askandanswer

True - I served in the mid 80's and the temple was dedicated 2011 I think.

We had our honeymoon in our mission area, only four months after my wife finished her mission. Her last companion was still in my wife's last area when we passed through.

I missed out on the opportunity, but my wife and daughter attended the dedication. I thought you were from Northern Luzon?

I started my mission in the Philippines Cebu Mission but while I was serving, the mission was split and I finished my mission in the Philippines Cebu East mission, At that time, all the missions in the Philippines were classified as English speaking even though many of the people where I served could not easily understand English. I learnt little bits of several regional languages - Illongo, Cebuano and Wary Wary, but never mastered any of them, and almost nothing of the national language.

Thank you Jane, this makes things clearer to me in a way that I have not understood before.

I have no idea what a 4th cousin 7X removed is. What exactly does this mean? I'm not good at all on family history stuff and don't have a clear idea of what removed cousins are.

Gator are you developing a stutter?

I like to think that I'm a great physical body with a great spirit Would that it were true!

Thank you Jane. Your sign is noted and your reminder is appreciated,. I think new ideas and understanding can and sometimes should be generated by speculation, but such ideas and understandings are definitely not of the same quality or reliability as knowledge gained through revelation. It should always be remembered that the insights and understandings generated through speculation should be considered as ideas, and not as truth. although sometimes those ideas might be true and that the truth will always have a value higher than an idea.

I'm just suggesting that if we ignore the idea that nothing travels faster than light, (and there is reason to consider that God and other heavenly beings have found a way around that idea) then yes, its possible to see something that happened a long time ago. When you see something depends on where you are in relation to the observed event. And lets not overlook the possibility that Christ saw God's atonement, if there was such an atonement, on the heavenly equivalent of a DVD rather than as a live event. I'm not suggesting that either possibility is likely or unlikely, just possible.

Maureen Maureen you've raised an interesting question. In response, I offer a completely uninformed view based on speculation. Astronomers see events all the time that happened millions of years before they were born because it has taken millions of years from the light of the events they see to reach their eyes. We see something when the light of that event reaches our eyes, not when that event happened. You've also made me think of something I hadn't thought of before. Some interpreters of LDS theology claim that Christ's atonement covered all peoples, times, places and worlds that were, are and will be. This might or might not be true. But if it is true, such an atonement would completely obviate the need for any other atonement, including any possible atonement that might have previously been made by God in some other life. Or if God had previously made some sort of atonement, it must have been limited in scope, and in that sense, lesser than the atonement later made by His Son. So either: the atonement made by Christ does not cover all time and all places, or God the Father did not make an atonement, or God the Father's atonement, if there was one, was lesser than the atonement made by His Son, and therefore another atonement was needed or Some people, times, and places are covered by more than one atonement. I'm not sure which of the above possibilities are true or false, but they can't all be true.

Hi Sunday The full details of university funding are very complex. The simple explanation is that when students sign up for a degree, they sign a contract with the government. The essence of the contract is that the government will pay for their degree and the student will pay the government back once their income reaches a certain level. If your income never reaches the level that triggers repayment then you never have to repay the government loan, but the loan will still exist. You will never see a debt collector and the debt is never sold or transferred to any other organisation or business - it is always held by the government. Once a year by having an amount taken out of their tax return at the end year you will get a letter from the tax office saying how much is currently outstanding on your loan, but that's it. Many people choose to repay their loan through the tax system, either by way of deduction from their salary, or by having an amount taken out of their tax return at the end of the financial year. No interest is charged on the loan, but the amount that needs to be repaid does increase in line with inflation. The amount that a university is allowed to charge for a course is currently determined by the government and the same degree will cost the same amount of money at whatever university you choose to study at. For the last two years the government has had draft legislation before the Senate aimed at giving universities the power to set their own prices. The Senate, which is not controlled by the government has refused to pass the law. There was some talk last year by the Treasurer and the Minister for Higher Education to start collecting loan repayments frohTm the estates of students who have died but this proposal met with strong opposition from our Members of Parliament so it was dropped, but it is believed that the Treasurer is still in favour of the idea and might push for it again. I believe the Australian model of university funding has been copied by other countries, including England. This system means that you can do a university degree and pretty much the only things you will have to pay for are text books, parking, photocopying and late fees to the library. Up until three or four years ago, Australia used to have a pretty good system of technical training, but it has been almost demolished, remarkably quickly. The damage began to occur when the government opened up the system to private providers. Huge amounts of money that the government had been paying to the public training sector was suddenly diverted to the private sector. The private sector were paid on the basis of the number of students they enrolled, so all of their focus was on enrolling new students, with only minimal effort put in to providing training and helping students complete their course. The publicly funded training sector lost a lot of money and the quality of their training significantly diminished and the private providers made a fortune, without producing well trained graduates. This only started to emerge early this year and now the state and federal governments are trying to figure out how to fix the mess. A few years ago there was renewed talk of establishing some sort of training fund for all students for them to use as they saw fit, but nothing ever came of it. The idea has emerged several times over the years but it hasn't gone anywhere.

The idea that I should get a bill or have to directly pay for any treatment resulting from a trip to a hospital emergency department is completely ludicrous! The idea that the quality of care or the kind of procedure that I receive should in any way be influenced by considerations of cost is equally bizarre. Hospitals and many other health services in Australia are funded in full or in part by a 1.5% surcharge on everybody's income.

In His mortal life, God must have been a: Teacher, because the whole plan of salvation is about teaching His children or a Lawyer, because He gives us the law and lives by the law or a Farmer, because sew many of His parables use agricultural symbology or a Construction engineer, because He constructed such a beautiful world or a Carpenter, because that is the trade the Son learned from His father. Feel free to add to the list……………..

This is not quite the kind of swearing that we're talking about here, but I thought I'd just add it in to the discussion (New Testament | Matthew 5:34 - 35) 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

If I was not so lazy, I imagine I would find the byu scripure citation to be an extremely useful tool for scripture study. On the occasions when I am pondering how to interpret a particular verse, or interested in finding out how a particular verse has been used/interpreted, I find it to be very helpful to look it up on the citation index. It shows how particular verses have been used and quoted in talks given in General Conference. I recommend it. http://scriptures.byu.edu/

Prosecution for praying has been done before, in a country far away and long ago (Old Testament | Daniel 6:7 - 16) 7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. 10 ¶ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. 12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. 14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 15 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. 16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions.

Be thankful

Try Daniel 5. It reports a similar incident

There is also a sort of divine precedent to communicating with walls, although it was written, rather than verbal (Book of Mormon | Alma 10:2) I am Amulek; I am the son of Giddonah, who was the son of Ishmael, who was a descendant of Aminadi; and it was the same Aminadi who interpreted the writing which was upon the wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God.

I don't think you should limit it to just two reasons - there are probably thousands

Sunday, don't assume too much about Gator's social life

Prophet or not, I'm still not going to give you a new recommend.

Happy to be excommunicated from any church of which you are the prophet

Being the prophet is a volunteer calling, not a job. Gator, why do I have to tell you these things?