Fether

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Everything posted by Fether

  1. There also seems to be this idea that it is the church’s duty to punish all acts of immorality. Everything from rape down to eating too much food and not exercising. If the church doesn’t have a corporal punishment for an act, it must be ok to do.
  2. Good news, it isn’t 45 minutes. It’s 58 minutes. This is actually a fairly heated topic right now. David Archuletta, Tom Christofferson, and Stacey Harkey have all announced they will start dating. It seems to be a new frontier that the Latter-day Saint lgbtq community is pushing. Additionally, BYU removed the “dont participate in homosexual behavior” phrasing from their honor code and there were some professors who felt they could make some commentary on it. This lead to some clarification but not reinstating the phrase in the honor code. Since then there had been a ton more people asking if it is ok to date the same gender as long as you keep the law of chastity (which I always thought any homosexual romantic act was against the LOC but apparently that isn’t widely accepted).
  3. I don’t think David and the many many other LGBTQ saints are looking for doctrinal explanations for what they ought to do. It seems to me that they are in immense pain, have tried everything they can to get through it, and haven’t seen the light. It seems more to be a cry for help. David himself said that his post was more about getting things off his chest. I know what the prescribed doctrinal answers are… but I don’t know how to help David, and others in his situation, overcome these immense feelings he is facing. I think the best thing one can do is mourn with those that more and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.
  4. It’s not o e of those direct scriptural phrases that makes a specific message clearly and plainly. It wasn’t a deliberate “all decisions will be. celebrated equally and we are all the same” type scripture (which I get the feeling you think that is what I’m looking for). It was more like a message in passing that there would be some sort of joyous call that we are happier now than on earth… or something like (or nothing like) that. I have been trying to find that reference for a while but I listen to at least one talk and podcast a day… along with regularly listening to “church” biographies and the likes
  5. Follow up question… where does the concept that we will all be happy regardless of which degree of glory we go to? I did a little looking and could t find anything solid.
  6. I read a scripture not that long ago that I can no longer find. The theme of it was something to the effect of "Everyone will be celebrated regardless of which kingdom of glory they go to". Does anyone know which scripture that is?
  7. I dont always succeed, just to clarify. But I’ll give some examples of things I’ve gotten rid of or changed. - Sleeping longer than 8 hours. 6 1/2 - 8 hours is perfect. Anything less is insufficient and beyond that is unnecessary and almost always is a catalyst to a lazy day. Lazy days don’t make me happy so I no longer sleep longer than 8 hours. I use this rule instead of the “wake up early” rule. I still end up waking up really early most mornings, but the 8 hour rule gives me room to adapt when needed - Studying controversial church topics. Regardless as to whether the article is faithful or not, it drains my energy to read those things. It’s intellectually stimulating, but fails to feed me spiritually. In fact it starved me more. I choose to love longer read those unless it is necessary to help someone. This is one I fail at often, but I am working on it - Playing video games when I have other more important things to do. I save all video games for when my other tasks are done (like scriptures, journaling, preparing for the day, etc.) and only when my kids are asleep. - Playing games online. This is one I am working on myself with. I’m trying to teach myself to not get angry when I lose to someone else online. This is similar to the sports thing you mentioned earlier.
  8. I do agree completely, just poking fun. I’ve started to become hyper sensitive to things that drain my energy and make me mad. If I find something that does that, and I can’t change how it makes me feel, I remove it from my life.
  9. I also remember reading somewhere that last year, or some year before that, the federal reserve stopped trying to keep annual inflation around 2-3% and are not trying to keep the decade long average to 2-3%.
  10. My wife pointed out that she doesn’t remember our grocery bill ever being as high as it is. Its going to be VERY interesting to see what the next few years bring. Another crash followed by a return to normal? Or are the conspiracies true (and the last few years have quite the track record of conspiracies) and this is the new normal?
  11. David O McKay had a VERY strong journaling habit and because of this we have a large amount of records of his day to day dealings and inner thoughts. He helped bring the church world wide and he was one of the Prophets alive during the civil rights movement. I’m sure there is more coming because it is like a 25 hour long audio book and I’m only 3 hours in. So far it has shared David O McKays dealing with public slander from a family member, him eating rum cake and tell everyone to chill out, problems Bruce R McConkie and Joseph Fielding Smith caused for the church, the birth of non-doctrinal teachings that still permeation in the church, some of the things the brethren were concerned with in their meetings, the racist views he held, and a statement from him where he says he has never seen Christ (which isn’t a big deal, but you don’t see much of) It does an incredible job of painting a picture of what our leaders are like and how just like us they are. There are a ton members today that hold on to these unrealistic views that the Prophets are somehow ascended to a higher plain than us and speak with God face to face every day. I think everyone should read this book and stop mystifying the brethren that lead us. Let’s follow them to the end, but don’t expect them to be something they are not.
  12. David O McKay and the rise of modern mormonism Im not even half way through this and I would recommend every Latter-day Saint read it
  13. I would add that it works when I trust my gut while following the commandments and it’s on important matters. I remember times in my life making bets (not with money) based on a gut feeling and it too didn’t work out. If I were to explain the confirmation I had in dropping out of college to move to Vegas (ok ok… this doesnt sound good so far) to work, I would describe it both as spiritual confirmation and as a gut feeling. I don’t know how to distinguish the two. Our experience there and since has been nothing but blessings.
  14. I subscribe the Darren Daily, which is a daily video from Darren Hardy about success and excellence in life. This morning he had a video about following your gut and he pointed out he never ever once regretted following his gut, nor had he ever heard someone say they regretted following their gut. I shared his experience and it got me thinking. My gut feelings tend to be extremely reliable and I know in the past I have defined that “gut feeling” as being from the spirit. Can that feeling, in some way, be related to the spirit?
  15. In the Old Testament times, there were two events that were almost identical, yet the solution to these two events were very different. Daniel and the Lion’s Den: A law is sent out that men should not pray to God. Daniel ignores the law and is thrown in the lion’s den. Because of his faith, he witnesses a miracle and his relationship with the king grows. This story seems to suggest that we act in faith in the face of death. Doing so brings miracles. People of Alma in bondage: Alma and his people are under the rule of Amulon. Amulon says “if you prayer, we will kill you”. Alma tells his people to pray in your hearts to avoid death. Crisis averted. Thisnis a story about prayer and how it can be done without the traditional forms we tend to us. It also seems like praying in Your heart is a lesser form of prayer since it is only prescribed as a complete replacement when normal prayer is no longer an option. So why the difference in application? Could Daniel not have just started praying in his heart to avoid the lion’s den? Could the people of Alma just continued to pray in faith and expect a miracle?
  16. I read 1-2 “self help” and “vapid” books every month and they keep me feeling excellent and giving me energy to be an incredible husband, father, Saint, and provider. 70% of who I am today has come from those types of books.
  17. The Book of Mormon… … There, now that I got the required (yet true) answer of of the way… Self Help: Atomic Habits Fiction: Ink Heart (followed by the rest of the series)
  18. Greatest series I have seen in a LONG time. It’s an original story that doesn’t lean on its origin series. It uses the nostalgia and fan service cards in a very classy manner
  19. - Covid will no longer be a concern for anyone - Russia will continue being Russia and will probably claim Ukraine and stop all their Russiaing with respect to their border - China will lay a stronger claim on Taiwan then stop their Chinaing once they have it - Middle East will keep middle easting, but nothing major done against the US itself. - Major conflict continues to grow around Israel, perhaps this will be where our military focus will go - economy blows up and life gets better. But the housing market will be entering a new phase of existence. Owning homes will no longer be part of the American dream. Only people who own homes will be people who inherit their homes and the rich. Renting will become the national standard. - Internet 3.0, Meta Verse, NFTs and crypto currency will slowly creep in until we really cannot function in society without have digital property of some sort. We will all slowly start spending more and more time in virtual reality until Ready Player One, the Matrix, Jumanji, Tron, Twilight Zone, and Black Mirror are no longer seen as science fiction.
  20. I think it is a great question to consider! It can lead to some great introspection and becoming more deliberate with what you believe. It’s when people start debating over whether someone “knows” something or not that the conversation becomes tiresome
  21. This topic of what it means to “know” is incredibly frustrating. If you debate it enough, it always ends up with “do we really know anything?”. At which point the philosophical thinking loses all practical merit and is nothing more than making castles in the mud.
  22. I’m familiar with the different meanings behind what it means to “know”. We have had similar conversations on this in the past that have gone quite in depth. I also do not see knowledge as a graduation from faith. I see them as separate. Knowledge is something that we can test and record scientifically. Faith comes from choosing to believe something that is not seen. Knowledge is thrust upon us. Faith is chosen. Knowledge is a matter of fact that we cannot manipulate. Faith comes from character. For the purpose of bearing my testimony, I say “I know following the word of wisdom brings joy” and “I know we receive answers to our prayers”. I also make statements like “this is God’s church upon the earth” and “The Book of Mormon is the word of God.” I feel, however, that if I were to say “ I know the church is true”, the word “know” doesn’t seem to fit the message I am wanting to convey.