on their hands. If they don't like the church and have issues with it, then don't join. Irregardless of DNA, I certainly did not make my decision to join the church based on how many wives or children Joseph Smith had or did not have. Our faith and testimonies are far greater than that, but anti's need to spout off. Let them rave on. They are not worth my time.

Good for him, and although that is not a company worh working for, if he was fired, he could likely file a discrimination against religion case against that company. Just saying.... I am glad your husband chose the right and no doubt wonderful blessings await him.

Hi Unixknight, I think we all have that question at one time or another. I know I have. Somehow along the way I changed my thinking about God and what he will and will not do. I believe he watches over me, loves me guides me, comforts me, and best of all he created me and gave me life. And along with my life he gave me a handbook and the more I read and try to follow the handbook, I acquire a better understanding. What I have personally learned over the years; (and keep in mind this is only what I have learned and how I perceive God), is that God is not an ATM machine or a Genie in a bottle where we can call on him and ask for a million dollars, or magically lose 40 pounds of excess weight, or that he will lower my blood sugar, blood pressure or cause my panic attacks or stress to just cease to exist at my prayerful bidding. God is also not a puppeteer that controls the conditions of our lives. That free agency in our lives is what oten controls our lives or creates a cause and effect response. I believe since God gave us life, a handbook, talents, and powers we have yet to discover, and the free agency and thinking capacity to learn and understand and work it out. So in addition to faith and prayer we need to come to an understanding and take a pro active approach. For instance; I ask God to make be better off financially. My answer is that God gave me the talents and abilities to find a way to create better finances. I ask God to help me lose weight or to have improved health. And the answer is that I take the time to learn what changes in my lifestyle will create better health. I ask God to take away my stess (for me some of that stress involved long term panic attacks). And my answer was that I was not born with stress. I did not come to Earth with stress. I had to learn a better way to react to stressors and learn about ways to make the changes within my life to live calmer and more peaceful. I ask God to help me lose weight. And the answer is to gain a better understaning of what I need to do to make the changes in my life that will result in weight loss. I ask God for a partner, and then I have the faith to learn and understand the kind of person I want in my life and how to surround myself with the right people. I believe that if we just pray and do not do our part in utilizing the gifts and talents and ability to learn and understand; then we will not learn to be co-creators with God. Let's face it, if we have to someday learn to preside over worlds and be like God, how can we learn to do that if we cannot manage yet to control our thinking, our emotions, our stresses and our health, finances etc: I believe that praying with the faith that God has already given us the tools to obtain our hearts desires is how we get the results that we want. And remember that there are times when our prayers are not for things in our best interest, but we can create that result too but in so doing have to deal with the consequences of bring to ourselves something that is not good for us at all. In those cases I would be thankful for unanswered prayer. The more we read ernestly to learn of Gods plan for us, and the more we try to be more Christ Like, the more we will understand what to pray for in faith and learn how to manifest good things in our lives. It's a long journey but worth the ride.

I am not much of a believer in soul mates or being pre-destined to meet and marry our spouses. The reason perhaps is that approximately 51 percent of marriages end in divorce. Those statistics may be lower in LDS marriages, but many people marry before they even join the church. So even though we have free agency, it does not seem like pre-destined soul mates would be a solid plan especially it is likely that the failed marrages are the first marriage where the majority of children were concieved. I also stop and think that society in general and even more so the church encourages marriage at a very early age. This does not give much opportunity to find that "soul mate." I am in a 20 year very satisfying and happy marriage. But it is my second marriage and we met in our early 40's and already had grown children. Due to our life experience we already knew what we were looking for in a mate, and we also knew clearly what we did not want. People change a lot over time as well. My husband I both agree that although we are happily married now; had we met 20 years earlier there is a very high likelihood that we would have not wanted to marry each other, and had we married we would have likely wound up divorced. We each wanted very different things in our younger years regarding family, goals, ambitions, and even entertainment. 40 years ago we would have had very little in common. 20 years ago we met and are a very good match. I like to think that finding someone that you are willing to share a lifetime, indeed an eternity with is something that would require our free agency to choose our partner. Also since marrying is a requirement to exaultation, it would seem to reason that using our free agency to select that person is a part of the progression. Just my thoughts on the matter, but then again who knows, since like Vort saud, we don't remember the pre-existance.

Awwww thanks so much! Sometimes being confused is a good thing because it means you are thinking and pondering. Never stop questioning and never stop learning. It is part of your eternal progression. But at the same time, keep an open mind and open heart and pray and keep God in your life because it will truly help you to discern what is true and what is noise. Also remember that just because there are some that cannot relate to you, merely means they are not where you are on your personal journey back to God. You know I have to admit that there are times when I have gone to church I was bored silly. I used to think if I heard one more lesson on the word of wisdom I would fall asleep from boredom because I have never had a problem with the word of wisdom part even before I joined the church. Not that I was some goody goody, but being a health nut all my life kept me from wanting to do anything that could be a negative to my body. But I did have questions just like you do now. And I longed for higher learning, deeper discussions, and a deeper understanding. I also used to wonder why missionaries were children. Well in my mind they were since I joined the church when I was over 40 and the missionaries were at the time the age of my children. I had a hard time figuring out what I was going to learn from them. But learn I did. And I have to say that even on a Sunday morning when part of a service seems somewhat routine and mundane, someone bears their testimony, or someone makes a comment in a Gospel Principles class that gives me what I call an "Ah Ha" moment. We never know when we are going to get that prompting of the spirit. But if we are absent, then we could miss out on the opportunity. As for the church, contact the missionaries. Call your Ward and let them know you would like a visit. Keep in mind that some in the church will relate to you and some won't. That is OK. We are all heading to the same goal, just at different speeds. In some ways I envy you, (in a good way). You are only 27 years old and have hopefully a lot of time to learn things so much faster than I did. In 35 years you will be my age and I believe far wiser than I because you will have had the time to question sooner and you have so many resources at your finger tips. In 35 years I likely won't be on this Earth anymore, (if I am I'll be an old relic), LOL. But I have to think how amazing things have changed in just the past two decades since I joined the church. You have to think that in the early days of the church, some of the members likely couldn't read well or at all. Education was not prevalent especially for women. There were so many challenges in just completing the day to day work without moden day conveniences that I am amazed that those who were literate had the time to explore scriptures, ponder and exchange ideas and ask questions at all. My husband and I are ever amazed at the fact that today the missionaries are on Facebook, and church members are downloading the Book Of Mormon on their Blackberry's and Kindle's and carrying them in their pockets. Just a few years back we were lugging the quads around. How quickly times change. So my friend, continue to read, search explore and question. But do so with the help of God. Let the Holy Spirit be a guide so that you can make the very best use of the resources you have available so you can find truth in the midst of the noise, and peace in the midst of chaos. I can hardly wait to see what is revealed to us next and by what method. It is truly exciting to live in these days. That to me in and of itself is an amazing blessing.