askandanswer

Section 89:8And again, tobacco .............. is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill. But you're probably right as the above quote leaves out "is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man"

The WoW prohibits the use of tea or coffee, but not the use of the ingredient that makes tea and coffee bad - caffeine - and allows the consumption of other product, such as cola drinks, that contain even more of that same ingredient. The WoW prohibits the use of tobacco but I haven’t heard anything about not using the substance that makes tobacco bad – nicotine. So does that mean that, in the same way its ok to use cola drinks and chocolate, its ok to use those other products that contain nicotine, like nicotine patches and nicotine gum? (This is not a course I’m advocating.) If its not ok to use nicotine patches and similar products, then is it equally un-ok to use caffeinated drinks? And would there be any difference in the response of ecclesiastical leaders between a new member who is still trying to get over their cigarette habit by using patches, and a new member who has never smoked before, but who decides to start using patches simply because they want to experience what its like to use nicotine? Same situation but different motivations.

The major grocery stores in this country started stocking Cadbury easter eggs and hot cross buns about two weeks after Christmas. Its ridiculous!

For anybody having trouble sleeping, I'm happy to teach by example how to sleep well next sacrament meeting.....and the one after that, and the one.......purely as a way of providing a service for those in need.

Its easy when you work from your laptop even if it is al l l l l the way out in the kitchen

Best wishes SG, and I hope she's everything you've been waiting for. I hope its not too much longer.

Both left and right socks have a hole - its generally at the top of the sock and it's how you get your foot into the sock. if its too much of a problem, maybe just remove the feet, then no more socks are needed.

I read most of the closed thread this morning. It seems to me as if it was a debate about American lives being lost or damaged by the use and misuse by Americans of American owned, and in some cases, American produced guns, some of which were being operated in accordance with American laws and some of which were not. Its also American police, insurance companies, medical workers and public officers who have to fix up the messes. So, not being American, I had no intention of joining the thread and 'm not going to comment any further on it. For an Australian perspective see this article from an October 2012 edition of the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/08/02/did-gun-control-work-in-australia/ and the Community and Government reaction section of this article from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur_massacre_%28Australia%29#Community_and_government_reaction about the biggest mass shooting in Australia's history. For anybody's interest, the Upper House of the New South Wales legislature has had two or three Representatives from the Shooters and Fishers party in it for about the last five years and about 6 weeks ago, for the first time, one or two representatives from the Shooters and Fisher's party were elected to the Victorian Upper House. Along with a bunch of other Independents and minor parties, (including one Representative from the Sex Party) they hold the balance of power in the Upper House. I don't follow Victorian politics too closely, but I believe the Representatives from the Hunters and Fishers party still haven't worked out what to do with the new-found and unexpected political power.

I see nothing there about lava or ninjas. And as for my father-in-law -- look, that's just weird. I'm sure he wouldn't want to be there any more than I would want him there. Plus he's been dead for over 15 years. Ten thousand apologies for daring to point out what some might assume to be something that almost looks like what could be a tiny error, but, ten thousand apologies again , it actually does appear to be an error

So Vort wouldn’t want his father-in-law, lava or ninjas under his bed, funky town doesn’t like dirty diapers, assassins, snakes, foul filth or ferrets, Bini wouldn’t want the undead, Angel Marvel is opposed to vampires and kinky people, Jimmi wouldn’t plutonium under his bed, mirkwood doesn’t want rotten bodies or demons, and for some strange reason, paleride is opposed to possums and hobbits. Come on, what is it with you people? I've never encountered such blatant discrimination! Learn a little tolerance and acceptance and be open to new friends and experiences. Y’all should try to follow Isaiah’s teachings The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;

xop corn (that's popcorn cooked with x rays instead of microwaves)

Thank you for drawing my attention to this essay, I was unaware of it. Its helpful and interesting.

This is from a previous traditional photo shoot? Where did you get the gown from Pam?

This is more of a reflection than a question so feel free to respond in whatever direction your thoughts take you rather than being constrained by the need to respond to a specific question. A number of posts in another thread declaiming against the widespread nature, and evils of, inequality, started me thinking about inequality and now I am starting to wonder if there ever has been, or will be, a time when inequality of some form or other did not or will not exist. In the pre-existence, there are verses suggesting that Lucifer and Christ and Michael were in some ways better than other spirits. Abraham 3:16 – 19 can be understood as saying that all that is necessary for the existence of inequality is the existence of more than one thing. 16 If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; therefore Kolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me. 17 Now, if there be two things, one above the other, and the moon be above the earth, then it may be that a planet or a star may exist above it; and there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it. 18 Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal. 19 And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all. The Lord also showed Abraham "the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones." By implication, there were some who were not quite so great and noble. If there were some who were noble and great and some who were not, was there equality between them? The inequalities seem to continue in this life. Not all are born in this life with equal access to all the blessings that come from living the gospel. In fact, of all those who have ever lived only a tiny fraction will have had access to the blessings that come from living the gospel in this life, and given the various restrictions that some countries have placed on the teaching of the gospel within their country, only a fraction of those now living have full and equal access to these blessings. Of course those who will have missed out will have equal access to those blessings and opportunities in the spirit world but they will have forever missed out on the blessings that come from living the gospel with a physical body. At first glance, that doesn’t appear to be equitable. Perhaps we don’t even have equal access to God’s love and blessings because one group of His children – the Israelites – were a special and chosen group who received favours and blessings that others did not, despite their idolatry and wickedness. Additionally, although He loves us all, there have been a very rare few who He called His friends, but there is no clear indication that we are all His friends. We don’t seem to have equal access to the saving power of the atonement because it seems to be unavailable, or extremely difficult to access, by those who have committed murder or denied the Holy Ghost. After this life we will all be categorised and ranked and the equality which some seem to think is a hallmark of Zion might not exist in the after life – we will be placed in kingdoms that have differing levels of glory and even within the highest kingdom there will be varying degrees of glory. Of course there will be no poor amongst us, but that is not a complete or reliable indicator of equality. My personal belief is that in a very early stage of our eternal development, perhaps when we were still intelligences, before we were spirits, that some intelligences, by means currently unknown, progressed at a faster rate than others, and that by building on the benefits gained from this faster rate of progression, they have gained for themselves abilities and characteristics that led to them gaining advantageous positions both in the pre-existence, and in mortality. Some might describe this as inequality but perhaps it could also be described as the rewards of progress.

There is no such thing! All hobbits are good.

Think about where the call came from - her mission call is signed by the Prophet. Will you argue against the prophet and try to persuade someone to act contrary to the will of God as expressed through His prophet? That sounds like a poor foundation on which to start a marriage. Also think about how much better she will be as a wife once she has experienced the extraordinary growth in knowledge, faith, wisdom and commitment that comes from serving a full time mission. If you love her now, just think how much more you will love her once she has finished her mission. I first became attracted to the woman who is now my wife while she was serving a mission, but I made sure that she never had any idea how I felt about her until after she had finished her mission.

Nau who?

Come on guys, be adventurous and think outside the square. I've scoped out an excellent location for an October get together here in Australia.

This post might be dead by now but I was thinking about it a little more this morning, particularly the idea that intention is important in determining whether something is good or bad. I'm not sure how well that idea fits with the religious radical who is convinced that blowing up those of other religions is all for the greater glory of God. Sometimes, such killer are absolutely convinced that killing the non-believers is the right thing to do. Do their sincerely held "good" intentions justify their killings?

This life (here and now) is the time to prepare to meet God - not later. Being an active member of, and adherent to the churchs' teachings, are the best way to prepare to meet God.

Isn't that a little too far? Couldn't you just move the kitchen table into the bedroom?

I've said it before and I'll say it again.... I have lots of cousins.... .... and they all need visas. Is this one of your cousins who needs a visa? :)

Dorian, perhaps the more important question for you to reflect on is when will you let your decisions and feeling about the LDS church be guided by faith rather than empirical research and reasoning? It may be that at the moment, your balance between these two points may be a little skewed in favour of reasoning and on the question of whether the LDS church is Gods' true church, you may need to reset the balance a little more towards faith. Its always possible to find questions and stumbling blocks and unexpected oddities that can suddenly grow from molehills to mountains and become stumbling blocks that get in the way of our search for eternal truth, but the exercise of faith can quickly shrink them back down to molehills, or make them disappear altogether.

I think the above information, which some might interpret as suggesting that the church is not doing enough to succur those who need it, or perhaps not doing enough to impart unto the poor, needs to be balanced with the sort of information found at http://ldscharities.org/where-we-are?lang=eng or for a more detailed and comprehensive account, the annual report of LDS Charities, found at http://ldscharities.org/bc/ldscharities/content/english/articles/why-we-help/pdf/LDSC%202013%20Annual%20Report%204-page%20A4%20PD10050685.pdf. For example: "In 2013, LDS Charities helped more than 10.5 million people in 130 countries." This sort of information does not suggest a church (or church membership) that is excessively occupied with building up its material well-being. "Isaiah depicts this preoccupation with idols as false "worship," set in opposition to true worship. The Hebrew verb "worship" (abad) also means "work" (abad). Applying this dual meaning, whatever people work at, spend their energies and resources on, that is what they worship. This conclusion - that what we spend our work and effort on is what we worship - is not well supported by by the experience of the millions of people in rich and poor countries who absolutely hate, not worship, the work they have to do to survive, but they do it to survive, and not to build up material wealth. I agree with your point about the misuse of labels and note that Isaiah identified and warned against this practice more than 2,600 years ago when he said Isaiah 5:20 ¶ Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Moses 7:18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them. However, compare with Matthew 26:11 For ye have the poor always with you (I've included this just for some feather ruffling purposes :) ) In response to the suggestion that there might be something wrong with the workmanship of our hands, then I guess that part of the answer might be increased automation and mechanisation so that we are not using our hands as much :) But I think the problem is not so much the workmanship of our hands but how we respond to that workmanship. It was Aaron's hands which created the golden calf which people then worshipped, and it was the workmanship of the hands of the early Saints that built the Kirtland Temple, in which the people then worshipped and which Joseph Smith asked the Lord to accept (Doctrine and Covenants Section 109:4 And now we ask thee, Holy Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of thy bosom, in whose name alone salvation can be administered to the children of men, we ask thee, O Lord, to accept of this house, the workmanship of the hands of us, thy servants, which thou didst command us to build.) "Elders of Israel are greedy after the things of this world. If you ask them if they are ready to build up the kingdom of God, their answer is prompt–"Why, to be sure we are, with our whole souls; but we want first to get so much gold, speculate and get rich, and then we can help the church considerably. We will go to California and get gold, go and buy goods and get rich, trade with the emigrants, build a mill, make a farm, get a large herd of cattle, and then we can do a great deal for Israel. And lets not forget that Brother Brigham was well known for his constant urging of the early pioneers to build up, add to, and beautify their valleys and do all they could to improve their physical well-being. I have heard this many times from friends and relatives, but it is hokum. What they are saying is, “If God will give me a million dollars, I will let him have a generous cut of it.” And so they pray and speculate and expect the Lord to come through for them. He won’t do it: “And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property” (D&C 19:26). “Let them repent of all their sins, and of all their covetous desires, before me, saith the Lord; for what is property unto me? saith the Lord” (D&C 117:4). Compare with Alma 34: 20 - 25 (and not forgetting vs 28). 20. Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.21 Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.23 Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase. These verses seem to suggest, even encourage, that it is good to pray for the Lord to bless us with material increase. .

Thank you Maureen