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This verse clearly portrays the modern and historical difference between the perspective of the believer and the non-believer. Those in our time who do not accept Christ, or God, and especially those who reject the idea of laws that are to be obeyed coming from God, view Christianity and sometimes all religion as an oppressive regime. They continuously tout that 'it is a hard thing that [we] require of them'. With their blind eyes they cannot see, and they choose not to see that it is God who requires it, we merely have chosen to follow Him, while they are choosing not to. "How can you expect someone to reject their feelings and who they love?" they ask. "How can you expect a woman to give birth to a child when it could drastically interfere with her life's plans?" they tout. "How can you live with yourself when you require that even the poor give money to a wealthy church?" they proclaim. If only they could see that we would never ask it of one another if it were not a commandment of the Lord. Often we are required to try and fail time and time again before the Lord will show us the way he has prepared. Not always, but often, we receive his aid only after we have done what we are able. We must study it out in our minds, we must counsel with one another, we must do our part in order to be prepared to receive the wisdom of the Lord. Seeing is not believing; 'the devils also believe, and tremble.' No amount of evidence or experience will ever be enough for the unbelieving soul who rejects within his heart even the willingness or the desire to believe. However, if they posses even the desire to believe that can be enough of a start. Sadly, fewer and fewer in our day appear have such desire in their hearts.

Even those of us who sincerely seek after righteousness can just as easily be beguiled by the wisdom of men. It is only by being willing to humbly submit to the will of God and receive of His wisdom that we can escape the trap into which popular or attractive ideals may lead us. Nephi, was a righteous youth; from the beginning we generally assume he was obedient to his father. It is clear from this verse that he was skeptical about his fathers visions and revelation, possibly just as much as Laman and Lemuel, and might even have considered also rebelling, or at least that his brothers might be right. However, Nephi opened his heart to the enticings of the Spirit, received a personal witness from the Lord, and was able to learn for himself that the words of his father were true. Nephi's experience is a testament to the fact that true knowledge is imparted by God through His Holy Spirit. He learned at a young age that it is by the power of the Holy Ghost that we can know the truth of all things. Sam may have prayed to receive his own witness as well, but that is unknown. What we do know is that Sam received a testimony of two witnesses; the witness of Lehi, the father, and that of Nephi, his son (Sam's brother). By the testimony of these two witnesses the Spirit, a third witness, could then ratify to Sam the truthfulness of the message. Such an interesting type that we see a father/son witness ratified by the Spirit, just as from Christ Himself. From the words written, I presume that Sam was mentally and spiritually prepared to receive the confirmation of the Spirit he needed in order to fully believe and act accordingly. I hope that we all keep ourselves sufficiently prepared for such an experience.

We are commanded to be one with our spouse, which in the eternal sense, we assume can be accomplished in nearly every single way except for literally becoming a single entity. If we accept this as true, we can then assume that If we come to know our Heavenly Father then we also, by extension, would know our Heavenly Mother. The scriptures teach that if we come to know Christ, we will come to know the Father. So we already have all the information we need, let us focus on knowing Christ and the Father. I think that alone should sufficiently establish why it is unnecessary to reveal anything aside from the fact that She exists.

When my brother in law was going on his mission, and had returned from the temple somewhat perturbed. My wife and I met with him and had him bring his cap and gown from high school graduation. Our goal was to show him how everything in the temple is actually stuff we experience in every day life on a regular basis, but is put together in a way that is unique. Some (hopefully helpful) examples of things we see in everyday living: We use a funny looking cap and gown in graduation ceremonies and when the graduation is complete we have changed the side from which the tassel hangs. As @Sunday21 mentioned, we stand up and sit down at various points, recite specific phrases, and use meaningful sacred gestures just as in a Catholic mass. Cathedrals, and chapels of many denominations have a sacred purpose in the use of an altar. People every day shake each others hand and it means something that is unspoken, gestures in temples have a more sacred meaning. If you think about the actual gestures used in the temple, they are commonly visible in ordinary life, but in a different way: What do you do to cast out Satan, or to sustain membership callings, or to answer a question in a school classroom even? Imagine you are baptizing someone, but without that person standing there, and look at yourself in the mirror when you do it. Imagine you are the person being baptized, but without the other person standing there, look at yourself in the mirror when you do it. How do people of the Islamic faith pray? As has been suggested, read the Pearl of Great Price and familiarize yourself with the principles and concepts therein and seek to have an in depth understanding of the plan of salvation, its all in there I have been to countless homes of friends and others where the family holds hands as they pray and it is meaningful to them to do so. My daughters are 7, but since we are adopting them, they each get a special day in the temple to get sealed to us, and we have discussed the temple with them many days in preparation. They are not yet ready to have explained the stuff that I have presented above, but eventually they will be. Anyone of age who attends the temple endowment and comes out thinking it was weird, should take a more in depth look at life with their spiritual eyes and they can come to realize that it was really nothing new, just presented in a specific way for us to be instructed in the pattern the Lord has chosen, and to receive his blessings. Part of the reasons we can find these things in our every day life, even often among other faiths is because everyone has pieces of the truth, great or small. The Lord has blessed us with a specific compilation of true principles that will benefit our spiritual education and preparation for this life and the next.

Answer:

YouTube used to be blocked for sure as I discovered one Wednesday while trying to teach the young men (and I have no devices with a data plan ). However, I have recently discovered while attempting to play children's videos for my 1 year old to help her fall asleep, that YouTube is no longer blocked in the chapel I attend. #ShhhhKeepASecret!

That sums it up right there.

Today we had stake conference, the sound was too quiet for those back in the gym to be able to hear the speakers well. I texted all 3 members of the stake presidency and the second counselor responded and increased the volume. If all phones were off this would not have been possible and the only other method of sharing this information would have been disruptive to the meeting. That being said, for a normal sacrament meeting, I am certain that it may be more beneficial to a YSA ward/stake to eliminate the distraction of cellular devices than to eliminate the potential distraction of a brief meeting interruption for volume one single time. I recommend heeding the counsel of your Bishop and Stake President, they both made this announcement after much prayer, knowing that most people would not be happy about it, and knowing that likely many would not heed it.

@Rob Osborn / @CV75, Much earlier in this thread we were all conversing regarding the omniscience of God, how it actually works, and its relationship to agency, etc, just as the OP suggests. Yesterday I came across some verses that stood out to me in a way they never had before within the context of this discussion: I think it is an interesting nugget of truth applies to a lot of what we were discussing. If the Spirit of God enabled Moses to behold all particles of the earth at once, and all people of the earth at once, then that is a clear example of the extent of the omniscience of God. He can behold and be aware of all things at the same time, even sufficient to be able to show them all to one of us at the same time. I'm still in awe at how clear these verses are, even to the extent of using the word particle!

The above is the revealed and proclaimed parental stewardship. Until you are of appropriate age/mind to have these responsibilities for yourself and/or your family, your parents maintain these responsibilities, however, once you maintain these responsibilities for yourself, their stewardship in that specific area ends. Anything beyond what is included in the responsibilities of a parent is also outside the realm of their stewardship as a parent and inside the realm of personal agency. Edit: I would like to add that the fact that a child is outside of their parents stewardship in a particular area does not mean they can automatically dismiss every word of counsel. Everyone can speak truth and wise words of counsel. Just as a parent or leader might abuse their stewardship, a child or individual can just as easily reject true or applicable counsel from their steward or from a random stranger. Truth is truth regardless of who speaks it.

I have family members and others who have touted speculation that a being such as Lucifer was necessary to the plan of salvation, as an opposition was needed in all things. To this type of speculation, I generally respond by asking who tempted Lucifer? If he is the only way we will face the needed opposition, what was the opposition force that enticed him to rebel in the first place? Will one speculate that there is a 3rd party 'evil' god that does this? I think not. As was said: Satan fell because as has been said: If you read Moses 7 in greater context, it does appear to lead one to the conclusion @Rob Osborn is touting: There is an exception though, the verse speaks of the wickedness of the people at the time of Enoch, not specifically the occurrence of Satan, nor does it speak specifically of the wickedness of the earth as a whole. However, it is definitely reasonable to extrapolate to say that if all of God's creations would weep over the wickedness of the brethren of Enoch, then since we can assume there are those who are equally wicked in our time, the statement could apply to all ages of the earth and therefore the wicked people of the earth as a whole. In this instance I do not believe that Rob is too far out of line, even though it is technically a speculative extrapolation. So in conclusion here is my opinion: Lucifer as the devil was not needed in order for us to experience opposition sufficient to receive exaltation. It is not doctrinal to believe that every mortal world must have a devil. How is Lucifer's punishment just if God intentionally created him to an evil end? If Lucifer was able to choose wickedness in the pre-mortal realm and rebel against God, then in the vast expanse of eternity, others will have the same opportunity. Of the countless spirit children born of God, it is highly probable that it will occur, although, possibly not with the same end result. (i.e. 1/3 host of heaven departing) While the fall of Lucifer was likely a rare occurrence, and one may conclude from authoritative sources that other earths might not have a being tempting them from the spirit realm, it is equally unreasonable to conclude that this would be the case for every other world, as agency to choose wickedness will exist from eternity to eternity. Who's excited about all the answers we will get to all our imponderable questions once we enter into exaltation?

1 Nephi Chapter 1 contains within its verses a type/shadow of the story of the restoration: (Due to the many many quotes from the same chapter, I have forgone the use of quote blocks) 4) There was a spiritual revival in the land: ". . . there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent. . ." 5) During this time Lehi was inspired to go out and pray: ". . .went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart. . ." 6) He saw a pillar of fire (i.e. pillar of light): ". . . as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a pillar of fire. . . and he saw and heard much. . ." 7) He was physically exhausted by the spiritual experience: ". . . he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit. . ." 8-9) He saw the Father and the Son: ". . . in a vision. . . he saw the heavens open. . . he saw God. . . he saw One descending. . . his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day. . ." 11-12) He was given a book which filled him with the Spirit: ". . .gave unto him a book. . . as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord." 18) He went forth, now as a prophet to teach the message he had received: ". . .he went forth among the people, and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard." 19) He was persecuted for his teaching, and for the book: ". . .the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified . . . and also the things which he read in the book. . ." 20) They sought to take away his life: ". . . they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away." Interestingly, by reading into this portion of the message of this chapter, it becomes clear that Lehi was likely not officially a prophet until he had this experience resulting in his calling from the Lord. Joseph Smith experienced the exact same pattern of events above with variation on the specifics in part due to the differences in the calling he received. God not only calls prophets, he apparently uses a similar pattern in doing so. Joseph Smith may not himself have even made the connection between his and Lehi's experience, or perhaps he did, but never taught it. This clear pattern is further evidence to the sincere seeker that both the Book of Mormon and the Church are true!

Agreed. The only way socialism/communism could ever actually work would be if everyone gladly accepted their societal responsibility and worked to the needs of society simply for the sake of the society and fellow man. The people would have to live without greed, pride, or selfishness of any kind. However, if there ever were a united people who would live in such a way, God would call them to live under the United Order (Law of Consecration), and as a result, socialism would become unnecessary and impeding to societal progress/perfection. Therefore socialism will never work and/or will never be necessary.

Even Satan now exists as a spirit being, which is a greater state than what would presumably have been his form of existence prior to being born as a spirit child of God. Just as those who ultimately are sons of perdition are still further progressed via resurrection than when they were pre-mortal spirits. Heavenly Father is not hampered by the limitations of human logic and emotion that could affect, his ability to experience joy in His work. I would imagine that there is a certain amount of joy in all levels of progression. Suppose you were an architect and had developed thousands of high quality blueprints yet only a handful of those blueprints ever became actual buildings. Can you not take joy in the many blueprints you had developed over the years from thought to paper, and yet take more joy in those that became actual buildings, and yet even more joy in the buildings that were world renown? I am speculating here, but would presume that God takes joy in all His creations, and yet, has more joy in those who inherit glory, and yet even more joy in those who inherit eternal life. Regardless of the final result of progression, all of His creations are better off than before he organized/created them.

While the advice given by others is good in many ways, I would like to add that part of the reason excommunication comes with the restrictions now placed upon you, is to remove a portion of the options that would enable you to use your agency to work on the wrong things and think you were doing the right thing and making progress. Your most important responsibility right now is proving to yourself, your spouse, your family, and the Lord that you are truly repentant and want to be clean and return unto Him. I would say it's time to go back to the very basics and focus hard core on those (i.e. scriptures, prayer, FHE, etc). Think about what you can do to show your wife that you love her. Same goes for your family, and the Lord. If you love Him, keep his commandments. Right now, since you do not currently have the Gift of the Holy Ghost, your task is somewhat more difficult, and I do not envy your position, but I know that in and through His grace you can make it back and have all former blessings restored. I promise that if you fulfill your responsibilities as a father, and husband, and strive to grow closer to the Lord, you will be building the kingdom within your own home, and there is no greater or more fulfilling endeavor than watching your children live righteously by your example and teaching.

I make it a specific point to only ever refer to Him as Ahman. Especially when talking to muggles, I mean. . . non-members.

In both of the examples you mentioned, focusing on those things could mess people up, as a result, I would make it very clear that what the individual is stating is speculative at best and that there are members of the church on both sides of the isle. Also, if there is any related fragment of an official Church position, I will relate that. Additionally, from a previous thread, if you recall, it appears that you and I are in agreement in regards evolution.

Believe it or not, my patriarchal blessing says almost exactly the same thing but using different words. I wouldn't stress too much over it. I personally consider it a blessing as well as a curse to have the personal trials I face in my life because I believe my trials will prepare me to better serve God's children, if and when the need comes. Also, I would consider it a special knowledge to know of such a powerful testimony in the pre-mortal life. That could be a spiritual booster, something to continue to strive to live up to in this life! Perhaps one day you will be in a leadership position during a time when polygamy has been made legal in the USA but still is outlawed by God, or on the reverse, has been re-instituted once again by God. As a result of your overcoming your trials you may be better equipped to help the brethren who face difficulties on both sides of the issue than someone who has not experienced that trial. Who knows what will come, but your responsibility is to simply try to live righteously and overcome, regardless.

I think we have some members that do this as well. And general ignorance is propagated especially when something is appealing, or when most people don't feel the need or desire to study it or verify it. In terms of when to actually correct someone. I correct people anytime that they say something that I am certain is incorrect, if I feel it is important for the general membership to have the corrected information. For example, I might not have said anything in either of those situations either, however, if that person said something like, ". . . see here we have proof that the Book of Mormon is true . . .", or ". . . since Joseph Smith revealed the date of Christ's birth we have that as a further witness he is a true prophet of God", at that point I would raise my hand to clarify that regardless of what evidence we feel strengthens our personal conviction of the truthfulness of the restored gospel, the Holy Spirit is what will bear witness of the truth, and any temporal evidence is of less importance as someone else might find justification to dismiss it. In a semi-recent real life experience, I corrected someone when they claimed that they did not believe we can be sure that we will make it to the celestial kingdom. I responded by saying that I know I will make it if I die today because I am temple worthy and strive to live the commandments. I usually only end up correcting someone if they share something that will lead others to believe something that could reasonably lead them to an incorrect application of gospel principles, or if it is something that is so clearly speculative it could negatively impact an investigator.

I did not watch the video, however, I will say that many people find supposed connections to concepts of salvation from sin, and saviors, and other aspects of Christianity. However, the connections they make based on pre-Christian era doctrines and concepts are actually all descended from apostatized truth. Remember that the gospel was taught in it's fullness to Adam, and he was baptized. From there, eventually it fell and was degenerated by various civilizations until even the Israelites were not sufficiently prepared to receive it. If the true principles of what is now known as Christianity existed from the beginning, and then were jumbled up through apostasy, some here, some there, then it would be expected that researchers could find evidence of these things. If an uninspired researcher finds pieces of information, are they going to conclude that Christianity must be true because its concepts go back so far, or will they assume it must be a made up mixture of other religious views that came before it? With that in mind it doesn't bother me in the slightest what the world thinks of the origins of Christianity.

First let me say that you are in a very difficult situation, and it is understandable and reasonable to be upset that your wife is seriously mismanaging money. Also, in general I agree with much of the advice that has already been given. Now that I've got that out of the way, I'd like to address a different problem, and will openly admit that I am making a biased judgement here. I know other people live differently than I do, however, per the OP, here is the breakdown of the 200K spending allotment to your wife: 1) $48,000 Mortgage Payments 2) $12,000 Debt Payments 3) $140,000 Needed/Other Expenses So if this were me, I would reorganize as follows at the absolute minimum: 1) $48,000 Mortgage Payments 2) $12,000 Debt Payments 3) $90,000 Extra Mortgage/Debt Payments 4) $50,000 Needed/Other Expenses Now personally I would go even further than that and my wife would be all in with me. The real root problem in my mind is that you and your wife are not united in financial matters and you need to find a way to get there. I am assuming that the provided money is post-tax. That being said I find it extremely unlikely that your wife would have $140,000 of legitimate expenses while you have other debt at the same time. If you have that much expense for food, car insurance, utilities and cell phones, you should probably sell your cars and buy cheaper ones, shut off the electricity in some of the unused rooms in your very large home, cut out the number of phones you pay for, etc, etc, etc. If you have maids, and lawn service, and so on so forth, those should be reconsidered as well while still in debt. With the exception of medical needs, there are exactly zero other legitimate reasons, in my opinion, for an individual to have 200K in after tax expenses while also still having debts. If you see that as reasonable, I would suggest that while your wife may be terrible with money, you just might not be that good with it either. Once again I would suggest that the advice others have given has generally been good, and I sincerely wish you the best in working out your issues with your spouse.

This little girl showed me, she's jealous of how much you like @pam. She likes her too!

Top reasons not to upset @pam: The Walking Pam Rabies Pam Warrior Pam Pam-hamid Ali Pam on Fire (she can handle the flames, you cant!) Crouching Tiger Hidden Pam

Not to worry Pam. My Muslim father calls me a heathen all the time. He uses an arabic word for it though. Not sure how to spell it, but it sounds like 'moosh-rah-keen'. So now I suppose I just gave Irishgrin a new word to use. . . oops. Edit: I just found out after some research, the transliterated word is commonly written as 'mushrikeen', meaning, "People who worship not only Allah, but also another." So for a Muslim, this would apply to all Christians who accept Christ as the Savior and the Son of God.

There is insufficient information available to establish a doctrine on this matter of any sort, as far as I am aware. One of my personal imponderable questions has always been: If the earth will receive celestial glory, and there are three physically distinct kingdoms, what did the other planets do to deserve only a terrestrial and telestial glory? Also, from where will those planets be taken? And we can keep going. I have not established an opinion on the matter, because, there is no scriptural verse or related statement by a General Authority, except to state that the earth itself will receive celestial glory and will be the celestial kingdom; that much we do know.