BrendaM

This is tough, I know. Being a single mom with a just baptized daughter, we moved into a new ward. I had just returned to church after being less active for many years. Fast forward, my daughter is now a less active young adult (could it have been the toxic teens in the ward at the time? I think it absolutely contributed to it). Help guide your daughter during this time. Help her choose her friends outside of church wisely. I haven't had HT or VT on and off for the past 12 years. However, I push on. There is no way that a group of people will have influence over me where I will not attend church. My Bishop is a good man. His counselors too. I go each Sunday, I attend social functions (by myself) and try to socialize where I feel I might be included (as opposed to being stared at). I will go and do. Sorry, no helpful answers maybe. But go to church. For you and your family. At least you have each other to buoy yourselves up.

This movie was fantastic! Definitely not a kid movie though.

I think that God does place us here at a specific time. That we each have something specific to do/see/say/complete...at whatever time we are born. We each have a destiny to fufill based on our choices we make, and of course sometimes others choices affect us as well. I look back at the years and find it totally amazing that had I changed one thing I did, I would have missed out on the people I met and places I've been. I sometimes look back and wonder what/where I would be if I had of been obedient from my baptism instead of straying from the path. Sometimes I think, maybe my life would be easier? better? But then, no. Because I have met alot of great people along that path. I wouldn't change things at all.

I believe the policies of the last 4 years have brought us closer to war. And yes.

BTW, how's it going? Any closer to your decision on talking to the missionaries? Asking out of love (not being pushy). :)

Not to worry! Your Bishop will counsel with you in anything you wish to talk about. He will never push you into any calling you are not willing to take. Remember though, the Lord needs you to step out of your comfort zone. To expand your knowledge and spiritual self. And we can only do that by serving; accepting that call and know that the Lord will more than make up for our own inadequecies and shortcomings. Believe me, some of the callings I've had....no way I could have done them on my own!!

Highly unlikely. Quebec has been trying to separate from Canada for years. We're still stuck with them.

Only in Canada would someone suggest this! No doubt she will get her way. I live in the same county and could totally see this happening!!!

Bonneville Salt Flats are pretty cool.

Raymie, don't blame yourself for his adultery and your inability to trust him. It's hard to put your trust in someone who has obviously not only broken your heart, but broken the promises of marriage. Although I would like to say try and forgive, I'm kinda with that other guy (forgot his name) that commented on this one. You don't say how long it was going on, but it sounds like a while. I myself would be hard-pressed to believe that he's no longer seeing a prostitute. If there is no open communication and he's not specifically saying where he's going (because at this point, I believe you need that, in order to even start trusting him again). And he's not coughing up where he's going, or starts saying stuff like "why? don't you trust me?" Yeah, I'd be dumping him too! P.S. Get yourself to a doctor. Just in case.

It's not cheesy at all. I know exactly how you feel! Follow your heart (the Holy Spirit) and you will do the right thing. You may loose a few friends and family members along the way, but your new ward (congregation) family will make up for it. You are allowed into ANY meeting house to worship the Lord. Anyone is. However, the Temple is reserved for worthy (following all commandments) members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In the Temple we learn how to draw closer to the Lord, we receive blessings and make covenants with our Heavenly Father. We do this for ourselves and for those that never had the opportunity to know the gospel. Isn't that fantastic!!! Even if you were born in a time or place where the restored gospel was not taught, you still get a chance. Imagine that Hyena!! Your ancestors are seeing how you feel, how you are striving to find the true gospel and are waiting for you to decide. You will learn all about that step by step...we say, here a little, there a little, precept upon precept. You mention you would want to be a missionary yourself. You certainly can have that opportunity! Again; all that entails striving towards that goal can be explained better by having the missionary discussions. As mentioned, you might want to meet with the missionaries at the meetinghouse. Or if you were to go to a sacrament (mass) meeting and made a friend or two (or 40 LOL) you could meet withth missionaries at their house. Good Luck my friend. Continue to pray and read your scriptures. Do you have a Book of Mormon? Heavenly Father loves you. Your Savior Jesus Christ loves and knows your heart.

I love going to the movies, and go often. But, I have never seen any of the Twilight movies. Just a preference. Now if it was an all Batman, Pirates of Carib I'd go. But with the price of movies and popcorn, I'd have to pass. It's funny you mention this, cause a couple of my friends want me to go see this movie with them. My response "not for a million dollars".

1. I think they are "bad" for your spiritual health as well. I see people at work who are so addicted to coffee & tea, that they can't start their days without it. I follow the W of W because it's a commandment. 2. No revealed doctrine on this. But I for one believe, going to the ballpark and watching a baseball game will definitely be something I will be doing! That's how I answer this question.

Chrissy Keep on truckin baby!! I know how you feel. I have 5 sisters, 2 brothers and 1 young adult daughter. All have chosen to no longer live according to the Lord's Gospel. At this time. Chrissy That's what you have to remember. Pray for your family and love them. Go forward for yourself. The Lord loves you and will help you. You are responsible for your salvation, not your families. I ask my daughter pretty much every week if she would like to join me at church. Every week she says no. So far. I love her so much. But it's her choice. And yeah, there are people at church who ask about my daughter or one of my siblings. I tell them they are fine and leave it at that. Don't give up!!

And just P.S. on that. I still work 2 jobs so that I can pay off my accumulated debt. It's just the way it is. I am grateful that I am still able to work at all.

Paying your tithing is not all about the money. It's a matter of obedience. We cannot pick and choose what commandment we will obey and which we won't or think we can't. We must be obedient to all of the Lord's commanments. I totally understand where you are coming from. I am a single parent who raised my daughter by myself with no help from anyone. I worked 2 jobs and went back to school. Money was tight. I found that paying my tithing was one of the easiest things for me. I don't know why. I struggle more about being consistent in saying my prayers and reading my scriptures. My daughter is now 21 and on her own. Did we go without things. Yes. But "things" being the operative word. I feel and testify that because I paid a full tithe I am blessed now and was blessed then for my being obedient to that law. It was a struggle, but I never felt any time that I should not pay my tithing. Good luck.

Any child would absolutely benefit from an LDS upbringing. But that wasn't really your question, was it? Unless your finace is willing to live the lifestyle required by her Heavenly Father she should not be baptized and make covenants that she may not be able to honor. Consuming alcohol is only one aspect she would have to stop. You state that "we like to do thing such as drinking.." and yet you state you are LDS. Does that mean that you are not living the LDS lifestyle? If this is the case, then my opinion would be perhaps you should get your ducks in a row per se. And see where your example might help your fiance. If she thinks becoming a Mormon will "look good" in the eyes of the law, wrong. The law does not care what religion you are. It wouldn't matter if the father was LDS and the mom wasn't. What matters to the courts is where that child will best be taken care of. I would hope that both you and your fiance would do what's best for the child. And since you are asking, that would be for you both to go talk to your Bishop; honestly and openly. Have the missionaires visit to help you both to come back to the Gospel.

Tek, I think it's very possible for you to be a "respectable" Mormon. We can all move forward without dragging past sins with us! Because of what Christ did for you (and me, phew!) the Atonement allows us to feel good about who we are and where we can go. We can become clean and work towards being the best possible person we can. Without guilt, without regret. Talk about Love! That's why I believe. That, and more. The wonderful thing about the gospel of Jesus Christ, as restored by the prophet Joseph Smith, is that the more you live it, the better you become and the more you learn. Doesn't mean your life will be perfect (far from it sometimes...LOL), but it means that you will know that you are not alone. That there is a Heavenly Father who truly loves you, knows who you are! I agree with what LM said concerning question 3. You can be part of the church without living all of it's principles. We would never deny you participating in our services in the chapel or attending social events. But there is so much more than that. You would deny yourself the joy of being a true disciple of Christ because you want to keep one foot in "the world". If you choose to take the Missionary discussions and be baptized then you must be all that Heavenly Father requires you to be. That doesn't mean you will "magically" stop swearing or perhaps having inappropriate thoughts. But it does mean that you will be able to overcome these things easier, because you will want to. You will want to live a life that will allow you the inspiration that comes from being close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Try it. Pray. Read the Book of Mormon. Let the Spirit inspire and whisper to your heart. You will like it. You will come to love it and want more of that feeling of peace and truth. Above all, truth. Good luck tek.

I my line of work, I see good people making bad decisions all the time. Does it make them a "bad" person, no I don't think so. But I also see people continuing to live a lifestyle of bad decisions. Does that make them a "bad" person, in my opinion, yes. When I say bad, I don't mean someone who is naughty, I mean someone who is pure evil. People who makes choices to hurt, deceive and propogate evil live amongst us. Next door, down the street, a nation away. They are there. Some even try to do "good" so we might be deceived. Just because someone is now in their 2nd estate, does not mean they were valiant in the pre-earth life. All it means, is they did not follow pure evil, at that time.

MattS, I am single as well. Although I do have a child (well she's a young adult now). I have never been married, nor in a loving relationship. Sometimes I feel low concerning this subject, not so much because I'm not married, more because I feel alone sometimes and think that having an eternal companion to share my thoughts and feelings would be so great! I think, though, as a woman, maybe my feelings on this are different? I certainly don't feel that no man will ever want me. Although, now that I am middle aged, I often feel a bit insecure about how I look, as that is what you are "judged" on first. Please keep your head up. Heavenly Father promises that all the blessings of the Temple can be yours; if you choose to live a life that is condusive to receiving those blessings. Unfortunately, you might have to wait till after the 2nd coming. Don't give up hope. I haven't!

I live just north of Toronto (Ontario). I love the city, weather is great, but we do get cold and snow in winter. Can be himid in the summer. The one thing I don't like is there is not many LDS in the area. It's quite disappointing to go to the Temple and never have a full session. Plus as a single...not many (LDS) men to even have dinner with let alone consider as a partner! One of the perks though, is going to Palmyra every year! Love it there! Just being in the Grove and Hill Cumorah is so awesome. Sometimes I go twice a year if I can get the time off work. It's only a 5 hr drive. I vacation every year in Florida and absolutely love it! I have attended several wards and all are friendly.

Depends what you mean by "poor" (in spirit or/and temporal)? I'm guessing you mean temporal, so I'll give "my opinions" based on that. 1. No and No 2. The government (meaning all of us hopefully), have a responsiblity to assist the poor to provide for there basic needs, a hand up, not a hand out. 3. I don't believe all poor are created equal. Yes, assistance should be granted based on economic situation - again a hand up, not a hand out. 4. The purpose of helping the poor is to enable them to help themselves. To help them see themselves as worthy as anyone else. To provide the basic needs a far as food, housing. To assist them in finding gainful employment so that they may provide for their families. The measure of success should be in the inability of people taking advantage of the system just because they are lazy. I don't know how that could be done. The measue of success could also be tax dollars being used better to assist the poor, instead of frivilous spending (or stealing).

What does IMHO mean?

Thank you Leah, for that. The church is full of people who may not be as close to the Lord as they "ought" to be. If we "quit" because of those people, are we really any better? The purpose of the church is to make bad people good and good people better. Doesn't say perfect. Sounds to me like you are not letting the Atonement help you in your own personal quest to become a disciple of Christ. There will always be people who try to take advantage of others, whether it is a church or a community food bank. It's not right, but it happens. Should that affect my relationship with my God? No, it should not. I will go to church, partake of the sacrament and partake of the Spirit that can be in the meetings if I am prepared to partake. I understand your feelings....but truly, ask yourself, are you a disciple of Christ? Then if you are, let go of your "visual" offences and move on.

I don't believe in "soul-mates". I tried to convince myself one time (well, more than once)....that my eternal companion is a stud-muffin king who was born during the dark ages, had a very spiritual side and we will meet up in the millenium. Then I came to my senses!