Hala401

So, I do not have any Apple "helpers" and just found out that the questions you ask your Siri are sent to Apple to analyze. Hmmmm. I am not sure that I would want that, but how else can it be improved. So, perhaps I would not want to say anything that is snarky, or bad. I wonder what it would be like if we LDS had a sort of Siri ap for phones that would report what you said to your Bishop? Actually, it might be fun to have that ap on my GPS, so when I make a wrong turn, she tells me to do it right like Mom did. Or if I get upset about traffic, it would tell me to mind my manners or she would wash my mouth out with soap. I think the Catholic Nun version would be fun. If you get upset in the car or when you are on the phone, Siri could just say, "Bless you child, I will pray for you". When I was Muslim, people often mistook me for a nun. Finally, rather than correct them, I would just say, "Bless you my child".

My first time in an LDS church, I expected to be thrown out. I was Muslim, and had met with the Sisters twice. At their gentle urging, I finally came though it was with great fear and trepidation. I was still firmly Muslim and observed the Muslim rules for modesty called Hijab. Muslims get al lot of rejection in America, but I had only faced it a few times. Believe me, if they did not throw me out, why would you fear their reaction against you? I wish I could be there to support you and even go to church with you when you return this Sunday. Did you do something that caused you to not go to church? Did you think that the same forgiveness that Jesus Christ granted me would not be available to you? It is Heavenly Father that forgives us, how can we not forgive ourselves? Hala

Who is Shawn? I do not know if I need to re-boot or if something is wrong with the internet? Someone just sent me the LDS stand on the divine institution of Marriage. Fine. I am LDS, and support it. I just do not think we have the right to force our views on anyone else. Have all the years from 1820 on not taught us about persecution for what we believe. Do you not realise that the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith as a prophet is a long reach for some people? Did we like it when others tried to force us to stop what we believed? Do we have the right to inflict on others what was inflicted upon us? I just wonder if this page is smoking yet. GAH !!!

I do have a Humanitarian Aid calling, and do visiting teaching and visiting teaching supervising. Still, there are times at night when it would just be nice to have that physical touch and reassurance. Sometimes even a negative experience is better than no experience at all.

I saw something that made me feel really sad today and brought home how bereft and alone I feel at times. For my whole live I was ruled and had to obey, first when young and then when I was married. After 40 years, my Marriage ended, and I am free, but very alone, and uncollared. I need to get really busy now.

A lot of this quarrel is from the disinformation from within the GBLT culture. Though, I don't personally think the LDS should make morality for anyone but the LDS. If the GBLT want to have SS marriage, how does that involve us. We need to struggle with getting the plank out of our own eye. From President Monson.

Oh, Oregon is green, lovely, scenic and all that but I find the constant dampness to be oppressive. I thought to move to Utah, but when I was down there in March, I found the weather not to be for the faint of heart. Going from Provo to Huntsville, to SCL, I saw it rain, then sunshine and 75 degrees and then snow the next day! I was never sure what to wear. LOL

I'm trying to tan my legs, but here in Oregon it is hard.

Knowing people who are both gay and lesbian, I think there is a lot of misinformation about the church disseminated within that group. And lets face it, gays and lesbians encounter a lot of hate from their own families. In the right context, I think the LDS church would be a good place for those willing to abstain. I volunteered for a short time with a group called SMYRC (sexual minority youth resource center) because I was concerned about the high suicide rate. The stories I heard there were so horrendous that I simply could not continue. I was not strong enough. People of faith need to know that there are situations out there that are horrible beyond our own capacity to grasp them. One set of twins I met were male and female. For some reason, the parents castrated the male and fed him hormones, with predictable results. I met them once. We moan and cry about what we think is important, and sometimes we are clueless.

iinarihoudai ? I knew I had seen this before, but don't remember. How I longed, but there was no one. Life is hard without. It is surprising to find reference of this here.

It makes me feel crazy, so conflicting are my feelings over this. When one group rejects another over something that none of us can really explain ...

John: I have not found the original article, but if you need it I will find it. Here is one from a SLC TV station. Do not get me wrong, I love the church, and they absolutely rescued me, showing me love and tenderness that I have never experienced in my life. I want my leaders to be right. I also want them to be merciful. Number of faithful Mormons rapidly declining - ABC4.com - Salt Lake City, Utah News

When I was first talking to the Sisters in Kirtland, we talked about the Prop 8 issue and I said that I supported the church on it. I will not break my word. Still, it is heart breaking to me. I firmly believe that one day we will find that the causation of the problem and it will no longer be considered a moral issue. It is disturbing to me that those who I believe love Jesus Christ can so blithely talk about condemning those whose malady we do not fully understand. Are you not mindful of the astonishing number of suicides that have happened over this issue? I know that there are medical programs and places of research both in Provo and in SLC and I most certainly hope that the researchers are not biased in their work. There is a difference between searching for a reason to condemn and searching for the causation. I worked in statistical research in a manufacturing plant and can tell you all about biased researchers, and Engineers who distort the facts to show themselves to be competent. I will support the Prophet in this not because I know that he knows the answers but because I know that he answers to Heavenly Father. I worry at times because I want those who I must obey to be competent and well educated along with following the direction of the Holy Spirit. Last night I served at a wedding reception and a Bishop became fascinated with me when he found out that I was a new convert and had been a Muslim. Suddenly he was chatting me up and telling me all about what Muslims believe and I just wanted to scream because he was so far off that it was unimaginable. I kept my peace because I was serving at a young couples reception and I did not want to spoil it. But I know that if I ever see him again, he will lose his chest hair. So, you leaders in the LDS church I will follow, but please man up and do your homework.

The thing I like about the LDS is they give you all these big jobs and no training to do them. So, you wind up having to excercise your own creativity to figure it out. At first, I was terrified, having never been allowed to really do that. Now it seems better.

I hate it when my feet stick. Muslim women just wear socks.

Actually, within the church, homosexuals can marry members of the opposite sex and have to abstain from involvement with the same sex. They can do it all including being a Bishop and having a Temple recommend. That's a tough road for gays, but those are the rules. I'm not as emotionally invoved in the issue because I do not have a recommend. Besides how are they gonna know how you vote? Keep your mouth shut and follow your conscience. It is unlawful to coerce a voter.

I'm really on the fence about Prop 8 stuff because I think it is Constitutionally prohibited for churches to be involved in politics. I know one church that had a political meeting and they lost their 501c3 status, and I agree they should have. Just read the first Amendment to the Constitution and see what you think. I know I am going to get challenged on this, but I have seen an article that said the LDS church lost close to 50% of their membership in California over the issue, or maybe that is nation wide. Personally I am all about Jesus Christ, and doing what he told me to do. Plus my genetics do not include the political gene, so I am really dumb about that.

My Bishop comes in on Monday and cleans and I offered to help but he said that I could not be in the building alone with him. I think there is a contractor that comes in and does the heavy stuff. I wish there was a volunteer way to do it, but if there is, I have not discovered it. As a retired woman, I can get into mischief, so things like helping out keep me focused.

From the weird corner, here is my opinion. I don't dictate what anyone wears. For me however, if it a fairly formal setting, like Sacrament Service, and if I am wearing LDS regulation skirt length, I have to have my legs covered. I think that pantihose are a tool of the devil, so I usually wear stockings with suspenders. They are very hard to find anymore without that awful silicon at the top. That horrid compound makes me break out. Pantihose make me so uncomfortable, to the point of claustrophobia that I just won't wear them except for a very short time. I often just wear floor length skirts or dresses to avoid all the bother. Please, no yelling at me, but I think that I notice that the Bishop's, and President's wives all wear ankle length skirts, while the rest of us...

Ender's game has the BOM in it? Wow, I think I need to read it again!

I have grown quite disgusted with the way politics are going here in the US, and the fact that grown men can not even come up with a budget. Calling us colonies is simply my way to express my distaste at the present state of affairs. Make no mistake. I am a patriot, and have served in the military. It angers me that these bad leaders send our sons and daughters overseas to die in battles in which we do not belong.

I agree completely with the idea that we demonize others. A case in point is a certain Rush Limbaugh. The man says outrageously inflamatory things which some people agree with and others do not. His words are so radical that when he first came on, I was surprised that the FCC would allow his broadcasts. So, did someone put him on the air to be America's safety valve, or does he actually inflame people to hate? I used to be a member of a group, not the Muslims, that seemed to see spreading hate as their duty. I finally left that group partially because I could not reconcile the words of Jesus Christ with what my group was doing. And the fact that the LDS do not generally speak unkindly of others is one of the key elements that drew me to the church.

It is interesting because the email asked if I was Canadian, but upon entering the website, that message was no longer present. So, this whole matter is another of my silly pranks, so no getting mad at me. :) I'm actually American, but feel like American treatment of the English language is messy and not consistent. :)

I am not very happy with the way the Colonies treat the word Baptize. Baptizing, Baptized, and Baptismal. The spelling seems irrational and without decent rules. Baptize is spelled with a z, along with Baptizing, while Baptismal is with an s. It all seems dreadfully inconsistent, and I am not pleased with the letter zed anyway.

I read his, "Ender's Game" and I don't recall even oblique references to church, but that has been, well, a long time ago. For some reason, the rest of the books of that series just did not hook me. I'm thinking I will probably stick with references that only an LDS member would recognise. :)