askandanswer

Five years! I don't think we've ever had an EQP last more than three. Congratulations on a calling well done.

Could you and a few other attendees get together and hire another photographer, and then present them with another wedding album sometime after the wedding, perhaps with notes and comments from you and your friends written on the backs of the photos. Given that the photographer would only be like a back up or unofficial photographer, you probably wouldn't need to get someone too expensive. You could instruct the photographer to hunt out all the candid moments when people are not expecting to be photographed, and therefor look most like their natural selves. (Do people still do hard copy photos and photo albums for weddings?)

   

In the lead up to my dad's retirement, he negotiated a deal with his employer that allowed him to work a certain number of weeks each year for the next three years. This phased approach to retirement seemed to work out pretty well both for him and the business. It avoided some of the problems that can happen when you jump straight from full time employment to full time retirement.

A widow might know of the story you are referring to. :)

Surely a horse would be better?

So what's the answer? When will it end?

Many years ago when I was serving as a ward clerk, someone donated 10% of their home garden crop. They had a small garden so It only amounted to about 4 vegetables. This entry was not recorded on MLS, although I guess we could have approximated the value of the donation and entered that amount. We didn't know what to do with the veggies, and I think that eventually the bishop nominated a needy person they could go to.

Surely such devices are like boats and ships - they exist only for those who lack faith?

I’m trying to appreciate the spirit which motivated the original post – a desire to seek advice on a potentially tricky issue that if mishandled, could lead to pain and anguish for several people. That is certainly a commendable motivation. However, I also feel a little uncomfortable with being asked to provide input on an issue which could be used to facilitate the departure of one person away from what I know to be the one and only true church of Christ on this earth. If the desire is to see her grow in her faith in Christ then it’s probably best to leave her where she is. I sincerely believe that membership and active participation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and living in conformity with its’ teachings is the best way to grow faith in Christ. Ideally, in Sunday School and Young Women’s she will regularly encounter experiences designed to help her grow her faith, designed and delivered by men and women called of God.

Luke 20: 1-7 might be interpreted by some as an example of Christ appearing to stir up contention by deliberately asking a question that He knew would create a division among the people. 1 And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2 And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3 And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? 6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. 8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. Acts 23: 6 - 9 also gives an interesting example of when Paul, while preaching the gospel, deliberately created a contention, ostensibly to get himself out of a difficult situation. Ironically, it was the situation that he thereby created that led to him being taken into protective custody, and ultimately sent to Rome and executed.

TFP, all you have to do is unite your heart with mine and then the two of us will be united. Then we just need to "get" Literate parakeet and that will make three of us and the three of us together will probably be able to get the traveller. It's just a matter of time and numbers. As for JAG, well, I'm not sure if I'd ever want to be united with him.

I only read pages 1 - 3 of this discussion and then skimmed through the remaining pages. Going back to the OP, the following quote from the most recent General Conference might shed some light on the idea of how to "contend" without being contentions. (By Elder Ulisses Soares Of the Presidency of the Seventy https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/yes-we-can-and-will-win?lang=eng ) I learned this principle when I served as a young missionary. My companion and I were serving in a very small and faraway branch of the Church. We tried to speak with every person in the city. They received us very well, but they liked to debate the scriptures and asked us for concrete evidence regarding the truthfulness of what we were teaching. I recall that each time my companion and I set out to try to prove something to people, the Spirit of God left us and we felt totally lost and confused. We felt that we should more strongly align our testimonies with the truths of the gospel we were teaching. From that time on, I remember that when we bore a testimony with all our hearts, a silent confirming power coming from the Holy Ghost filled the room, and there was no space for confusion or discussion. I learned that no evil forces exist that are capable of confusing, deceiving, or subverting the power of a sincere testimony of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

On the face of it, if we accept the idea that being cleansed of all sin is a necessary but not sufficient condition, it seems to be an odd situation whereby a person without sin might be denied entry to the celestial kingdom.

The other week after Sacrament, I saw our bishop standing in his office with the door open doing nothing. A few minutes later I walked past again and he was still standing their doing nothing. I called out to him that the ward must be running extremely well if he had nothing to do. He explained that there was nothing he could do because his counsellors, clerk and exec sec were all away.

I think that the atonement of Christ is sufficient to cover all the demands of justice and to pay for every sin committed by anyone, anywhere, ever, as long as the sinner chooses to pay the necessary price to make the atonement effective in their life. Whether or not a person who has committed murder or denied the Holy Ghost, or done any other sinful act can then enter the celestial kingdom is a completely different question. I don't believe that simply satisfying the demands of justice is enough to get you into the celestial kingdom. I can imagine a situation where a murderer, drawing on the atonement of Christ, sincerely repents, and meets all the requirements to be forgiven. However, if they, or anyone else, has not been sufficiently changed by the experience of repentance, such that they become more like the kind of person that God is willing to allow into His kingdom, then they will not be in that kingdom.

Is being fully cleansed of one's sins both a necessary and a sufficient condition for returning to live with our Father in Heaven for eternity?

In Genesis 49: 22, Jacob, son of Isaac, speaks of his son Joseph as a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall while in Alma 46:24 Moroni quotes Jacob as saying that the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish, even as the remnant of his garment. Does anybody have any idea who, or which group of people, Jacob and Moroni might have been referring to when they spoke of the rest of the seed of Joseph as perishing, and which group they were referring to when they spoke of a remnant being preserved? It seems ironic that the remnant of the descendants of Joseph who Moroni was speaking to, and who he was seeking to motivate and inspire through the use of Jacob’s prophesy may have been that portion which perished 450 years later.

Your situation reminded me of a poem I studied as part of my English Literature classes way back in my high school days. It tells of what can happen when we fail to forgive and hold on to our hurt. The poem is by Edward Blake and was published in 1794. A POISON TREE. [by William Blake, as in The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, David Erdman, ed.] I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. And I waterd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears: And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles. And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine. And into my garden stole, When the night had veild the pole; In the morning glad I see; My foe outstretchd beneath the tree.

In the various passages of scripture that list the various spiritual gifts, (eg Moroni 10: 8-19 and Doctrine and Covenants 46: 13-26) none of them make mention of a gift of communicating with spirits. I'm not sure if anyone has the ability to communicate with spirits in the way you have described, and I think Average Joe has it right.I would be more inclined to believe that your girlfriend has the ability to communicate with spirits if that's what she was told in a Patriarchal blessing. If it comes from any other source, I'd tend to be sceptical.

The OP was about people who seem to have more than one identity. PC replied that he would try to avoid the problems associated with people having more than one identity by keeping his eyes on Christ. I raised the idea that this approach might not be a complete resolution to the problem because Christ is seen by some people in many different ways and could be seen as having multiple identities, so keeping ones eyes on Christ might as a way of resolving these problems still raises questions that need to be considered. Not intended as a serious comment, but now that I think about it a little further, as a personage with a mortal mother and an immortal Father, and as a god who walked the earth as a man, its not hard to see how some might see Christ as having more than one identity. Its not true of course, but in some ways, He does seem to fit the description.

I like to think that if a really thorough empirical study was done of all the times God has intervened, and all the times He hasn't then we could come up with a reasonably rely guide that could be used to fairly accurately predict not only the likelihood of an intervention in any future situation, but also the type of intervention. It would take a lot of work and time, probably by many people, but I think it could be done. We understand God's motivates and end objective, we understand what powers He has at His command, we know that He is an unchangeable God who often follows the same patterns and we have 6,000 years of case history to draw on and many inspired teachings and counsels from prophets and apostles. Once you know the methods, the tools, the parameters and rules that govern the situation, and the objectives, working out the how - the interventions - is really just a question of working out the details.

Surely everybody always likes chocolates on any and every occasion? And an occasion like Father's Day or Mother's Day requires a higher order of chocolates than ordinary everyday chocolates.

Ahhh yes, keeping our eyes on Jesus sounds like a good idea, but which Jesus? Jesus of Bethlehem? Jesus of Egypt? Jesus of Nazareth? Jesus of Galilee? Jesus son of Mary and Joseph or Jesus, Son of God? Christ, king of the Jews, or Jesus, our Eternal King? Jesus, cousin of John, and perhaps brother of James, or Jesus, Elder Brother of us all? Soo many identities here

I kind of like the idea that just as it is a religious requirement for Muslims to attend Mecca at least once in their lives, every Mormon should have a desire to attend a General Conference at least once.