Jane_Doe

Howdy!

For starters: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! :) As to whether on not a women fasts while pregnant: up to her in and the Lord. She knows how to listen to the spirit and her body. It is also no one else's business whether or not you're fasting. So if you don't feel up to fasting, and you don't want to tell people why, that's ok.

Howdy!

You got it right!

This is a topic that has weighed heavily on my mind for the last couple of years, motivated by the all my non-LDS friends, and Evangelical in-laws. I used to really get irked when people said I wasn't a Christian. It's just irritating when I devote my life to Christ and His teachings to be told "oh, you don't know Jesus". But then... I realized it doesn't matter what other people think, only Christ, and He knows my heart. So today I try to show/tell others I'm a Christian, and if they insist on not listening... well, that's their loss. Through the years, labels have grown to mean very little to me. I don't need someone else to be "Mormon", "Christian", or anything else for me to talk about spirituality with them. I see you as a person, and I want to know you as a person, not a label.

I have had similar experiences. For me, the change was rooted in changing from focusing on "What *I* think you're saying" (looking through my eyes loaded with my biases), to listening to "What are *you* trying to say?" (seeing that you're a child of God and looking through your eyes and what you mean).

30,000 different views of Christ-nature? That would be mind boggling! I didn't mean to imply that at all. Thanks for pointing out the mis-commnuicate, PC. :) When it comes to my personal salvation, I try my hardest to discern the highest truth and live the highest standard. That is the best I can do. As to others, I share what light I can and pray all I can: that is the best I can do. It is a sad reality. In the parable of the 10 virgins: they were all invited to the wedding (i.e., they were all members of the church), but sadly half of them did not truly know Christ.

I love breakfast foods! Yogurt especially. Toast, pancakes, biscuits, cereal, fruits (you already said), oatmeal, and last night's leftovers :).

It is a commandment to take care of your body. By not taking care of your body, then you are going against the Lord's wishes.

I have a couple of thoughts on this--- There is no one "Christian" church. There are over 30,000 different denominations which claim to be Christian and have many differing interpretations of the Bible. With >30,000 interpretation on the nature of God, this can be a bit chaotic. To reduce the chaos, some groups have written and adopted various creeds saying "we believe God is XYZ". To me, the goal of this seems to be a quick way of identifying churches that are more-or-less the same thing you believe. I understand how that can save a person a lot of time. But what then if someone believes the Bible, loves Christ, but does not agree with part of your extra-biblical creed? Do you call that person a "non-Christian"? Speaking my personal opinion: there are many Christian churches that I think are flat-out wrong. There are also many I think are good. And one of course I think is the most true. But as to the people inside, and whether or not a person is getting to Heaven, there are Mormons I don't think will (obviously I don't know for sure). There are also people I think who are getting to Heaven which currently reside in non-LDS Christian church, and non-Christain church. God judges a person on what they know.

Rule of thumb: if you're trying actively to reach someone (phone, text, knocking, etc), then 9 AM - 9 PM is the ok window. If you're just posting something that the person can get to whenever, then post whenever.

Wow, you're guys "little" goals are MUCH bigger than mine! My goal for this week is simply to finish writing the dumb computer program I've been working on. And then my next goal is to clean of my desk....

My husband is very... I can't say "introverted" (cause he's not), but very reclusive. He just doesn't feel the need to go out and be social. He's quite happy to be the stay-at-home-Daddy and hang out with us. It hasn't hurt anything, so I haven't pushed the issue too much. (Other than to make sure he calls his mom once a month....).

On a more serious note.... To avoid contention does *not* mean to avoid disagreeing on things. We can disagree on things, talk about them, and still be filled with charity. I think that such is very Christ-like. I see contention being a completely separate thing from agree/disagreeing about a topic. After all, I've seen plenty of people get in the most bitter angry fights about a topic that both parties completely agree on....

You could even scan it into the computer (faster).

It's not a current manual: this manual was redone ~2013. The quote was from the 1995 version. Manuals update because our understanding of God updates: we have many more glorious things to learn about the kingdom of God.

Contention = when a conversation is no longer governed by love and respect.

Several thoughts on this-- We're never going to de-rail God's plans, through prayer or otherwise. We're also never going to force another person's agency. But I don't think that God's plans are so rigid that He doesn't take our prayer requests into consideration. For example, Alma the Younger was visited by an angel due to the prayers of his father and community.

When I was little, I knew a monster. He was a serial sexual abuser whom, had his crimes been discovered, would have easily qualified for life in prison. He hurt me and people I loved. I didn't understand what was happening, only that things felt bad, and I was told to keep this a secret. So I kept it a secret for over 20 years. And that was a mistake. Abuse hurts: it's a disease which can so easily spread from one person to another. I fought it alone, and sometimes I won, but frequently I lost. I feared others knowing my secret more death. But there was no reason for such fear, other than to let the abuse continue. There was no reason for me to be alone. When I finally let people in to see me as I am, the beauty was amazing. Beauty-- that's what I found inside of me and inside of others. I found strength, I found courage, I found love-- I found my Savior. I know *personally* how powerful the Savior's healing is, how great his mercy and justice are. Such are the foundation of my testimony: it's my light to share with the world. You don't have to be afraid, you don't have to be ashamed. I no longer am.

I think that we all need to recognize the triumphs and challenges people go through. To Christ like: If "Mike" triumphs in an area, then all should people should celebrate with "Mike", including "Steve" who may struggle in that area. By a similar token, triumphant "Mike" should be there for struggling "Steve". Being Christ-like includes rejoicing with those that rejoice, and mourning with those that mourn, no matter what the trails may be.

I'm sorry you had to go through this Lagathaaz. I have a friend who's a convert to the church, and likewise has a poor example of a father. Because of this background, she struggles relating to a "Heavenly Father" as someone whom would remotely care about her (because her earthly dad sure doesn't). I once heard a sermon about this type of thing: "If you look at your earthly father, and try to extrapolate what God is like from that, you're doing it wrong. God is the original Father. All measures of earthly fathers are reflections of Him: of what a father should be (and fall short of)." (I would then extrapolate this to Mother's as well). (I know these are small words from a stranger on the internet who's never been through the things you've been through, and I know that no little words will make your pain better, but I hope that maybe they will help a tiny amount).

Awesome!

I would just call him, or one of the secretaries and ask for the bishop's email. Or-- better yet--- Call the full-time missionaries for that ward and ask for the bishop's email. It's part of the missionaries job to handle ward visitors, you won't be interrupting any one's day (and they'd be thrilled to hear your comments too).

Same things I do when I'm focusing on being close to anyone: think of that person often, reflect on how that person has changed my life in the past, and open up my ears to the what they're saying to me now/future.

I extra-focus on being close to the Savior.