laronius

I think you have been reading far too much in between the lines. Simply exploring an interesting belief of the Jewish people. But I do appreciate your contributions to the discussion.

I agree but it makes me wonder what if any difference there is between the physical change that must come upon a mortal being to temporarily enter God's presence and one who is essentially taken up into heaven as a translated being. Is there a difference in what actually takes place or is it simply a difference in duration? But yes, resurrection is altogether different so if they have been resurrected then I don't see them returning to mortality as an option. Again, we do have the three Nephites wandering around. Maybe two of them will get a wild hair and decide to go check out Jerusalem. 🤔😁

I know it is assumed that they have been resurrected but I didn't know if it was official doctrine. Maybe Enoch is just going to have to find him a sidekick to pull it off. 😄

This is what I was thinking. These are individuals who are uniquely qualified to reach the Jewish people. Elijah is one individual they are in fact expecting to return whereas Moses and Enoch have delivered the House of Israel from their enemies before. Does present an interesting scenario.

There's some things we definitely don't know about translated beings but if it's anything like those who experience a bodily change when they temporarily enter God's presence then leaving His presence, i.e. come back to earth, may possibly result in becoming mortal again.

Concerning the two witnesses that will preach in Jerusalem, hold back the enemies of the nation of Israel, be killed and then raised after three days, I just read of a Jewish tradition that these two witnesses would be either Moses and Elijah or Enoch and Elijah. I found this pretty interesting because from an LDS perspective it is just assumed they would be members of the then current quorum of 12 apostles. But having that role filled by ancient prophets of the house of Israel who have not yet died has a certain logic to it that kind of makes sense. Any thoughts of why this could or couldn't be a credible fulfillment of this prophecy?

Well the weather prophets appear to have gotten the trajectory of the storm correct this time as southern Florida is getting a bunch of rain. But fortunately it never formed into a hurricane. I have to say that I'm surprised that with all the technology that allows us to measure and observe what happens in our atmosphere, there is still so much unknown about what will actually happen, especially in cases such as this. I don't know about other parts of the country but here in Arizona weather men/women are known as being predictably wrong. They get the sunny and hot part right most of the time but any departure from that is a great mystery.

I guess I don't know which other trees you are referring to. Of course there would have been other trees in the garden just like the ones we have now.

I'm in our Sunday School presidency and we specifically tell the teachers don't even try to cover everything. Familiarize yourselves with the material and see where the Spirit takes you both in preparation and in teaching. If they don't feel particularly impressed to cover anything it is my preference that they cover the material that is freshest in the member's minds to help spark discussion.

There's a fine line the Church has to walk in these matters. While they may be very direct in saying we love everyone regardless of their sexual orientation and support them in ways that don't promote sin, perception is still an issue. For many members that line between accepting the sinner but not the sin is not very definite and therefore promoting something that is not distinctly tied to a specific cause, such as equal housing/employment rights and mental health, it can get tricky real fast. Clearly pride month includes accepting gay sexual activity which is something the Church can't do. So unless the Church can make a very clear distinction between what it does and does not support I wouldn't expect it to get involved.

Me thinks you mock the weather prophets. 😄

It will be added to the curriculum right after proper management of finances. Oh wait, both subjects breed independence. Nevermind, not going to happen.

Here's the first chance of a Hurricane in the gulf. https://www.naplesnews.com/story/weather/hurricanes/2022/05/30/hurricane-agatha-alex-mexico-spaghetti-models-track-florida/9992602002/

The prophet Joseph Smith had a lot revealed to him that he simply could not share because the people were not ready for it. I think this falls within that same category. Though I can't think of a scenario where that would need to be revealed. We are already taught that we can have a general idea by reading the signs of the times. Beyond that I don't know what a more specific time accomplishes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mormon_missionary_entries_by_country This wikipedia article shows (towards the bottom) where missionaries have never officially preached the gospel so I'm assuming not dedicated as well. There may be a more authoritative source somewhere but I don't know. Though modern technology opens up additional possibilities about how the gospel can be preached and where. But in my opinion there will eventually be missionaries everywhere, but much has to happen to get to that point.

Dear Mom and Dad, We just found the most golden investigator you can imagine. Oddly though, we can't get him to take off his hat or sunglasses or pull down his collars. But otherwise he's great!

As a missionary I went with the Bishop of the ward I was serving in to the house of a woman who just talked on and on without stopping about the most inane and meaningless topics you can think of. We finally got out of there and on the way back to his car the bishop simply says: This is religion pure and undefiled, to visit the fatherless, the widows and the witless. So I guess it depends on your interpretation of scripture. 😂

I totally agree. I do believe that climate change is real because the climate is always changing but I've never been convinced that it is human caused so I just ignore that part of it but I'm still interested in the actual changes we are witnessing. Likewise I do recognize forms of pollution that without a doubt are man caused and should be cause for concern. Though I do wonder about the connection between climate change and pollution with the increasing evil in our day. Is the world itself, which is completely obedient to the will of Diety, responsive in a negative way to sin? Are the natural disasters we have and will experience merely divinely timed to coincide with the last days or are we experiencing a natural negative kickback as a direct result of widespread wickedness?

I thought this was an interesting article. https://theconversation.com/bad-news-for-the-2022-hurricane-season-the-loop-current-a-fueler-of-monster-storms-is-looking-a-lot-like-it-did-in-2005-the-year-of-katrina-183197

"I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family. None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment may affect any of us. We have a great welfare program with facilities for such things as grain storage in various areas. It is important that we do this. But the best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the welfare granary.” (President Gordon B. Hinckley) Here's what the price of wheat has done over the years. (I wish I was as good about inserting graphs here as some of you are.) https://www.macrotrends.net/2534/wheat-prices-historical-chart-data#:~:text=The current price of wheat,2022 is %2412.3075 per bushel.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/zelenskyys-global-food-crisis-official Just came across this news article. I had no idea that Russia and Ukraine together provide almost a third of the world's wheat!!! And with all of Ukraine's ports being blocked and Russia being on everyone's naughty list, that is a third of the world's wheat that may not get disseminated. The United States probably produces enough to be self-sufficient in this matter but that doesn't mean wheat based products won't soar in price. Might be time to check out my cupboards to see how well supplied I am. Looking on the Church's website concerning year supply I found that they even do the math for us: "Take the amount of food you would need to purchase to feed your family for a day and multiply that by 7. That is how much food you would need for a one-week supply." Seriously??? That made me chuckle. But any-who, buying some extra stuff might be a good idea. Prices are already going up with inflation but it looks like some of the bigger dominos might be coming down soon.

There's nothing in our belief system to indicate you will be able to give up your resurrected body and become mortal again. And going out on a limb I'd propose another potential scenario. When Adam and Eve were placed in the garden they were give initial instruction on how to act but then promised to be given further instruction. Also, a Savior was appointed "IF" Adam and Eve yielded to the temptations of Satan. With that in mind I would ask a few questions: The number of peopled Earth's are apparently enumerable. Did they all have a Satan to tempt them? And considering the amount of wickedness on our earth, is God's success rate of exalting His children so really low across those enumerable Earth's or was our earth different? If our Savior was able to achieve exaltation without having succumbed to temptation could there not have been a Plan A for the rest of his children that did not involve a fall? What if the other instructions God intended for Adam and Eve was in preparation to partake of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil but in a controlled environment that did not involve a fall? Would these circumstances be that much different than that experienced by those born during the Millennium? Obviously the fall was intended in this instance because as we see there are many on this earth who could not endure even a Terrestrial environment let alone a Celestial one and a time of testing and proving is sorely needed. Also, Jesus made some remarks that seem to indicate that those he saved were his. This makes me wonder if part of the understanding was that the dregs of creation would be sent to this world and Jehovah was granted enough of God's faithful children to come and save as many as possible and they would then fall under his stewardship in the eternities. All of this is of course speculation but my point is that there could be a lot going on behind the scenes that we just don't now understand. We really can't assume anything beyond what we have been told. So I wouldn't worry about some great future sacrifice that we all will have to make. I don't think there will ever be anything asked of the faithful that they don't want to do (in the eternities that is, plenty here though :).

There are to be at least 3 separate appearances: Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Mount of Olives, and the THE Second Coming. While the appearance at Adam-Ondi-Ahman will not be known to the world at large I have to imagine that the general membership of the Church would have to know that something is going on. Then of course the one at the Mount of Olives will be very public. It's my opinion that this will be the beginning of conversion of those in the heathen nations. So with these events preceding the Second Coming, the actual day may not be known but it surely can't be unexpected, right? My guess is something similar to 3 Nephi will take place following the Mount of Olives appearance. Much of the world will convert to Christianity in general but there will be a long enough period of time to start getting complacent again to weed out those who aren't faithful prior to the Second Coming. If that is the case then we still have quite a while yet for it all to play out. But that's just my guess.

Is the "it" highlighted in this verse speaking of the Garden itself or a tree or? Moses 3:8 And I, the Lord God, planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there I put the man whom I had formed. 9 And out of the ground made I, the Lord God, to grow every tree, naturally, that is pleasant to the sight of man; and man could behold it. And it became also a living soul. For it was spiritual in the day that I created it; for it remaineth in the sphere in which I, God, created it, yea, even all things which I prepared for the use of man; and man saw that it was good for food. And I, the Lord God, planted the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and also the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

To me the aftermath of 9/11 was very telling and a little discouraging. For a few months the country really pulled together it seemed and not quite as much division but then it quickly went back to politics as usual. In my mind I saw that as a gauge as to where we as a nation, and maybe as a world, stood in terms of how hardhearted we were. Now this pandemic has been to me the next big gauge of where we stand but this time around there was pretty much zero political unity. It was politicized from the word go and has been used to advance agendas and grasp power. Of course what happens in politics tends to exaggerate where the people in general stand but it does seem to indicate the direction of where we are headed and how quickly. So while I do think there is still a lot of good in the world, we have made noticeable and worrying progress in just twenty years towards being ripe for destruction and it only seems to be picking up steam. Things and events certainly do seem to be hastening, both the good and the bad.