Jane_Doe

My totally non-scientific assessment: Most LDS Christian Eagle Scouts: really don't care or are relieved for the same reason all other LDS Christian persons are. Majority of non-LDS scouts: really don't care or are relieved. Many of them want to go in a different direction than LDS Christians and see the split as a good thing. Boy Scout leadership is fretting out, as they have major $ problems. But that existed with and without LDS Christian troops.

I'm going to break this down, into the sentiment and words themselves. The sentiment: hopefully everyone in the chapel on Sunday truly knows that this is Christ's Church from the bottom of their hearts. However, every person in that chapel is human, and makes mistakes. There's probably some that do truly know from the depths of their hearts. There's probably some that once did, and still claim it, but honestly have gotten really distracted with rest of life. There's probably some that are deeply searching. And there's probably some that are just coasting. The words: humans are creatures of habit. It's just easier to get up there and say things in a pre-established way, rather than figuring out how to re-invent the wheel again and again. So yeah, there is that tendency to just say "I know the Church is true" rather than re-inventing the wheel to say the same thing. It doesn't mean that the sentiment behind it is shallow -- all sorts of people are going to get up and express those words. Some people are indeed say it from the depth of their heart. Now that being said, I do find many people whom do tell their stories and express that same sentiment with different words.

Honestly we don't know the mechanics behind God's relationship with His children, so there's not much to say. We know that the Son has always existed in some form, and the Father is His Father. Likewise we know that the rest of us have always existed in some form and the Father is our Father. Christ is special.

I'm very glad to hear that. In my experience, he's of a small minority of phamplet-hand-outers.

Howdy!

Hi @drewK, I'm an LDS lady very happily married to a Baptist / non-denominational dude. Our daughter is not yet old enough to 'pick' for herself. We have family all over the religious spectrum. Generally speaking, most people are respectful of each other, and get along. There are a few axe-grinders, but with those individuals we just tend avoid the subject of faith and have an otherwise good relationship. The subject of faith should not be one to destroy relationships. Having said my background, I'm going to say that there's a lot of nuance to your question, and ultimately this is going to be a "consult the Holy Spirit" situation. I heard a great quote today: Moses, Peter, and Nephi all had water obstacles in front of them, and each had a different way from God to cross it. Sometimes answers on how to best do things are unique for each of us. Some thoughts I would have here-- -- Mature persons should be able to have relationships with others despite religious difference and in no way dependent on money being given. Money is a great gift to help, but love should never be conditional based on it. -- I would not consider a person who's honestly preaching Christ: His birth, life, and resurrection to be an enemy-- whether they be an LDS Christian, a Baptist Christian, a Catholic Christian, or whatever. If the message is focused on Christ, and inspiring people to walk in His ways, then that is a Good thing. I will 100% celebrate any person who's never heard of Christ coming to Him, even if it's a to a non-LDS Christian church has is missing some pieces. Celebrate every step a person makes to Him and Truth, even if they're not all the way to perfection yet. -- Spreading hate mail is not Christ-centeric. It's just not. I could never support a person going about other people's worship times to focus on "here's all the reasons' we think you're wrong and you're going to Hell". No. Just no. That is not focusing on Christ, that is not of Christ, and only serves to paint God as an abusive person. Bring people to Him by spreading love and truth, not threats. ...so, @drewK, I can't tell you how to cross this (metaphorical) water obstacle in your path. It's really going to be something you're going to have to pray and consider on your own. And how you cross this water obstacle may be different than how you approached the last one. God is a God whom loves each person individually, and gives us individual instruction. Seek Him.

Hi @bnthome, I'm an LDS Christian lady married a great generic Christian dude. We have a little daughter. Ultimately, all covenants are about a person embracing Christ & His ways: they want to be that upright person, walk in His ways, have the goodness that comes from it. It is first and foremost a matter of heart, with actions following that. My husband is a great person and husband, but he's not yet formally taken on Christ's name and stepped up to that plate. Therefore, today we are not yet sealed. Because we as a couple are not yet sealed, today our little girl is also not yet sealed to us (parents bond has to come first). What tomorrow holds is not yet know to us mortals. But I do have faith that my husband will eventually come to fully embrace Christ, formally take on His name, and formally make covenants with Him. It just hasn't happened yet today. And that "tomorrow" is probably not a literal 24 hours from now. It may not even be during this mortal life. But I do have faith that it will happen, because I have faith in God and the good man I know my husband is. Likewise is the case with every other person on this Earth: they'll all have the opportunity to come to Christ and be formally one with Him/each other. Whether that comes in this life or the next.

Speaking as a lady-- Anonymous flowers are a mind game: leave her guessing "oh who sent these?" and then obligated to stealthily examine each possible co-worker to figure out who's doing things and guessing game. That's a HORRIBLE idea. Just own how you feel and ask her out when it's ok to. Two weeks out you can even say "hey, I like you but I know you don't want to date co-workers. Can we see a movie after our seasonal job is done?". It shows respect to her wishes, and courage on your part.

I'd totally say check out the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and see what you find out. Worse comes to worse, you spend some time getting to know what your friends believe better. Best comes to best, you do find something very meaningful for yourself. In addition to chatting with your friend (great resource), here's a useful website: https://www.comeuntochrist.org

SE WY, about two hours from Baggs.

I live in Wyoming. Today I walked my daughter to school in -12F, minus a nasty windchill (it was -31 windchill overnight). How big of an inconvenience is this? Well, daughter will have inside recess. Me and my coworker (who's wearing shorts) still go on our morning walk, because it's a beautiful sunny day.

In the case of Adam & Eve & procreation: all three apply.

Of the twirling is so common! One of the students I taught would make fart-like noises with his mouth when he was nervous.

One of my past jobs was helping people with their public speaking skills. I've seen a LOT of strange ticks out there, way stranger than what you describe. They're all just facial/sound habits picked up from somewhere and don't really mean anything.

You're not there to be an expert. You're not there to lecture. You're there to encourage discussion as everyone brings the shards of what they know together. Those are the best teachers.

Ok, my encouragement is below. Warning: my encouragement isn't to pretend that life is only rainbows. Thunderstorms happens before the rainbow, and the below does indeed talk about the storm too. This also was something I have been meaning to write for a while. “You promised you’d keep me safe!” my daughter cried, laying on the pavement in tears, her bike tangled in between her 5-year-old legs. I had spent the last 4 months encouraging her riding her “big kid” training-wheels bike -- much to her terror. We had spent many nights with me literally holding her up, and her screaming in fear. After many many encouraging talks, she was finally ok with me letting go and walking beside her. And then she fell down. In the middle of a flat drive way. At a speed of 30 ft a minute. She didn’t even have a scraped knee. But none of that mattered to her as she sobbed “Mommy, you promised you’d keep me safe!” As I helped her up and gave her big calming hugs… amongst all of the “it’s ok” mommy-pats on the back, I was admittedly was a little…well of course she was ok. She was always safe. Yes, the fall was scary, and it stung, but she was ok and safe. I was always right here. And we were going to figure this big kid bike out, and I know that she’ll love it. This was just a little bump in the much bigger picture I could see. My mind then flash back to my last big scare—so keenly feeling the anniversary of my last miscarriage. I had miscarried before, but this was worse, as things went very badly. I remember the ambulance lights, EMTs rushing, the look of fear on their faces as I won’t stop bleeding. The near-death experience was a nightmare came true, and… it terrified me, haunting terrors, and may deep deep scars. I had cried “You promised you’d keep me safe!” many times the months afterwards, writhing in pain and loss. Cried it to my Parents in Heaven. And I had needed many many hugs, from the divine and people on earth. I was still SO scared. Scared what would happen is I wasn’t physically here for my family, including the 5 year old I was currently trying to comfort. Was I safe? Could I keep her safe? And then, from Heaven, came the giant pat on the back for me. Yes, I was safe. Even when things sting horribly, terrify me, and worse thing I can imagine happen. These was all bumps in the much bigger picture He could see. I was safe. She was safe. I am safe. Nellyleyva92, I can't know all the details about the storms you've been through. I can't remotely pretend to know the big picture God sees for you. But I can say that God too, keeps you safe.

Quick thought here; you don't need to go to the same ward as the man that abused you. Please don't-- that is a COMPLETELY valid reason to switch wards. Also: have you considered counseling to help deal with trauma? I know for me it was a huge game changer. Encouragement part coming here in a minute.

Hi Jonah/Rachel! Welcome to the forum. I'm going to touch on a couple of points in a disorganized fashion here-- Jesus Christ alone is the Only Begotten and the Firstborn. Those are both titles, and existed before His mortal birth to Mary. While we all are children of Heavenly Parents, Christ alone has been the Son of God. He always perfectly in the Father's ways, and is His heir. Rest of us are not remotely so-- we're nothing by ourselves. Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother are married and sealed. Another point: LDS Christians believe that Christ has always existed in some form. We don't know the physics behind how a pre-begotton intelligence is different than a begotten spirit. But then again, we also don't know how a physical body comes back to life and how a glorified resurrected body is, and we humans have been studying physical human biology for thousands of years.

(putting a whole bunch of the Word of God aside for this hypothetical) (also putting aside of generic Christian and Jewish tradition on the subject) Honestly, this boils down to a couple of options: 1) They didn't have children because they couldn't. 2) They could have children but choose not to (either deliberately or through procrastination) and disobeyed God's command. I don't find that likely, as such disoriented would re-write a lot of history. 3) They could have children and tried, but were unable to conceive. Which actually comes back to inability. Good doesn't exist without evil. There must always be a choice, less everything and everyone are mindless robots.

Good question. It sure has become a catch phrase though. I do like it though.

This is an apples and oranges question. Adam and Eve's birthing of children was the creation of physical bodies. The process involving everything we're familiar with physical birthing. The Heavenly Father and Mother's was a spiritual creation. We don't know what's all involved here, but it obviously didn't involve the physical things we mortals associate with physical births.

1 Nephi 14:10 isn't referring to the literal pew/church a person sits in. Rather it is a symbolism for those that choose to follow Christ or the Devil-- a man can only serve one master.

Actually, that's YOUR job. You are married and a father. Yes, that means from the moment you wake up till the moment you go to sleep, you are "on the clock". No punting your duties.

We don't know. In fact there's much about the Spirit World we don't know at all. For references, I would cite Pres Oaks talk just this last General conference where he discusses this at length: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/10/17oaks?lang=eng Edit: I see that I should have read the comments before replying to the OP! Oh well, chorus of witnesses it is

Have you looked at the cost of divorce? Cause that isn't cheap either. Junior, you and your wife need a LOT of work on how to be better spouses. Get counseling.