askandanswer

Matt, if you're still reading this, talk to Anatess. This is what she said about her cousins: I've said it before and I'll say it again.... I have lots of cousins.... .... and they all need visas. If her cousins are anything like her, you will be on a good track.

WOw! And then what happened? This sounds like a great story, and if you start to tell it, you need to finish it!

Sorry to tell you this Jamie, but despite the best efforts of the Aztecs to kill off all flamingos, according to each of my recent counts, on April 9, March 21, March 6 and February 2 the number of real flamingos exceeded the number of plastic flamingos by between 3 (9 April) and 7 (21 March). However, given the frequency with which these figures change, its quite possible that by tomorrow, the number of plastic flamingos will once again prevail. Interestingly, the situation with plastic turtles is the complete opposite of the plastic flamingos, but that's a story for another post.

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Baptism is the right step but it may be prudent to expect some surprises. I hope that any unpleasant surprises will be more than offset by the joys of new knowledge, the warmth of the Spirit, and a strong and positive confirmation that you have done the right thing.

Is this evidence of hate speak and discrimination against those who use the edit function? Surely we all have an equal right to use the edit function without running the risk of being unfairly slandered? :)

More important, and more helpful than knowing the reason why we should not have tea or coffee- and perhaps there isn't even a good medical reason - is having a spiritual conviction that all aspects of the Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants are the word and will of the Lord and that all aspects of it should be followed. The way to get this spiritual conviction is by obediently living the principle and then humbly, sincerely, and faithfully asking God through prayer if it is true. Perhaps this is also the same way that you came to know that the church is true and now desire to be baptised; the same approach will work when it comes to learning whether the Word of Wisdom is true or not. Once you get that spiritual conviction and know for yourself that it is true, the reasons no longer matter. I don't think the reasons for the prohibition on tea and coffee is is a question that can be satisfactorily answered by reference to medical and physiological knowledge. As for myself, I bear witness, in the name of Jesus Christ, that the Word of Wisdom is a true principle and blessing from God, given for the benefit of His children, and that we will be blessed according to the extent that we follow it, and that blessings will be withheld to the extent that we don't follow it. I also testify that following the Word of Wisdom in its fullness will bring us greater health, happiness, and closeness to God than not following it. It is in yours and my best eternal interest to follow all of God's counsel and guidance, including the Word of Wisdom, because they are given to us by a loving Father in Heaven who knows what is best for us, and who does all things for our benefit.

This answer has some surprising similarities to the answer my Sunday School teacher gave when I asked this question in class last week. He suggested that in these verses, the English word hell comes from the word Hades which he said was a Greek word referring to the place where spirits go while their body is dead. He pointed out that it was a revelation recorded by Peter in 1 Peter 3:19, and elaborated on by Joseph F Smith that made known the fact that the gospel was being preached in hell, and it was revelation received by Joseph Smith that initiated the work by which the dead can be saved, and thus brought back from Hades. In that sense, the gates of Hell could not prevail against those spirits, or could no longer hold them back from leaving Hell. Your response adds to this by suggesting that even those spirits within Hell can receive the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, and it is the revelation and acceptance of this knowledge than can free them from hell. I was a bit uncertain about my Sunday School teacher’s response last week but coupled with your answer, and having thought through both his and your answer, things are clearer now. The error that led to my misunderstanding of these verses was my assumption that the phrase “gates of hell” was referring to the forces of Satan in attacking and overcoming the church, which is indeed what happened, whereas it appears that this phrase refers to an actual place – the unpleasant side of the spirit world. An interesting conclusion arising from this, which should have been obvious, but which I had not thought of before, is that a person, even a person who lived during a period of apostasy, can receive a very specific type of revelation – that Jesus is the Christ – independently of the existence of the church.

Certainly in the end, we all know who/what will prevail. But assuming a temporal existence for the earth of 6,000 years, for the church to be absent for anywhere between 1/6 and 1/4 of that time, it certainly sounds as if during that time, contrary to what Christ may have taught in Matthew 16, the church was not prevailing.

(New Testament | Matthew 16:17 - 18) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Does the apostasy suggest that the gates of hell did prevail against revelation and the church? It certainly appears that something prevailed because both revelation and the church pretty much disappeared for more than a thousand years not long after Christ made this statement.

For those of you who are not familiar with the site, the relatively recently developed BYU relative finder can be fun to play around with. See here for https://www.lds.org/church/news/byus-relative-finder-helps-you-find-famous-ancestors?lang=eng information about the site, and here https://www.relativefinder.org/ to see the actual site. You need a family search login to use the site. You enter your name and it comes back with a list of names and connections of prophets and apostles with whom you have a common ancestor.

I think that the creator and owner of a hamburger can do, or not do, whatever he likes with that hamburger, regardless of whether he made it to sell to a customer, or whether as a form of artistic expression. If he refuses to sell his hamburgers to people he doesn't like, either one of two things will happen - he will go out of business, or potential hamburger buyers will go elsewhere. Neither consequence seems important enough to over-ride freedom of religion. However, I can see that this approach would not work well in areas where there is a shortage of hamburger sellers, or where the commodity being sought for is more important than hamburgers, eg, housing. In the cases of very important goods and services, or a limited number of suppliers of goods and services, it may be appropriate to modify the principle somewhat.

I'm surprised to see that General Conference was held this weekend. I thought Pam was going to postpone it. At least the second part is true - as a protest it failed. ps How did the Friday night dinner go?

Now I know why President Obama passed up on my dinner invitation for Thursday. I guess meeting with Elder Eyring and Elder Uchtdorf is a good enough excuse.

It's probably got something to do with the weather :)

No. Discuss, explain, expound, reason, critique, analyse, share, debate, and postulate.

TFP, I'm hoping you might reconsider this decision. While some of the postings here have been interesting and thought provoking they lack the gravitas that comes with teachings from prophets and apostles.

and who will I find at the end of the road? a capitalist or a lawyer? :)

Hi my name is um, um, ahhhh, errrr let me just go and check on that....................... welcome to the site

Will you be going in to hiding?

A capitalist with only two debtors? That doesn't sound quite right. And a capitalist who forgives debts? Surely the true and proper course of events is that the capitalist hires the lawyer to recover the debts and the lawyer' then charges more than the amount that was recovered.

Hence the question - because I don't know. If I did, I wouldn't have asked. :) But in this short part of the discussion, which regrettably no one else has participated in, we have only explored one possibility, and have arrived at an I don't know conclusion. Perhaps others may have more to contribute.

The above verse refers to John, not Jesus so the question remains - when did Jesus receive the Holy Ghost? Luke 1: 13 - 16 13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filledwith the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

(Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 31:8) 8 Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove. Can we conclude from this scripture, and from the teachings and practices of the church today, that prior to His baptism at the age of 30, Jesus did not have the gift of the Holy Ghost?