SomebodySomewhere101

Hey, I'm new to the forums, and thought I'd drop in for a quick hello, and a little bit about myself. I will keep certain information about myself confidential to preserve my identity, but for the most part I will answer any questions that you may have. I'm LDS and was born into it. I haven't always had strong testimony of the church and have worked through some pretty rough things in my life. I'm 20 years of age, so I may not be the wisest person you meet, but if you ask me I am ;P . I hope that I will be able to bring good insights to these forums as well as get some answers and opinions that I seek. Best Regards, -SomebodySomewhere

Adultery is a huge sin. There are only two things in this world that directly effect life and God protects zealously. That is the ability to take life out of this world and to bring life into it. God has foreordained mankind with the rights to create life, but only within the bonds of marriage. Without the bonds of marriage it is the most despicable sin below murder in the sight of God. I have made mistakes regarding chastity in my life, but have worked them out with my bishop and vowed to never return to them. Remember, your bishop is not just there to confess to, but to be a spiritual coach to give you the strength to push through this rough spot in your life and give you the strength to forsake the sin forever. That being said, the bishop is the coach not the player. He will tell you to go do something and then report. To exercise and then turn in your exercise logs essentially as an analogy. It is not his responsibility to set up the meetings or to do these tasks for you. That is left up to you. Your bishop has not forgotten you, in fact, he is probably more concerned than you could imagine. (Again take this from somebody experienced.) He wants nothing more than to help you over come this, but you have to take the action. You need to get a hold of the clerk in your ward and set up an appointment with him (or even recurring appointments, such as an appointment at the same time every other week.) This will help him to help you and your wife. Lastly, this is a hard thing to deal with, but if you turn to the Lord and look to him to make you stronger. Let him bear the weight of the yoke for you, you can make for as the lord said, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:30 KJV) Pray for strength and know that you shall receive what you ask for and are in need of with full faith and it will be given to you. Best of wishes and luck to you and your wive. Forever lean on the Lord. -SomebodySomewhere

Me and my girlfriend have been going out for a while now, and somehow stumbled onto the topic of marriage and the temple. To understand the dilemma first I'm going to give a little bit of background. She has had issues with relationships in her family in the past. She was abused by her birth father, who her mother has since divorced and her step dad has had 2 wives before her mom both of which were temple marriages that were annulled. They have all been sealed together as a family but her dad cheated on her mom. This has caused a lot of resentment towards temple marriage for her. We got onto the topic and she said that she would get sealed in the temple, but would require a civil union for about 3 years first. (An emergency way out of the situation probably caused by the abuse that she saw her mom take as a child.) My background from my parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on is that you should never settle for a civil union. If they won't go to the temple first thing then you should proceed with your life. We got into a large disagreement about it and it ended up with her saying well you can take me as I am or leave me. We haven't spoken in about 5 days now. I love her more than anything except for God and Jesus Christ, and it's tearing me up inside. Could you guys accept a temporary civil marriage, and then get sealed or do you feel that it is a situation that will cause more problems than help? Please help -SomebodySomewhere101