eddified

Depends on the state. In Utah, you can't carry in the LDS churches-(unless you have special permission??) Edit: my knowledge about this is a few years old so may be out of date.

The fact that VidAngel bothers to edit something so repulsive (to me..., not judging others) make me go "hmm....". Disclaimer: I haven't seen GoT, but I believe I've heard enough to pass judgement on whether it's worth my time.

That's what I try to do, usually.

So, @The Folk Prophet I'd like to see some examples of what righteous judgement might look like when the person doing the righteous judgement is not in a leadership position in the church. I'm totally on board with the reasoning that we should judge righteous judgement - it's right out of the Book of Mormon and of course I agree with it in principle. But what does it mean to do that, for a person like me not in a leadership position in the church? I ask because I think I fall perhaps too far on the side of "live and let live". I don't say anything when someone decides to disobey commandment X, Y or Z. I think I'm one of the least judgemental people around. And I see that as a potential problem. The BoM counsels that I should be judging righteous judgement and I'm worried that I'm not doing it. So how do I do it?

Are you sure? You named my family and described their sins, to a "T"! Note to self: it's not a good time to tell everyone my name is "Tom". . . .

@Grunt, I'm not sure how that makes any sense. The first thing is to want to follow God's laws. If you truly want to follow the path God has set for you, you'll start walking it, even if you don't fully understand it all or fully agree with it all, just start. Take small steps toward God. Eventually you will either turn away from Him, or you will let Him shape you into what He wants you to be. If you let Him do this, after awhile (could be years), you will start to feel guilt for things you haven't repented of. Coming back to your question, I think I can make sense of it. It sounds like a case of loving the sin. When you love the sin you really want to do it, and may only feel guilty knowing you are breaking God's law. But if you follow the path that God has for you, you will gradually come to hate/abhor the sin itself. This is my belief. The more I follow His commandments and walk the straight and narrow path, the more I hate sin and love obedience.

@chasingthewind, it does sound like you have a pretty good relationship, as friends. While it seems there *are* some signs of infatuation, I would say it's on top of a foundation of a really good friendship, -- not the really shallow type of infatuation. This is what I'd call a healthy level of infatuation, which is normal and helps humans get married. I'm confident that if she doesn't return your feelings, you can still remain friends (in the long-term at least) even after your "spilling the beans".

Disclaimer, I haven't read all of the comments. If you're like me (and I'm male), remaining friends forever with someone you have romantic feelings for is just not fulfilling. In my opinion, it's better to tell her your feelings and [probably] have to move on, than stay forever in the friend zone. But you can probably still be friends again later after you've gotten over her. So it's not like these things are mutually exclusive. Im sorry to break it to you, but it really does sound like the probability of her reciprocating your feelings are low. I've been a missionary, and missionaries LOVE the people they teach! They love them with a Christlike love. It *IS* possible she feels the same way you feel towards her, but I think the chances are low based on what I'm seeing. Good luck.

To refute my suggestion that race is linked with athletic ability, here is an interesting article I found. http://www.jonentine.com/reviews/AOL_graves.htm The TL;DR is that yes, our genes have an effect on athletic ability, but such genes are not linked to race in a meaningful way.

Sorry didn't read all the comments so far, but I think there is something to most of the professional athletes in America being black. This isn't a statement of fact, just something I've noticed. I could be wrong. Could being black be linked to athletic ability? The original post asked about anything, so I'm bringing up the facet of athletic ability. Edit: disclaimer, I'm as white as any white person you might see in Utah (which is known for having a large percentage of white people).

It sounds to me like you have a hard road ahead, but if you confess to your bishop and forsake your sins, you will have peace inside your soul. And with peace in your soul, you will be able to better deal with the other things you have going on in your life. Sin causes misery, there is no way around it. By forsaking the sin, you can forsake the misery caused by the sin.

It seems you are afraid of the commitment. Please don't take offense, I'm just trying to read between the lines. If I'm wrong I welcome the feedback... It is completely understandable for you to be afraid of commitment after something like what you say happened to you. Could a fear of this happening again be nagging at the back of your mind? If this is the case, seek healing in the Atonement. Not everyone is like your ex-wife, I promise. There are some wonderful potential mates out there, I just know it!

Disclaimer: I've never been divorced. I'm married. I think in this situation you should continue to fast, pray and be steadfast in the gospel. Continue dating this young woman, but tell her that you need to take things slow. I hope she would understand, since you were so recently divorced. And then just take things slowly. No need to rush. Well, I kind of take that back... I guess it depends on the person. Me, I know I would be able to take it slowly without succumbing to desires of the flesh. But if you know that taking it slowly will provide significant temptations, then in that case there is a need to avoid dilly-dallying (echoing @person0's reference to Paul). Edit: just know where you are at. If you may fall into temptation, foresee it.. Do all things in wisdom and order. "Trust in the Lord and lean not unto thine own understanding." Meaning, follow the Spirit and if you need time before rushing into marriage, don't be afraid to take the time you need. Alternatively, if the Spirit is prompting you to push ahead with the relationship, then do that instead. God bless! Sorry I wish I could offer better advice, perhaps someone else in this forum can offer some relevant anecdotes.

Maybe the primary really needs you. I'm guessing you are really good with the kids! I don't think 18 years is too long, if that's where the ward really needs you. Good primary workers are really appreciated, thank you for your service!

The way you describe his mother very much sounds like my mother, but your mother in law sounds much, much worse in degree. My mother has mental illness. She can be very difficult. My brother and his wife had such a hard time with her (and my brother's marriage was suffering because of our mother) that they felt they should cut off all contact with her. And they did just that. They tried to get me to join them, and cut off all contact with her, but I didn't feel right about it. After a few years my brother and his wife started allowing limited contact with my mother. The lesson I learned is that if your're not at a place where you can handle the abuse, then perhaps cutting off all contact is the best thing for you. Then later as you mature, you may be able to handle a relationship with the toxic person. There is no one solution for everyone, it depends on where you are at emotionally, how abusive she is, and other factors like your children. I would be more careful about letting her have a relationship with your [as yet unborn] children. Remember, children are very impressionable. Based on what you've said, I would think very strongly about moving away when children come, if not now. The alternative is to somehow draw up some extremely strict boundaries and sticking to them. Be ready to call the police if she won't let you leave, or if she won't let you leave. One idea you could try is a trial period. Do not allow any contact for a short time, say 3 months or 6 months. This may give you and your husband some time to reset. Perhaps by doing this you and your husband may come to some realizations. For example, your husband may start realizing some of the more subtle ways he was abused (this may not apply to him, depends on the abuser, my mother is a master manipulator [confirmed by my father's counselor] so some of her abuse is subtle, yet still abuse.) Or you may realize your marriage has fewer problems all around without her in your lives. Or you may realize that you really should include her in your life a little more. God bless.

Hi @Natham, there is some great advice here. My advice is to please try to love him and let him be himself. He needs to figure things out. If he decides never to return to church, please accept his decision since he is an adult. Try not to resent him about any of his decisions. You can still have a happy marriage. In fact I would advise against divorce if this is the only issue. I don't mean to minimize the issue, I know it can be a difficult road to walk. But Jesus is there to walk it with you.

This more recent data is very interesting, showing record ice minimums in both poles. So this would help the global warming narrative. I guess my "Antarctic sea is is increasing" talking point is out of date. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/sea-ice-extent-sinks-to-record-lows-at-both-poles

https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/antarctic-sea-ice-reaches-new-record-maximum It doesn't show the graph I'm remembering but it does describe what I described, though with more details.

Actually the charts I saw clearly showed increasing ice in the Antarctic, but decreasing ice in the Arctic. Notice how the news outlets don't ever say anything about the Antarctic ice... I hope to provide a link soon, I'm on my phone.

I just want to understand. But I typically get condemnation from @Vort. <sigh> It's a common thing I see in these forums. @Vort, I respect you. You're a smart person with valuable comments. I know you mean well. But so do I. I've never doubted the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, I always have sustained my leaders, and would retroactively sustain all past church presidents, including Brother Brigham, if it were possible. I have no faith crisis. I have a testimony that the Standard Works that we have are all revealed word of God. I have a firm conviction that Jospeh Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God. I'm at the level spoken of previously where anti-Mormon arguments do not affect my testimony, I've learned a little of Church History but would like to know more because knowledge. Again, not for faith, since you can get that without studying church history, but for knowledge just for its own sake. I did not try to make anyone believe I was an apostate. I did not play devil's advocate. I just merely wanted to discuss somethings I don't fully understand, but get labeled an apostate and said I should be ashamed. This is not how you treat people if you want to be charitable. In charity you listen for understanding, not so that you can quickly condemn. No @Vort, it's you who should be ashamed for being so abrasive and judgmental on occasion. At least that's how I see it; I could be wrong. Again let me be clear: I think you are a wonderful person with extremely valuable comments, but sometimes you're just over the top. It's fine to disagree. It's when you start attacking someone because of a disagreement, that's where it must end, it's called an Ad Hominem attack. Look it up. As to the subject matter, I'm lacking in knowledge which is why I started asking questions. I'm not professing to know the truth about these various subjects. It's more like I'm coming to tentative conclusions and trying them out for awhile. Did it sound like I was playing the part of the apostate? I sure didn't mean that, those listening for understanding could probably realize that. @The Folk Prophet, I appreciate the dialog.

Thank you for your comments. I appreciate someone finally giving an explanation. I'm trying to figure out how to reconcile Utchdorf's statement that there have been mistakes made, with the general consensus I'm feeling here, which is that the prophets haven't made mistakes, nor the apostles (excepting the ones which were ex'ed). Or at the very least, if they have, we should not point them out. We are only allowed to point out mistakes made by general authorities that were later excommunicated, is the feeling I'm getting here. I understand and empathize with the sentiment that if it were otherwise, then we could just chalk up any teaching we don't like with a mistake. I totally get that. It sounds like the consensus is that Utchdorf was referring mainly to local leaders, is that it? I don't intend to use Utchdorf's statement to mean that I can dismiss whatever teaching I want -- quite the contrary. I am only feeling like it applies to obviously incorrect doctrine (at least to our modern sensibilities), such as Adam-God theory, and inability of the blacks to hold the priesthood... So I ask this question: for those such as @The Folk Prophet who seem to be indicating that the general authorities have not made any mistakes regarding doctrine (aside from the obvious cases of authorities which were ex-communicated, etc), how do you explain the priesthood not being extended to worthy black members? I honestly am not wishing to debate this (did it seem like I wished to debate the Adam-God Theory stuff? I hope not). I really just want to hear where you are coming from as I am trying to figure out how and if Utchdorf's statement relates to priesthood and black members... Does that make sense?

God gave us a choice. Either we participate in the Plan of Salvation, or we don't. Those who do get a chance to return to live with Him again. Those who don't rebelled and will no longer get to be in His presence, for all eternity. They are Satan's angels. There was no third option, no way to choose to just stay with Him and not participate in the Plan of Salvation. I like to think it's kind of like your parents giving you a chore when you were a little child. Either you do it and stay on their good side, (and in the process learn and grow - i.e. learn how to work), or you choose to shirk your duties and suffer the consequences and get sent to your room. There really is no option for "well, I want to avoid doing the chore, and also stay on my parents' good side". What loving parent allows such a 3rd option? A loving parent would not allow such a 3rd option since it allows the child to go without the learning experience that the parent believes absolutely necessary for the child's growth. I imagine if I let my children choose the third option, with no consequences for not doing the things I wish them to do for their own benefit and growth, they wouldn't turn out very well at all. They wouldn't learn the value of hard work and making it in this world on their own. So as you can see, this is my opinion on why God sent us here because he is a loving God.

What do you think he believed then, and how were his words misunderstood?

Brigham Young and the Adam-God theory is exactly what came to my mind when @mordorbund asked about who made mistakes. I'd be curious as to what other believers think about this idea. Did Brigham Young make a mistake when he taught the Adam-God theory? (Or, if you as an LDS believer also believe in the Adam-God theory, did President Kimball make a mistake when he publicly denounced the Adam-God Theory in 1976?) For those of you who don't believe the Adam God Theory, and also think Brigham Young did not make a mistake, can you explain how this is possible? (Did Brigham Young not actually teach it, according to your belief?) I personally think Brigham Young was the right person for the job, chosen by the Lord to lead the church, yet also think that Brigham Young was mistaken to teach the Adam-God theory. Thoughts?

I really think you should end it. There are WAY too many red flags. And it sounds like there will be hard feelings about the church in your relationship; these things will only get worse if you get married.