laronius

A fellow temple worker the other day said he still wears the one piece style. Says you have to call them to put in the order.

I have to wear a size bigger in the T-shirt style as well for the same reason. So it's the same problem either way.

The fallibility of prophets concern is used a lot like the argument of institutional racism. It's used to cast doubt without having to actually provide specific proof. It would be far more productive to address specific concerns when they arise. And when I say address I mean take it to the Lord in prayer. No, prophets are not perfect but the process is.

Happy birthday!!! How much partying is allowed on the day of rest? 😃

I came across an idea this morning that to me makes a lot of sense and helps me visualize how things work with covenants. Whenever a person enters into a covenant with the Lord he/she is essentially receiving an increased spiritual capacity. For instance, when a person is baptized they receive a large bowl (or however big a container you like to visualize) of spiritual capacity. But whether that bowl is filled with knowledge, power, and whatever blessings the Lord is willing to bestow depends on us keeping the covenants we have made. Then when we go to the temple that bowl is replaced with a large bucket. Our capacity or potential to receive that spiritual endowment is greatly enhanced. But once again it depends on us living the covenants we have made. I suspect it's incredibly difficult to completely fill that bucket but it makes me wonder how full mine is. I think some feel that carrying around that bucket is sufficient but it's not. In the parable of the ten virgins all ten had lamps but only five were utilizing their capacity to carry oil and had sufficient to last until the bridegroom came. Having the capacity is not enough.

Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power... Similar usage here though not how we generally use the word anointed today. My guess is that it is being used in the same way that Christ and Messiah both mean anointed.

I thought this was an interesting statement from Pres Oaks: "How does the Aaronic Priesthood hold the key to the ministering of angels?… Through the Aaronic Priesthood ordinances of baptism and the sacrament, we are cleansed of our sins and promised that if we keep our covenants we will always have His Spirit to be with us. I believe that promise not only refers to the Holy Ghost but also to the ministering of angels, for “angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ” (2 Ne. 32:3)… So it is that those who hold the Aaronic Priesthood open the door for all Church members…to enjoy the companionship of the Spirit of the Lord and the ministering of angels."

I read of a story recently where a mother of a wayward son, being filled with grief, prayed that the Lord would send someone to comfort her. In response she felt the presence of a deceased ancestor who died never seeing her own children come back to the Church. I think praying specifically can be a key part of it. Obviously, if the Spirit moves us to do so we should. But I think there could be times when it is appropriate to seek this blessing because it's a righteous desire of our heart. But we need to recognize it as an option otherwise we won't seek it.

So when we are counseled "to ask for God's angels to attend you" do you interpret that as just a general request, kind of like "please give me strength," with no real expectation that our request for assistance will come in the form of angels?

In GC Elder Rasband quote Pres Nelson as having said "[In the temple], you will learn how to part the veil between heaven and earth, how to ask for God’s angels to attend you." The possibility of having angels attend us has always been a doctrine of the Church. But it's never really been on my radar to be something I specifically seek and ask for. I just always figured it was one of multiple options God has at His disposal to assist us when warranted. I'm not asking for anyone to share too personal of experiences but I'm curious if any here have specifically sought the help of angels and what those conditions might be where you think it appropriate as opposed to just leaving it up to the Lord to decide how best to respond to you. Obviously, the people around us can fulfill that role of attending angel and often do but the context of my question is regarding those originating from the heavenly realms.

Pres Nelson has often spoken of preparing for the Second Coming but I still find myself finding it hard to use that as a motivating factor in the choices I make. That's not to say I'm not trying to live the gospel, just that the Second Coming isn't really a significant factor in why I live the gospel. I know that at the end of the day my living the gospel is what matters most, whether it's because of the Second Coming or not, but I feel like maybe I'm not upping my game or something like I should because of it. Anyone else feel that way?

They are already available on YouTube.

I do not sing well and I'm sure my technique is very lacking. But some hymns just strain my vocal cords and they literally start to get sore. I Believe in Christ is one of the worst if not the worst. I like the message and I'm fine with the tune but it literally is painful to sing for me. So I don't bother anymore.

With the shortening of the endowment sessions I would imagine there will be a renewed push to do more temple ordinances.

If we are not there yet we soon will be when the Lord starts taking a "ready or not, here it comes" approach. Gone are the days when the Church can move only as fast as the last wagon.

Don't really hear about these too much anymore. There's the occasional talk but not like you use to hear, not with the same seeming urgency. While what previous prophets have said is still valid we generally view the words of current prophets as taking priority. If we suddenly do get another push in this area hopefully people pay attention. Covid was a good reminder but we tend to have very short term memories.

Yeah you are due something good. Hopefully you realize that you are not required to fast if it's harmful to you, right? No reason to add to all the craziness of life that you are already facing.

So you believe that perfection, in and of ourselves, is not possible? That is interesting. I have always believed that it was possible and just assumed that is what we as a Church generally believe, but I don't know that I can immediately point to a source that specifically says so. Might be something worth researching. 🤔

I have a friend who has a cousin who knows an institute teacher who is related to a former general authority who may or may not have said that Pres Nelson is going to... Maybe it's just my circle of acquaintances but the rumor mill has been pretty quiet this time around. Not that it was ever an accurate indication of what was going to happen but it was generally one of the indicators that GC was near. I do in reality have a friend who is Native American who attended a sweat lodge this past weekend where representatives from many of the major tribes across the country were in attendance. The topic of discussion was what to do if civil war breaks out following this election. Apparently some of them are taking it pretty seriously. While I don't think the outcome will be a full-blown civil war, localized violent protests are fairly likely. So I wouldn't be surprised to hear some speak about civility and not getting sucked into acting out in unChristlike ways.

God often provides His own form of divine censorship if we carelessly share revelation or spiritual experiences that are only meant for us by not giving us more. Hopefully that is enough to make us cautious about what we share. Also, we should be mindful of who we share things lest they are not ready to hear what we have to share. He who receives the greater light will receive the greater condemnation if they fail to live in accordance with that light. In the end it's really up to the sharer to make sure they are being a responsible steward with the light God has given them.

First of all, the word few is a very relative term. A quick Google search says it is estimated 100+ billion people have lived on the early, so far. So relatively speaking 10 billion people would be few. But that's not counting the millennium where everyone will grow to adulthood and may have children. We could easily see a trillion plus before it's all said and done. So what is a few then, a hundred billion? Who knows. Secondly, I've never been a big fan of casting judgement on members of the Church at large, or individually for that matter. No matter what we think of our sample size I guarantee it is not large enough, enough if we know their hearts, which we don't. Thirdly, this life is far more about trajectory than distance. You seem to want to place some frankly impossible level of perfection that must be achieved in this life in order to qualify for exaltation. There is no such measure to be found in all of scripture. Yes, this life is the time to prepare to meet God but that preparation started long before this life. Only God knows what we each need to accomplish in this life. Fourthly, we live in a world seriously corrupted by the fall. Even our bodies work against us. We do not know how much mercy that will allow God to exercise on our behalf.

That is interesting. I still think there is an immediacy to the command because God cannot look on any sin with allowance but if there was originally an imbedded recognition that this commandment would ultimately take a very long time to achieve I could see how it would save some confusion.

Yes, some have spoken straight forward about this topic which I appreciate.

Matt 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Something I have never understood is why the word "perfect" in this verse seems to always gets interpreted as something other than perfect. The interpretation most commonly used is "complete." I don't disagree with that definition but why can't it also mean perfect? It's like people are anxious to avoid the thought that we are commanded to be perfect. Even if we do interpret it as being as complete as our Father in heaven, since he is perfectly complete, it is still a commandment to be perfect, perfectly complete. So why not just stick with perfect? If people get thrown off by the idea of us imperfect mortals being perfect then teach them about how the perfection process works and that it extends into the hereafter. To me that would be more helpful because it's more direct to the point. But maybe that's just me and other people understand complete better.

I was not aware the Israelis had an air force base up there. I could see how that might be an initial target of the invading armies. While according to some scriptorians there are still some rather significant events that still must take place before Armageddon, one I found interesting was how that area would first become like a garden of Eden. An interesting fact I read today is that area is now considered the breadbasket of Israel because of how fertile the land is. Perhaps that checks off one prerequisite.