Anddenex

I have always loved Elder Richard G. Scott's words regarding the spirit of the law when he came and visited my mission, "Living the spirit of the law is living the letter of the law in the right spirit." At BYU, we are under contract to have no one of the opposite sex in the appartment after midnight (ha, or was it 11pm), been to long. This was a rule to help prevent young couples in making a mistake. So, couples would leave the house and continue to be by themselves either outside, in car (if it was cold), etc... In this example, the letter of the law was no one of the opposite sex in the apartment. Thus, these couples were living the letter, however by living the spirit of the law, we would recognize the purpose of the law and recognize that being out of the apartment alone, can also lead to trouble. I would agree with Vort, that if your son is having to justify breaking a law, he is probably in the wrong. I would also agree with MarginofError, in the sense that on my mission we weren't supposed to teach single women, and were supposed to allow the sister missionaries know and hand them over, so to speak. It really depended on my area. If sister missionaries were close, then I would easily hand the investigator over to the sister missionaries without teaching them. If the sister missionaries needed to travel, and make separate plans, just to visit a potential investigator discovered through tracting, then I would accept the invitiation to come in, teach the first discussion in less than 10 minutes, try to discern their interest, and if interested my companion and I would hand them over to the sisters. I had one companion who hated this and gave me a real hard time. I didn't care, it was his opinion on the matter. I justified the action, thinking, it would be a horrible waste of the sister missionaries time to say go visit this single lady, who is out of your way, and may not even be there when you get there. In all this, I still felt I was following the counsel provided by Richard G. Scott --- to live the letter of the law in the right spirit. The spirit of the law, however is never an excuse to break the letter of the law. The Spirit of the law, I believe, is a higher obedience. Best.

Yes, in order to reach the conclusion I shared, I have to assume, which was stated in my post. Not sure the debate there, seeing I publicly stated "I assume". It is safe to assume because of the language within the scripture already shared. Mosiah 11: 4, "And all this did he take to support himself...and also his priests, and their wives and their concubines..." If we knew, then there would be no reason to assume anything. The idea that we don't know is where people, like both of us, draw conclusions, or assumptions according to the information shared. It is safe to assume due to the language of the verse. The language doesn't specify "some" of the priests, it mentions their wives, their concubines. Yes, it definitely is easy to generalize as it is definitely easy to accept human nature and the natural men and the desire of the natural men when money, power, women, and politics (the King and his priests) are involved. As pertaining to the idea that I would have to know that "all priests" had wives and concubines, is not the case, I only need to accept that a majority of the priests had wives and concubines. If more than not had wives and concubines, then is it more likely than not that Alma also had the same. I do not need to know that all had wives to draw a conclusion from the provided language within scripture.

No, we don't know if all of them had many wives and concubines, which is why I said it is safe to assume he did as we read the words of the Book of Mormon. Mosiah 11: 4, "And all this did he take to support himself...and also his priests, and their wives and their concubines..." From this verse alone, I would take the stance, myself, the default position is that Alma had many wives and concubines, since he was one of Noah's priests. I would also take the nature, carnal nature of men, who are wicked and idolatrous. In this situation, it is more likely that Alma had many wives and concubines, then he having only one wife or none. I would also specify it is more a "default position" seeing that not only did they have many wives and concubines, but that these wives and concubines were being supported by other people. The carnal nature of men, tells me, if a wicked man could have more than one wife, and many concubines, and that he would not have to support them himself, but that they would be supported by other people. Yes, the carnal men would easily say, "I'm in." Especially, if it also included a position of power. Just look at our American politicians as an example ;D I realize, this is my thoughts, and you disagree. No problem. I appreciate your thoughts. Best Volgadon!

Hello Casey, I am not going to pretend to understand your situation, and the depth of love you have for this beautiful young lady, Melissa. This is definitely a difficult decision you are now faced with, and one that has eternal consequences. One of the most important gospel truths we face in life is defined in the Book of Mormon, "Opposition." Without opposition righteousness could not be brought to pass (2 Nephi 2: 11). My first thoughts, I would assume the gospel was not forced on you, and neither can the gospel be forced on Melissa. I would counsel, if you have come to the point in believing in prayer and fasting, then fast and pray that her heart will be softned, that she would be willing to read the Book of Mormon herself. I would agree with Tyler, let her know how you feel about her, how you feel about the gospel, and one of the greatest principles within the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, is eternal marriage. With such great love, as you have expressed, I would assume this thought would be pleasing to you. Only you would be able to answer, if it would be pleasing to her ears also. On my mission, a gentlemen was converted to the gospel because of this principle. He couldn't see his life without his current wife who was a member. My second thought, the first and great commandment is to Love our God with all our heart, might, and strength. I assume you have received witnessed, which is why you are desiring to be baptized. I assume, this has brought upon you possibly one of the greatest potential hardships of your life. In scripture, we are taught about a young lady, Esther, who married someone not of her faith, a King. As a result of her fasting, and prayer, she was able to spare the lives of many of her people. In scripture we are taught about 4 men, who would not bow to idols, and as a result faced the consequence of death, but the Lord spared them because of their faith. Yet, in scripture, we have examples of equally righteous individuals, but were not spared death. The point, that, no matter our consequence, we need to put God first. Not an easy aspect in the lives we live. My final thought, is remember that with God all things are possible. Love God first, kneel and plead with our God, let him know your hearts desire. Then do your part in expressing to Melissa, your love, your desires, and your hopes. And then remember with God all things are possible. Put God first, believe He knows your heart, and then make the right choices. I wish you the best! I hope that you will choose to follow your witness and be baptized. I pray that Melissa's heart will be softened, and that in the end you two will be married in one of the glorious temples of our God. Best! Andrew

When I first tried this, I was told I didn't have permission. Now it is letting me.

Well spoken uniderth. People need to make sure they are 100% sure before calling a statement blatantly false. I have understood it the same way. Alma was one of the false priests, and we know in record the false priests had many wives and concubines. Alma being one of them, it is safe to assume, he had many wives. And there is no record that he had to divorce them or get rid of them. There is so much history within the Book of Mormon, we know so little about. It would have been nice to have everything, however could you imagine carrying the whole record while on a mission ;D

These are topics which I write in my journal: 1. Spiritual Experiences. It has been said that we would have more miracles written about if the pioneers had written in their journals as counseled. 2. Personal Failures. Spencer W. Kimbal said that we should write about our failures and how we dealt with them. 3. Personal Success. What you have accomplished and how you accomplished it. How you felt about the accomplishment. 4. Baby Blessings. I have been intrigued by the baby blessings I have given, and how each were unique. 5. Service. Have I done any good in the world today? Especially with your own family. 6. Personal Revelation. As Elder Scott mentioned, when we right down what the Lord taught it, it is saying to the Lord that what He taught us was very important. We then are more likely to receive more revelation. On my mission, and since I have been home, one of my favorite experiences is when I receive knew knowledge of a particular topic while I was writing in my journal. A blessing of journal writing. 7. Posterity. Although I do enjoy going back once or twice a year and rereading my journal entrees (My Patriarchal Blessing tells me to look back and to feel good about what I did), however that is not the main reason we write in our journal. Our journals are for our posterity. Remember the words of Jacob 4: 2-5 - That we write in hopes that our children will receive them with thankful hearts. That our children, above else, will know that we had faith and hope in the Lord, Jesus Christ.

I stumbled upon this site through a particular question a friend asked me. Glad I found it.