TilKingdomCome

Just saw this thread now - it's good to hear that, despite LDS' views on homosexuality, everyone's able to recognise how much of a tragedy this shooting is. As Derpy Hooves has said, Ramadan has just started ... hopefully there won't be more things like this throughout the rest of the month. Thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those involved in this tragedy.

Indeed.  Condolences to the victims and their loved ones.  Disagree though I may with their lifestyle, in this instance the bottom line is that they were humans, they were Americans, and they were supposed to be free and secure.  
With regard to Islamic extremism, it will be interesting to see whether the "they hate us for our freedoms" argument now gets a little more traction than it hitherto has.

Oh, this one is easy.  Here - have a year's worth of deep study links on the topic.  One wonders why we write so much stuff about such a secret thing.
https://www.lds.org/church/temples/why-we-build-temples?lang=eng
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/
http://www.mormontemples.org/
https://www.mormon.org/faq/use-of-temples
https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-Temple-Church-Christ-Latter-day-ebook/dp/B008D50JLO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1465679846&sr=8-3&keywords=mormon+temples
https://www.amazon.com/Temple-Gaining-Knowledge-Power-House-ebook/dp/B00K1O6OKU/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1465679846&sr=8-7&keywords=mormon+temples
https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Temple-Boyd-K-Packer/dp/0884944115/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1465679846&sr=8-13&keywords=mormon+temples
https://www.amazon.com/Endowed-High-Understanding-Symbols-Endowment/dp/0882906143/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41NJSF8%2Bd0L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR100%2C160_&refRID=2260DJ8GW9F0FHTD3PJR
https://www.amazon.com/Your-Endowment-Mark-Shields/dp/1599552876/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51xNPQ9IkLL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR105%2C160_&refRID=2260DJ8GW9F0FHTD3PJR
 
Yeah.  "Secrecy".  Sorry, but this really is one of the more laughable criticisms that critical exmormons make.  You read all that stuff - if you're a fast reader you can do it in maybe a few months or even less.  If you're still worried about stuff being hidden or kept secret, then come back and we'll talk further.

Working on our issues (cause we ALL have some of them) is the best thing any of us can do.  Keep holding the iron rod and putting one foot in front of the other.

As a kid I was able to get one for a quarter when I entered the CTR class in primary. As an adult I've seen nicer ones for sale at LDS book stores, but they cost a fair bit more than twenty five cents  I'm confident that if you don't have a store in your area that you could order one online. You might also look for ann LDS distribution center. 

Now I'm even more confused than when I started this thread  
 
@SpiritDragon Couldn't help but notice your awesome avatar, and it reminded me: where do we get Choose the Right rings? The missionaries told me about that a few days ago - about how it's basically the Mormon emblem

As a recent convert, with no friends/family in the church and with massive social anxiety, I can understand somewhat what you're feeling - it's sort of that "fish out of water" feeling. However, there's always bound to be at least some nice people, who are willing to let you sit with them during church and who are happy to talk to you, so find those people and enjoy their company. And remember, the main reason why you're at church is for God - to feel closer to God and Jesus. So as long as you go to church, partake of the sacrament and read your scripture, that's all that really matters. I know it's difficult but don't leave your feelings of isolation hinder your church-going experience

I'm sorry but the wearing of temple garments is a sacred previlige, that you should feel honoured to be able to wear. Not every Mormon gets to wear them - those Mormons who aren't "temple-worthy", those Mormons who've just joined the LDS Church etc. And there are plenty of clothes you can wear over them, if you feel that they're somehow unfashionable. When you got baptised, you took the name of Jesus on yourself and agreed to follow His commandments. Wearing temple garments is one step even greater than that - you literally get to wear this item of sacredness. Surely that should be considered a good thing?

That requires access to details and information that people in this forum simply do not have...  You will need to talk to your bishop
For example a heterosexual couple could be just friends...  But if they were living together, even if they totally celibate, there would still be issues with the whole "Avoiding the appearance of evil" and the "Avoiding temptations" commands.  I see no reason why that standard would not also apply to homosexual couples, but it is relatively new ground

Thanks. I'll check those links (I've already read the JoshWeed one, because of another question I had a few weeks ago. And I'll let you know how things are going. As I said, I'm probably going to wear my girl's jacket to the church movie night tomorrow, and if I can convince him, I'm going to get one of my ex-boyfriends to come with me as a friend (we're no longer dating, but we're still friends), so hopefully the Church will be okay with that
 

MY FIRST CONFESSION
I broke the commandment of no alcohol. I'm being baptised this Saturday so today, after the cinema, I had two glasses of alcoholic cider. Funny thing is, I barely ever drank before (the last time I had alcohol before today was during Halloween week) but I just needed to get it out of my system - my last ever drink, seeing as I'll have to be sober after I get baptised.
MY SECOND CONFESSION
I live near the LDS Church, so the bus I get to/from town is the same bus the missionaries get to/from the church. Also, my city is a fairly small city. So whenever I go into the city to hang out with my mates, I end up seeing the missionaries walking around the street trying to preach the word of God. And I always try my best to avoid them. I don't know why but I just feel really bad about seeing them around the place when we don't have meetings - like I'm intruding on their time or something. Does anyone else ever feel like this?

There has been some confusion (even among the moderators) as to what subjects regarding sexual situations are now allowed on lds.net after the closing of the open forum.
I had a conversation with the president of The More Good Foundation (who own this website) regarding sexual conversations and discussions on lds.net. Here are the new rules:
Any sexual conversation is now no longer allowed. This would apply to advice and general questions/discussion regarding sexual issues.
If you have questions/issues regarding masturbation - consult your Bishop.
If you are having sexual issues in your marriage - consult your Bishop or a qualified professional.
If you are having marriage problems due to infidelity - consult your Bishop or a qualified professional.
Any thread started with any kind of sexual conversation will immediately be closed. Posts on threads that have any kind of a sexual content or innuendo will be deleted.
This site caters to youth as young as 14. I brought up an argument that I’ve heard on this site numerous times. Fourteen year olds read about and hear about these issues all over the internet. Wouldn’t it be better to read about it on an LDS site? The response I got was, “That may be so, but they will not read about it here on lds.net.”
The new rules are pretty cut and dry. Our goal is to have lds.net be a safe place where those that want to discuss gospel related subjects may do so. We would also like lds.net to be a place that investigators can come to and get answers to gospel/theological questions regarding our beliefs. LDS.net is to be an uplifting site. We don’t want lds.net showing up in the top 10 google search results for sexual conversations.
I’m going to close this thread to comments. If you have specific questions feel free to message me. But be aware, I will not debate the new rules. They are not open for debate.
Thanks.

MY FIRST CONFESSION
I broke the commandment of no alcohol. I'm being baptised this Saturday so today, after the cinema, I had two glasses of alcoholic cider. Funny thing is, I barely ever drank before (the last time I had alcohol before today was during Halloween week) but I just needed to get it out of my system - my last ever drink, seeing as I'll have to be sober after I get baptised.
MY SECOND CONFESSION
I live near the LDS Church, so the bus I get to/from town is the same bus the missionaries get to/from the church. Also, my city is a fairly small city. So whenever I go into the city to hang out with my mates, I end up seeing the missionaries walking around the street trying to preach the word of God. And I always try my best to avoid them. I don't know why but I just feel really bad about seeing them around the place when we don't have meetings - like I'm intruding on their time or something. Does anyone else ever feel like this?

Sounds to me like it was not an addiction, just a coping mechanism or habit.  I would encourage you to come clean with your wife and do all you can to make her understand that it was not about her not being pretty enough or sexy enough for you.  If you tell her how and why it started and stopped,what things you did and what things you did not do.  Show your regret and remorse and ask for her forgiveness, answer any question she has completely and honestly.  It is so much better than one day her finding it all out and realizing that you hid this from her.  She'll think you never intended to tell her and she'll feel betrayed and lied so much more than if you voluntarily try to make things right.

Especially when there are more than two other Saints in the meeting.  The thought popped up in my mind in more than one battalion staff meeting.
Lehi

This one is classic:
 
 

I was at a trans* support group a while ago - wherein I explained about my baptism and how, while it doesn't change my feelings on gender stuff, it does mean that I'm not going to transition because it's not what God wants. I've been going to that group for around a year now and it's always fun. But today, when I was leaving, I was saying goodbye to one of the people in the group and I actually held out my arm to shake his hand. He looked at me like "WTFudge?" I've never shaken hands with my friends like that before - it's not something anyone really does in Ireland - but because I'm now so used to doing it every time I meet a church member/missionary, it's become a habit!
Do any of you have similar stories, where you do something that's only ever done among fellow church members, but you do it with a non-church member? How did they react?

I can see how members would see this as good. I can also see this meme being used as a tool for mockery.
 
Funny how perspective can change the whole meaning behind something.

I get a big kick out of how good we're getting at being online and speaking in meme.

I frequently have the urge to open meetings at work with a word of prayer!

I was at a trans* support group a while ago - wherein I explained about my baptism and how, while it doesn't change my feelings on gender stuff, it does mean that I'm not going to transition because it's not what God wants. I've been going to that group for around a year now and it's always fun. But today, when I was leaving, I was saying goodbye to one of the people in the group and I actually held out my arm to shake his hand. He looked at me like "WTFudge?" I've never shaken hands with my friends like that before - it's not something anyone really does in Ireland - but because I'm now so used to doing it every time I meet a church member/missionary, it's become a habit!
Do any of you have similar stories, where you do something that's only ever done among fellow church members, but you do it with a non-church member? How did they react?

I was at a trans* support group a while ago - wherein I explained about my baptism and how, while it doesn't change my feelings on gender stuff, it does mean that I'm not going to transition because it's not what God wants. I've been going to that group for around a year now and it's always fun. But today, when I was leaving, I was saying goodbye to one of the people in the group and I actually held out my arm to shake his hand. He looked at me like "WTFudge?" I've never shaken hands with my friends like that before - it's not something anyone really does in Ireland - but because I'm now so used to doing it every time I meet a church member/missionary, it's become a habit!
Do any of you have similar stories, where you do something that's only ever done among fellow church members, but you do it with a non-church member? How did they react?