askandanswer

Just out of curiosity @Blossom76 how far are you from the brissie temple and have you been there yet? It's at kangaroo point overlooking the river. Non-members can roam the grounds and perhaps feel of the spirit of the temple and temple work. If you haven't been yet i encourage you to choose a wise and experienced temple recommend holding friend and take the time to just sit and think and pray and feel in the temple grounds for an hour or two. It can be a very peaceful and comforting experience 

Some of my personal thoughts – but with a disclaimer.  I believe any individual can receive, through the gift of the Holy Ghost, revelation (including new revelation) concerning doctrine.  But all revelation concerning the law, covenants and ordinances must come through the proper channels of priesthood authority.
The word or term “Atonement” is a made-up word by Tyndall (as part of his fist English translation of Biblical scripture).  The word was made up because there was no translation in English for the ancient texts.   In short there is no common English understanding of this ancient idea so a word was made up to make some attempt to encapsulate an understanding completely lost during the Great Apostasy.
Because I work with industrial artificial intelligence in my little consulting business – I believe that I have gained some interesting insights.  I am not trying to argue but rather introduce some ideas.  The first idea is the idea of what is called the intelligence (or artificial intelligence) of the Hive Mind.  For most of human history it was believed that the greatest intelligence was some “super” single intelligence – greater that all other.  In essence, this construct was strongly imbedded in our religious belief in G-d.  G-d being the quintessential super single intelligence.  As we have scientifically sought to develop artificial intelligence we have discovered that a hive or collective intelligence significantly outperforms a super centralized intelligence.  The greater the distribution of intelligence the greater the intelligent advantage. 
This collective concept of a hive mind intelligence has influenced my personal understanding of G-ds and the idea of the plurality of G-d and becoming “one” with G-d.  Most LDS carry the concept of a Celestial being as individual that is divinely superior – but as I understand marriage as a sealing and uniting and that all Celestial beings are sealed as a singular family – I am inclined to think that much more is going on and that though we are individuals that there is an eternal and divine union that binds all Celestial beings.  I am inclined to think that what we call “The Atonement” makes this possible and is included in this eternal and divine binding unification of Celestial beings.
I believe there is another part of what we call “The Atonement”.  This has to do with a term we LDS call “Agency”.  I believe agency is a divine gift from G-d and is distinctly different than our individual will – even though our agency is exercised through our individual will.  Because agency is a divine gift it comes with “strings” attached.  Along with our agency there is law.  Agency gives us power to sin which is a transgression of the law.  Thus, our agency gives us power to exercise or transgress the law.  There are consequences (both benedictions and maledictions) for exercising the law. 
Jesus is the proctor of both our agency and the law.  This makes him the rightful “Law Giver” as well as the overseer of our agency.  This means that one of the strings of our agency is that we are bound to Jesus as the proctor and law giver such that he is complicit with us for the sins we commit.  This means that in order that justice be exercised in the law that all consequences (both benedictions and maledictions) of the law must be shared.  I believe this is why Jesus could perform an act to pay for our sins (because he was both the law giver and proctor of our agency) but this also means that we must work jointly with him and his redemption to have full benefit of his redemption or payment.  The term we use to define the working jointly with Christ is what we in the English language call “The Atonement”. 
So I believe the atonement is becoming one with G-d – not just to overcome sin but to exercise the laws of eternal life – to be G-d and share the divine intelligence of Celestial beings.
 
The Traveler

Just out of curiosity @Blossom76 how far are you from the brissie temple and have you been there yet? It's at kangaroo point overlooking the river. Non-members can roam the grounds and perhaps feel of the spirit of the temple and temple work. If you haven't been yet i encourage you to choose a wise and experienced temple recommend holding friend and take the time to just sit and think and pray and feel in the temple grounds for an hour or two. It can be a very peaceful and comforting experience 

Just out of curiosity @Blossom76 how far are you from the brissie temple and have you been there yet? It's at kangaroo point overlooking the river. Non-members can roam the grounds and perhaps feel of the spirit of the temple and temple work. If you haven't been yet i encourage you to choose a wise and experienced temple recommend holding friend and take the time to just sit and think and pray and feel in the temple grounds for an hour or two. It can be a very peaceful and comforting experience 

For me to do it, it would have to be something like this:
An angel (not an apostle or a prophet) shows up and asks me to kill someone
We then start a negotiation session about the details of the task, eg, who, how, when, where, and how much flexibility there was in each of these. I wouldn't ask why as I don't think I would need to know that in order to do what was being asked. I would ask if there was anybody else who could do the task, and if there was any compelling reason why I was the person who had been asked to do it and if I had the option of delegating the job.
We come to an agreement as to the details of the task - what must be done, what must not be done, and the other stuff about who, when, where and how. 
I ask the angel to put the agreement in writing, with five original copies, one for me, one for the angel, one for the Prophet, one for the police, and one for my family
I carefully consider the agreement to make sure it accurately reflects what we have discussed and agreed to
Next, I carefully consider if I will follow the agreement, and if so, then I sign it.
Finally, I start doing my research and preparation, trying to find a way to do what had been asked in a way that is most likely to be successful, while avoiding being apprehended and arrested.
If it was anything less than this, I'd be inclined to hesitate and think it over pretty carefully.

@zil I very much like your distinction between sin and sins - that's quite a useful insight. Thank you

I agree that God acts in harmony with eternal laws and that his house is one of order.  But I think the majority of what you describe is projecting mortal needs and failings onto God.  God is the perfect, omniscient judge, as is Christ.  They do not need fine print (Christ found fault with the scribes and Pharisees for creating fine print).  When we reach that point, we will not need fine print.
I don't believe Christ paid the finite price for a finite list of sins, I believe he overcame the entire concept of sin, that somehow, in a finite amount of time, he endured something eternal and infinite, paid the infinite price and overcame the eternal consequences of sin - not sins.  And I don't believe someone handed him a "Mastery of the Consequences of Sin" certificate - I believe he accomplished this mastery.  I don't believe this is like a set of physical reins which can only be held by one person at a time, but rather a skill or accomplishment that any number of people could, in theory, accomplish.
All that said, these are nothing more than ways of thinking about it.  I don't believe we'll ever fully understand how Christ accomplished the Atonement - I think without the experience, without having never succumbed to temptation, we cannot understand.  I could be wrong, and I'm open to learning more, including different perspectives like the article linked in the OP.  But age has taken me away from thinking like you describe, not toward it.

Cleon Skousen is just a person.  He had no special authority (e.g. wasn't an Apostle) to reveal the word of God.  What he wrote there was his way of thinking at the time.  We should see it as such (regardless of how correct it may or may not be).  From my perspective, there were true things in there, there was a boatload of speculation or assumption in there, and at least one error.  I found it an interesting read, one that if I took the time, could probably help me see some things in a different perspective, enabling me to expand my understanding.  But I'm not going to take his word as the absolute, one-and-only true understanding how the Atonement of Christ worked (I'm not sure he's got it all in there, and I don't think mortal man is capable of understanding the mechanics, nor do I think mortal man needs to).
Keep in mind that we're forced to use mortal words for things mortals don't understand.  We're not entirely sure exactly what "intelligence" in this context means, for example.  We don't know what constitutes the "sphere" in which intelligences may be placed.  So we should be careful in our assumptions of what God (or Joseph Smith, or even Cleon Skousen) intended to communicate.  Though part of what he wrote reminded me of D&C 121:46 (emphasis mine):
As for studying the Atonement, my recommendation is that you open the Bible Dictionary and Topical Guide and read each of the individual scriptures listed there.  Take notes.  When it seems appropriate, reorganize and reword your notes. (I did this on another topic, transferring written notes from random scribbles on an 11x17 dot grid to another sheet with a bit more organization, and then I did it again.  I re-did my notes at least 3 times.)  Without the note-taking, I tend to just read rather than ponder.  So instead, I would read, and then note what I felt was most significant about the verse(s), or I would categorize them in some way (as in, these verses explain this tidbit of the Atonement).
By the time I was done, I had learned a shocking amount about something I thought I already understood completely.  Hence, my recommendation that you try it.  Let the Spirit teach you.
If you must read something from someone else, I recommend the most recent prophets and apostles to speak on the matter as they have the focus God wishes for us.

The Law of Chastity should be a non-issue for the devout in any monotheistic faith. Muslims, Jews, and Christians of rigorous faith practice, agree on no sex before marriage. Likewise on LGBT issues. If a Christian is questioning your stance on sex and gender orientation/identity issues, you are likely dating someone with beliefs that a more different than you realize. Having said that, I just can't see becoming serious with someone that is not a marriage candidate. Meet the guy a few times, feel things out...but if you're serious about marrying in the temple, then you want a Mormon guy. If you are open to an interfaith relationship, then come to that realization. You will have more options. Decide for sure, though. The "oh well, we'll see what happens" route usually leaves people miserable. They have more freedom, but not the freedom to enjoy it. Then there's the vague guilt. So...be sure, and get peace about it from Father--before you get into serious dating.

Speaking from experience, it is best to stay in the shallow end of the doctrine pool and keep a relationship where the influence of the Holy Spirit can be felt.  Focus on the similarities between the faiths, also be sure to not only invite him/her to LDS functions but, be willing to attend their services as well.  I agree with Grunt 100%, "be yourself."  Something you may try if you haven't already is to prepare your actions/words through prayer and scripture study so you are led by the Spirit.  Regardless of how difficult we may think it is for someone to grasp all the quirky aspects of our religion, it is the Spirit that converts the heart.  

I have lived in a similar town in Canada.. What we did: There is often a lack of family activities so we organized activities to get people into the church building. Now you are going to look at these activities, groan and say, ‘So cheesy! This will never work’ But..
1) They DID work. We were the number 1 baptizing spot in the district and we did these things with a handful of adults. I saw the mission president’s wife’s look of disbelief when she came to look us over. We were a bunch of broken toys but we brought a lot of people into the church.
2) If you bring a child into your church, you also bring at least one adult because they need to drive the child so prepare for both the child (easy!) and the adult (food of some type even muffins will do and a table with Books of Mormon and the missionaries).
What we did: everything we could think of!
1) Games nights. Silly dress up in costumes and do family feud.
2) Family History nights. Each room in the church decorated for a different ethnic group.
3) musical evenings & skits. Have as many kids involved in skits as possible. More kids, more parents. Have members invite people to ‘help’. This how my Lds friends got me back to church. They asked me to help kids with their costumes and makeup. Get neighborhood kids to perform. 
4) 3 Nephi when Christ speaks in the Darkness. Dudes!!!! This is our secret weapon! So easy to stage this and brings tears to the eyes of everyone! Needs a narrator for Jesus. Turn out the lights. Sound effects for thunder. Advertise on posters and radio, Christ Visits America.
So if you are a missionary, how do you get this to happen? Sit down next to a single woman in church, ask her to propose this to the bishop. Tell her, you will do all the work. (I was the woman in this scenario).
Good Luck! We did these things! They worked!

Involvement in the community is what brought me to the missionaries.

What? Anatess is not reason enough for him to come back?  I'm crushed!  I love that guy!

Community activities too.  Just be a presence in the town.  We did various church activities and invited the community.  "Meet the Mormons" kind of thing.  We also did a lot of street contacts.  We'd just say, "Can we ask you a couple questions?" and ask a series of questions leading to a doctrinal truth like eternal families.  Really, the best thing is to put yourself out there. In a small town, everyone knows the missionaries.  You stand out, and so use that to your advantage.  Wave.  Be overly helpful.  Chat. Get to know people's names who you run into regularly.  We used to ride the bus every day, and chat with the bus drivers and passengers.  Captive audience. 

Yes, perform service - for charities (including other churches), for individuals, for anything at all.  It may take several sets of missionaries before the good will and reputation build to a point where people are moved to action, but that seems like the way to go.

Service is always good. We did service at a soup kitchen ran by a Pentecostal preacher. We mentioned briefly that part of the word of wisdom was not drinking coffee. 3 weeks later he told us he quit coffee x) In every single one of his pre-meal sermons he talked about and testified of the truth that us missionaries spoke. 

Tracking is generally a waste of time. 
Your son should contact local administrators or charities and get involved in service projects. Just wearing the name tag is high visibility and they’re doing the right thing too.
Remember that people who are involved in helping others are more likely to be receptive to the Church’s message. 

“Book of Mormon Rainbow Edition (All ‘L’s, ‘G’s, ‘B’s, ‘T’s and ‘Q’s are in red text)”

Yeah, because you're 146 years behind due to all that red tape.

Congratulations Grunt, I'm very happy for you and I hope that you and your family are as well. I'm sure there are a great many people absolutely delighted by your decision and most of all a recently returned missionary in Ireland. There's a lot of great stuff ahead of you and I'm sure you will now be an even greater strength and help to your ward and those around you.

Apparently you weren't paying attention (or your subtraction skills need work) - she was born on Joseph Smith's birthday.  Joseph Smith was born 23 December 1805.

Joseph Smith's birthday.  Now you can never forget my baptism date.

My home teacher was bemoaning that his hometown was going downhill...Cardston Alberta.
Oh, I asked, People moving into town? I was picturing hippies, drug users etc. Canada is legalizing pot soon so...
Yes, he said wearily, you should see church these days.
Wow, I thought, the hippies are coming to church?
Yes, he said, So people are moving to Cardston to be near the temple. At church, you can barely get a seat! We have filled the building with chairs. You can't get a seat! And there are tons of people I don't know!
Ah, the real problem! People I don't know in my church. Mormon problems. The shock that occurs when small town people have to deal with people they don't know!

We were babysitting my 3 yr old niece.  She was excited to come to church.  So excited, in the middle of the sacrament she came running up the aisles screaming "Uncle [NT]!  I went pee-pee on the potty!" at the top of her lungs.