chasingthewind

I never claimed the probability of having children gets higher in a polygamous family. What I am saying is polygamy allows you to create just as many children but more efficiently. Look at the numbers a little more closely. 10 monogamous couples who each have 6 kids -- > 60 kids from 20 total people A polygamous family of one man and 10 wives -- > 60 kids from 11 total people 11 people instead of 20 is far more efficient. Polygamy allows you to create just as many children with far less resources. So it is clearly preferrable to practice plural marriage if you want to rapidly grow a population.

What an incredible description of God's omnipresence! Some comments, 1. This scripture explains how God (the Godhead) can be present in every part of creation ('omnipresent') despite being embodied. God is omnipresent - not because His perfected physical body is everywhere - but in virtue of his creative powers ('the power thereof by which all things are made'). 2. I also like to think of verses 7-13 as a "crescendo" of God's presence since it starts off by describing God's presence in distant phenomena and then gets closer and closer with each passing verse by describing God's presence in the most personally intimate phenomena. So it first begins by describing God's presence in the sun, moon, and stars (distant phenomena) and then goes on to say God is also present in the earth upon which you stand, the light entering your eyes that enables you to see, and, finally, your own intellect ("he is the the light that quickeneth your understandings"). I also love the parable in verses 51-61. This parable assures us that God will reveal Himself to everyone as long as we continue to labor in His field! It's also worth noting this parable doesn't appear in the Bible. It's a brand new parable - which is evidence that Christ is the true author of the D&C, in my opinion. Ok that's enough comments from me for now lol. Post whatever your thoughts you have about this awesome revelation....

I just thought I'd point out polyandry is a form of polygamy... Also, it is my understanding that God commanded the practice of plural marriage primarily to 'raise up seed'. This explains why He commanded the practice of polygyny instead of polyandry since you can't have more children with a plurality of husbands. So polyandry just seems like a non-issue. That being said, I would still do it if God commanded it.

If I am truly free, then my choices must originate with me; not God. There must be some part of my being that God did not create (which is precisely what Mormonism teaches in D&C 93 where it says God didn't create the intelligences of men). Thus, free will requires a pre-mortal existence and a rejection of creation ex nihilo.

Good catch!

I recently came across the following verse in my scripture studies, Is it really not possible for a murderer to repent? Does this mean we shouldn't bother sharing the gospel with murderers since there's no chance they'll receive forgiveness?

At first I thought it was blasphemous to think Heavenly Father had a past history as a mortal man. But once I learned man is an uncreated being in D&C 93 then it didn't seem like a big deal anymore. Pretty good example of 'milk before meat', don't you think?

I plan on getting endowed in a few months and I want to start preparing for it now. What resources do you recommend to help me prepare to be endowed?

Are you suggesting I pass up all opportunities to date locally until the girl in Utah becomes available for a long-distance relationship? That's just not a good idea. Are you suggesting I continue to date locally and not tell the girl in Utah I'm dating anyone? That doesn't seem honest.

I am not going to lay it out right now since she will be busy preparing for and taking finals for the next few weeks and I don't want to distract her from her schoolwork. But I will definitely lay it out shortly after she finishes with school. And I won't feel guilty about doing so considering how much she has been flirting with me.

omg. she sent a text and said she's been "thinking about me all week". my heart is melting.

But I've done the same thing to her. I've talked to her before about dating another girl. I dated a girl in NY for a few months and told the girl in Utah about it.. sooo, yeah. In general it doesn't seem like a good sign - I agree. I think it's more of a problem of distance than anything else, though. If we lived closer to each other and she was still dating other people and telling me about it, then it would be concerning. But since she's farther away, I don't find it all that troubling. She probably doesn't feel like I'm a live option right now. But if our visit goes well and we figure out ways to spend more time with each other, then maybe that will change...

Why does it sound "really bad"? Please explain.

I apologize for being overly-defensive in my responses. It's definitely a weakness of mine that I need to work on.

It’s not a childish infatuation. We’ve had (and continue to have) very personal conversations about our greatest weaknesses. Part of why I like her so much is that I feel like I can be totally honest with her and I’m pretty sure she feels the same way about me, otherwise she wouldn’t share so much personal information with me.

Good point... I haven't really thought it through whether I want to tell her during or after she visits.

You’re right. It will be so much more painful if I never tell her how I feel than if I tell her and she turns me down. I fully plan on sharing my feelings with her in a tactful manner. I’ll just tell her how much she means to me and then leave the ball in her court. That’s it. I have no business telling her what she should do with her current boyfriend. Also, I have a few questions for you if you don’t mind. How did you treat your wife while she was still dating other guys? How did you walk the tightrope of trying to break out of the friend zone while not trying to interfere with her current relationships? When/how did you go about spilling the beans to your wife? Did you spill the beans to her while she was still dating or did you wait until she was single to spill them? Why weren’t you able to go out with your wife after she stopped dating the first guy? Did it have to do with distance? Also, may I ask how exactly you overcame the “distance”-problem?

Did I say it was "conclusive evidence of romantic interest"? No, I said it is conclusive evidence that she is not visiting me merely to make sure I stay in the church.

I met with her from August to December and we've been calling/texting each other since then. .... huh? She knows I am going to remain in the church. She has told me repeatedly that my testimony blows her away by quoting Alma 26:16- "Behold I cannot say unto you the smallest part which I feel." She has said my desire to serve God motivates her to keep learning and doing better. She has said she is eternally grateful for meeting me and my conversion is 'so richly rewarding to her'. I have even done temple work for her. I did about 30 proxy baptisms for her male family members. We talk to each other for hours reading scriptures together and I teach her about different things. She most certainly is not coming down to visit me just to make sure I stay in the church.

Yes, we've met many times in person at church in NY where she served her mission. She was a missionary in the YSA where I was baptized. I was her "golden investigator".

I was waiting to move from NY to AZ for the past few months to start a new job and she was badgering me the entire time telling me how she "can't wait" to visit me once I get there. She also said she wants me to visit her in October so we can go to General Conference together. Not sure what to make of all this.

I'm on the fence about this. I think it all depends how serious the relationship is. If I was on the verge of getting married to someone, then I'd say its inappropriate but if I was only casually dating then I personally wouldn't care. I don't know how serious their relationship is at the moment. I know she stopped seeing another guy a few months ago so they couldn't have been dating for too long.

Thanks!!!!!! I like this a lot.

Who *doesn't* consider future options with the person their currently dating? She is just considering options. That's it. It's not a good sign or a bad sign. She's just doing what anyone would do. I didn't think your first response was very compassionate. You immediately jumped to the conclusion that I have been permanently "friend-zoned" based off one comment without even trying to understand the surrounding context. I'm sorry if I overreacted though.

We talk about the Gospel a lot and we were talking about eternal families. She was telling me she doesn't want to pursue a demanding medical career because she believes God wants her to settle down and have children. Then she brought up the fact that the person she's currently dating will be attending law school in a few years which means if they were to marry then she can stay home and take care of the kids while he finishes school. She said all of this in a very 'matter of fact' sort of way. It's not like she was telling me about her boyfriend in order to deflect me from pursuing her.