Jane_Doe

Pay off my house, have a nice found for my daughter to earn for college... and just be really happy to not have to worry about money. That sense of security is huge. So if something happens to us, or a dear loved one, we can be there.

Like all other venues, sincerity and respecting people really matter on the virtual venue too. For recent years, there's been a trend (at least in the USA) that it's easier to talk super private things online, where you have the anonymous and option to leave completely at any point. So a lot of people are actually more comfortable talking faith online rather than having a physical person in their house. COVID has completely ramped that up to the extreme. You can have really good ones: like there's a missionary who serves in my ward whom I've never met who's very active poster, putting out really high quality spiritual and slice-of-life stuff. He posts on his personal page and also the ward page, and I see a lot of it that way and through my ward friends "liking" things. And then you have the lame spammers too.

Agreed.

The site always slows down over summer time when families are home. And the last 6 months have been the most intense long summer in existence...

There's no need for anyone to be abrasive @Earl LDS Christians obviously have different views on things than Baptists Christians, which both differ from Orthodox Christians, etc. Yes, everyone believes their beliefs are the most correct. And we can all treat each other with respect.

This is a different sort of take of after life views. I do thank you for sharing, even though it's not the LDS Christian one.

Hi @marge, great to see you again? How has the crazy year been treating you? LDS Christians believe that the timing of children is something to be prayerfully considered between a husband and wife. There's nothing inherently sinful about condoms, birth control pills, medicines to help conceive, pre-menopause medicines, etc. Children are indeed a blessing from the Lord, but we should also be good stewards of our households. I myself have been recently involved with doctors investigating why hubby and I haven't been able to conceive. Things LDS Christians do passionately disagree with: elective abortion. If a child is for some reason not welcomed to that family, it is HIGHLY encouraged to pursue adoption. Cases of rape or medical endangerment: these are nightmare circumstances that nobody wants to be in. In such cases, a person is highly encourage to seek the best medical advice and prayer possible, both for their decision and general well being. It's also an important time for friends/family/church family to be there to support each other.

I also don’t think “being one” means we have to all think the same or agree. Yes, there are disagreements, and they are so apparent on places like social media and nerves are raw. But I am heartened when a ward member is moving out, and two dozen people come to haul the grand piano down the stairs. I am heartened by all of the “new normal” activities we throw together. How my new ministering sister and I chat about Wednesday Morning Craft Time with the local library (done via zoom). How I while together with my large ward family, how precious the relationship with that one family we do get together is. How people are so aware the value of connection and that everyone has diverse needs.

It's super important to take things in context. The take missionaries or a normal LDS Christian person will explain things to you is in context, and while there are differences, both camps (Catholic and LDS Christian) do have understandable logic behind it (even speculations about the Father's history). On the other hand, grabbing a quote off of a manual is always removing it from the context, so its very easy for anything to look weird that way. Sadly, both anti-Catholic and anti-Mormons make such removal of context and spinning their bread and butter. For me, I find on the the marks of a true Christian (whether that be a Catholic or LDS one) is that willingness to study deep, ask real questions with real open ears, real engagement with people/ideas, and coming to real understanding with real respect.

Catholic traditions/Tradition teach of some people being created / some not, and a whole bunch of different species* (God, humans, various angel classes, etc). Besides God, all other persons had a time where they did not exist and then when they did. Also in Catholic tradition, some persons have the right to choose, and some do not. LDS beliefs are different. A person is a person, no different species*. All existed before this world was made, and before any recording of time (there's no time they didn't exist). All have the right to choose. It's actually super simple. @Jonah, if you want to engage in conversation here, that's always welcome. *"Species" = is a poor fitting word here, but it's the best I have.

My sister also started up an Etsy thing too- it’s been a good way to supplement employment. We also have enjoyed it with having so many personalized options. Im not sure what you mean by “pocket”. Amen!

I’m actually amazed the difference the fit of a mask makes. I personally perfer a custom homemade cloth one to best fit my face. Having the nose point / wire really helps the fit and prevents my glasses from fogging up. And having a cool fabric design also makes things bit nicer.

The supermajority getting it, and the survivors then having resistance to greatly slow any future spread is what's known as "herd immunity". Which will eventually & naturally make things less spikey, and fewer infections/deaths. There's plenty of diseases that have gone this way through history. The way a vaccine alters this: (running with the fairyland example of a perfectly effective vaccine that everybody can take tomorrow) is that makes group #4: people whom don't ever get the disease and can't or spread it, keeping themselves and the population at large much safer. In this fairyland where everyone could/would take this 100% effective medicine tomorrow, it could accelerate opening and get everything back to the old normal. Obviously fairyland doesn't really exist. Any vaccine is a looooonnnnng way out for development, testing, approval, mass manufacturing, distributing, get people on board, etc. And it will also likely be messy with flawed protection and possible side effects. So even getting a vaccine to people will be a phased approach. All in all: we're stuck with the new normal for 2020 and 2021.

Thanks for the book recommendation! Unfortunately I don't get much reading time in, but is always good to have recommendations nonetheless. Any particular stories you would like to share? Scripture, history, and just personal watching all show that while striving to follow God is the goal of the Church of God, there's rough spots along the way. Individuals whom don't care to follow God at all, individuals whom think that their incorrect way is following God, individuals whom get caught up in traditions (good and bad), events which will cause drama (good or bad), etc. BYU is no different in that regard.

1) Christ was always the chosen Son of God. There was no “before” then. 2) A person could easily assume as much 3) I echo estradling75 ‘S well worded answer

Yes. In my parent's state you are required to wear masks every time you're not inside a private residence. And there's a big push to make this a national requirement.

I'm not a fan of blanket you-must-wear-a-mask-everywhere-ordinances, because that's NOT using my agency to protect people. There are times that wearing a mask doesn't help anyone, and instead just makes things super hot and limits communication. Trying to enforce something that doesn't make sense is picking the wrong battle.

Speaking for myself: I do want to help my fellow man. And that includes using my agency and judgement on how to best do so. I work from home to reduce contact. I wash my hands many many times a day to reduce spread. Me wearing a mask in the privacy of my backyard isn't protecting anyone. Me going out to a park where I'm always 10 ft away from people is part of my love for fellow man, but me wearing a mask isn't going to make anyone safer there. I want to help myself and other be safe and use my God-gifted agency to do so.

The disagreement with masks isn't: - Disagreeing with your right to wear a mask wherever you want. That's obviously your right. - Disagreeing with your right to request that people on your property/business wear a mask wherever you want. That's obviously your right. There is disagreement on: -Whether you can dictate that I wear a mask in the privacy of my own backyard. Or at a park. Or other communal places where my say matters too. - And how do we best treat each other with respect, even when views on this topic vary.

Here in Wyoming there's a philosophy of "let local people make the rules". A few towns have enacted mask mandates because it makes sense there (like Jackson Hole where you have tons of tourists packed into a tiny valley). Most towns it just doesn't make sense (we're naturally distanced, small head counts, infection rates are really low). It's totally respected that you choose to wear a mask, or ask people to wear a mask on your property (including your business), but no Big Brother is going to force you to wear a mask everywhere. This week, Walmart announced that they were going to mandate mask wearing as part of their national (international?) policy. And people completely swarmed the stores before they were forced to wear a mask -- I haven't seen the aisles so packed, shelves so empty, or tensions so high since this whole thing started. The resentment of the rule is very real, and people are deferring to other stores instead. I myself... admittedly I'm irrationally resentful of it. Yes, I'll do it because you asked, but I really don't like it. Which is strange because when I visited Denver and had to wear a mask absolutely everywhere (those are the rules there) I was totally fine with it. But here where I'm usually the only person in the grocery aisle ... it amazed me how resentful I was of it this weekend.

What type of thing are you looking for?

I agree with this.

Honestly, my first instinct is that you only need 3 people + yourself for baptism, so just pick 3 friends who've seen you fall on your face so many times another time won't remotely matter (--written by a klutz). And if things take an hour because you can't stop sticking your foot out of the water, or just need the time for breathing space, that's ok. Your friends love you. Let them be there and support you. Even through irrational fears of a ceremony or looking dumb -- let them be by you. On slightly different note: Christ is/will be with you. He does not fail.

Hi @romans8, a little background actually resolves your question. The OP, Askandanswer, is teaching the men's Sunday School class and asking for input on his lesson plan. This men's class is known as "Priesthood class", but you don't have to be a priest to attend (heck, you don't even need to be Christian, all are welcome to come and learn). There's also a women's Sunday School class, joint-gender Sunday School classes, kid-specific Sunday School classes, etc. All cover the topic of service and do so regularly (very very frequently). All people can and should serve God and their fellow men. One of my favorite Book of Mormon quotes is "When you are in your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17). Besides individuals helping out where they can, there's also organized events of people helping out. Serving others is a big deal and a big part of being a disciple of Christ in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

In addition to audio books, some other ideas: -The new videos are good and for me really help visualize things and make the later study easier. - Rather than a read-this-chapter-than-the-next approach, do a topical study. Say "I want to learn about ____" and hunt down specific information about that topic, including specific relevant verses but also other quotes, experiences, and thoughts.