tesuji

Exactly. I was going to suggest writing it out too. Show it to the bishop or someone if you want before hand. Also, listen carefully to other prayers, to learn how people usually do it. As others have said, if you speak from the heart, with sincerity, the Lord will be happy, I believe. He's the only one you need to please. The standard format is: 1. Open with "Our heavently Father..." 2. "We thank the for..." [whatever is appropriate for the occastion] 3. "We ask thee for..." [whatever appropriate] 4. "In the name of thy Son Jesus Christ, amen" The exact wording doesn't matter; these are just examples. I would use the thee and thy as in my example above, to begin these sentences. After that, don't stress, if it's too much to worry about proper use of "thee" and "thy" elsewhere in the prayer. Just say "you" and "your" if you want. If you want to know the grammar of the older English, here are the basics below. Don't worry too much about using this old grammar - many other members don't really know how to use them either. This is just for your info, if you are interested. thou = you, when subject of a sentence ("Thou are great", etc) thee = you, when object of a sentence ("We offer to thee...", "We thank thee...", etc) thy, thine = your ye = you all (more than one person) With other verbs, usually add -st or -est. Such as "thou wouldest" The thee, thou, thy is actually what is known as "familiar" address. Like some modern languages such as French and Spanish, older English at one time had two forms of addressing someone, two ways of saying "you." The "thou" form was what you used when talking to your friends or spouse. The "you" that we all use now for everything was originally the more formal way, when talking to your boss or someone you didn't know. So if you decide to use it, the "Mormon prayer language" method of using "thou" and "thee" actually mean we are talking to God as a close friend or family member, which I think is kind of cool. http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/3329/difference-between-thee-and-thou But seriously don't worry about this old grammar for the prayer language. What matters is that you are sincere.

I so agree. I think you've identified the cause. Pride seems to be the reason. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/04/beware-of-pride I've always thought of the story about crabs in a bucket - none can escape, because when one starts to climb out, the others pull it down. (I'm not sure if crabs actually do this.) I remember hearing a speaker give counsel to a seminary student who was scorned for his/her efforts to always do what's right: Ignore them, they did the same thing to Jesus. He was so good, they couldn't stand him. One of the main reasons to qualify for the celestial kingdom is that you will be with celestial people.

I really agree with this approach. I myself have waited to read stuff about church history until I felt like I was ready to process it. The important thing is not to freak out when you read something negative about the church. Remember the witness you have received by the Holy Spirit that this is God's church. Then suspend judgement until you've learned enough about the facts, and also read the explanation from the church and faithful Mormons. I say read and learn all you can. But some things are more important than others to understand first. Also, some things you can study are just not true. Fawn Brodie's bio of Joseph Smith The world loves this book because it shows them the prophet they want - a false prophet who can be dismissed. I read part of Brodie's book and was deeply offended at the unfounded attacks on Joseph. I found it to be a caricature and distortion of who I believe Joseph was. The Joseph in Brodie's book bears little resemblance to the Joseph I see in his own writings, including the Doctrine and Covenants. If Joseph was the charlatan Brodie says he was, the good early Mormon converts would not have followed him and believed he was a prophet. The church would not have kept growing in the 20 odd years during the time when Joseph was called to lead the church. The knew him personally and lived with him for years, unlike Brodie. Brodie is a very good writer. Her language is beautiful and reads like literature. But she was also an apostate, and I don't trust her to explain to me about the first modern prophet of God. She also does not tell you where she got a lot of what's in the book, or how she came up with knowing what was going on in Joseph's head. Read the book if you want, but if you're like me you will be angry at the ungrateful, unfair smear job of the person who the scriptures say has done more for our salvation than anyone but Christ himself. Joseph was an imperfect man, but he was also an amazing person and a great prophet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawn_M._Brodie Law of consecration Here's a great explanation: https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-and-church-history-gospel-doctrine-teachers-manual/lesson-14-the-law-of-consecration?lang=eng The early saints under Joseph Smith tried to live this as an organized group. Enough of them couldn't live up to it, so it was discontinued as an official church policy. However, we expect that in the future, maybe not until Christ returns, we will give it another go and not fail this time. But, in a very real sense, we members should still be living it individually - to consecrate our energy, time, money, etc. to building up God's kingdom. This includes fulfilling our roles to provide for our families, raise and nurture our children, do missionary work, serve in the community, etc. Basically, to spend our time doing what God wants us to do.

From the scriptures you've quoted so far, I don't see anything that indicates to me that our world is virtual. However, to your other point -- I certainly think we (and I) don't know as much as we think we do. We must be like infants compared to God. Part of the problem is I think that just to function, our brains have to construct a worldview, to make sense of what we see around us. This initial worldview is created when we're children, so it's going to be lacking. Careful attention, education and the Holy Spirit are needed to improve this worldview as we get older. We also all get only limited input, a small subset of reality, to inform our worldviews. The current social media political echo chambers are a great example. Facebook only shows stuff that it knows you already like and believe. But also necessarily, because I occupy only one point in space, I don't see what's going on in most of the cosmos. Also, our senses are limited. We only see a narrow range of the EM spectrum, for example. Who knows what's going on around us that we can't even see, just because it's not at the right EM frequency? What is reality? Will we ever see a "real" reality, or will we just keep constructing over more acccurate mental models of it? I imagine God sees "real" reality, but who knows. One of the things that's fascinating about Mormonism is that we believe in the supernatural. I don't mean ghosts, ESP, and such, not necessarily. What I mean is that we believe there is a wider, hidden reality. That there is a world beyond, above this natural one ("nature" - the material world, especially as surrounding humankind and existing independently of human activities.) Spirit is just another type of matter, but more refined that we can't see. God and angels travel somehow through the universe, apparently faster than the speed of light. Time is a thing only for this mortal life. The Light of Christ emanates from God and somehow through this medium he sees, communicates with, and controls all his creation. Hyrum Andrus says God inhabits the universe like a hand in a glove, not physically, but his mind, awareness, and control are present everywhere. This is all mind blowing stuff, way beyond what our current physicists and psychologists understand.

It doesn't hurt to tell you Mormon bishop your interest. He might even let you help before you're baptized.

Congratulations on getting this far. I was born a Mormon, but I imagine it must be a major decision to join the church. First, I would say keep in remembrance what you have felt from the Holy Ghost. I assume you have felt that in your discussions with missionaries, in church meetings, etc. If not, then seek to have that experience. When you feel that, you know it's true. It might be necessary to just take the leap of faith at this point, trusting in God and the witness you've had from the Spirit that it's true. Regarding tithing, I'm not sure I completely understand the situation with a single-member family. But it sounds like, regardless, you are feeling like you should pay tithing. One thing that might help is not focus on the amount, but that it's only 10% of your income. Personally, I love paying tithing. It's proof to myself that I trust the Lord, that I love him more than money. It's a way of showing gratitude for the other 90% he has blessed me with. I enjoy too the knowledge that it's going to help build up God's kingdom and help other people. Regarding your previous church, I love the following quote by the prophet Gordon Hinckley: If you think of Mormonism as adding more to supplement what truths you have learned in the past, perhaps that will help. Also, I don't know if I'm off base, but I don't know why you couldn't visit your old church when you wanted to, if you miss the experience. It might help to go "cold turkey" at first, until you adjust to being your new Mormon church. Also, I am going to assume that once you feel at home in the Mormon church, you will see a lot of new and good things there, and not miss your old faith so much. I hope my thoughts might help. Best wishes, and God bless you.

I ran across the following article recently. I agree with it, for the talks I've heard. I still need to listen to a couple on the list. 10 of the most indispensable LDS talks ever given http://utahvalley360.com/2014/05/27/10-great-pre-2004-general-conference-talks/ My all-time favorite, most-valuable-talk-to-me is "Beware of Pride" by Pres. Benson. What are your favorite talks?

I need your scripture quotes!! Fascinating topic

I'm thinking Eoweyn would choose to live in the family friendly suburbs. And she has all of the rest of conservative Texas surrounding her

I've heard it's hard for Americans to find a job in European countries like Germany. True? Also that you need a degree specifically in your field. And that German companies tend to be rigidly hierarchical. True?

The other thing about Portland is that I don't think it's very affordable. I haven't been there for many years though. I went to high school in the suburb of Beaverton and really liked it then.

LOL. There was actually a skit about this on the show Portlandia, in the first season

Certainly. You probably already know that we study the teachings of these prophets in Sunday School every year, and the current leaders quote from them all the time in general conference. However, if there's a question, then the current prophet and apostles are obviously the ones currently leading the church, by current revelation.

Certainly. You probably already know that we study the teachings of these prophets in Sunday School every year, and the current leaders quote from them all the time in general conference. However, if there's a question, then the current prophet and apostles are obviously the ones currently leading the church, by current revelation.

Unfair. Just because people believe in following a true prophet doesn't mean they are close minded. Mormonism is about asking questions and embracing all truth, wherever it's found.

Unfair. Just because people believe in following a true prophet doesn't mean they are close minded. Mormonism is about asking questions and embracing all truth, wherever it's found.

I don't know you enough to say whether I like you. But I daresay you are very welcome here if you follow the site rules. Feel free to ignore some people if you want.

Boise comes up in those best places lists too, but maybe it's too small All the places I have listing are smaller cities that have a lot of tech jobs. But yeah telecommuting would let you live anywhere. Flexjjobs.com looked like maybe a decent place to find remote jobs

Liberals, overcrowding - sounds like the formula for a light rail mass transit system. I wonder if they're talking about it? Not too many hipsters in suburbs like Round Rock I assume?

Austin comes to mind. I haven't lived there but I've looked into it. The city itself is liberal, but the suburbs are not Raleigh-Durham area is also small but with lots of tech jobs also Denver I would go on dice.com and search for your main skill, and see what cities come up on the left column

It's hard to answer this question, there are so many criteria to consider, and everyone's criteria are different. Politics is so annoying and polarized these days I think it would annoy me to be in most places. The liberal places are too liberal, the conservative places are too conservative, and the middle places are "battleground" states. I personally love California, except that 40 million people thought of it first. The NW is beautiful. New England, also beautiful and lots of interesting things within driving distance. Denver has a relatively mild climate, lots of jobs, but it's in a brown prairie with no ocean near by. Texas always seems to have lots of jobs (due to oil I assume). Wash DC has tons of jobs but "regular" people have to live an hour away to afford it. Etc. I've seen a lot of places and researched tons more. If you tell me your criteria I could maybe give you some ideas. What industry are you in, for example? Forbes and other sites regularly have "best places to live" rankings, but you have to agree with their criteria, if it's going to fit you. Here's an example: http://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings-best-places-to-live

This is the key point. Joseph was the head of the church, "serving at the pleasure" of the Lord. The Lord says in the D&C that if Joseph doesn't obey God in his role as prophet and head of the church, he will be removed from that role. This is different from you and me, and our general obedience to the commandments. I doubt the Lord is going to send me a threatening angel if I don't pay my tithing, for example. I have always liked the angel with the sword story, because it shows that Joseph did not want do to polygamy. Unlike how his enemies portrayed him, he didn't come up with the idea out of lustful, etc desires. It was a huge trial for him - his life with Emma was hell because of it. But he obeyed anyway. A great example for us.

My bishop congratulated me for reading it