David13

The only thing needed was one good marksman inside with a conceal carry and a well-placed shot.

They were just trying to help.  And were concerned about you.
Would you rather, as sometimes happens, they paid no attention to you, they didn't even notice you were gone, and then they all drifted off to the next venue without you?
It's always difficult to get the right amount of involvement, or non involvement.
dc

It depends on the nature of the question, I suppose.  I guess the general guideline I try to use (and it's not a perfect one) is that if it involves something about the ceremonies themselves that I wouldn't know if I hadn't actually been through the ceremony--it's probably something I'm supposed to work out on my own or with a trusted friend/family member/bishop/temple worker.  Otherwise, though; I think more general temple-related questions are usually fair game for open discussion in boards such as this.
The only caveat to that--and I hope I don't sound like a condescending donkey as I say this--but I think there is a special value to having worked a question out and reaching a satisfactory solution on one's own, versus simply having some other source provide the solution to me.  Engaging that process hones our ability to receive revelation in other areas of our lives.

My first off the top of the head is the Temple.
You can get answers at the Temple.  For some questions.
But I also have to wonder what your questions are.
You know, God is a mystery.  We do not have the capacity to ever "understand" or "know" all the answers. 
My experience has shown that the best thing I can do in going to the Temple is just go.  And experience.  Rather than try to intellectualize it.
Yesterday at the Temple they didn't know two answers.  To my mundane questions.  What were two large urns for?  I theorized 'decoration'.  They couldn't disagree.
Had they redecorated the Celestial room since the Temple was built in 1954?  They didn't know, but didn't think it had been.
Most of the other questions are answered in the Endowment ceremony.  But it's different for everyone.  Everyone gets something different out of it.
Coming out of the Manti Temple, I was asked "what did you learn?"  I learned how little I know.
dc

True the church is not a social club.  But yes we are there to fellowship.  And that's an important part of it.
dc

For me the Temple is a glorious experience.  I learn and experience something new every time. Mostly what I learn every time is how little I know.
I think it's important to go with an open mind, without any particular expectations.  Just go to experience it.
Then also go down to SLC for the live session after your first sessions.
I found that to be so much more meaningful, in terms of the human element.
It was a new experience for me this year myself.
dc

What is with the little shreds of toilet paper women leave all over the stalls? Are they doing toilet paper origami in there? Seriously, what the heck?
My college career included a stint as a custodian, so I cleaned more than my fair share of restrooms. I won't pretend that the men's urinals were anything other than gross. But on the whole, the women's restrooms were worse, hands down. I have never talked to a custodian who disagreed with that assessment.
Women: They look all pretty and innocent, but just wait until you have to clean their public restroom.

Yes. By definition. This is not a marginal case or a "now let's not judge" thing. In this, she is very clearly on the wrong side of the bright line.

Oh..and....yes. Absolutely, no questions, without a doubt. Yes.

It's true. There is no God in homosexuality.

I think it does, or at the very least is placing oneself on the pathway that leads there.  This belief is in direct contradiction to the Gospel and modern revelations.
 
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" defines the official position of the church on family, marriage, gender roles, and human sexuality.
Some key points from the Proclamation:
Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God.
The family is ordained of God and central to God's plan.
As a beloved spirit son or daughter of Heavenly Parents, each person has a divine nature and destiny.
Gender is an essential characteristic of human identity before, during, and after life on Earth.
Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.
Sexual relations are sacred and properly take place only between a married man and woman.
Procreation is divinely appointed, and therefore life is sacred and an important part of God's plan.
Disintegration of the family will bring "calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets."

Yes, I get all this. It's frustrating because religious logic makes no sense to them, in fact it's offensive to those who want to believe they are shackled to their attractions.    I wouldn't be surprised to find out that yes, some are "born that way" with some feelings, mannerisms, interests that culturally usually are attributed to the opposite sex. Maybe their amorous (meaning they just love hanging out with and being close to my own gender)  feelings toward the same sex also were part of their genetic make-up. But in no way do I believe the impulse to copulate with the same sex is inborn. That's what society has told them. Now that the world is telling them that all these "feelings"  mean they are gay...well, by golly,  they must be true to themselves. But when asked when they first learned what it meant to be gay, they will all categorically deny they ever learned it from anyone else.   
So that's my theory of the day. Don't know if it's true, but I do know for a fact that if men were to perpetuate the the species with other men, male anatomy would have been created to accommodate that activity. Same with women creating more humans with women. But it wasn't. So biologically and physically (by which we were created by our maker) it was never meant to be. 
 
As far as the apostasy part goes, I guess it's such a personal thing that I may never know how such and such an individual really feels. but I'm pretty sure I recognize blasphemy and disrespect for the prophet when I see it. That's at least a step down the road to apostasy. 

IMO, unless one is a judge in Israel, one cannot make that decision about another person.  We can know what is true from studying the scriptures and words of modern prophets.  We can testify of the truth.  We can treat all of our brothers and sisters with the kind of love the Savior teaches us to show (or try to), without condoning sinful behavior.  But determination of apostasy belongs to those with keys.
It seems to me that this woman's comments reflect a lack of understanding of the complex interaction between several principles and she's been deceived into believing her reaction is the only way a loving person could respond to those who are suffering in relation to this issue.  This is one of Satan's greatest tricks - to present us with a false, only-2-options choice where one way is obviously evil and the other appears good but is really just another form of evil.  The apparent difference between the two "options", and the fervor around the issue prevent many from seeing that there are other options, and so they pick the one which appears good, not realizing that what they're picking is just as evil as the other.

The other thing is time.
How much time has gone by.
They are waiting to see if in fact you have changed, or it was just a temporary fad.  Just a thing to try to fit in. 
Or is it a total life change that will last?  Will you endure to the end?  Or will you end up back out there in the street with the old ways.
I'm not questioning you.  I'm not asking you for answers.  I'm just saying those are the questions you have to ask yourself, and answer to yourself and to your maker.
Whether those people are smarmy to you or not does not matter.  What matters is who you are, what you will become, where you are going.
I know there are many with me, still the same way.  If I were to read their minds I know they are saying "that guy will never last, he won't make it.  He'll disappear one day soon."
It's just human nature.
I just joined the church (having been called in) at age 65.  Can you blame them for being skeptical?  I don't.  But I know who I am, what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and where I'm going. 
That's what's important.
And I know, some have told me, that I'm an inspiration to them.
dc

Shakespeare didn't think so:
The evil that men do lives after them;  the good is oft interred with their bones (Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene II, lines 1619-20).

People remember the bad things you've done when you're alive.  People remember the good things you've done when you're dead.

Thanks. I needed to hear this!

Wonderful!

It's hard to imagine, but writing is a skill unto itself and not directly related to intelligence. Lots of very smart people can't write their way out of a wet paper bag. Politics are important. It is worth your while to learn how to say things such that others don't get offended. If you don't develop this gift and instead choose to focus on being honest and very precise, prepare yourself for a lifetime of being viciously misinterpreted. (Feel free to complain about it, if you like, but it won't do you any good.) Many people are wonderful under the right conditions. Seriously, it's like being in the presence of God. Under the wrong conditions, everyone is a jerk. No exceptions. The only question is how big a jerk they are. Sometimes, you should be grateful that someone is only being a little bit of a jerk. No job is often preferable to a miserable job, but nothing beats a good job.

Alfred Hitchcock is said to have given the following acting advice to actors who couldn't seem to find their characters within them: "Fake it."

I invited the whole ward because I thought that would be a good idea.  It would get them out to the Temple more, give them a social interaction opportunity, give them the opportunity to support me, etc.  A lot of them have kids so they don't get to get out much.
Something to do but with no admission fee.  Not that I know they don't have anything to do.  They are all busy.
And some company for me.
But it backfired.  So be careful with that.
I heard yesterday that while I am praying to move to Utah, they are praying that I stay here.
dc

I invited the whole ward because I thought that would be a good idea.  It would get them out to the Temple more, give them a social interaction opportunity, give them the opportunity to support me, etc.  A lot of them have kids so they don't get to get out much.
Something to do but with no admission fee.  Not that I know they don't have anything to do.  They are all busy.
And some company for me.
But it backfired.  So be careful with that.
I heard yesterday that while I am praying to move to Utah, they are praying that I stay here.
dc

I invited the whole ward because I thought that would be a good idea.  It would get them out to the Temple more, give them a social interaction opportunity, give them the opportunity to support me, etc.  A lot of them have kids so they don't get to get out much.
Something to do but with no admission fee.  Not that I know they don't have anything to do.  They are all busy.
And some company for me.
But it backfired.  So be careful with that.
I heard yesterday that while I am praying to move to Utah, they are praying that I stay here.
dc

Okay, I understand about lawyers.  But I believe it is different for missionaries.  They don't need to keep a "professional" distance when the main assignment of their job is to love.  Now, sexual relationships, yes.  Keep distance.
Anyway, we take missionaries out fishing or skating etc. etc. on PT days.  And they teach us stuff when they're here for dinner (we usually have them over on FHE nights) so they don't just eat and run.

Costs have nothing to do with the price of admission. The only thing that counts is what people are willing to pay.
This drives, not only the entrance fee, but, indirectly, the costs, too: if the costs are higher than the revenue, the park will either find a way to reduce those costs, or close down.
The Law of Supply'n'Demand is universal, and all suppliers are price takers, not price setters.
Lehi