laronius

I'm not a mechanic but it sounds like the only issue that would keep you from driving are the brakes. So unless there are other issues you might want to focus on that first and buy some time for the rest. Some mechanic shops will try to find every little possible thing to fix even though they aren't particularly urgent. Also, your bishop may have connections to a more reasonably priced mechanic or even a second (honest) opinion.

The Holy Ghost was not fully operative during the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ. My guess is this is related to that. I don't have the answer but if you can figure out one you may figure out the other.

There are no "mistakes" that the Lord can't fix and ultimately use to His advantage. This knowledge acts like the metal rebar inside reinforced concrete in our teaching of following the prophet. Are prophets perfect? No. And they don't have to be because the Lord can take their best efforts and make it work. So it really doesn't matter whether these types of decisions are the result of direct revelation or just their best attempt to make things work because the Lord can and will make things work. This includes any negative fallout that results from decisions, inspired or not. It might cause us some hand wringing in the meantime but that is a natural part of how we grow in faith. This is how the Lord works with us in regards to our individual stewardships so I don't know why we would expect it to be any different for those who have a larger sphere of stewardship.

And yet you understood what I meant. That is sufficient to me.

A distinction needs to be made between doctrine and policy. Doctrine does not change and we generally look to the scriptures, with assistance from the Holy Ghost, for this to be established (though living prophets certainly have a role in establishing accepted interpretation of the scriptures). But policy does change and has always been viewed as the prerogative of living prophets. So the question becomes where does doctrine end and policy begin? It's not always so clear. And the Church is always having to go out of it's way to remind members when changes are made that they are changes to policy not doctrine. Policy as a rule should be the vehicle that helps implement doctrine. Whether it's three hour church or two hour church, the doctrinal purpose of attending church hasn't changed. But the policy did change to help emphasize the doctrinal role of the home in gospel learning. Likewise the policy about baptizing children of same-sex couples was in flux for a time but the Church was always clear that it's beliefs, doctrinally speaking, never changed.

I don't know why it never occurred to me to reference older dictionaries. That's why I come here and ask those that are quicker on the uptake. 😃 I think those definitions make perfect sense in the context of the verse.

I had not considered that but I think you make a point. The fact that he can't keep what he already had (assuming that's a correct interpretation) must mean he has or soon will have less than before. That's not just a stopping of progression but rather digression.

I was wondering if anyone had any insight into the wording used in this verse. I understand the general interpretation of having accepted God's plan in the premortal world (first estate) and then being faithful in this life (second estate) but was curious why it's described as keeping an estate. Wasn't sure if this phraseology imparted additional truths. Abraham 3:26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

I wasn't trying to equate the ordinances, just the fact that some of the details were omitted. Here is something I found that is interesting. Sacrifices and Offerings: Foreshadowings of Christ https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1980/09/sacrifices-and-offerings-foreshadowings-of-christ?lang=eng Richard Draper breaks down animal sacrifice into two categories: burnt offerings, which is what we generally read about in the temple, and then slain offerings. This is what he says about slain offerings: "The slain offering. The slain offering was a token of the covenant fellowship between various patriarchs and Jehovah. The offerer kept a share of the sacrifice. Only a portion of the offering was burned; the remainder was cooked and eaten by members of the offerer’s household. This represented living fellowship or communion between God and man. This explains why Jacob offered a slain sacrifice before taking his family into Egypt (see Gen. 46:1). He was asking the Lord to preserve the covenant among Israel’s children while they sojourned in this foreign land. He entered Egypt only after receiving the assurance that it would be so. (See Gen. 46:2–4; Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 1:268–69.)" Sounds a lot like Lehi.

For the Nephites to practice the law of Moses fully they would have had to of had the authority to do so. I think, just like Alma going from a priest of King Noah to one authorized to baptize and establish a church, there are many details that were left out of the account. It's interesting though that while it's made clear in the Book of Mormon that they practiced the law of Moses there is relatively very little said about it. Rather the focus is on what it all foreshadowed, namely the coming of Christ.

This is a worthwhile question. My response would be take up personal concerns with leadership but do so in private. Publicly questioning Church policy only causes doubt in those who faith is weak and emboldens the enemies of the Church.

Be still and know that I am God.

A thought I had while reading your post is how, from the beginning, the Lord has involved in His kingdom those who would ultimately fall away if not completely turn against His Church. Whether it's Lucifer, Judas or many of the early brethren who disaffected the Lord does not seem to fear disloyalty. And I think this aspect of building the kingdom is only going to get magnified with time. He will strengthen and use their talents until they decide on whose side they are really on. And I think we may be surprised by which side some choose both bad and good. But what we do know is that all things will be made to work to accomplish the Lord's purposes. That may make it a bit uncomfortable for us but there is purpose to that too.

A good communications director knows how to keep personal opinion out of how they represent their employer. Time will tell if he is good at his job. It sounds like he works pretty close to the brethren. If there were multiple levels of separation, personnel speaking, between he and them I would be more concerned. But regardless I doubt this was an uninspired decision so I'm not worried.

Having been alive for possibly eons of time before coming to earth I don't think people just suddenly change when coming to earth. So if a person is perdition here those seeds were likely planted long before now. When God presented his plan to His children it was for all of them, not just those who met some righteousness threshold. Even Lucifer was invited to be born into mortality but he and others rejected it. I have no problem believing that there were others who were just as bad but decided it was better to be born than not.

In doing some web surfing concerning the topic of eternal progression I came across a website that was not particularly supportive of the Church so I won't reference it but it was pointing out what it claimed to be conflicting LDS views of what eternal progression meant. Here are the quotes: “All organized existence is in progress, either to an endless advancement in eternal perfections, or back to dissolution… Nothing less than the privilege of increasing eternally, in every sense of the word, can satisfy the immortal spirit. If the endless stream of knowledge from the eternal fountain could all be drunk in by organized intelligences, so sure immortality would come to an end, and all eternity be thrown upon the retrograde path.” (Brigham Young, “Life and Death, Etc.”, Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, pp. 349-353, July 10, 1853.) Wilford Woodruff wrote in his journal (spelling intact): “I attended prayer meeting in the evening Circle. President Young asked Elder Orson Pratt what He thought of his preaching that intelligent beings would continue to learn to all Eternity. O. Pratt said that He believed the Gods had a knowledge at the present time of evry thing that ever did exhist to the endless ages of all Eternity. He believed it as much as any truth that he had ever learned in or out of this Church. President Young remarked that he had never learned that principle in the church for it was not taught in the Church for it was not true. It was fals doctrin For the Gods & all intelligent Beings would never scease to learn except it was the Sons of perdition they would continue to decrease untill they became dissolved back into their native Element & lost their Identity.” (Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, Vol. 4, pp.401-402, February 17, 1856). Joseph Fielding Smith: “The Book of Moses informs us that the great work of the Father is in creating worlds and peopling them, and “there is no end to my works, neither to my words,” he says, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man,” and in this is his progression. “Commenting on this the Prophet Joseph Smith has said: ‘What did Jesus do? Why; I do the things I saw my Father do when worlds come rolling into existence. My Father worked out his kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must do the same [that is Christ must do the same]; and when I get my kingdom. I shall present it to my Father, so that he may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt him in glory. He will then take a higher exaltation, and I [Christ] will take his place, and thereby become exalted myself. So that Jesus treads in the tracks of his Father, and inherits what God did before; and God is thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all his children.’ “Do you not see that it is in this manner that our Eternal Father is progressing? Not by seeking knowledge which he does not have, for such a thought cannot be maintained in the light of scripture. It is not through ignorance and learning hidden truth that he progresses, for if there are truths which he does not know, then these things are greater than he, and this cannot be. Why can’t we learn wisdom and believe what the Lord has revealed? (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.1, p.7) That's the end of the quotes and I apologize for the length but I wanted to be thorough. I'm not sure if the Church has an "official" position on this topic but to me personally I don't think these differing viewpoints have to conflict. Maybe only one of them is right but maybe D&C 93:30 applies here in that "All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it..." with one viewpoint correct within one "sphere" and the other viewpoint correct within a different "sphere." Thoughts?

Perhaps a piece on where have all the Easter dresses gone. Society has become very casual and even sloppy in it's attire.

One of the guys on YouTube that posts about the last days hypothesized that he will be one of the two prophets to be killed in Jerusalem after holding back the armies in Armageddon. That would seem to meet the criteria. He thought maybe Elijah was the other but was less convincing on that one.

To me a good indicator of where we stand economically is temple building. I don't think the Lord wants His Church to be in the middle of building 100+ temples when a major economic shift happens. That doesn't mean we can't see more recessions and hard financial times but the dollar needs to stay strong. Of course the Church has a lot of it's money tied up in non-liquid assets and so that could help soften any blow to the dollar, so who knows. As to the Second Coming, yeah I think it's a ways off yet. The Lord hast spoken about hastening the work and shortening the time the saints would have to endure the trials of the last days but those are relative terms and I can't think of a single definitive prophesied sign that would give us any indication of how close it might be.

That's one of the biggest lessons serving a mission teaches. I don't think I ever actually enjoyed knocking on stranger's door but I sure did a lot of it. At some point you have to develop a mindset of willing to do things simply because it's right.

I didn't say they were. But there are some things that are. Greed for example.

One of the problems of socialism is the shift in public mindset that the government needs to solve problems rather than each individual making choices that are good for society and not just their own personal interest. It's another Satanic lie that produces the exact opposite result of what people think they are accomplishing.

I think this kind of thing is fun to consider but you are making way too many assumptions to come to a definitive answer. A lot of it is based on interpretation that may or may not be correct. For example, the earth has a temporal existence of 6000 years. I interpret that as not including the Garden of Eden period. So if Adam lived 130 years before Seth does that include the time in the garden? That alone could greatly alter your timeline. Strictly from my opinion, while I recognize some things could happen pretty quickly and I'd love for the Second Coming to be 6 years out, I just don't see it all happening by then. But of course that is just my opinion.

I don't mind his overall message. It's good for people, no matter what they struggle with, to know they are loved. So to that extent it addresses a very real issue. But as a missionary whatever he decides to share should always come back to Jesus Christ, his restored gospel, and the truthfulness of this Church and I don't think this does. As a side note (and this is based on limited experience so maybe I'm off) but it seems like those with same-sex attraction who intend to live a chaste life for the rest of their life don't make a big deal about having same-sex attraction and don't see it as part of their identity. Where as the bigger the deal they make of it and define themselves by it the more likely they are to eventually start to live a gay lifestyle.

Here are the relevant facts as I see it: 1. God, who is omniscient, loves his children and does those things He knows will best further His work in saving them. The end.