HiJolly

We don't believe in the Book of Mormon because of its historical authenticity. We believe its text brings us closer to God. And we experience that as we read this second witness for Christ. HiJolly

Me too. A living, tingling, burning fire. What a gift! And simultaneously, I *knew* the Church was true. HiJolly

morcor = Mormon corridor = wide swath of old mormon towns up through (AZ?) Utah, Idaho, etc.

According to "His Needs Her Needs" by Dr. Harley, men's 5 basic emotional needs are 1.) Sexual Fulfillment 2.) Recreational Companionship 3.) Physical Attractiveness 4.) Domestic Support and 5.) Admiration women's needs are: 1.) Affection 2.) Conversation 3.) Honesty and Openness 4.) Financial Support 5.) Family Commitment

Not so last time you said it. Not so still. This idea is false. And please spell sacrament correctly... HiJolly

Welcome!

A week ago Sunday, my neighbor gave a great talk. It was about friendship. She read a quote by Marlin K. Jensen, a General Authority and the Church Historian. He said that Joseph Smith said that the first grand fundamental principle of Mormonism was Friendship. I had read that before in my studies, but LOVED hearing it from the pulpit. There are 3 grand fundamental principles according to Joseph. 1) Friendship 2) Relief and 3) Seeking truth where ever it can be found. Brigham Young said "if we do not seek out truth wherever it may be found, we will not come out true Mormons". Just a thought. :)

I think the problem might be that those who read your KJV references, got the impression that your were Proof-texting. Prooftext - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia That's bad form in internet conversations / dialogue. It's been said before that 'context is everything'. That goes for the scriptures, too. HiJolly

Sent. HJ

Better check your history books on that one... (sorry, I couldn't resist) HiJolly

Amen.

I asked my soon-to-be-father-in-law, yes. HiJolly

...and through obedience, we qualify for the gift of understanding the WHY of it all. Eventually. :-) HiJolly

Well, there is the constant theme of obey the commandments and prosper; disobey and be destroyed/replaced... HJ

All those in the circle need to be currently 'worthy' Melchizedek priesthood holders. The brother (your Dad) who is 'voice' needs to have a note from his bishop that he (your Dad) is worthy to be 'voice'. That's what I've seen in the past. Maybe that's not current? After all there was that Conference talk in the last year or so by Pres. Packer, where an inactive Dad was allowed to ordain his son... ...which was pretty awesome to hear... HiJolly

Just as an aside, LeKook, I really enjoy these posts -- which are indeed weird, but then that's life, from my perspective. Wow. Do you remember it as it happened? Has the spirit helped you to remember it? My earliest big event was when I was 8 years old. And the Spirit had to remind me of the details when I was 20 years old because my foolishness of teenage living had caused me to forget it. I have this theory about NDEs. I believe it is more akin to being caught up into the 3rd heaven, than it is about what it's like to be dead. What do you think? There isn't much. Basically, we know the spirit world is all around us, and we know that some people have gifts (that are almost like curses, sometimes) and we have them for a reason, though sometimes we can't seem to figure out the reason. It cannot be inherently evil, and it cannot be because you are personally evil. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not exactly the same as the Church of Jesus Christ. The Gospel includes all truth, and that is a BIG deal. The Church, on the other hand, contains only a subset of truth, basically that which is specifically designed to bring salvation & exaltation to people, both living and dead. An example of this would be the Gospel Doctrine class in the 3-hour meeting block. Let's say the lesson is on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth, in power & glory. We have, on average, something like 40 minutes to not only cover the topic, but also for comments and sharing of experiences. At that pace, we'd need like 1,000 meetings (probably more) to really cover it. But we don't have the time, so we just do the best we can. If all truth on that topic represents 100% of the info, we only get maybe 5 or 10% in our lifetimes. The remaining 90% or so is gained via personal study; personal revelation. If at all. So grit your teeth & do the best you can with it. Pray not only for understanding (Binah), which is appropriate contextualization and cross-referencing of knowledge (ie, no necessary drive to do anything about it); but especially for wisdom (Chokma), which is the righteous application of knowledge (which requires action on our part). We're all here to learn & do. It's a tough gig! Having the influence of the Holy Ghost is really the best thing we can have to help us through it all. HiJolly

It's hard for me to say for sure what the impact is. Before my endowment I had visionary dreams and strong promptings from the Spirit, as well as the baptism of fire. Also an experience of physical intervention via unseen forces, from a fall that would've been very bad. OTOH, after my endowment I applied the teachings there and found a great many more outpourings of the Spirit, which led me to other things. So it's hard to say. I will say this, though -- I've only had one waking vision, and it was in the temple about 5 years ago. I'd been endowed almost 30 years. HiJolly

Hmm... I think that anyone who takes the great and marvelous teachings of the Bible in only a literalistic (Pshat) level of meaning are cheating themselves of a good education in the Ways of Godliness.

That's right. The Gnostic Bible has a ton of stuff & much, much more that branches out from the Lilith legend. So it's not just Jewish legend. Overall, it's nasty stuff. HiJolly

Welcome to the site, cwald. Hey-o. HiJolly

Exactly. Took me a lot of study to discover this, but you're spot on. Sorry, Jenn. HiJolly

In my family, we've had some of this sort of thing -- and the venerable patriarch is trying so hard to keep the clan together. He posted a few thoughts on standing in holy places and not being swayed or led off the Gospel path by things around us. I posted this: "Standing unmoved in holy places" means this to me: I must honor my covenants. These are not things that are promised to the Church, to my Bishop or whomever. These are between me & God Himself. However, I do allign myself with the family of Christ via the Church. So I do have a responsibility to 'play nice' within the Church. 1) Baptismal promises to God. a) I will always remember Christ. What did He teach; What did He do; How did he treat people. How can I do these things; Can I do them as Christ did them? Is it worth trying to do them? Yes. b) I will strive to understand & keep the commandments given to me via the Church. 2) Priesthood promises to God. a) I will try to serve others, the priesthood helps me focus on how to do that. b) I will try to be empowered in giving blessings and making stewardship decisions by honoring my covenants. c) I will not coerce or manipulate others by virtue of my position in the priesthood. I will show love to all. 3) Temple promises to God. a) My first devotion, responsibility and promise is to obey God. b) I must be willing to sacrifice my own wants and conveniences to do so. c) I must learn and follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as best I can. Essentially, this means, as Beth said, I must love other people. This is loving God. d) I must control my 'natural man' and keep sex limited to what I have promised. e) I need to be willing to give all I have or will have to God and the Church He has restored to the earth. I may not actually be able to do so; I may not actually be *asked* to do so; but I must be willing. I know I need *faith & hope* to try to do all the above. And lastly, I need to remember that in all this, I will fail. That's why the second principle of the Gospel is repentance. I need it. If I don't change & seek improvement in my life, I will *really* fail. HiJolly

Taking gender into account, she'd be Francis Monson. HiJolly

No heavy topics on this thread, Sister. HJ

I wouldn't put it that way, no. I don't understand the question. HiJolly