McLainDow

Hello and welcome to the forum. I myself am I convert. My wife and I joined the church 4 1/2 years ago. I hope you find this forum friendly and helpful.

Temple clothing can and is seen by non members (funerals) all the time. There is no issue with having it altered. If you are still concerned ask someone in your ward if they can alter it. Most of all congratulations and some unsolicited advice. When in the temple taking out your endowment, Pay more attention to how you feel rather then what is going on. You have have your whole life to ponder the significance of what happens during the ceremony but, how you feel will be so important to you going forward.

I'm glad your seeing your hard work pay off.

Sounds like one of the things ignorant people say to make themselves sound smart. Unfortunately there are people like this everywhere. Even in the Lords restored church.

My feeling on this is we are given the trial that will provide with the most growth and also that will hurt us the most. My wife and I have had our share of trials One night she looked at me with tears streaming down her face and said "Why do I deal with (Fill in the blank) why cant I have (fill in the blank) for a trial instead. I have thought about this many times and have faith that the trail I have and the pain I fell are the growth opportunities I need personally to get through my second estate learning and becoming what I came here to learn and become. No one else's trials would do that for me personally but, this also means they cause the most pain for me personally.

I feel my role is not to tell anyone they are wrong but to try to be a conduit for Christ's love. If people ask what my beliefs are I tell them. If they don't I just try to be their friend. I suppose this is a different way to look at "Preaching the gospel" but, it seems to work from my experience.

Know that we don't understand a lot of things now but they will be revealed once the veil is lifted. Also there is a podcast called "Mormon mental health" and they have two part episode on miscarriage. Remember that regardless of any comfort you may receive that you still will go through a grieving process and It takes time to do that

I don't think it is wrong to ask for help if you need it. Part of self reliance is knowing when to ask for help. Also we make covenants in the temple to use our talents to build up the kingdom of God. I know I have prayed for opportunities to use my talents to bless others. Maybe this doctor does the same?

Remember when your dad used to say "When I was your age"...............................

Welcome back to church and welcome to this forum.

Talk about self abuse..............

I really enjoyed your post. A prophet is not a prophet every time he speaks. It is up to us a individual member to worthy to recieve inspiration and pray about what the prophet or past prophets say/said. In this church we are asked to find out for ourselves. If we follow this pattern the Lord will guide us.

I live in NC as well, and your right. It is beautiful.

Hugh Nibley, Terryl Givens, Buschman, also though he hasn't written much Grant Hardy edited an edition of the Book Mormon in it's original format(in paragraphs rather then verses) and a gudie to the Book of Mormon that the parts I have read are well thought.

Let me start by saying I am sorry you are going through the ringer at this time. It is unfortunate that you are suffering and have little compassion from those around you. Your family will realize what they are doing is wrong. Sometimes we do not know what to say to those who have terminal diseases. To me though this is not an excuse for ignoring loved ones who are suffering. and if you feel unable to pray for them at the moment I will for you. Everyone deals with sickness differently and do not feel bad for feeling "Needy". It's alright to speak up and continue speaking up. Talk to your stake president again. If he does not handle it go up the chain. This is one of the few situations where I think I would advise you to complain until you get relief. Please try to excuse people when they might crass, or rude, or not sympathetic when responding to you. They are human and some people have a hard time relating to others and being empathetic. They are sick just like you but, in a different way. I truly hope you find some relief. If not physical maybe spiritual. Remember it is alright to feel angry and/or hurt. Remember Christ loves you.

I heard Terryl Givens say something very interesting about the people who chose to side with Lucifer. He talked about how maybe they couldn't sign up to go to a place with so much suffering and injustice. Id say that is an intelligent (though not one that I agree with) reason to side with Lucifer's plan.

I would love to learn Greek so I could read the NT in Greek. It adds so much richness to many passages. I once heard heard a lesson on the exchange between Peter and and the savior in John 21 that gives a totally different perspective on it and the person giving the lesson used the Greek NT. . A friend in my ward knows Greek and he said once it would have been interesting if Joseph Smith had been Greek and had translated from the plates directly to Greek. Guess I have a new thing to add to my bucket list.

I for one think it was wrong that Joseph Smith slept with women other them Emma but, My feeling is that it does not mean he was not a prophet. He was human. Many prophets in the old testament had character flaws but, through God did great things The only item from this part of church history that has caused me any cognitive dissonance is the polyandry that went on. There is no example of polyandry in the old testament so, this was not a part of the restoration of all things, but I can to peace with it by chalking it up to the prophet being human,

The savior said things in a gentle way in almost all cases, did not use sarcasm, biting comments and always took the listeners feelings into consideration when delivering his messages. People on message boards tend not to do that a lot of times.

The strangest point to me on the subject of Mormon culture is their obsession with green jello. I have never had trouble with the photo copiers.

First, I think your friend might want to see a therapist. This may help her put things in perspective and help her to understand that her son wanting his own life does not mean his is abandoning her. Also, I do believe that the YSA program is inspired. around the world people are getting married later in life and are choosing to have less or in many cases no children. This is in opposition to Heavenly Father's plan for us and the YSA program helps to bring single men and women together.

It has been fairly easy for me to come to terms with Joseph Smith's polygamy, The Lord says he will choose the weak ones in the world to bring about his purposes. Joseph Smith did some things that I strongly disagree with but, does that mean that the gospel was not restored to the earth through him?

Some of the answers to our questions will not be revealed to us during our second estate. It is easy to say someone deserves what they get but, the more rewarding path is to feel empathy and try to ease their suffering if we have the opportunity.

My parents are not catholic but, are not members of this church. What I have done is just explain things as they came up. They have been very supportive. Ask if your mother has any questions and do your best to answer them correctly. If you cant answer them yourself research the answer.

Counseling sounds like a great idea. Maybe suggest to your therapist having your sweet heart come to a few sessions to learn more about how you think and feel. I have a wife who deals with depression and Have done the above and it helped me to understand and to help her when she is depressed.