person0

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Everything posted by person0

  1. I once spoke to my patriarch to ask him about his intended meaning in some of the words in my blessing. After reviewing the entire blessing with him, the answer I received was basically, "That's a wonderful blessing you've received. . . Once the blessing has been given, I no longer have authority to interpret or clarify, but I know you can receive it for yourself". In my personal experience, even after being asked to do so, I've often felt the spirit restrain me from interpreting a blessing even just moments after giving it. That may just have been be me interpreting it incorrectly, or could apply to the lack of stewardship to interpret it.
  2. Okay. I just meant the people though, not necessarily only their values, but definitely their apathy/stupidity and lack of self education on important topics. Agreed. Agreed, assuming the scenario you described, but if there is someone I feel can fulfill both requirements, I'm choosing that person instead. Okay. (Not sure this one requires agreement/disagreement) Agreed.
  3. Although it may not be applicable in your specific situation, there are cases when one's patriarchal blessing is reflective of events that have already happened. This happened with my mother.
  4. I apologize, it is apparent that you have have inferred from my original statement that I expected the President to be the driving force behind action related the the things in my most recent post. I agree with you. The simple answer to your question is no, I do not, and never did. Elected congressional representatives are the ones holding us back. The simple fact of the matter remains that I did not Vote for Donald Trump, because I felt a third party candidate better represented my values and opinions, that does not mean I do not support Trump as our President, and it does not mean I believe a different candidate would have made more progress. The candidates we elect are a reflection of the people. The unrighteous and uneducated in the USA are growing. As a result the political spectrum is shifting and taking our laws and our country with it. Our freedoms are gradually being lost or infringed upon, and those currently in office, rarely uphold the principles of conservatism sufficient to return this country to what I would consider a good place.
  5. I would presume that having your calling and election made sure, or being translated, among other personal experiences, may have their own respective covenants. However, since they would be entered into on an individual basis with the Lord, privately, we may not have any specific details pertaining to such a covenant.
  6. Enoch is a translated being, residing in a translated city that is filled with other righteous translated beings. The three Nephites are also translated beings, residing in our world comprised of both righteous and wicked individuals. Since all are translated beings, all have received the same blessing to ". . .never to feel pain or discomfort and basically be indestructible to live thousands of years and never fear". Additionally, all four (presumably) have their calling and election made sure. The real choice between the two, in my mind, would be to either dwell in a wholly righteous society and do what work the Lord has for you in preparation for the eternities to come, until returning to earth prior to the millennium of righteousness; or to dwell on the earth amidst the wicked and righteous, to see and participate in the works of the Lord until the coming of Christ in His glory. I personally would choose to be one of the three Nephites because I would cherish the opportunity to live alongside humanity and witness the miracle of forgiveness and repentance in countless lives; participate in bringing souls unto Christ until his coming; and do these things without the fears or physiological issues that we mere mortals feel in sharing the gospel, and living out our lives.
  7. 1) True 2) False In their normal interpreted meaning they are opposite, however, a way to say number 2 that would be true is: Mortality will be overcome for everyone. If you play semantic reading games you can make both true at the same time, or alternate their truthfulness by applying different definitions. Examples: No one will survive mortality = everyone will die. (definition basis: to remain alive) Everyone will survive mortality = everyone will live beyond the time when mortality itself is 'dead' (definition basis: to remain alive after the death of - - - i.e. he is survived by his wife; with this definition then 1 would be false) If you use the limited definition of survive = to remain in existence, then both are true at the same time without any changes. It's completely subjective as to the definition of 'survive' that is used. Interestingly, the ambiguous nature of some words as applied culturally, etc, is often the basis of miscommunication. Definition Source: Miriam Webster - Survive
  8. Aside from the covenants you made at baptism, and taking upon you the 'oath and covenant' of the priesthood, there are no other covenants outside of those made in the temple.
  9. Welcome, @bunnibee! Don't forget our 2 page reports are due for posting this Wednesday, but since you are new you get an extension through Friday at midnight. I'm excited to read yours.
  10. I will name multiple, if just 1 of them is successfully accomplished I would consider it substantial progress: 1) Pass a formal budget that if followed leads to the eventual complete payment of the national debt. (This is more important than anything else on the list) 2) Establish term limits for all elected offices in the Federal Government. 3) Establish a regulation stating that each law must directly relate to only 1 topic. (To eliminate earmarks and unnecessary fluff in legislation) 4) Enforce all existing federal immigration laws nationwide. Also require e-verify type employment checks to enforce existing US employment laws. 5) Completely eliminate the Federal Department of Education and return this obligation to the states. 6) Repeal all regulations related to Common Core - allow states and local governments to decide. 7) Eliminate the EPA and return this responsibility to the states. 8) Eliminate all aspects of the Federal Department of Energy that are not related to national security and return this responsibility to the states. 9) Privatize Social Security, or if not possible, establish a phase-out with transition to a state run model. 10) Completely eliminate federal reimbursements to Planned Parenthood, and any other medical provider specializing in abortion, regardless of service performed. 11) Pass a balanced budget amendment, allowing Federal Government debt only in times of War. 12) Eliminate the IRS and instead require each state to pay Federal taxes per-capita, collecting those taxes as they see fit. Or more realistically establish either the Fair Tax or Flat Tax. I could keep going on and on. But really the budget is the number one issue. If the government can maintain or reduce the tax burden and also pay down the debt, this would be amazing progress that would strengthen our country. By allowing states to remain sovereign on most issues as is their constitutional right, each states will be able to compete for residents, businesses, etc. If states are competing, Americans will in general enjoy more freedom. Each state can be a testing ground for legislation and when something fails it can be more easily repaired because it is not failing the country at large.
  11. There is a link between the Endowment and the Freemasons. Joseph Smith was Mason. The problem is not that there is a link, the problem is that the author of this book has led you to believe that the fact that there is a link is a problem. In actuality this is a non-issue. I would recommend taking a look at the FAIR articles about masonry and the temple. Hopefully by knowing more of the truth you can come to the understanding for yourself that this is a non-issue. Here is a link to one of the articles. Happy studies!!
  12. In Doctor Lemons defense: Close enough right?
  13. I also second what others have said but add this point: If an evangelical priest is writing about any what goes on in our temples then he obtained the information by illegitimate and/or inappropriate means. If he obtained it from a member, or if he used to be a member then sacred information was disclosed, covenants were broken, and the one who disclosed it is under condemnation for doing so. Why would this evangelical preacher want this ill-gotten information? He seeks to instill doubt and dismantle his readers testimony and faith in the Church, or prevent them from beginning the path that would instill that faith. Do you want to read a book from someone who wrote it with that purpose? Do we have to disprove another individuals faith in order to lead them to the truth of God through the power of the Holy Ghost? No, they can read, pray, receive a witness and develop their own testimony without first needing to be torn down and disproved. Our prayers are with you.
  14. There is actually an entire article on this topic at the FAIR website. Here is a quoted portion from the page: In my experience, most non-members do not actually pay tithing by definition, they pay offerings (but they still call it tithing). Most do not abide the law of tithing as 10%, but simply give as they see fit, and often consider donations to a non-church entity to count as tithing. Possibly the most effective way to help someone who is seeking to understand would be to first help them understand the truth about the Law of Tithing as has been restored in these latter days. That would likely provide the best foundation for them to understand. But would the inquiring person pay attention long enough to understand or are they just trying to create a 'gotcha' moment? There are poor members in nearly every religion, and all major religions have 'expensive' buildings used for worship. Are the poor who have sincere faith in what they believe asking this same question? With the same logic the person is using to make their point you could equally ask questions like, why is it okay for some people to drive an expensive car, or go out to eat at a restaurant, or live with any high quality products or services while there are still poor in the world? People who support such a notion likely believe in forced socialistic wealth redistribution which is selfish thievery and are as Judas in John 12:4-6 which @Vort applicably noted.
  15. Tithing is between you and the Lord, you should do what you feel spiritually impressed to do after prayerful consideration. Now that the obvious is out of the way, please be more specific as to whether this is a loan or if you sold your home for a total of $72,000 or what? Based on how I interpret your OP, if it were my money I would pay tithing, on the difference between the purchase price of the home and the sale price of the home, but subtracting the cost paid for property taxes, interest, closing costs, PMI and costly maintenance and repairs performed. All these are non-optional costs factor into the actual cost of your home, and effectively reduce any gain,increase or 'interest' you experience. Homeowners insurance is an optional cost I pay to protect my home, however, when you have a mortgage that is not paid off it is not optional during the time you have a mortgage (at least for the majority of US lenders), so I might potentially consider subtracting that cost as well. Using @DoctorLemon's personal example: If I paid $96,000 for a home and sold it for $123,000 10 years later, but then also paid $700 each year in property taxes, $1000 each year in interest fees, and had closing costs of $1500, all those costs are a big deal and subtract from my earnings. If I paid the common 6% of my sales price to the realtors I would subtract that fee as well as it reduces my increase. In this case 6% of $127,000 is $7,620. In this scenario rather than paying on the $27,000 (while noble ) I would pay tithing on $27,000 - (1500 + 10*(700+1000)), which would be $27,000 - $18,500 = $8,500. If I had to pay realtors fees when selling that came to $7620, I would subtract that as well: $8,500 - $7,620 = $880. So in this made up scenario I would pay $88 in tithing, because through the entire process $880 was my actual increase in the process of buying and selling my home. This was assuming there were no major repairs such as roof, etc, that you can't take with you. It is rare that you purchase a home and come out making a significant profit over time once all factors are considered. EDIT: It looks like @yjacket and I have pretty much the same idea here.
  16. The people themselves may not have been taught the same truth's we now know. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the prophets and especially Mormon, who had the writings of all the prophets did not have the same knowledge we have today. Also they had access to writings and scriptures which we do not have access to at this time such as the words of Zenos, etc.
  17. I did not vote for trump, but I did so knowing that Trump would win in my state regardless. I was glad that Trump won over Hillary, and I was excited to give him a chance, but so far, with the exception of Gorsuch, I'm not seeing enough to satisfy any substantial progress that this Country needs. Even Gorsuch, though a very positive thing puts us back at status quo considering he replaces Scalia. The next SCOTUS Judge that dies is where we have the potential to make real progress.
  18. I had a similar experience, and likewise had mostly become desensitized within a year or so. When I returned from my mission, during some down-time I watched a popular PG-13 movie that had been recently released. The movie was not even entertaining to me because of the violence and dark themes, even though there was no nudity. To this day, I do not like that particular movie, even though I have seen similar films with much less of a negative impression.
  19. My wife and I recently watched a couple of shows about tiny houses. I told her that when we retire we should build a solar powered tiny house, only have a water bill and property taxes, and then spend our money on travel, missions, dining out, and all of life's luxuries :-) If we put it on a trailer we can even take it with us when we visit the kids! I might like having a man cave too much to actually make it happen though.
  20. Couldn't you just do it like this?
  21. I believe that the Godhead is a quorum as was taught by Joseph F. Smith: Beyond that the remainder of my opinion on the matter is merely speculation. While ideas such as this are fun to discuss and speculate, obviously the most important thing any of us can do is live up to our covenants as best we can to have the continued companionship of the Holy Ghost at all times.
  22. Excellent question. I will begin by asking another question: Why does the Holy Ghost exist as a member of the Godhead? We learn from the scriptures: One thing that is not often considered from this verse is the significance behind the emphasized portion. That portion also makes it evident that neither the Father nor the Son are physically able to 'dwell in us'. This is a lost (and considered blasphemous) truth to the world because of the incorrect doctrines around the nature of the Godhead. If we understand that God the Father and Jesus Christ, as resurrected beings, are unable to physically separate their body and spirit to dwell in us directly, then we can understand that one reason the Holy Ghost exists as a member of the Godhead is specifically to take on the role of dwelling within us and all that entails. Let us also consider some of the responsibilities of the Holy Ghost: Among other things, we can note from these two verses that the Holy Ghost can teach all things and can testify of the truth of all things. This means, that the Holy Ghost must have access to all knowledge just as the Father, of which the scriptures also witness. The truth of all things includes the love that the Father and Son have for each and every one of us, at all times throughout our existence. Would God choose someone to take on the responsibility of being the Holy Ghost, if he was not absolutely certain that his chosen Spirit would be unequivocally loving and devoted to carrying out His will at all times, in all things, and in all places? Would the Spirit be able to witness fully of the true love of the Father and the Son if he did not also hold within himself that same love for us? I testify that God would not, and the Spirit could not; He could not correctly teach nor testify of something He Himself did not know and feel. He does know, and He does love us. We speak of the spirit withdrawing from us, but it is not His choice to do so. Our baptismal and sacrament covenants include the promise to always have the spirit to be with us, and he is obligated to abide that promise. If the spirit has withdrawn it is because he is not permitted to stay due to our obligations in the covenant not being met at the time he withdraws. When that occurs we have forced Him to leave against His loving and sincere desire to stay.
  23. I am married and currently have 3 children in the home. I do not have cable television, and have the lowest cost high speed internet available. My cell phone and my wife's cell phone cost combined is less than $30 / month (we do not have data plans). We go out to eat less than 3x / month. Our house is 60+ years old, and cost much less than some of my in laws homes, and is not as 'fancy'. All of our cars are at least 10 years old. My wife is a homemaker. My wife and I choose to live this way even though we could afford to live otherwise. By doing so, we will be able to pay off our house before the end of this year and will be 100% debt free. Many may judge our lifestyle but few of them will be free from debt anytime soon. Like yours, MiL has also indicated she feels we should get a nicer home. However, after paying off our home, my plan is to not buy another home without paying the price in full up front. If I am able to get a nicer home one day, great (I'm fairly sure it will happen)! If not, oh well, I am not a slave to my creditors, and can focus my life on more important things! If your mother can take a joke, you should tell her when she dies to leave every penny to you just so that at least one of her children can live the life she covets for herself and for them. I would only ever feel it appropriate to express disappointment with a child or family members living conditions if they were living inappropriately, or outside of their means. (i.e. excessive debt, foolish spending habits, etc)
  24. Possibly a more important question than those posed in my OP: If there is party to celebrate April 6th as Christ's birthday, hamburgers, hot dogs, cake, ice cream, etc, served, are you going to not show up just because you don't think it's really his birthday?