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I was listening to a podcast with Terryl and Fiona Givens. One of the things they were saying was that the Restoration wasn't an event, it's a process that is still going on. So I was wondering, do you think the Restoration is ongoing? Is there an end to it before the Millennium?

The Church released a Mormon Messages video on prayer. It's called origin. If it helps at all, the easiest way for me to pray (and my favorite way) is to just talk to God. I have a quiet spot on campus by a lake where I'll sit or pace and just talk to God as if he were right there. Out loud. I can imagine how silly I look to passers by. But it helps so much and helps me really have a heart to hear. Funny thing is, this form of prayer started as a way for me to "tell God off" when I was going through a bad time. Now is my moment of honest conversation with God as I try to make His will my own. Out of fear of sounding like a cop out answer, let me just say this: prayer is a process. We aren't going to have prefect prayers our first few times. We need to practice prayer through continual prayer. That's the only way we can approach it properly. Your friend is definitely in my prayers.

Beatification is the second step to sainthood. First is Venerable, second Blessed, third Saint. So Mother Teresa is currently Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. When she becomes canonized (it's going to happen) she will become known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. She's one step away. Not sure if it's the same for the Eastern Churches.As far as private devotions, it's accepted. When I was a Catholic I constantly asked for the intercession of my grandfather and my old confessor, 2 of the holiest men I've ever had the blessing of knowing. (Actually, I sometimes catch myself pausing and quickly ask them to pray for me, habits). If they aren't in heaven, I'm not sure what happens, though if they are in heaven they are as much of a saint as Padre Pio or St. Francis. However, while the Church says these private devotions are accepted, we shouldn't be saying in a group prayer, "Uncle Vern, pray for us" like we say "Padre Pio, pray for us." Privately we can say it though. That's been my understanding as a Catholic for 20 years and as a current Catholic Studies and theology minor.

You're right, the Church is recognizing this person is in heaven. In Catholicism, anyone who is in heaven is a saint. A capital S Saint is someone the Church recognizes as definitely in heaven. We know they are in heaven because miracles have been done through their intercession. For JP2, the miracles included a woman healed from cancer who prayed for his intercession. (She is asking JP2 to pray for her) She was cured from the cancer and it was declared a medically-impossible miracle. After 2 miracles have been verified, they are eligible for canonization. I should mention the verification process for miracles is extremely strict and it HAS to be medically or scientifically-impossible for it to count. My favorite part of the process is that there is someone called the "Devil's Advocate" whose job is to find reasons NOT to canonize the person. If this person's arguments can be debunked by those in charge of the canonization process, it continues. I heard that when Don Bosco (St. John Bosco) was up for sainthood the Devil's Advocate said he never had time to pray (he ran an oratory for poor orphans during Italy's industrial revolution). The response to that was "Well, his life was a prayer." You're right, there is a delay between the person's death and the opening of their Cause for Canonization. And it is so that the fervor could die down a bit. It makes sure that the process is more neutral. However, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (personally a favorite of mine), waived the standard waiting period for his predecessor and best friend, JP2. And just like the pope can waive the waiting period, he can also decide to canonize someone without the standard 2 miracles. This is what Pope Francis did with John XXIII. The canonization itself involves a Mass. Actually, you can find this canonization on YouTube, which I recommend watching as the Mass is concelebrated with Pope Francis AND Pope Benedict. 2 popes canonizing 2 popes. Not to mention, I love Benedict so it was great to see him in public. I hope this information helps a bit.

I just saw Jesus Camp and ti be honest, I'm more than slightly disturbed.

The way I imagine the scene is Mary hugging Jesus so tightly out of happiness that he asks her to let him go.

So last night I went to do my very first home teaching. It was great. We visited the 2 girls in my ward know the best. My companion did most of the teaching though he says next month I'm teaching something from General Conference. I really enjoyed it. Hopefully I can do a good job with this!

The best spiritual "advice" I've received didn't come through words, it came through the example of those people of faith I admire. Seeing those who live out their faith is the best "advice" on being a Christian I have ever received. The other that comes to mind was from a family friend. He told this to my dad after my mother's surgery went wrong, "It's not over until there is no hope left, and there's always hope."

I second what others have said here and talk to your bishop. It may be that you can wear them now, or things may need to be sorted out. Off topic question: What classifies a person as inactive?

A member of the bishopric here wears a zip up cardigan instead of a suit. It looks like I'll be making a trip to Macy's sometime this week! And I totally forgot about the Distribution Center selling white shirts. I'll look into buying some more there! Thanks!

I was wondering, how we're the early Sunday church services performed in the time of Joseph Smith and the beginning of the Restoration? How has the service (I'm tempted to call it "liturgy") changed over time to get to what we have today?

This reminds me of the oft quoted study on Catholics and birth control that says 98% of Catholic women are on birth control. The actual poll said, "Have used" so the woman could have originally taken it in the past and then have a change of heart or be a convert and not used it since her conversion but since she has used it in the past said yes. It was touted to attack the Catholic Church. This one seems like a better study than the previous one. I'm personally glad to hear it!

I come from a Catholic background where our churches survive because of weekly Bingos and we give our eight year olds an opportinuty to sip wine. It's how I knew I preferred red wine over white. My girlfriend grew up in a devout Methodist family with her father's side being Catholic. She describes the differences between the two sides at parties as night and day. The Methodist side don't drink and are very proper. Her Catholic side...let's just say an aunt on her Catholic side plans on taking her to Vegas now that she's 21. My family, devout Catholics, love their music and are great social drinkers. When my girlfriend met them she was shocked at how OK with alcohol a family could be. For a week I thought about attending a Baptist high school (long story) and their rules said I could not attend parties that had dancing and could not listen to rock music, which meant I had to give up guitar lessons and turn in my iPod because that's all I listen to. Personally, I never understood it. Luckily, as I was heading to the temple last week with my bishop, he admitted he accidentally downloaded all of Led Zepplin's work but was glad that at least he downloaded something he really enjoyed. So +1 for Zepplin. No offense to those Christians who do not drink for religious reasons, but I don't understand it. Never understood the whole grape juice instead of wine for communion. Even as an LDS I'm still a little thrown off by the water for sacrament. I mean, for the LDS there is at least direct revelation, for protestantism there isn't a direct command. I guess it's because I see alcohol as more of in moderation than out right need to ban it. (Though there is a direct command from God in the LDS sense, I understand why LDS do not partake.) Guess it's just my up bringing. Though I should say, one thing that does bother me (luckily I haven't encountered this yet as an LDS) is a holier than thou attitude towards those who do not drink. I don't see people who are not-LDS and drink coffee, tea or alcohol as bad or less worthy or partaking of something evil. I tend to see it like the Jews see their commandments: If you're Jewish, follow them, if you're not, I'm not imposing it on you.

As a college student, I can't afford to buy too many nice clothes. It actually took me a while to figure out white shirts are standard so I came to shirt with a shirt and tie, but the shirt wouldn't be white. In an attempt to "fit in" more I ended up buying two white shirts, what I could afford. But now I feel underdressed because I don't have a suit jacket. They are expensive. Hopefully soon. I think if your heart is in the right place, you will dress respectfully. That may not always be a suit (I've shown up once in a button down shirt, jeans and sneakers because my flight made it home early and it was either go like that or miss church) but it is dressing humbly and respectfully. Not run down t-shirts and flip flops. Honeslty, I rather you go to church with an open heart willing to learn than skip because you don't have the clothes (or time to change).

Just thought I'd share this. This upcoming weekend, Pope Francis will be canonizing Blessed Pope John Paul the Great and Blessed Pope John XXIII. Canonizing, for those not familiar with the term, is when the Catholic Church recognizes the person as a saint and in heaven with God. It's usually a long process, but after the death of John Paul II, Pope Benedict waived the one year waiting period for opening up a cause of canonization and put his predicessor on the "fast-track". During his funeral and the days following the pope's death, many people were chanting "Santo Subito" which is Italian for "Saint now." Being as Pope John Paul II (or as I like to call him, John Paul the Great) was one of the longest reigning popes in history and a huge influence on world history, this is a moment Catholics (and in my case, former Catholics) have been waiting for. And it is very exciting. The announcement of canonization of Blessed Pope John XXIII was a bit more controversial. Pope Francis waived the customary number of miracles needed to be recognized a saint which bothered many traditional Catholics as Pope John XXIII was the pope who opened up Vatican II and was seen as a somewhat political move on Pope Francis's part to please conservatives (JP2) and liberals (J23). Granted, both are great men. Even though I am no longer a Catholic, I am looking forward to this weekend and the canonization of two great spiritual leaders. just thought I'd share this with you all.

Bishop Prisonchaplain, (has a nice ring to it) what if you are a convert and were already with the person before you converted and have that love attachment? In this senario the partner thinks (most) religions are silly but totally supports you if this is what you want and won't bring it up. It's a question I've been having. One of the members of my bishopric thinks it's ok and he and his wife are always asking about her.

I still tend to personally see "becoming like God" in an Eastern Orthodox/Roman Catholic perspective of absolute unity and communion with God. As I say, I don't know the specifics of what that means, but it sounds wonderful.

I was playing around and exploring the new site and came across the dashboard and saw "New Post" so I clicked on it and it gave me the option of writing a post and submitting it for review. What is that for? Can people contribute to the website? Thanks

I have my "nice" genuine leather 2013 Quad as my nice Sunday reading set. For everyday reading and markup I have a hardcopy Book of Mormon and an old used quad I got off ebay for 10 bucks.

Is it a complicated read or would I be able to get through it fairly easily? So far I\'m thinking of only reading volume 1 (or the ebony volume 1a) for now.

I've read a few interviews Brian C. Hales has done on the topic of Joseph Smith and polygamy. Honestly, it's a topic that I have been indifferent about (even when I was investigating the Church, I just didn't care). But now after hearing these interviews, I kind of want to research this a bit. That and my desire to get into more of Church history, I was thinking this would be a good place to start. Has anyone read the books Joseph Smith's Polygamy? I'm considering getting the ebooks. Are they any good? Also, in an unrelated topic, how is the book History of Joseph Smith by His Mother?

That is GENIUS!! As someone who struggles with fast Sunday, I appreciate this.

So I read D&C 13 that reads: "Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness." What does John mean by "ministering of angels" and have the keys of the ministering of angels? How does it apply to the Aaronic priesthood?

I feel bad because I haven't been able to go to church the last couple weeks (it's been a busy month for me, unfortunately) and I don't want to miss more or feel like I'm missing out on getting closer to God at church. I love church and miss it.

So this weekend one of my classes (a class on Jesuit spirituality) is going to be going on a retreat. Pretty much it will be full weekend to get away from the world and experience God one on one through Ignatian spirituality. I'm looking forward to it. The only thing is, I'll be skipping church on Sunday because of this. During the weekend, my professor says we're going to have free time where we can do what we want. Since I'll be missing church on Sunday, I wanted that free time to almost "make up" for missing, meaning trying to get as much LDS out of that time as I can. How would you recommend doing that? I was thinking of taking my Quad (read some of the NT, BoM, or Book of Moses I've been wanting to read), maybe an Ensign, or the Joseph Fielding Smith manual. I'm not sure. What would you guys recommend?