priesthoodpower

MG, in my experience I was just going through the motions at 19 because basically I had no other options in life. Went to Junior College at 18 and got kicked out because school wasnt really for me. Returned home and put my papers in for a mission, not because I thought it was my duty or "calling" but moreso that it was a tradition in my small mormon community. In hind sight, the examples of the older boys and my upbringing within that community was preparing me for a mission I just didnt realize it at the time. I didnt have any major vices (sex/drugs/alcohol etc..) which made those 2 years much more easier. I would strongly advocate that any other young LDS male that is worthy but unsure about a mission should go. The first week I arrived in the Mission Training Center the spirit was so strong and pure, you will never experience another atmosphere like that on earth, not even in a chapel or temple. The purity of the spirit in the MTC actually caused me to start to vomit out a hidden sin that I did not confess to my bishop at home. I went and saw the Stake President in the MTC and confessed the sin that was bothering me, he said "Son, the Lord needs you out in the field and not at home, I take full responsibility of that sin, forget it and go serve!" A few experiences that I had on my mission "while going through the motions" is what cemented my testimony in the gospel.

and that is the problem with this world, everyone is too worried about what others think of them. I could care less because my reality is not yours or that of some scientists. The only approval that I seek is Gods, and since I have felt the Holy Ghost many of times in my life I know that he approves of me and my way of doing things. There are also many of times when I have felt the spirit withdrawn from my life and that is when I know he does not approve.

lol, no, the platform that the prophets and apostles speak from is very different from that of our local leaders, and moving "up and on" doesnt mean to die it could also mean to complete a calling and be replaced by the next person.

This describes my mission back in 1998 to a " T ". I left believing and returned KNOWING. My older brother and 4 older cousins all went on their missions on their own free will with no pressure from parents, - my older brother went inactive 4 years after returning, him and his then LDS wife are no longer mormons. - 1 cousin went inactive 5 years after returning and is now living a swinger and alcoholic lifestyle with his non-member wife - 1 cousin went inactive 2 years after his temple marriage and is struggling in his marriage (3 kids) while also being addicted to pills and alcohol, they got divorced once but got back together. - 1 cousin is seperated from his wife and 4 kids, living in a different state but still supporting and visiting his family, he is less active but still loves the church - 1 cousin married in the temple and had 4 kids, and after 11 years they got divorced. they are both inactive and in new relationships with non-members. - My wife served a mission and then served 10 years of our married life in primary until eventually leaving the church two years ago. ....despite all of their physicall shortcomings all the above relatives of mine have expressed one common theme to why they slowly went inactive, THE PRESSURES AND GUILT OF NOT BEING GOOD ENOUGH. One of my cousins has no intention of returning but every one else has the potential to return should the church be more accepting of all people and not just the perfect ones. You may not agree with that statement but like I said in a previous post, its not what the leaders say that describes the church, its what the members say. case and point..."and Im a mormon" campaigns, the church spends millions to run these campaigns and maintain its internet presence along with their many websites...lds.org etc.... The brand of a company is not controlled by the board members, its controlled by the consumers. "Meet the mormons" featured normal mormon families in the world and not our PR team from church headquarters trying to sell our religion. If the message that we are trying to send out in social media and the mainstream is about accepting all people of all races and backgrounds then I will bet that our teaching within the church will soon reflect that. I cant wait till this older generation of leaders that are stuck in the mode of condemning people for not being good enough are up and out and the younger generation of leaders that can relate to and have sympathy come in with a style of gathering rather then scattering. It will happen, the internet is opening the eyes of us members and our leaders - our leaders will continue to pray to learn how we can adapt our style of converting, teaching, and retaining our people. The church will explode in membership I can feel it, we already have the truth, its now just a matter of how we teach it.

Jesus walked from town to town and encountered many different kinds of people who never heard of him nor believed in him. In this particular thread we are talking about an LDS active member who grew up in the church, attends regularly and already has a testimony in Jesus Christ. By simply attending his church meetings he is showing humility and desire to edify his spirit by hearing the good word of the gospel. Because of his lack of desire to serve a mission are we supposed to condemn/ shame him and kick him out of our midst? The actions of his SP shows that.

It wasnt said over a pulpit to a variety of members, it was in a prospective elders class. When one of the young men in the group did not raise his hand, the comments that followed by the SP is obviously directed toward that one individual to make him feel guilty when in fact those comments did not need to be said at all. Had this SP understood the new LDS curriculum of "Teaching in the Saviors way" he could have used this situation as an opportunity to change the heart of this young prospective elder instead of condemning him, lets see what the Savior would have done in this situation as according to LDS.org -------------------------- https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/guidebook/teaching?lang=eng He used the scriptures.. to teach and testify about His mission. He taught people to think about scriptures for themselves and use them to find answers to their own questions. Their hearts burned within them as He taught the word of God with power and authority, and they knew for themselves that the scriptures are true. He knew who they were and who they could become. He found unique ways to help them learn and grow—ways meant just for them. When they struggled, He did not give up on them but continued to love them and minister to them. He shared simple stories, parables, and real-life examples that made sense to them. He helped them discover gospel lessons in their own experiences and in the world around them. He asked questions that caused them to think and feel deeply. He was sincerely interested in their answers and rejoiced in their expressions of faith. He gave them opportunities to ask their own questions and share their own insights, and He responded to their questions and listened to their experiences. Because of His love, they felt safe sharing their thoughts and personal feelings. ------------------------------

Isnt it a punishment for the 3rd of hosts that followed satan to never have the opportunity to receive a body? So a human body is so desirable that they only wish they had one and take every chance to posses one? Isnt it also true that the spirits in the spirit world cannot do their own temple work and baptisms so it needs to be done by proxy here on earth by someone with a body? given that understanding I would imagine that our spirits would try to stay in the body for as long as they possibly can. 10 years ago I lived in a condo complex that had a daily yard service crew. these guys were a bunch of rough looking fellas that match every description of what a yard service crew would look like. I became friends with one of those workers. I moved out of that place and 5 years later randomly ran into this worker at a store. It was a happy reunion of sorts as we were glad to see each other. He lifted up his shirt and showed me a long scar across his chest, he said he died. I said "you what!" he said "I died a year ago...got food poisoning and collapsed while at work, ambulance took me to the hospital and I was watching the doctors operate on my body. I turned around to leave the room but I saw my cousin (whom was already deceased). I couldnt see my cousins face because he had his back turned to me, but he said 'go back!', so I went back to the room and woke up in the hospital bed." My interpretation of his story was that the deceased cousin realized that he still had a chance at life in his body so he told him to go back to his body, also that the cousin realizes that as a spirit there are limitations and there are things that only the body can do and its all related to the plan of salvation and our Saviours gospel plan.

Does the stake president breath air and drink water? ..then he is human and has potential to offend and disappoint....and it happens in our wards/stakes more often then we want to acknowledge. So yes I can believe that it happened. Earlier this year my 10 yr old daughter was sitting in her primary class. Her male teacher (Husband/wife combination who are in their 60's and husband served in the bishopric many years ago) told them "Every church except for the LDS church is the devils church". I dont disagree with that statement but there is a time and place to have that discussion and in a 10yr old primary class is not the time nor place. I know this brethern and he is genuinely a good person that loves the ward and does a lot of service, but what he thought was a teaching moment ended up scaring my daughters perception of how us mormons view the rest of the world, she came away very upset that our LDS church would think of her best friends at school and on her soccer team whom go to other churches as evil people. I had to tell my daughter what President Hinkley said about other churches....that they are all good people and all have truth to them but only our church has the keys to administer eternal ordinances and the priesthood. Can anyone say damage control? In Business Sales and Marketing the brand of your company is not controlled by what you say in your advertising messages, it is controlled by the customers who tell it. The customer controls your brand. How do you make them feel? ..How do our church leaders make us feel? If they are acting in righteousness then the spirit would be present and the person receiving the message would know that there are good intentions behind that message regardless of how awkward it might have sounded. I can remember back in the 90's how the national media would always refer to us as "mormons", and the brethern in SLC tried very hard to explain that we would like to be known as "The Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints", there was even efforts put out in our Ensign magazines instructing us members to take every opportunity available to explain to our non-member friends that we are LDS not mormons. As hard as we tried to control our own brand, the snowball effect was out of control and so eventually in the early 2000's our church embraced the term and now we officially accept the title of "mormon". All these storys of how members are being offended and eventually going in-active by what our leaders are saying and how they say it will eventually be the subject of our church leaders meetings (if it already has not), and things will change for the better.

I liked that missionary story from that feminist blog. More stories like that need to be told. This is the informational age and I believe that the internet is a tool to further the work of the Lord in this dispensation. The leaders in our stakes are old school and were raised in the 70's, 80's, 90's. Most of you all in here have that same old school approach to how the Gospel is delivered. The word never changes but the way we deliver it needs to change, and it is changing. For example I remember being on a mission in 1998 and my mission president telling us that "..the lessons were inspired from God to our apostles and we need to read them word-for-word to our investigators..no side tracking or going off subject". In 2002 they changed that and now go along with whatever the investigators questions are. The way we teach our youth in sunday school has also changed, there is no longer a set lesson but rather a range of lessons to choose from that help the teacher to do less teaching and more of "leading a discussion". From what I was told as the Sunday school president in my ward...coming from my stake presidency was that "...we are loosing many of our youth to other churches that cater more toward the younger generation by doing all sorts of fun activities...we need to cater more toward their needs and engage with them in our classes." From what I am hearing this same teaching method is going to be implemented into the adult gospel doctrine class too. Is this because we are losing adult members as well? ..we need to cater more to their individual needs and concerns rather then painting one wide brush stroke across the board? I love the way our church is continually progressing to meet the needs of its membership, not according to the ways of the world but according to the ways of our Lord, I believe that our apostles and leaders are called to receive continual revelation to guide the church and that means things change as we pray and ask for advice about problems we face on a daily basis. As far as the young man in that blog that was told he was following satan by not serving a mission, the word and letter of the law will not change but (by devine inspiration) the way our stake and ward leaders deliver these types of messages will change and evolve.

I grew up in a small country town predominately LDS. Everyone knows each others family for generations so it really is a family setting in a church environment. The benefit to this is that we look at others the way a brother or parent views them. No one is ashamed of their convict son or gay daughter or divorced parents. Its all love. Now that I have been living in another state for 20 years and been in 4 different wards, I notice that same family feeling seems to exist with the generational local members more then transplants. I can see how it would be rough for you in your situation but I suggest that you decide what town you want to live in and make it your permanent home, go to sacrament meetings and remember the names of the members that come and greet you. While out in the community if you see those members make it a point to say hi and converse. Try to make friends with members outside of the normal church scene because too many members are caught up in the mentality of "assigned friends" from church callings. Wishing you the best Sumiko!

I grew up in a small country town predominately LDS. Everyone knows each others family for generations so it really is a family setting in a church environment. The benefit to this is that we look at others the way a brother or parent views them. No one is ashamed of their convict son or gay daughter or divorced parents. Its all love. Now that I have been living in another state for 20 years and been in 4 different wards, I notice that same family feeling seems to exist with the generational local members more then transplants. I can see how it would be rough for you in your situation but I suggest that you decide what town you want to live in and make it your permanent home, go to sacrament meetings and remember the names of the members that come and greet you. While out in the community if you see those members make it a point to say hi and converse. Try to make friends with members outside of the normal church scene because too many members are caught up in the mentality of "assigned friends" from church callings. Wishing you the best Sumiko!

Interesting comment, this makes me think more.

I have recently become interested in this topic because ever since I was a youth up until 2 years ago I was (off & on) addicted to porn. at 19 I served an honorable mission (struggled with porn while in the field), came home and married in the temple and still struggled with porn, it didnt matter how hard I tried I just couldnt resist. Two years ago when I turned 37 I think my testosterone levels plummeted, I no longer crave sex and porn is no longer a temptation. Had for some reason I died when I was 33yrs old with a porn addiction would that have cemented my place in heaven? Then that would have been unfair because now that Im 39 yrs old I have overcome that addiction because of a biological change in my body. Now what if in 2030 science finds a way to make that biological change accesible via a pill? I would have certainly taken that pill while on my mission and avoided all that sin. Would God not recognize my intent although my actions were sinful?

Does anyone in here believe that there will be rehabilitation in the spirit world like how we have here on earth?

Although we LDS believe that Faith and Works are crucial to our spiritual development and progress, I am reassured in the fact that Jesus still died for me and through him I will receive the highest glory that I deserve.

Yes, through missionary work Im positive that most pure in heart members of other faiths will accept baptism and want to enter into a covenant with the Lord. To me, zion is a place where the covenanted people gather and the non-covenanted people around them have an opportunity to join them.

If he was a paraplegic in a wheel chair with a mole growing on his forehead the size of a potato would you still be mad at him for his behavior? If you were a single parent you would not have someone (your spouse) sitting in the basement that you could blame for being a lazy spouse. Sometimes to make things work you need to either get out of the relationship or change your mindset. There is no doubt that there is some sort of mental challenges going on with him but I think the only way for you to cope is to roll with it, lower your expectations of him, take on the challenge and stop feeling sorry for yourself. change your mindset because you will not be able to change his until he wants to do it himself. I could take a shovel and dig a hole 30 feet deep in the ground looking for the water table, it might take me weeks to accomplish this task but I would pace myself, work smart and hard with a smile on my face. The minute that a second person join me in the digging is when expectations are created. If I shoveled for 8 hours on monday and the 2nd person only shoveled for 1 hour I would be pissed, thats just human nature. we should just be happy that a second person is around to even take 1% of the workload or just be around to keep us company.

Alls I have to say is that the flavor of each ward is very different, the gospel and principles are the same but the people are different. I have felt very comfortable im most wards I have been in and I have also felt like an outcast in one particular ward. it is no different from a work environment and classroom environment. Every where you go there are people, every where you go there will be people problems.

Lose yourself in service and you will find yourself. This is probably the best way to rid your subconscious thoughts of "trying" to feel the spirit.

I agree with that and that is the BEST way but it isnt the most realistic. Especially in this day and age where attention spans of our children are getting shorter because of the vast amounts of media content on the internet. When I got called as the sunday school president a year ago the bishop approached me and emphasized the new curriculum for the "come follow me" youth program. Its a better approach to how our leaders want us to teach the youth, basically by choosing among several topics of the month and having an open discussion rather then a book lesson. The reason he said this? because we are losing our youth to other churches that are catering to their young minds via fun and engaging activities. As an adult surrounded by all this technology I find myself becoming more like the young generation and doing all my secular and spiritual learning from the internet. I have learned more about the details of LDS doctrine from this forum then anywehre else in my whole life. why? because there are a lot of smart LDS members here in this forum sharing their spiritual knowledge on topics that are not discussed in church and I do feel the spirit while studying in this forum or other places on the internet

dont mean to pick on you because you are filipino but my cousin served his mission in the Philippines and he had a filipino sr. companion (who converted to LDS from catholic) that woke him up one morning and said "get ready", my cousin said "for what?", ..."just get ready" they walked across the street to a catholic chapel and the sr companion got married to his girlfriend. lol

Anatess let me say that I dont have the most attentive mind and no matter where im at (church/school/business meeting..) I only absorb half of whats said and 1hr later I forget the other half...lol. BUT ...I have never heard it put like this about the purpose of Church, it makes sense and I am now subscribed to that belief but is it ok for me to use this as official information and repeat it in my church lessons and callings? I have been the sunday school president for a year now and in the church handbook my duty is .... "..participates in efforts to build faith and strengthen individuals and families..He comes to ward council meeting prepared to suggest ways members can improve learning and teaching at church and in their homes." it does not say anything about when and where to learn about "controversial" topics. I wish this was common knowledge with all our leaders and in all our wards, this is the first time I have heard it put this way. The only thing I have ever heard from an interview with stake president or bishop is "do you have regular family home evenings?" he never gets personal with me and help to address the concerns of my family members and suggest me what to teach. I think this is the reason why so many people that leave the church complain about a leadership that act like robots and repeat the same things over and over again ...."do u read the scriptures? do you pray?...etc.." Where is the priesthood/parents of the home supposed to learn about the "controversial" topics? Dont you think the church would want to control the message about these topics and teach it in their way rather then letting its members search the internet for the answers and then end up being swaded by the critics who are way more active at exposing the "controversial" topics with their bias attached to it. Instead of burying the church essays or journals in pages of text on lds.org why not make a 2 minute video of each of those topics?

If you are going to join the LDS church then I would assume that you have gained a belief in the restoration of the gospel in its entirety. Knowing that should make it easier to know that by the power of the priesthood (which was restored by Joseph smith) is how the LDS officiate in all their ordinances. From baby blessings to baptisms, to healing of the sick, ordinations and yes even funerals. * as far as resigning from the catholic church I have no clue, what I have observed over the years from many LDS members that leave our church is that they leave with out saying a word, the only problem with that is that our church records do not reflect their status so we think they are still in the fold and we constantly reach out to bring them back in (via phone calls or house visits), those former members finally tells us to leave them alone and ask that we take their names out of the system.

Maybe im just oldschool but I could never understand why anyone in their right minds would need to do anything on their smart phones unrelated to church during the sacrament hour. Need to send/receive an important call? go outside and do that Need to surf the web for sport scores or social media status's? go home and do that on the flip side txt messaging allows my bishopric to inform/relay messages that are urgent/important during the sacrament meeting. for example, if an inactive female member suddenly shows up to sacrament the 1st counselor or bishop will text the relief society leader a heads up.

What about the thousands of underage members whose parents are not LDS? Where are they going to learn from?