Josiah

You can talk to your friend in the front row of a rock concert, but it's a lot easier to go someplace quiet.

Hullo and welcome Zionseeker! If I understand you correctly, you're interested and hoping to find greater truth here, but concerned that an answer hasn't come yet, and especially concerned that you seem to be half-expected to ignore that fact and convert regardless? Let me know if that's not right. If it is, this might interest you:
 
I was a missionary also, not too long ago. Interestingly, *most* people I met didn't get a clearly recognizable answer from God immediately upon praying and reading for the first or second time. The more common pattern was that people felt about like you seem to feel, read and prayed every day/most days, came to church, etc. for quite some time first. Then as they more fully understood what they were praying about, and were willing to change their lives accordingly, answers began to come. That's how it has always worked for me personally, too.
 
So faith isn't just getting baptized with no answers from God. For now, faith probably means being willing to "keep waiting for the divine phone to ring." In other words, keep praying, reading, and attending for a good while, and be committed to go through with it fully if and when God answers.
 
*Edit: looks like char beat me to it. 

Hi  :)
 
James 1:5-7 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord."

I've been a member of the LDS church my whole life, and I didn't get an answer the first several times that I asked. Turns out I wasn't ready to hear the answer, because I needed to learn how it was that I myself recognized the Spirit. And it wasn't any of the ways my parents or teachers said that they recognized it. It took me a while to separate my expectations from what I was actually experiencing, and it ultimately started falling into place once I diligently yet humbly making the gospel a part of my every day, moment to moment existence. I don't know if this helps, but I hope you find the answers you're searching for soon. 
 
And welcome to the forum!

Listen to your Bishop.

Congratulations! This will be a day to remember with joy for the rest of your life.
 
Along with your list of clothing and towels, remember that this isn't something that should be stressful or worrisome to you. It is the beginning of a lifetime of devotion to your Savior, a deepening of your relationship with Him, and an increase of joy and perspective. Do what it takes to be prepared, but don't worry if it doesn't go perfectly smoothly. A few baptisms do, but many include forgotten towels or clothing, multiple attempts, late starts, or whatever. In my experience, those things don't take much away from how amazing you will feel and how you and the Savior together will change your life in the coming years. So look forward to it and enjoy this week! You got this. 

If that were the case, my daughter would be a gazillionaire. She is probably the most righteous woman I know... yet she is dirt poor in material things... but, blessed abundantely in spiritual things.

To me it reads like someone may be blessed or prosper with material abundance/wealth (among other things) for being righteous but one's assets are not a direct relation to being righteous. Dunno if that makes sense, but yeh, wealth could be one of many prosperous blessings for someone living God's commandments.

1. Bring your own towel(s). You'll need at least one. But remember your hair will get wet too, so if you feel more comfortable, bring more than 1.

2. Bring dry underclothes. Make sure the ones you wear to be baptized in are white. The jumpsuits for baptism are lined, so your underclothes probably won't show, but just in case, wear white.

3. Bring a couple of plastic bags to hold your wet clothes/towels.

4. Bring a hairdryer or some way to fix your hair quickly. You will have time after the baptism to dry off and get clothed, but you won't be able to take a very long time as there will be people waiting for you.

5. Don't worry about the small stuff. Enjoy this moment and when you get home for the evening, remember to record your thoughts and feelings. There will be times in your life that you will have doubts or difficult times and reading these emotions will help strengthen you.

I was baptized in 2011 and didn't have to bring towels, they were provided and there were plenty of them.  If you haven't already asked, someone can you let you know whether or not you need to bring towels.
 
Don't worry about see-through.  That's one reason why the jumpsuits are provided, to ensure modesty.
 
And, yes, don't forget a second set of underwear.  People have been known to forget that their underwear is going to get wet.  My baptism got delayed a few minutes because one of the missionaries forget to bring a set of garments and had to run back to the apartment.  (I have MS, so both of the missionaries who taught me the lessons were in the font, just in case.  One stood behind me, but I came back up out of the water just fine).
 
I had a couple of friends from the ward who helped me in the changing room, fetching the right size jumpsuit, towels, etc.  I found it very helpful.  Especially when - right after I had shed the wet jumpsuit - one of the sisters stuck her head in the changing room and said we had to do it over.  A word had been missed or said not quite right.  One of the brethren noticed it, they all conferred and agreed.  Getting a second jumpsuit on when still dripping wet and with wet underwear was a challenge! But when all was said and done, it just made one of the best days of my life even more memorable!  :)
 
I was very nervous at times about the baptism, simply because of my fear of water.  But, for me, there is something so powerful about the sheer physicality of the ordinance - the going down into the water and coming back out - that is indescribably beautiful.
 
Beefche's advice about recording your feelings is spot-on.
 
Congratulations! It's going to be an awesome day!

With all due respect . . . how could anyone possibly answer anything other than "yes" to your question, framed as it is?
 
 
I don't think the Church is significantly more spiritual now than it used to be.  I do think we're a lot more spiritually exhibitionistic than we used to be.  Seems like every Latter-day Saint who has a spiritual experience now feels impelled to write a blog, if not a book, making that experience available for public inspection.  I call it Snuffer-Pontius Spiritual Selfie Syndrome™.
 
Naturally, if the Spirit tells you to share, then share.  But we should bear in mind that there's a strain of "look-at-me'ism" that permeates our culture.  Are we sure we understand what's really motivating us? 

You do not discuss it with her, stop with productive hugs, and immediately drop all "what could have been" thoughts.  If necessary, drop seeing her until you can control your heart.  

But these two options ignore the other half of what agency is. Accountability. You don't have to remove choice to remove agency. You can also remove accountability. Now, doesn't that sound more appealing than the two options you mention? Is there any reason to suppose that 1/3 part of heaven followed Satan based on the promise of being made either slaves or stupid? Particularly as compared to a promise that whatever they chose they would simply not be accountable?

Hey everyone! I found this forum just a few days ago. I've always enjoyed online discussions because I love to learn from others' perspectives (easier for me when I can go back and reread what I and others have said). Anyway, I decided I'd see if I could find an lds-based forum to have discussions in more of a gospel context than you usually find online. So one google search later, here I am!
 
Let's see, about me...
 
I'm probably younger than most on this forum. I just finished serving a mission a couple months ago and will be starting college in fall. I grew up as a member. I'm a big reader, and a lifelong fan of the scriptures, as you might have guessed from my avatar. The 'application' part of scripture study has always been a bit more challenging, but I'm trying!
 
I don't claim to know much, but I'll probably put in my two cents here anyway.    I'm excited to learn from all of your perspectives and insights! Looking forward to getting to know you all.

I think it's more of his wife's job to encourage retirement if she wants her husband around more often. If he's happy, I don't know how much of the kids' opinion will matter. If it's affecting the marriage that's another matter entirely, but still should mainly be dealt with in the bounds of the marriage.

The one thing we, as a church, do not want to do is to alienate her from her family. We firmly believe in the 10 commandments- including honor thy father and mother.  We do want to make sure she is growing.

I think I'll leave this here... it might shed some light.
 
"I think we pay too little attention to the value of meditation, a principle of devotion. In our worship there are two elements: One is spiritual communion arising from our own meditation; the other, instruction from others, particularly from those who have authority to guide and instruct us. Of the two, the more profitable introspectively is the meditation. Meditation is the language of the soul. It is defined as “a form of private devotion, or spiritual exercise, consisting in deep, continued reflection on some religious theme.” Meditation is a form of prayer. We can say prayers without having any spiritual response. We can say prayers as the unrighteous king in Hamlet who said: “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go.”  -- President McKay, 1967
 
Source >> http://scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=1550

Great topic, thanks for asking PC!
 
At least to me, meditating is not so much about emptying the mind of absolutely everything as it is about emptying the mind of all things worldly or temporal. So I don't "find anything within" per se, I just try to make room for whatever God wants to put there. My personal prayers are more meaningful and full of gratitude if I take a couple moments before the prayer to meditate and dump the unimportant worries I would have prayed about otherwise. When I don't do this, I find that I tend to spend lots of time praying for things that don't really matter.  Meditating with a focus on a scripture or spiritual principle (aka pondering) is fantastic also.
 
I agree that it could potentially be dangerous if done with the wrong intentions. Unusual spiritual experiences happen, but it's on the Lord's timetable and in His way - all we can do is always be spiritually ready for it. If meditation, or anything else, is used to try to force an experience outside the veil or anything like that, there's room for trouble. My opinion.

Just like Fasting commands the body to respond to the spirit, so Meditation commands the mind to follow our spirit. 
 
We are told to control our thoughts and to me a habit of setting small periods of time to momentarily quiet the constant chatter in our heads strengthens our ability to listen to and recognize the still small voice of the spirit and keep our thoughts in control so we don't drown it out or drive it away with unholy thoughts. I also think this type of meditation strengthens our focus and ability to channel our thoughts.

Great topic, thanks for asking PC!
 
At least to me, meditating is not so much about emptying the mind of absolutely everything as it is about emptying the mind of all things worldly or temporal. So I don't "find anything within" per se, I just try to make room for whatever God wants to put there. My personal prayers are more meaningful and full of gratitude if I take a couple moments before the prayer to meditate and dump the unimportant worries I would have prayed about otherwise. When I don't do this, I find that I tend to spend lots of time praying for things that don't really matter.  Meditating with a focus on a scripture or spiritual principle (aka pondering) is fantastic also.
 
I agree that it could potentially be dangerous if done with the wrong intentions. Unusual spiritual experiences happen, but it's on the Lord's timetable and in His way - all we can do is always be spiritually ready for it. If meditation, or anything else, is used to try to force an experience outside the veil or anything like that, there's room for trouble. My opinion.

Great topic, thanks for asking PC!
 
At least to me, meditating is not so much about emptying the mind of absolutely everything as it is about emptying the mind of all things worldly or temporal. So I don't "find anything within" per se, I just try to make room for whatever God wants to put there. My personal prayers are more meaningful and full of gratitude if I take a couple moments before the prayer to meditate and dump the unimportant worries I would have prayed about otherwise. When I don't do this, I find that I tend to spend lots of time praying for things that don't really matter.  Meditating with a focus on a scripture or spiritual principle (aka pondering) is fantastic also.
 
I agree that it could potentially be dangerous if done with the wrong intentions. Unusual spiritual experiences happen, but it's on the Lord's timetable and in His way - all we can do is always be spiritually ready for it. If meditation, or anything else, is used to try to force an experience outside the veil or anything like that, there's room for trouble. My opinion.

It was practiced back in Nauvoo days, but not nowadays.  
 
OP should just talk to her bishop :)

I often meditate during interminable church talks...but I prefer to call it "contemplating Lehi's Dream"
 

Here's a talk by David O. McKay (former prophet) regarding meditation:
 
https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-david-o-mckay/chapter-4?lang=eng

I haven't read the entire thread but the term abundance to me is subjective.  Nor does the quote say anything about wealth.  It says material abundance.  Does that mean wealth or does it mean that there will, for example, always be extra food in the cupboard?  Does it mean that there will always be enough to cover living expenses and a bit left over at the end of each payday?   It could mean a lot of things.  But I'm not sure it necessarily means wealth.
 
I've known a lot of extremely spiritual people throughout my life but they haven't been wealthy. But they never seemed to lack for the basic necessities of life either.