Leah

I think that sums up the issue right there...the OP has no intention of listening. His intent is to tell other people that they are wrong and he is right. No need for listening with that intent, it just gets in the way of truth and facts. I haven't seen any actual interest in the church in any of the OP's threads. All I've seen is a fixation on the fact that some people are "rich" and an overwhelming desire to tell others what to do with their money.

I appreciate any gift given me. It says someone was thinking about me, someone cared about me, so I am thrilled with whatever I get. But, yeah, there is something about homemade gifts that make them extra-special. Well....except maybe for the candy I made this year. It's shaped kind of funny. But tastes awesome! :)

Suzie makes a good point. If you have an issue with what this person posted on her blog, why didn't you address the issue there, with her? What is the point of joining LDS forums to drag up a months-old post on a completely different blog? You were shut down on at least one forum for not following the rules there. What is it you hope to accomplish by going to LDS forums to malign thus sister missionary over something that occurred months ago? If your concern is animal cruelty, your cause would be much better served by working to shut down puppy mills and the like, rather than sitting behind a computer screen maligning one missionary for one ill-conceived moment in her life. But...if animal cruelty is not actually your agenda........

Modest clothing is available everywhere. If she's not understanding, how much of a friend is she? And why would you compromise your standards for someone who isn't understanding about your beliefs? I don't follow your logic about waiting to go to the temple because of something like this. Especially for someone who isn't understanding. Is her friendship more important than receiving your endowment? Is a bridesmaid dress more important? And it sounds like you are saying it is okay to wear immodest clothing as a Mormon as long as you haven't been to the temple yet. That is not how we're taught. I realize that the trend these days is for strapless dresses in weddings. That's not appropriate for a Mormon even if you haven't been to the temple yet. Personally, I as a bride would never ask a bridesmaid to wear something she's uncomfortable with. Just explain to her where the boundaries are.....no strapless dresses, no plunging necklines and no mini-skirts. There are plenty of beautiful dresses out there that fit the bill. You see them every weekend at any temple. If she decides to be all bridezilla on you instead of being an understanding friend, then I guess you have to decide what is more important....your faith and the standards and obligations that go along with it, or wearing an immodest dress for a "friend" who is so insensitive.

Please do show us where church leaders have stated that it is okay to take off one's garments "for a few hours" before causing someone "undue stress".

CaleB....what's your real goal in posting this? This is not the only LDS board you've joined for the express purpose of talking about his incident. You are not LDS. If your real concern is animal rights, why are you not posting on those kinds of boards instead of LDS ones? Is your real intention to make the church and its members look bad?

You still haven't answered the question. In what way are they "damned"?

In what way are people "damned" because they have a physical disability?

If you think Mormons are not compassionate, don't sacrifice for others, don't believe we are brothers and sisters beloved by our Heavenly Father, that we don't love our fellow men......then you either have serious comprehension skills or are simply refusing to see what is right in front of you. Or you had no intention of opening your mind to viewpoints other than your own. If you are looking for a religion to tick every one of your pre-determined boxes of demands, I don't believe you are ever going to find that anywhere. That is not what religion is about. If you are looking for the truth, however......

What Vort said. You are MARRIED. You belittle your wife for her choices, but your actions aren't any better. You talk as though you are the better example for your children, but for a married man to be looking for women on dating sites is despicable. The fact that the only reference to the kind of "quality" you are looking for in a woman is their looks shows just how shallow your views are. So this what you want to teach your children that is better? That it is okay for a married man to go trolling for women? Your actions are not that of a worthy priesthood holder. They are shameful.

Ours today was amazing. First of all, it was mostly men. When I first moved into this ward last year, I wondered for a long time if any of the men in the ward were EVER gonna get up. But the most moving testimony was fro the brother with ALS. He first had most of the ward fighting back tears when he got up from his wheelchair and mounted the stairs to the stand (with some assistance by loving brethren) to help the young men (of which we have very few) administer the sacrament. And many more tears were shed when he was the first to share his testimony. Again, loving brethren helped him to the stand where he once again got up from his wheelchair to stand and bear his testimony. He has shared in the past that he feels an urgency to do this befor ALS takes his voice. Speech is already difficult for him, and after a few minutes his body trembled with the effort of standing, but stand and bear his testimony he did. I love this brother and his wife. He was the first person to welcome me into the ward (my first ward change since joining the church in 2011) when - as the ward clerk - he called me on moving day to say he had heard I was moving into the ward that day and did I need any help? Boy, did I! The next thing I knew, he and the missionaries and several other men from the ward showed up to unload the U-haul. He and I immediately bonded as "sclerosis buddies" (I was diagnosed with MS the year before I joined the church and it was the MS that led to the remarkable events that brought me into the church). He makes me weep and humbles me when he tells me that I inspire him! My challenges are nothing compared to his. The Spirit today.....there are no words.

Having converted from Judaism, I can say that "Reform" Judaism is so far from the real thing as to be almost un recognizable as Judaism. While they may say some pretty words fro time to time claiming otherwise, it's very much a self-centered approach. Keeping Kosher has no personal meaning for you? No problem! We applaud you for being "your authentic self" by not keeping kosher! Oh....and the fact that you never, not once even attempted it? No problem! Just be "your authentic self!". I'll probably just get really annoyed if I read this guy's words.

Of course our beliefs are within our control. Who else would have the control? We're not helpless creatures. We all have free agency to believe and act as we do. That free agency also includes the ability to change our minds, which can also include changing our beliefs. I converted to the church from Judaism. The whole "Jesus thing" (as I used to call it) made no sense to me. Then a member of the church shared his testimony with me and invited to read the Book of Mormon and go to church. I took the missionary lessons. I was presented with information that I never heard before. My beliefs changed. That was my choice. I could have said thanks, but no thanks (and I initially did. I fought changing my mind). But I made the choice to change my beliefs. At some point, we all choose. To believe X or believe Y. Or not to believe.

Until when? Until he was disabled for life? Until he was dead? Gotta love those Monday-morning quarterbacks who think they know more about the situation than those who were in the situation.

I shouldn't have looked. I'm gonna have nightmares tonight.

Well....here in Portland, the usual group of "professional" protestors are causing the usual mayhem. I work in downtown and was able to get out before the worst of it (one of their favorite tactics is to block streets and bridges and they always time it for rush hour). There are now people being attacked in their cars by the protestors. I had to chuckle a little at one incident. They had a car stopped. They started to attack the driver through the window. He got out and he was HUGE. The scrawny little protestors started backing up. He didn't touch any of them, but they wouldn't have stood a chance if he had. A few minutes ago, the chatter on the scanner was the cops trying to get to another motorist - a woman - who was trapped by protestors. And aS usual here in Portland, there have been attacks on the police by the protestors. I have unfortunately had a front-row view to similar protests here and have always been impressed by the restraint of the police. I listened to the Ferguson scanner last night and caught a little bit of video from some moron involved in the rioting. He was whining about police being in riot gear and using armored vehicles. Molotov cocktails are being thrown and shot are being fired. You really expect the police not to protect themselves? Can you imagine what the situation would be like without their protection? The burglaries and arsons would continue unabated. What I saw and heard last night was disgusting on so many levels. I don't even have the words.

You need to research facts. Some of those drinks may contain more caffeine, but not all. And I will say it for the last time because it seems clear you won't give up coffee and tea for any reason....it is not about the caffeine so that argument is meaningless and doesn't justify the consumption of coffee or tea.

What do you mean by "don't go there"? You don't want anyone disagreeing with your misguided point of view? Is that what you say to your bishop, too? Church leaders have made it VERY clear that coffee and tea (except for herbal tea) violate the WoW. The fact that that they may - or may not - contain less caffeine than pop is irrelevant. It's not abouth the caffeine. Besides, you are simply wrong. And it's pretty common knowledge. There is 95-200 mg of caffeine in 8 oz of coffee and 25-35 mg in a 12 oz Coke. But - again - it's not about the caffeine. It is irresponsible and inappropriate for you to tell anyone that it is okay to drink coffe and your advice about the temperature doesn't make it magically okay. Or are you okay with someone jeopardizing their temple recommend based on your advice? You can make the choice to jeopardize your own, but to lead someone else astray is not cool. Drinking coffee is not more important than attending the temple.

Using your "swimsuit model" touching her to the tops of the thighs would be okey-dokey. Not such a great idea if you are trying to follow the law of chastity. She has set a limit for herself using garments as the guideline. That still leaves plenty of the body outside those boundaries, so to speak. If the guy can't respect her wish to not be touched by a boyfriend on the bare skin of certain parts of her body, then he need to decide what is more important to him - physical contact with someone he is dating (that she does not wish to have) or respecting his girlfriend. And, no, the girlfriend setting these particular boundaries does NOT mean she has a "problem" or that the sexual intimacy in a marriage with her is doomed.....as some like to jump to that conclusion. They are dating. They are not engaged. He's not endowed. Nothing wrong with her being sensible about things. She's an endowed member of the church, not a "try it before you buy it" member of the Kardashian world.

I find it interesting that this is the OP's one and only post. Couldn't possibly be a drive-by posting of someone trying to push an agenda now, could it.

Lots of hugs to you. Even though you know you will see him again one day, it still hurts to lose someone you love and has always been a part of your life. May you feel surrounded by your Heavenly Father's love.

Pharmaceuticals are from Satan? So Heavenly Father has no hand whatsoever in that area of medicine? So mankind should never have developed such things as the polio vaccine....insulin for diabetes....antibiotics for infections....etc....because those are all evil and of Satan and there's plants for all that?

Not sure how networking to get the word out that their town home is for sale is marketing "to the exclusion of all others". Mentioning it to the bishop just seems to be a normal part of getting the word out there. I'm curious now to go look up these supposed regulations. I thought when selling one's home, you got to choose which offer to accept. Had no idea that there were regulations that would compel a person to choose x offer over y offer.

What a funny post. "Defensive"? What an odd comment.

Your first paragraph shows much ignorance on the subject of sexual abuse and probably gives us a glimpse to your personal attitude towards the subject. For you to even speculate that these statistics include women who were simply whistled at....wow....I don't even know how to respond to such a remark. Ironic that you take men at their word when they claim they are being "deprived", yet are so quick to call into question women's experiences and assume they are the ones exaggerating.