Gillebre

I'm thankful you all don't run away when I enter the chat...

there are only girls in my list for a reason, checker...work with me man...

So yea I'm 18, just graduated from High School, and been conferring with my Bishop for a while now (since he became Bishop, anyway ) about my ordination to the office of Elder, along with the Melchezidek Priesthood. It will happen this coming stake conference, at the end of February. The main counsel he gave me more than a month ago, was to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover, before stake conference. And I'm doing that...it's amazing, really. Just finished First Nephi...onto Second Nephi (15 pages a day). Yes I know I started really late. Anyway, my aim here is to seek any other preparation you guys might be able to suggest for the transition. Feel free to suggest ANYTHING, no matter how zaney or crazy it may seem (crazy people like me require crazy preparation ). :) Thanks a bazillion.

I have only one thing to say...RAWR! I actually posted on both LDS Forums and LDS Talk (as well as MADB, but that's just a shameless plug ), so they merged two of me into the me that stands in front of me, before you. 'Nuff said. Maybe i'll post more about myself... Oh btw, I love the following people: Derek'smom SusieSA Siouxz girlydolphin hanne and every last freakin one of ya...skum.

the idea that God has a physical body and is separate from Christ. the idea that revelation never ceases... for starters

Whatever sins we've done before that have been forgiven and blotted out by His blood, stay such, unless we repeat the sin. Then it all comes back on us. That is my experience, anyway.

What if an earthly father disapproves of his children becoming members of the Church? The father won't give his blessing, but certainly the Father will.

The gift of discernment is not only the discernment of spiritual truth from Satan's deceptions, but also the literal...discerning of spirits. The ability to see them. It is also the ability to see things spiritual..not just spirits, but things which are spiritual in nature. This gift is common in they who were promised to have it. and yes, I have seen it in action, because I feel unrestricted enough to state that I am blessed to hold this gift. I am humbled by His trust in me, and awed by the wonders I have been privileged to behold. However, I will not go into it more than that. Just know that it exists...and it exists for the service of others, and our God - it exists that we may further the work upon the Earth.

I enjoy hearing/reading the testimonies of others...it can be a great spiritual uplift, if we allow Him to work on us. :) While I have a testimony...I will refrain from posting it here until I receive the Melchezidek Priesthood, and am ordained to the office of Elder. That is to happen in a month or two, after I graduate in December. :) Perhaps we should get a topic pinned in the intro section, linking investigators to the site. OH and ya kno what else..we could ask members we know to write down their testimonies (either online or real life friends), and collect as many as we can...then put them online and send them to the Church, if they want to utilize them? just an idea. :)

I'm addicted to the Spirit...and certainly not afraid to admit it.

Just something to reiterate, that was previously stated, "The Father and the Son are perfect. They live in heaven, and They possess glorified bodies of spirit, flesh, and bones." No where does it indicate blood. No where, not a single reference to my knowledge anywhere could infer that resurrected beings possess blood. Can we logically or scientifically explain it away, though? Not very well, in my opinion, but with the knowledge that they do not have blood...can lead us to a line of thinking which will hurt our heads, if we let it.

*looks around* ITS HANNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! run for yer lives, scalliwags! :)

God did provide for Adam a way to obey His commandments. The first was to multiply and fill the earth. They couldn't keep that commadment while immortal, they couldn't keep that commandment while they abstained from the fruit. The second was to not partake of the fruit. Contradictory, with the intent that the latter will be transgressed, so that all righteousness might be fulfilled. Make sense? It's all in the Plan.

I'm a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. lol but I'm only one because of my age.

agreed!

but it, in many cases, does declare direct lineage. :) however, you are correct...it is "more" of a tribe assignment...just don't rule out that it can, at times, be a direct declaration of personal descendency.

Patriarchal blessings are among the most special counsel to you from Heavenly Father. I received mine in March of this year, and my life has improved so much since then. I've learned so many things about my future, about some things that He has laid out for me...callings, responsibilties, etc... BUT, things contained within a patriarchal blessing will only come to pass by YOUR righteousness. In your patriarchal blessing, it's basically Him speaking to you, offering His divine guidance for your life, and what things He sees fit to inform you on. Many things He has for you to know, won't at all come right away...not at all. :) It will take many a day of prayerful and sincere consideration of it's words...and what it could hold. I can't just look at my p.b., and gain some revelation from it...not like that - it is something personal and special when you realize a truth contained within, and it is confirmed by the Holy Ghost. Don't worry about getting it...just make sure you are worthy and able to understand what is in it. It will be His divine inspiration for your life...it will be very special to you, if it is taken seriously. It is a sacred document...it is your Heavenly Father talking directly to you, treat it as such. There is so much to learn from a patriarchal blessing, and it can be frustrating to wonder when will it be fulfilled...if not this life, when? And all things that go along with that pondering. To prepare for it, I suggest you perhaps look in Church manuals or productions...(Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Gospel Principles, etc...), as well as just do some reading on the Tribes of Israel, learn what you can. and important also is to counsel with family and your local Bishop, ask all the questions you have, and also pray to be comforted. He will answer...and He will make known what He has to say for you, in the blessing. Best wishes. Keep us updated. :)

I'm going to post for you a youtube video that has a "spotlight" of how they are "one", later. It requires you to look for what I'm talking about, but I'll also include an explanation for you. :)

perhaps some clarification on this would be helpful, so I will take some time to hopefully add. :) First of all, I can say that I worship Jesus Christ. BUT!! I do not worship in the same way that I worship the Father, because they are seperate people. I revere, venerate, and obey the teachings of Jesus Christ, but He is physically seperate from the Father, and in that, I do not worship Him the same as I worship Heavenly Father. I do not pray to Jesus Christ, because it has been commanded otherwise. However, I am comfortable to say that we, as LDS, can state that we worship Jesus Christ, as long as we are able to recognize the difference in worship between Christ, and Heavenly Father. Am I making any sense? :) Also, as far as the name "God" goes, and what that means if it's singular, plural, or whatever, I have an idea for that. The United States Senate is a collection of people who comprise it. Any one of them can go by the "name" of Senate, because they are a part of it. Make sense? While there is ONE Senate, there are many within who compromise that group. It is in that idea that I believe we can more easily "explain" the divine. There is ONE God, but like my analogy of the Senate, there are many who comprise it. In our case, there are three - Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. The statement that there is only ONE God, eternally, is that anyone who has ever ascended to exalted status is that ONE God, because they are all united in purpose, glory, and goal. I hope that is clear enough. :) If you would ask any God who comprises the one true God what He would do in a given situation, He would answer the same as any other, because in order to get to that god-like status, you must be perfectly everything. Yes, some would answer differently in a way, but ALL would be perfectly honest, righteous, loving, wise, etc... because that is what it takes to get there.

also, you can take a look at this link, it has some more info you may like, jw. http://ldslastdays.com/default.aspx?page=psc622.htm

actually, jw, i think ur off a little on the point of what will happen before things go downhill. The Lord will call home the missionaries, before He preaches His own sermons to the nations of the Earth. 3 sources, courtesy http://ldslastdays.com first, "Do you think there is calamity abroad now among the people? Not much. All we have yet heard and experienced is scarcely a preface to the sermon that is going to be preached. When the testimony of the Elders ceases to be given, and the Lord says to them, "Come home; I will now preach my own sermons to the nations of the earth," all you now know can scarcely be called a preface to the sermon that will be preached with fire and sword, tempests, earthquakes, hail, rain, thunders and lightnings, and fearful destruction. "What matters the destruction of a few railway cars? You will hear of magnificent cities, now idolized by the people, sinking in the earth, entombing the inhabitants. The sea will heave itself beyond its bounds, engulfing mighty cities. Famine will spread over the nations, and nation will rise up against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and states against states, in our own country and in foreign lands." - JD, B YOUNG 8:123 -- "When God has called out the righteous, when the warning voice has been sufficiently proclaimed among the Gentile nations, and the Lord says, 'It is enough,' he will also say to his servants -- 'O, ye, my servants, come home, come out from the midst of these Gentile nations, where you have labored and borate testimony for so long a period; come out from among them, for they are not worthy; they do not receive the message that I have sent forth, they do not repent of their sins, come out from their midst, their times are fulfilled. Seal up the testimony among them and bind up the law." - JD, O PRATT 18:64 -- "I stand here without any fear and say without any danger of anybody successfully being able to prove the contrary, that if the warning voice of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the elders of this Church had been heeded by the nations of the earth, we would not have seen the dreadful calamity of war through which we have passed, that these problems could have been solved and averted. The means was provided, and the means was rejected, and then when our Father has done this, though he be God, is yet limited to law, by obedience to which he became God, and he must honor the same, he cannot step beyond those limitations and set aside the law. The law must take its course, and when men refuse the offer and tender the Lord has given by which they may be saved, they cannot blame the Lord if calamities, judgments and destructions come upon them. The Lord cannot avert it, it must take its course, and yet our Father in his kindness and mercy has offered the way and the means of escape." - CR, MJ BALLARD OCT, 1923

hm...should the other one be UMW2, or something else.. because there is the UMW as by Juliann and her posse, and the UMW headed by myself and Nehor, as the Ultimate Mormon Warriors.

my theory that I'm now pondering over is this. Well, I kinda agree with Traveler. One question I have is this: If Christ was fully divine in the "pre-existence", having been boring of Heavenly Parents, wouldn't we all be "divine" in the "pre-existence"? Christ is our Elder Brother, yes, but His parents, spiritually, are the same as our own. Wouldn't it stand to reason that we became "perfected" spiritually, with all the same as Jehovah, but He was chosen to carry out the work as Savior. I say that not to demean His glory or His sacrifice, but to state that we are both of the same Spiritual Lineage, it would stand that we had the same abilities, perfected spiritually, before we came to Earth (having come here because we could progress no farther, there). Am I making sense?

maybe we need a censor for you switch flipper offers. :)

Hey all. I am a new poster on this forum, however not a stranger at all to LDS based forums. I frequent a forum called MADB - Mormon Apologetics and Discussion Board. If it was already posted about here, I apologize. It is essentially a forum where people can ask questions about things LDS. Members and nonmembers frequent there, and a lot of great discussions take place - I highly recommend looking at it. It is based off of FAIR, a group that devotes their time to better explaining and clearing up LDS doctrines - essentially defending the Church from attackers. http://fairlds.org and http://mormonapologetics.org Great sites, I hope some will look at them. :) Glad to be here, by the way. Hope to have some good discussions with you guys as well.