askandanswer

Thanks Pam, I think I'll grab a set when they come out.

I would certainly be prepared to travel for a worthy opponent.

Moose is what is likely to happen if we did duel with approved weapons, as in Sunday, once she had found the trigger, would then pull, push, squeeze, or whatever it is that one does with triggers, and having fired the gun in my general direction, its likely that, rather than hitting me, she would "moose" and I would emerge unscathed.

Hmm, first you propose a duel and then you avoid it by proposing that a moose takes your place. How very Canadian. Well if you can have a moose to take your place, I can have a boxing kangaroo take my place and we can duel by proxy. And for Zil's sake, its commentated by someone who sounds like a Russian

Thanks for the update alilc, I had been wondering how things were going. I'm suggesting a different approach. If you say goodbye at this point and let things go, it's likely that you will have to live with uncertainty and maybe some doubt for a long time. It might end up being a long long time before you finally find out why things are happening the way they are so far, and perhaps you might never find out. I think that in cases like this, certainty is better than uncertainty, and the only way to get that certainty is to talk with him, rather than trying to make guesses based only on the fact that he hasn't replied to your instagram message. So I suggest that before making any decision about the future of the relationship, that you talk with him directly. Use your phone or skype, or facetime or whatever, but I really think you need to talk with him directly rather than making guesses and assumptions. If it looks like is is over, you want to be able to walk away knowing that you did more than just send him an instagram message. And if it does end, well you'll soon be moving back to Utah and that will bring a whole bunch of opportunities to meet new people.

Maybe the angels and gods are something like an honour god, standing along the path that leads to the pearly gates to honour and welcome those who have qualified for the highest degree of glory?

No need - the posts are having the same effect.

Some of the sentiments expressed in the Seattle Times are not too different from those expressed in a program on Australia's government funded Radio National, which expressed concern about the "unfair advantage" that some kids get as a result of their parents reading bedtime stories to them each night. Apparently this practice helps such children in ways that are not available to kids whose parents don't read to them, so it is therefore considered unfair. A few extracts from the program: I don’t think parents reading their children bedtime stories should constantly have in their minds the way that they are unfairly disadvantaging other people’s children, but I think they should have that thought occasionally. According to Swift, from a purely instrumental position the answer is straightforward. ‘One way philosophers might think about solving the social justice problem would be by simply abolishing the family. If the family is this source of unfairness in society then it looks plausible to think that if we abolished the family there would be a more level playing field.’ A transcript of the program is available here http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/new-family-values/6437058

Challenge accepted bang! I win Sorry Sunday, you're too slow

Are you trying to pretend that you went to one of those colleges where you had to pay? Sort of like the kind where Sunday pretends to "teach" at?

I think that comments like the above down play the remarkable ability of the human spirit to adapt to whatever circumstances it may find itself in. Even the most miserable and uncomfortable of circumstances can be adapted to after a while, often to the point that the uncomfortableness is no longer even noticed, and is eventually accepted as being part of our ordinary, normal circumstances.

it is verses like this that led me to ask the question below about Alma 41:4

Hi Rob I stopped following this discussion a page or two back, and I don't agree with a lot of what you are saying, but I found a scripture that I believe that you might think supports your position: D&C 101:12 And in that day all who are found upon the watch-tower, or in other words, all mine Israel, shall be saved.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/the-lord-jesus-christ-teaches-us-to-pray?lang=eng] So a moment of prayer is a very, very sacred moment. He is not one to say, “No, I will not listen to you now because you only come to me when you are in trouble.” Only men do that. He is not one to say, “Oh, you cannot imagine how busy I am now.” Only men say that. Elder Juan A Uceda, Saturday morning session, October 2016 General Conference Mosiah 21:15 And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage. Doctrine and Covenants 101:7 They were slow to hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; therefore, the Lord their God is slow to hearken unto their prayers, to answer them in the day of their trouble. Does anyone else see an apparent inconsistency between, on the one hand, Elder Uceda’s teaching that God is not one to delay responding to a prayer because of some fault with the person praying, and on the other hand, the two verses above, which seem to suggest that the Lord is slow to hear a person’s prayer because of some fault with the person?

I hope its not too inappropriate to introduce a moment of levity in a post on such a sensitive topic: @anatess2 you wrote this yesterday. Has there been any news since you woke up this morning?

Doctor Lemon has said everything that needs to be said. I was going to quote John 8: 1-11 but there is no need to add anything further to what Doctor Lemon has said.

@Vort for a man as erudite as yourself its always a little surprising when you make a spelling mistake. This - JAG - is not how you spell my name.

I'm wondering how many American children have died because of inadequate or no access to socialised medical care. I suspect its many many more than the number of UK children who have died as a result of poor administration of their system of socialised medical care. Three weeks ago, in the annual budget, our Treasurer lifted the rate of everyones contribution to the national medicare scheme from 2% of a person's annual income to 2.5%, to pay for an incredibly expensive, but well liked scheme called the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The Labour Party are promising to reject the Treasurer's scheme by saying that the extra .point 5% should only apply to those earning more than $87,000 but the Australian public has accepted the increase with hardly a comment or complaint because they support the scheme.

Sounds culturally inappropriate to me

I think you've answered your own question. The great thing about Texas (and maybe Texans) is that they're a world away.

Doctrine and Covenants 58:43 By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them. Guys, I think its great that you're now both at the point where you've willingly confessed that you live in Texas, this is really good progress. I don't think this is something you need to be too ashamed about (at least, not all the time) and I, for one, am willing to forgive you. Now you just need to work a little on the forsaking part, starting by looking for somewhere else to live.

In broad terms, I'm inclined to agree. The idea that all things derive their force from faith, to me, seems to have some resonance with Doctrine and Covenants 29:34 - Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created. I mention this scripture because it seems to reinforce the idea that all things belong to, or are derived from God, and it is only man that says things like this law over here is man's law, and this law over here is God's. I'm interested in exploring the possibility that it might be possible to increase our understanding of the physics, or the mechanics, and the mechanisms or processes by which faith is able to bring about changes in things. We can understand and explain how the application of, for example, hydraulic force brings about changes in the movement of an object. I'm hoping we might be able to move towards some understanding of how faith, or priesthood, brings about changes in things, whether it be an axe floating in water, or a person being healed.

Just a few not very carefully thought out thoughts: Make your own decisions about how you will live your life rather than having your life determined by someone else's decisions. While you are still single don't let your life be determined too much by someone else's decisions, eg, his decision about whether he will call or not. I think the fact that he was writing you super flirty letters while he was on a mission would normally be a red flag, but because he stopped doing it after a while, then perhaps it is a yellow, not red, flag. Nothing is real until you meet. Not even phone calls or video chats. If you do meet the most important thing to watch for is how he treats his mother. With you moving back to the States, and him finishing his mission, and then moving to Idaho, you are both going through some fairly significant changes, and will both need time to adjust, so perhaps you should both just take that time and take it slow. However, there is some risk that if you are too slow, somebody else might be a bit faster. On the other hand, my guess is that no other girl wrote to him every week while he was on his mission, so that should put you ahead of any competition there might be. I love the idea of dating your best friend - what could be better? Especially one who is so encouraging You need to allow for the change and growth that has occurred while he was on his mission. Have you changed and grown as much as he has? I would call today, the sooner the better. Keep it warm and friendly and welcoming and make sure he understands, in a low pressure kind of way, that you are looking forward to meeting with him soon. I don't think I would go so far as to propose a date, but that's a very individual choice and entirely up to you. I hope you might be kind enough to share, in general terms, how the call went, like, in an hour or so. A short personal note from my own experience- I'm not a good example of waiting - I made sure that the woman I was interested in had something very like a marriage proposal waiting at her home address a few days before she finished her mission. Its quite possible that if it hadn't been there she would have continued her relationship with the boyfriend she had before her mission.

you need to keep in mind that NightSG is in Texas. Maybe these new fangled things are still a bit too fancy for Texas.

I lack the knowledge and expertise required to make a firm argument for the proposal but I think a good candidate for "the powers of heaven" would be the four fundamental forces - gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. There is no scriptural or prophetic teaching that I know of to support this conclusion, but I think it is partly supported by the idea that almost every miracle that we know of would have required the ability to control these forces.