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:) <-- my initial reaction to your post. I don't care a hoot for the frames (weight, appearance, whatever) - well, that may not be true, I like them and can't find new ones like them, so I'm still wearing the same ones I bought in 1993-ish. I don't consider myself "dissatisfied". I don't feel wronged. I don't feel like I don't deserve it. I don't think I would have deeper peace or satisfaction if I could see perfectly without glasses. All of that is childish and a waste of time and effort (I'm highly addicted to efficiency). I have never once thought "it's unfair that I need glasses" or asked "why me?" or "why did God give me bad eyesight (that meanie)?" (I'm not even sure it was a deliberate act so much as a natural consequence of mortality. That we're mortal is a deliberate act, but I don't think God sat around saying, "Now, what do I need to do to ensure she has poor eyesight." He knew it would happen, but that's not the same as intentionally causing it. Maybe He did plan it deliberately, and if so, that's fine by me.) Whatever the facts, I've never thought of my bad eyesight as anything other than a natural consequence of genetics. If it was a "gift trial" so I could learn something, I sure hope it's something I can learn without deliberate thought, cuz I've got better things to think about than my eyesight. Am I happy about having poor eyesight ("Oh hooray, I'm blind as a bat until I put on these glasses."), no. Am I upset / miserable / unhappy / dissatisfied about having poor eyesight ("Woe is me, curse these spectacles!"), no (see above). Do I recognize blessings in relation to my eyesight, of course! ("Hallelujah, I'm not living in a time or place where corrective lenses aren't an option." and "I am so grateful I have vision and that it can be corrected with eyeglasses.") I think it's important to point out that just cuz you're not happy about something doesn't mean you're unhappy about it either (even if that does read like a paradox (another of my favorite things)). "Peace" is not the same as "Contentment" is not the same as "Happiness" is not the same as "Reward". You keep switching up the emotion / term without warning us first. I would say I'm mostly at peace. I am more than content, I'm quite happy. I have oodles of rewards here and now, and waiting for me if I can hold out to the end. NONE of that means I won't be really, really happy when the day comes that I no longer need to wear glasses. And eyeglasses weren't the point. It was an example of how we can expect happiness in the next life, without necessarily gaining a corresponding happiness in this life. My expectation was that you would abstract my example into ones more meaningful for you. (But if you feel like fasting and praying for my eyesight to be miraculously perfected any next second, I won't complain. )

Don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I'm re-reading this talk, paying closer attention this time. Paragraph 2 (which you quoted), I think, is directed at the idea that religious service requires suffering. There are people out there (ascetics) who believe that we must deny ourselves all forms of earthly comfort, and even (for some) inflict suffering on ourselves, in order to "deny yourself". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doesn't teach that. But we should also not believe anything like it - yes, there's guaranteed to be trials and suffering, that doesn't mean we have to go looking for them, nor that we need to be miserable during them. It's interesting that he links this paragraph to 2 Nephi 28, which talks about churches in the latter days saying "eat, drink, and be merry..." - as if these are the only forms of happiness on earth, and the alternative is to not be happy. Both ideas (asceticism and this) are false. Elder Cook writes, "Happiness in this life and happiness in the life to come are interconnected by righteousness." (One doesn't lead to or limit the other, both are results of and connected through righteousness.) He also references the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5) wherein we find a very interesting command: 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

In addition to all the things everyone has said, I'll add: consistent sleep of the appropriate duration. I know everyone thinks they don't have time for it, but unless you have an infant or similar situation, you have all the time you're willing to give it; and studies show you're more capable during waking hours if you get regular sleep - so you shouldn't need as much time to do and re-do whatever it is you screwed up cuz you couldn't see straight... :) Zentangle. Its very nature is relaxing. Ooops, just thought of another - go to the temple. Nothing wipes out the world quite like the temple.

No, it does not reduce the utility of scripture. Sometimes we need to learn about the original culture in order to have a _greater_ understanding, but the Lord is smart enough to ensure that scripture is universal. Also, if we're willing to put in the spiritual effort, the Lord can open our minds - not to satisfy intellectual curiosity, not to remove our doubts (per se), but to confirm our faith and to reveal to the person that is willing to believe _and_act_ how that scripture should be _implemented_. Truly, we must be willing to act, and we must come already exercising faith (like Nephi did with his father's vision) and then we can have confirmation and clarification direct from the source. I do not believe the Lord is likely to answer someone who comes saying, "I'm not gonna believe this nonsense unless you tell me to, cuz it sounds like a load of...". But I know He answers someone who comes testifying of their already-existing belief, and asking for confirmation or clarification, and willing to act in accordance with the confirmation. If you want a flood of the Spirit, try that. Fortunately, Christ knows all and will be the one to judge who acted honestly and who was "wresting the scriptures" to justify their own evil. Fortunately, the thoughts, feelings, and justifications of a 19th century slave-owner have nothing to do with my salvation. God speaks to us in our own language and to our understanding (see the D&C for where he says that, I believe there's also at least one place in the Bible). Please note, however, that I never said the slave-owner could get very close to Christ while remaining a slave-owner. I said the gospel is such that both the slave and the slave-owner can come to Christ, if they choose. God never tried to placate any sinner (in my opinion). He does try to help all of us see the light and choose it. He does so in ways that are personal to us. And He is infinitely merciful. It almost sounds to me like you're getting caught up on the idea of 100% of God's truth all at once - no mortal could bear it. There's ample scripture, stories from Joseph Smith's life, and simple logic to know that we're only going to understand a tiny fraction of truth in mortality; that God's not going to dump it all on us at once, thereby burning us up in such blinding light; and that we've got eternities wherein to finish learning all truth. In the meantime, work on mastering the truth we do have. Personally, I think the sermon on the mount, all by itself, is sufficient to require an entire mortal life to master. When I've mastered that, then I'll worry about more.

Perhaps we don't disagree. From the bit of your post that I quoted, I got the impression that you didn't think there would be an eternal reward for doing good things that you find hard to do here in mortality. I don't think Elder Cook was saying that. "I don't have to _wait_ to be happy" is not the same as "I won't be happy there unless I learn to be happy here". I think Elder Cook was saying the first. As for the second: You wrote: "I must find true happiness now, in this life, or I will never find it in the eternities." While that may be true in a broad, all-inclusive sense (you must find some true happiness in some righteous things here or you'll never find any true happiness in the eternities), I don't think it's true in specific instances. For example: the previous statement about wearing glasses (I'm certain I don't need to be happy about needing glasses in mortality before I'll get happiness about not needing them in the eternities); or, maybe I've managed to learn to love sharing the gospel, but I haven't learned to love cleaning the church building - I don't think I'll be denied any eternal happiness just cuz I haven't figured out how to enjoy vacuuming the church - it's just something I'll work out later. As for eternal rewards, try this blog post. (Fixed that link.)

Maybe it's because I grew up reading it, or maybe there's something wrong with me, because I've never thought the language of the KJV (or Book of Mormon, Moses and Abraham, which use the same language) was difficult to understand. I love it. And I love its difference. I start reading it and my mind immediately shifts into "scripture mode" - this is no fictional story or instruction manual I'm reading, this is the word of God. I do remember greatly appreciating the scriptures when in high school it was time to study Shakespeare. (For the record, the only other versions I've ever (tried to) read were in Spanish and Russian, and I don't have them anymore, so I couldn't give you details.)

It may vary by where in Utah you are, I'm certainly no expert, but I would think it does have to do with "Mormon-density". My stake probably takes up a few blocks. Some stakes take up a hundred square miles (guessing). If my stake lived in NYC, we'd probably take up 1000 square feet (of ground space, a lot more vertical) and the missionaries could just ride the elevators. Missionaries and members can only cover so much ground and so many people. I wouldn't know how many baptisms there are in Utah vs. anywhere else, but there are a lot of us, and some believe we're gonna catch you and dunk you eventually.

I don't think you can call it fallible when a prophet accurately records what the Lord revealed, even if what the Lord revealed was "dumbed down" due to the weakness of the audience. (That's not to say that a prophet might not make a mistake, either in understanding what was revealed, communicating it, or in personal statements or choices.) Personally, I look at this kind of thing as follows: 1) Always keep in mind that we weren't there. We don't know the details, and so our modern assumptions could be way off. 2) There's only so much the mortal mind can handle. There's more than enough in the Old and New Testaments to condemn slave ownership (and every other evil). The Lord knows full well that he can explicitly condemn slavery and other evils all the live long day and some people will still practice these evils (likely, all the same people). So, the Lord chooses to provide guidance that's not micro-managing, not so vague that no one can get it, and not so voluminous that the average human could never learn it all even at a basic level. And, he provides guidance that will let both the slave and the slave-owner come to Him, if they choose. I'm convinced that the Lord is far more concerned with whether we're striving to come to Him than with where we're coming from (not that he isn't concerned with the evils perpetrated against so many of his children, just that given agency, evils will always happen, and the more important thing is for us to come to Him, even if we're the victim of those evils). At the end of the day, evils are reduced by people coming to Him, regardless of where they come from. And as more people come to Him, the greater their ability to eliminate or alleviate more of those evils.

The feeling that I needed to participate, while at the same time feeling like my only choices were between bad and worse, is probably the same as a lot of people who have stopped participating. What saved me from despairing that it was all pointless was deciding to stop voting only for those in the 2 major parties, and start voting for the best person regardless of their party and regardless of whether they stand a chance at winning, because, frankly, they would stand a chance if everyone would vote their conscience instead of the lesser of two evils. It's that catch-22: "I'm not gonna do it cuz no one else is doing it." or "I want my vote to count." (As if the earthly count were more important than the record in heaven.) Someone had to start doing it, and I feel much better about elections now that my vote isn't about who "can" win, but about what I have prayerfully decided is the right way for me to vote. When I talk to friends about this, those who were also very discouraged by our two nutty parties suddenly take interest again.

And if you put a little effort into it, you can be disturbing, too.

I agree we have a lot to be happy about. And your personal statements about how it's the greatest thing in the world, provided you with incredible happiness, your feeling of what you owe, are all good statements, encouraging, even to someone who's currently depressed. (The following is not directed at you or anyone in particular, but the discussion made me remember some things and I'm recounting them here, that's all.) But I'll never be that person who stands up in Sacrament meeting saying, "we should be the happiest people in the world" or "we've got no excuse for being unhappy" or similar generic statements about what other people should or should not feel. I understand all too well the reality of trials and unhappiness, and it took me a long time to figure out how to choose to be happy in spite of trials. Statements like those did NOT help when I was feeling lost (if anything, they felt like someone who knew nothing about my situation was telling me my feelings and suffering didn't matter, and oh by the way, there's yet one more thing wrong with me). So I won't be the one to say them. (NOTE: I'm not necessarily finding fault with people who say these things, I'm sure they don't intend them to be received as a burden, but knowing they can be, I won't be saying them. Instead, I'll find another route to communicate the same idea...) Instead, we can speak about the specific things we have to be happy about. Celebration of the gifts and mercies of God, the opportunities and perspective the gospel gives is uplifting, and a positive way to remind someone of the reasons they have to be happy, without dismissing their current feelings. Pointing out the behaviors which lead to happiness (prayer, scripture study, service, etc.) aren't useless statements about how you ought to feel, but helpful reminders of what you can do to endure and overcome. Personal experience, without transferring an obligation / implied criticism onto the listener, help us see how these things have helped others and believe they can help us too.

This: ...it's one of those things you can say or hear, but until you find a way to make it work for yourself (and I think everyone finds it differently), you won't understand it, and may even roll your eyes at it (thinking of all the very legitimate struggles in your life which seem to keep you from being happy). I understood it from an intellectual perspective until a few years ago, when I finally received (in answer to prayer) the gift of really, emotionally, spiritually understanding, and have been much, much happier since, by choice. (And I'm in my 40s - it took me a long time to figure it out / let go enough to receive it.)

If you mean full-time missionaries assigned to them, in my experience, they're assigned to the stake, and there aren't enough for one set per ward. (But I'm in Utah and the demographics may dictate some of that.) If you mean ward missionaries, I don't remember ever being in a ward that didn't have them.

I do NOT believe this is what Elder Cook is saying. (I just read the talk.) He's saying we don't have to wait for the eternities to be happy; we can be happy right now. Given that mortality is a learning experience, the idea is that we learn not only to do what's right, but to enjoy doing what's right, thus, we have happiness now, and we're that much further along (and happier) in the hereafter. I expect our eternal happiness is increased by the true happiness we find in mortality, but what we find in mortality is not the only factor in our eternal happiness. (For example, I'm going to be _really_ happy in the eternities to not have to wear glasses.) So, just keep striving to learn to love doing what's right. PS (Added later): If you don't nurture the dislike of whatever righteous act you're doing, but rather choose to think of it in as positive a light as you can, eventually, you _will_ reap the benefits, because eventually, your attitude will change as your brain adapts to both the habit of doing the good thing, and the habit of thinking positively about it.

From the article: "In April, administrators at Stevenson college in California were forced to apologise after a “space-themed” school event served burritos and a student complained that it inferred an insulting link between Mexicans and illegal aliens." Say what !? I think the appropriate response for this sort of thing is for every employee of the university (perhaps every university) to quit - instantly. (I know, they won't do it, they won't know where else to get a job, but seriously, that appears to be what these "students" need - complete and utter abandonment in the real world.) Meanwhile, if I could draw stick figures and come up with short, funny dialog, I'd start Eowyn's cartoon. :)

Some random thoughts: Perhaps if we're not happy doing the right thing, it's because we're not doing it right (e.g. we don't have real intent, charity, or some other thing, which, if we did have, would cause us to be happy in doing what's right). And, honestly, I'm not sure it counts as righteousness if we're not doing it willingly / with our whole heart / with real intent / whatever. It might well be better than not doing it, but not good enough to count as righteousness.See Moroni 7:6 "For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing." Perhaps real happiness is not what we (sometimes) think it is - perhaps it has to be learned, so that yes, we are deceived in the very moment, thinking we're happy, when if we understood the truth, we would realize we weren't.For example: I remember parties at friends' homes wherein some to most of the people eventually were plastered (drunk) beyond sensibility. They thought they were having fun. I knew better. They weren't even being mildly humorous, just really mentally impaired. (And the next day, they all were miserable and knew it, and had little to no memory of their "fun" evening.) Made up example: Let's say you like shooting. A friend says he's got an old TV you can shoot at. So you meet in the middle of nowhere and blow the thing to bits. You think you were happy. Later, you find out your "friend" stole that old TV from some poor person who could never afford to replace it. Your memory of the experience is now tainted, and there's nothing happy about it. Were you really happy? (I can understand the argument either way, but I think the eternal perspective is more important than the momentary, and even if you had momentary happiness, you certainly don't have eternal happiness.) If we had a more eternal perspective, wicked things which appear to make us happy in the moment wouldn't, and when we reach judgement day, any perception of happiness will vanish.

Just ran across clarification: 3 Nephi 18.24 "24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do." We could take that as testifying of the things Christ has done, following his example, or both.

Hmm. The "Discussions on ..." shows on KBYU (where BYU professors from the various religion departments discuss the scriptures) are a good way to understand how we view the scriptures: http://www.byutv.org/shows?category=faith

Suddenly I see a get-rich-quick scheme for areas of high Mormon-density: Helaman's Mayonnaise.

Personally, I think scripture and the missionaries are the best way to learn (otherwise, you may learn trig before algebra and it won't make sense). That said, all of the below are available for free in the Gospel Library app created by the church (available for Android, Apple, and Windows Phone / 8.1+) and on LDS.org. The free Deseret Book Bookshelf app has others for free. Some may be available in Google Books for free.

Perhaps translation would clarify... The first two quotes are from Matthew 6 (Sermon on the Mount) and the third is from Matthew 5 (Sermon on the Mount). I think the order is relevant, but I want to end my post with the Matthew 5 bit. (I'm quoting multiple verses because context is vital when understanding the scriptures - technically, I would have to quote 100% of all the standard works to provide context, but that would be a bit much.) Modern American Mormon translation: Don't cram your tithing envelope to obvious bulging and then play the "Rocky" theme song on your iPhone while trotting to the stand with both hands raised, one holding the iPhone and the other waving the bulging tithing envelope, 2 minutes before Sacrament Meeting starts to hand said envelope to the Bishop, with a flourish. (Nor anything like unto it.) Modern American Mormon translation: Don't stand out in front of the church / temple / your place of business shouting a prayer (full of words you picked out of a thesaurus last night) that sounds like it came straight off a Rameumptom. (Nor anything like unto it.) Modern American Mormon translation: You are to be an example to the world, and to share with them the gospel, but you cannot do that if you're never out among the people who need to learn and see your example. Further, you must continue in good works (so you don't "lose your savor") and you must do these things with the intent that others will know God has inspired you to do this (or that you are in the service of God and your fellow men), so that they will glorify God (not you). (Or something like that.)

OK, Bill (that's his name) has replied with this comment:

Nice to meet you, Lance. Don't worry about the shortage of replies - it's a holiday in the US, and everyone over here is in a turkey-induced trance... They'll be back tomorrow, probably. I'll bet your ward (area congregation) will be happy to meet you too, when you decide you're ready to attend services.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Carb: When the world is in the midst of ending, I plan to have no shortage of toilet paper! :)

I second what everyone has already said! I emphasize, go see your bishop! Even if you were excommunicated, that's just another step along the path to repentance, not the end of the world (though I know that at 18 all this can seem like the end of the world). The scripture you were citing was Ether 12:27. It isn't enough to stop sinning, especially not when it's a difficult sin to give up - you need to replace it or you'll just keep falling back on it (cuz you've got nothing better to do). You need to recognize things which make it easier to sin (people, places, solitude, music, videos, emotions - like anger or frustration, etc.) and avoid them as much as possible, and recognize when temptation is starting and get up or get out and do something else. Your reaction needs to be quick and decisive - serving others would be a great "something else" - open the scriptures, sing a hymn, call your bishop (or someone who can help you even if they don't know they're helping you). Surround yourself with good influences (pictures, music, reading). Go to church (even if it's hard). Change of any kind is very difficult and is only accomplished by continued effort. Never give up on repentance and improvement - they're the whole point of mortality. Finally, your mention of suicide scares me - please seek help, your bishop, a suicide hotline, a trusted friend or family member, all of the above - Satan's grip is strong when suicide starts looking like an alternative to repentance. Don't let him win! The Savior loves you. If feel it right now as I type this. Trust Him!