SGoodman

Statistics are the most misunderstood and misused of facts. Child of record baptisms and convert baptisms are increasing. They are simply increasing at a pace slightly below the increase in population. Over the last 6 years the Church dropped a whopping .08% as a percentage of the US population (that's just under 1/10 of 1 percent). And though Carborendum failed to mention it, that is limited to the US. The growth of the Church outside the US is even higher (though our numbers as a percent of population are much lower. It's a big world).

Statistics are the most misunderstood and misused of facts. Child of record baptisms and convert baptisms are increasing. They are simply increasing at a pace slightly below the increase in population. Over the last 6 years the Church dropped a whopping .08% as a percentage of the US population (that's just under 1/10 of 1 percent). And though Carborendum failed to mention it, that is limited to the US. The growth of the Church outside the US is even higher (though our numbers as a percent of population are much lower. It's a big world).

Statistics are the most misunderstood and misused of facts. Child of record baptisms and convert baptisms are increasing. They are simply increasing at a pace slightly below the increase in population. Over the last 6 years the Church dropped a whopping .08% as a percentage of the US population (that's just under 1/10 of 1 percent). And though Carborendum failed to mention it, that is limited to the US. The growth of the Church outside the US is even higher (though our numbers as a percent of population are much lower. It's a big world).

Statistics are the most misunderstood and misused of facts. Child of record baptisms and convert baptisms are increasing. They are simply increasing at a pace slightly below the increase in population. Over the last 6 years the Church dropped a whopping .08% as a percentage of the US population (that's just under 1/10 of 1 percent). And though Carborendum failed to mention it, that is limited to the US. The growth of the Church outside the US is even higher (though our numbers as a percent of population are much lower. It's a big world).

Statistics are the most misunderstood and misused of facts. Child of record baptisms and convert baptisms are increasing. They are simply increasing at a pace slightly below the increase in population. Over the last 6 years the Church dropped a whopping .08% as a percentage of the US population (that's just under 1/10 of 1 percent). And though Carborendum failed to mention it, that is limited to the US. The growth of the Church outside the US is even higher (though our numbers as a percent of population are much lower. It's a big world).

Sometimes it's hard to keep in mind but people are as they have always been. I look at photos from the 1800s and it's an effort to remember that these individuals were just as sophisticated and intelligent as we are. They were just working off a smaller body of information. The question was about these latter days. People being what they are and always have been, there is no more or less evil in the world than there always has been. The difference is that the world is becoming increasingly polarized. There are more and more people at the far edges of extraodinary righteousness and extraordinarily evil. i assume this pattern will continue until the world is entirely divided down the middle and the Savior steps in and divides the two camps.

para-ambulance - Vehicle for transporting gluten free, lo-cal, fake gingerbread people. permbulance- Vehicle for transporting gingerbread people to hair appointments.

para-ambulance - Vehicle for transporting gluten free, lo-cal, fake gingerbread people. permbulance- Vehicle for transporting gingerbread people to hair appointments.

para-ambulance - Vehicle for transporting gluten free, lo-cal, fake gingerbread people. permbulance- Vehicle for transporting gingerbread people to hair appointments.

para-ambulance - Vehicle for transporting gluten free, lo-cal, fake gingerbread people. permbulance- Vehicle for transporting gingerbread people to hair appointments.

Jeff Foxworthy gave us the "You might be a redneck" style of jokes. Here are some tailored for Mormons. If your first car is a minvan, you just might be a Mormon. If a three bedroom home counts as a starter home, you might be a Mormon. If "The First Vision" isn't a reference to anything you did in the sixties, you might be a Mormon. If a Stake isn't for holding down a tent and a Ward isn't a child in your custody, you might be a Mormon. If you have more money invested in food in your basement than in clothes in your closet, you might be a Mormon. If you're at a wedding and the bride isn't pregnant....but her mother is, you might be a Mormon. And the last one is my favorite even though it isn't funny... If you go to great lengths and expense to do a service you don't understand for people you don't know who may or may not want it anyway, you may be a Mormon.

I was told that most Mormon women stop having children after 34.... Because 35 is just too many.

Reading through everyone's posts it seems that most are trying to identify and address whatever societal dynamic is responsible for creating these killers. I think it would be far easier to address the symptom, that is the killings themselves. If it were possible to take all the guns away (it isn't) then the problem would go away as well. Since we can't remove all the guns the next best solution is gun proliferation. If the vast majority of citizens were armed then arms are no longer much of an advantage. (Reminds me of the scene in Aladin where the monkey grabs a sword and the guards all recoil in fear "he's got a sword!" Then one of them remembers "you idiot, we all have swords!")

Reading through everyone's posts it seems that most are trying to identify and address whatever societal dynamic is responsible for creating these killers. I think it would be far easier to address the symptom, that is the killings themselves. If it were possible to take all the guns away (it isn't) then the problem would go away as well. Since we can't remove all the guns the next best solution is gun proliferation. If the vast majority of citizens were armed then arms are no longer much of an advantage. (Reminds me of the scene in Aladin where the monkey grabs a sword and the guards all recoil in fear "he's got a sword!" Then one of them remembers "you idiot, we all have swords!")

She was talking about the fact that one who is identified as a decendent of Levi automatically being the Bishop of whatever Ward they are in. They are not required to call counsellors or hold the Melchizedec Preisthood in order to be Bishop. I'm neither of Levi nor Ephraim. I'm from Judah.

About 35 years now, and still the only member of my family. It's tough to convert a Jew.

I've been around for a couple of days now (thank you, Pam) and I think I'll stay so here's my intro. I'm Jewish, a convert to the Church. Missionary to France and married a French girl I met there. Raised a house full of daughters, last one is still at home, the others are in college and out of college. I'm pretty good at the intellectual parts but fairly dense when it comes to the Spirit (audible voices and angelic visitations work pretty well but "still small voice" just rarely gets through). The rest we'll learn about each other as we go.

It's rare to be able to undo 20 years in just a short while. You've already been told that it takes time. And during that time, fake it. Not in a bad way, but figuratively put on the mask of the person you're trying to be. Wear that mask until it is no longer a mask. I wish I were more outgoing and helpful, so I put on the mask and pretend to be outgoing and helpful. And I keep that up until it becomes who I am, and it isn't a pretense anymore but a character trait. There's a mask for Happy and another for Confident. There's even a mask for Spiritual and Faithful. I put that Sprirtual mask on and I pretend to be one of those Mormons who reads his scriptures and prays every day. And I pretend to be that guy by reading my scriptures and praying every day. And some day I'll forget that it's just pretend. And for this or just about any other problem that spans years I would take an additional step. I would go to LDS Family Services and schedule an appointment with the Psychologist they have on staff. Nothing that has been ingrained over the course of decades is going to change without guidance and direction and he can give you both in ways that the Bishop can't.

Update. I'm on an iPad and for some reason it has reverted all by itself so I got what I needed. The button in question was actually labeled Full Version and was located directly under the Reply button.

I just might tell him. Maybe my mother told him. Most likely the Holy Ghost prompted him to ask me about it. And, yes, they stick to the proscribed questions, except when they don't.

I stand corrected.

There is a button at the top corner of every post with a check mark icon inviting me to "like" a post. I found a particularly good post (thank you, Vort) and pressed the button. What exactly was supposed to happen?

I was (still am) learning how to use the forum and I clicked on a button that said something like "compete form". I didn't realize that up till then I was seeing an abbreviated forum, no graphics, no sig lines, limited avatars. Now I see the forum as it was intended with all the formatting but it runs too slowly. How do I go back to seeing the abbreviated format?

I have to apologize. When I read your post it made me chuckle. Then I started to feel guilty and remembered that, had I read this post ten years ago when my child was 14 and announced that she was no longer a Mormon and didn't believe in anything, I would have been crying before I finished your post. Yea, we went through the same thing. And we took it waaay too seriously. And we learned that everyone has to eventually learn for themselves that the gospel is true, that the Lord lives, that Jesus is the Christ. And the process is rarely linear and always messy. Some details that we learned that you might find useful. 1. In spite of raising our children in a gospel centered home, we were shocked (over and over again) to learn just how little she actually knew about the gospel. She "knew" lots and lots of tidbits and details she had gleaned from anti-Mormons but she didn't actually know the gospel. 2. We got more mileage out of the standards that she grew up with than out of the doctrines we taught her. The world that she was attracted to followed none of the standards that the Church teaches (modesty, chastity, Word of Wisdom, etc.) and her discomfort with those things did more to prompt her return than did any specific doctrine (worldly doctrine or gospel doctrine). 3. Time. Give it time. Lots of time. It's been 10 years and this past summer she decided all by herself that she wanted her life to be focused on the gospel that she barely knew. She reached out to the missionaries to come school her on the basics. She started paying tithing and fasting and reading and praying. 4. Nothing mattered more than for her to know that her parents love her. Anguish over her on your own time. When she's around it needs to be all smiles and hugs. She knows good and well that you pray for her every night with tears steaming. She doesn't need to have that rubbed in her face. And for the parent, not you, who has actually lost a child to world and is beyond hoping to see them return there is some little solace in remembering that Ezra Taft Benson has a son who is a staunch anti-Mormon. So did Joseph Smith. And so does our Heavenly Father.

Nephi wrote chapters and chapters. So did Jacob. We read about great and worthy Patriarchs and then we get to the seldom quoted Book of Omni and I often wonder why it was included in the Book of Mormon. Why did Mormon spend precious time and space to include this chapter? Omni gives us a scant 3 verses and passes the plates along to his son who has little more to say than did his father. In fact, four generations and a hundred years pass and nobody has anything to say. Each follows the example of his father, both in righteousness and in writing.And it occurred to me to wonder what example I'm setting for my children. What will they have to write? And suddenly I can see some value in having the Book of Omni to remind me that I am leading my children even when I decide not to lead.