laronius

Welcome Ann. Sorry for the delayed response. Been kinda busy. But anyway, welcome. There's much we don't know at this point about the roles of both men and women in the divine society of the Gods. We can only surmise how it looks based on how things are here. And how things are here aren't always necessarily Celestial in nature, even within the Church. And I don't mean that as a negative, just that God continues to reveal His will truth upon truth and as yet we don't have the full picture. As such, I don't see anything wrong with longing for additional insight of the true roles of women in the divine plan so long as we don't grow discontent with what God has chosen to reveal up to this point. Trying to force God's hand puts us great danger of getting revelation from the wrong source, which I'm sure you are aware of. Moses 1:35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. I think this is a good scripture to keep in mind in your pondering. God deliberately withholds information from us about how things are beyond our tiny corner of the universe and our blip in time of eternity. I assume that is to keep us focused on the here and now. This requires faith in His plan for us and to some degree contentment with those truths He has chosen to reveal.

A seeming reason for the sleepiness was that the Bridegroom tarried. I interpret that to mean it took longer than expected for Him to appear. One of the signs of the times is that people will say the Lord delayeth His coming. I go back and forth on my interpretation of that, between them using it as an excuse to not prepare, thinking there's plenty of time left and wondering why it's taking so long for Him to appear, feeling despair because of the delay. I guess it could be both. Sis Johnson in GC referred to His coming "at the unexpected midnight hour" implying I believe that it took longer than expected. So if that is the case then sleeping could reference a time when the sense of urgency has passed and the saints fall back into their normal routines of living, either faithfully living the gospel day in and day out or starting to slide in their gospel living.

D&C 45:56 And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins. 57 For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived AI is likely to play a significant role in attempts at deceiving the saints in the last days. Easy intelligence can make for an intellectually and spiritually lazy people, prime for deception. That doesn't mean it can't be used for good but convenience is often the enemy of the spiritual work Pres Nelson continually reminds us is essential for the coming days.

https://youtu.be/LzaMTT5ItZM?si=AnjS6u6qSPTDdZiG https://youtu.be/LzaMTT5ItZM?si=AnjS6u6qSPTDdZiG Elder Holland and praying always

I hadn't thought about that. Might be something there I did find this: D&C 35:21 For they will hear my voice, and shall see me, and shall not be asleep, and shall abide the day of my coming; for they shall be purified, even as I am pure. But this is definitely negative. Not something the wise virgins would be guilty of in my thinking.

In the parable of the ten virgins it says that: 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept What would you say the sleeping symbolizes? It sounds negative but it apparently applies to the whole church membership, not just the foolish virgins.

The way everybody is aging we could see a lot of changes in the first presidency over the next ten years. Of course, there's no guarantee of anything but just based on the visible effects of aging there could be a rather rapid succession of succession at the earthly helm of the Church going forward. Not that it matters, just interesting.

I have heard through the grapevine of at least one stake here in AZ with one hour meetings but it's also an area with historical logistical problems (too many members moving there to keep up with buildings) so I guess that's not very good proof of anything.

As part of the creation story in Abraham we read in 4:18 And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed. Until they obeyed? That's gotta mean something. D&C 93:30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. I find the wording here particularly interesting. The inability for a thing to act for itself = no existence, not just death or lifelessness, but no existence. But if are going to argue that all matter has agency then I don't think we can say God or Satan "causes" anything. Commands and matter obeys? Yes. But not truly causes, at least not directly. Though I don't know that I am on board with the idea that matter obeys Satan, at least not without God's permission or God's omniscience that allows Him to strategically place disobedient matter only where it serves His purposes. Of course, we would need to better understand what exactly the fall did to matter as well. Is fallen matter a thing? If so, how so. I personally don't see any need to place blame on Satan beyond his ability to entice more intelligent beings. Would he do more if he could? Sure. But even evil spirits entering into swine required the Savior's permission

3 Nephi 19:24 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus prayed unto the Father, he came unto his disciples, and behold, they did still continue, without ceasing, to pray unto him; and they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire. Learning to allow God, through the Spirit, direct us in our prayers is the ultimate form of prayer. That's not to say expressing our own thoughts and feelings is unproductive but if our goal is to unify our will with God's, we can't hope for anything more than to have it given unto us what to pray for.

I think many blessings on food are about 80% culturally influenced and 20% doctrinally influenced. It's a good way to teach kids the importance of "giving thanks" in all things which is how I view it's main purpose rather than actually asking for something. Though I do believe that God can and will in fact reorganize the molecules in certain situations for our benefit but those instances are few indeed, especially when living in a first world country. But I will say that I have been known to say "bless this food that it won't hurt me too bad" when eating something not exactly healthy. I don't expect the Lord to make it healthy and I know I really shouldn't be expressing gratitude for something that I know may in fact be harmful to me but I feel compelled to acknowledge the Lord nonetheless. So I hope the Lord is okay with my half cheeky, half serious blessing on my junk food.

There may be instances where a heartfelt recital of the Lord's prayer may help us draw closer to God. But in general prayer needs to be far more personal, using our own words, expressing our own thoughts and feelings about the specifics of our lives.

At our stake conference over the weekend the 70 in attendance quoted Pres Nelson, I believe, in making this exact point. The end of a prayer is not a formality to be gotten out of the way.

Sounds like a nice, simplistic children's song, good for primary. But not sacrament meetingesque for my tastes. Maybe it would engage children more in sacrament meeting, which I am all for if that is the intent.

You aren't comparing Mary's account to her grandson's account, you are comparing her grandson's account to her granddaughter's account, both two generations removed. I don't know why Moroni is given preference over Nephi but even the granddaughter seems to assume it was Moroni. It wouldn't surprise me if the angel never actually stated his name but over time in the story telling a name was assigned.