Annabelli

I would love to go to BYU and take some religious classes. I understand that they have something like 432 different classes. (maybe not all offered each semester...I don't know) But I have learned that they are now offering online courses. So I am going to do that. As for paid clergy, I can only compare it to our city mayor and council members who are not paid either. I don't think it would make a large difference in the number of candidates if it was paid. Qualified people are either willing to take on the responsibilities or not.

I just don't know if that is the same as repentance or not. I was told if a parent, in a bit of uncontrolled verbal rage" calls their child an obscene name, is horrified for doing it and apologizes, that is repentance. Is asking someone's forgiveness through apology complete repentance or do we need to also ask the Lord for repentance as well? (I don't cuss my kids but "rotten snot" came out of my mouth once.)

Well, I have never thrown anything else on the ground since. (more fear than repentance I'm sorry to say) I have helped the Kiwanis pick up trash on the two Adopt A Highway sections that they have. There's always weird stuff on the ground, some of it blown there by the wind (aluminum foil, hats, & for some reason we find a lot of socks). I'm really sorry that I threw the gooey candy bar wrapper out because some critter might have found it and you know chocolate is not good for them. It was too gooey to check the block to see if I had won anything just to let you know. So it's not like I knew that I threw out a looser. I hope it has just turned to soil composition since it was a few years ago. If I see the Lord holding up a sign that says "Snickers Bars" then I'll know that I really did not repent.

If this is my big stuff. Once I did receive a warrant for my arrest in the mail on a Friday after 5:00 which told me to report to an office on Monday. It did not say what the warrant was for and having a few days to think what it might be for, I realized that I had thrown a really gooey chocolate candy wrapper out the car window not so long before. When I went to their office on Monday, the warrant was for someone with a similar name who was about 30 years older than me. Do I still need to worry about the candy wrapper?

They eventually got an Oscar.

My son didn't know what bruises were when he noticed one on his shin when he was six years old and started playing soccer. The scar on his elbow came when he ripped it playing street hockey. The other kid lived with skinned knees for a while when he was roller blading. Once he broke his foot running through the house with his ankles tied together with an afgan. I always thought that hiding under the bed constituted "time out." I grounded my older son two times and he grounded himself once. I can remember grounding the other one once for sure.

When my son was 3 years old, we were in a small grocery store. I was looking at grapes or tomatoes and he ran on down the same isle and picked up three cans of .15 cent soda (one for each of us). He was coming back smiling and happy and I was just a little angry. (maybe I was just so controlling that I thought I needed to be conferred with every decision small or large) I told him to take it back and that we would buy it next. He looked devastated and took it back. A grandma standing nearby told me that I had done a horrible thing and I do believe that she was right. After that, we both made a grocery lists at home. He drew pictures, usually cookies and cereal. When we went to the grocery store, he was allowed to choose his cookies and cereal (usually Chips O'Hoy and Captain Crunch). The only problems that we had was when he put super size packages in the cart. On another occasion, we had a freak week in February and it was 80F. Of course he had out grown his summer clothes so we had to wear jeans and t-shirts all week. A lot of kids were running around in shorts. The next week we were back in winter and it snowed 6". We were at Walmart and they had just put out their summer stock and he picked out some shorts and a shirt and brought them over. I think that I just flipped out. I handled these days so poorly. Next the other child was now older and we were having conflicts about Pokemon Card purchases and Video Game Units. Then there was the popularity of fast food and McDonalds and collecting beanie babies. Nearing 14 years old, my son said "you always make me feel bad when I buy something." I just felt like I was back in the pop can. Whenever they talk about buying a 40 gallon aquarium and a piranha, I say okay just save a few bucks. When they walk in the door a few hours later with a 2 gallon aquarium and a goldfish, I'm okay with that until they start talking about buying a 40 gallon aquarium and a piranha. Then I'm a little ticked off. These things have built some trenches between us. My hardest thing about being a parent is that I am not very materialist and they seem just the opposite. Oh well, whenever people talk about repentance, I think about this a lot.

Yesterday, I see what mistake that I have made and I feel very sorry and I ask for forgiveness. Today, I am thinking about the same mistake but I start thinking about the circumstances that I made that choice and pondering if I was not justified and it was not my fault. Am I taking back my repentance?

CrimsonKairos: Whenever I have asked for a Priesthood blessing for something in my home and the Priesthood holder says no, I take that to mean that the Lord has also said no. I do not call someone else in the Priesthood and ask them to administer the blessing. I also do not perform the ordinance myself just because I want it. I believe that if there is not Priesthood available that I should rely on faith & prayer.

Grew up with the horny toads. We especially like them because they were harmless and one of the few creatures around that were not poisonous. You have your poisonous lizards, scorpions, tyranchulas and snakes.

I agree with all the responses here. Your Sister may be struggling but she has accomplished so much and that is very uplifting already. We are most comforted through Prayers.

Thank you for your post. I respect your feelings about this. I will refer to the material that you suggested.

Hi jaguar, I noticed your kind response to CG's struggles, and that you shared a few of them yourself. Doctor Steuss lists a number of fantastic references, but only clumsily listed my favorite for someone like you who is starting with the basics. (tsk tsk my son from another mother). (Actually, he knows better than I, but don't let him know.) Rough Stone Rolling: Joseph Smith, by Richard Bushman, would be an excellent book for someone like you if you'd like the questions in your post answered. For example, the issue of wine. Joseph did drink wine occasionally, but not often. He did have some wine on the night of his murder, but you have to keep in mind, the WOW was not yet a commandment. If you read Bushman's book, it puts many of these issues into perspective. Even as a non-member I learned quite a bit and many of my perspectives changed dramatically. Take care, Elphaba THEY SERVE WINE IN JAIL?

Bullying someone at church is better? I did not say it was better.....I said it was a different issue and was not an act of anti-mormon. Bullying is terrible.

God is not going to call women to the Priesthood one at a time; God will call them all at the same time. Yet on June 9, 1978, the LDS Church's Deseret News carried a startling announcement by the First Presidency of the LDS Church that stated a new revelation had been given: We have pleaded long and earnestly in behalf of these, our faithful brethren, spending many hours in the upper room of the Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance. He has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the church may receive the holy priesthood, with power to exercise its divine authority, and enjoy with his loved ones every blessing that flows therefrom, including the blessings of the temple. Accordingly, all worthy male members of the church may be ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or color (Deseret News, June 9, 1978, p. 1A).

Bullying someone in Church is quite different from being an anti-mormon whose direct intent is to destroy the LDS Church.

Interesting ideas. When I read them, I wondered "On what basis is she making these assertions?" Are those based on some kind of support or just possibilities you've thought of? Thank you These possibilities derive from observation of the female population in society and how they react to cultural transitions. I utilized much of my self directed study in response for the need to unionize the lower working class which consist mainly of women and especially in health care. Women's organizations do pressure women to recruit and it is necessary to evaluate their platforms. I do not belong to any of the organizations. Women base their religious preferences from the spiritual heart. Most women choose families first and a career that is compatible when it is necessary to work outside the home. Women rarely choose religion for authority unless they are "Queen Bees." Cultural transitions almost always occur with war and the loss of a generation of men. There are many displaced women due to this. Example: Vietnam and women entering the work force...not a coincidence. Women marrying younger and older men has created a high divorce rate creating single mothers and children. "God is not going to call women to the Priesthood one at a time; God will call them all at the same time." Do we know the name of the first black man who was called into the Priesthood?

That sums it up to say that you have nothing on "your plate" beyond the scope of this discussion. What "I cannot do now" is SIN. (I live in the USA.)

ChicagoGuy: You seem to have crossed paths with some anti-mormon material. Reading the LDS Church History and making yourself knowledgeable of the Church doctrine is always the keys to understanding, developing a testimony and strengthening your faith. There are many scriptures which talk about false teachings (anti-mormon...etc.). Which is more important to you? The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints or the words against it?

Just an example of women in Priesthood in a Jewish Synagogue. My neighbor who was a Rabbi said that four men and six women attended the dawn prayer service and that 10 men made the quorum whole. So it was not an official prayer service. When women were brought into the Priesthood, four men showed up for the prayer service and no women. In most religions where women have been given the authority, only a few have been ordained through the theology seminarys. The "Big Picture" of women dominating the Priesthood never unfolded except for a few who choose to make it a career.

Eight years is the turning point in most marriages. If he wants you at the pool hall, he's not cheating on you. And he either wants you there because he enjoys being with you OR he is so controlling that he cannot let you out of his sight. I cannot handle not picking up a crumb when it falls on the floor. I cannot handle it when someone's crumbs hit the floor and they ignore it. I guess that I am a crumb person too. I tend to think that you may both be victims of each other. From the things that you have told us, especially eight years of marriage, it is the little things that annoy and concern both of you. Your husband sounds like he may be a "high energy person" (outgoing) and you tend to enjoy your own space. It is not unusual for married people to have different interest as long as they are respectful of each other's feelings. If your Bishop counseled you to stay in the marriage and work things out, he obviously did not see any physical abuse. Your private life is as much concern to him as your Church attendance.

Seeing the Priesthood through the eyes of a child: When my child was about six years old, he was invited to go somewhere with his buddy and his friend's father. My son said something to the effect that they were going to have to be good because his dad was a man. I asked him "what is the difference between a mommy and a daddy?" He said "a mommy is like a kid and a daddy is all grown up." I think that he was seeing how women are very good at short term goals and that men are very good with long term goals. I do not think it had to do with maturity. A mother would provide for him as he needed it but his father would take him to the Celestial Kingdom. The short term goals of women contribute to the long term goals of men. Do my sons hold the Priesthood, yes. Do I, No. Their relationship with the Lord is much different than mine.

I think the "cat fight" going on between Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama is ridiculous. We have not seen this bad behavior before. We have seen many examples of the relationships that our First Ladies in Washington DC have had with other wives of world leaders. And that is to include Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev.

One of my child's favorite books was Harold and The Purple Crayon. He was about 4 years old. We were preparing to have the interior of our house painted so we were moving everything around. I was in his room and decided to look behind the bedroom door for dust since it was always open. I was very surprised at the drawing on the wall behind the door. It was a purple outline of a ghost with a halo. I asked my child if he wanted this wall painted explaining that the picture would be gone. He said "oh yes, we need all of our walls painted." The painter had a special spray for wall markings and zap, the picture was gone and the wall was painted. A few months later, I was in his room collecting socks for the laundry and looking for a mate to one. When I looked behind the bedroom door, I was startled to see a purple outline of a ghost with a halo. I never mentioned it to him. But I can tell you that I forgot the sock and left the room. Who cares if the light was left on or not. Maybe not funny but I thought it was interesting. I went back into the room again probably a million times or so but I never looked behind the door again.

Well Snow, I have researched women's responses to organizing their work places, communities, and female family relationships. One woman in a sweat shop said "we're a bunch of back stabbing b******." Until women accept organization in their daily lives with other women, they have no discipline or respect to be in the Priesthood. God is apparently waiting for women to humble themselves and work together. Do women have the attributes necessary to do so? God is not going to call women to the Priesthood one at a time; God will call them all at the same time. I know that this is not going to be a popular response but it is a truthful one.