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I just landed my first job as a software developer! God get's all the credit, though. This job was made available to me in a way that could only come from Him. I was at Young Men's Camp with my oldest son a few weeks ago. While there, I had the opportunity to talk about my efforts to break into IT with a brother I was already moderately acquainted with through having served in the High Priest Group leadership with his father. He encouraged me to meet with the IT Director who is also self-taught and grew himself in the industry from the ground up. Fast forward to last Monday; we go to lunch together and hit it off pretty well and as we are about to leave he says to me, "Hey, I have an opening. . . you're not qualified for it, but if you're interested you can apply, and worst case we can get you some good feedback and point you in the right direction." I was exited to see what the interview would be like, and to get more advice, so I accepted. Wednesday, I get into the interview and I can tell it is a mixed bag performance. All the management type questions I am easily hammering out since I've been in management for many years now, but as far as the development questions go, I probably scored a 40% just from lack of familiarity with certain concepts, due to only working on hobby projects and never within an organization. Having developed two fully featured front-end applications and one full-stack application was much less valuable since they were all as the sole developer. At the end of the interview the IT Director repeated, "Just as a reminder, you're not qualified for this position, so we're going to talk about what if anything we could do, and worse case, we'll get you some good feedback and advice." Two days later he calls me and offers me a job! He laid out a plan with a specific path to get me get me the experience and qualifications to put me back in a leadership position over a team like I am now. I have the personal drive and God given talent to ultimately be successful, yet only in my dreams have I ever imagined someone would be willing to take a chance on me like this! The pay cut is only about 10% with the opportunity to be back at or above my current income within a year depending on my performance. This is a blessing that only God could have placed in my path. Without God softening the heart and granting vision to this IT Director with whom I have spent less than 3 hours time and have known only since last Monday, I can't imagine being given such an opportunity. I start next month and I am so excited about the continued learning and opportunities that lie ahead. I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven; I know and testify that He loves us individually and is intimately aware of the desires of our hearts, and our talents and capabilities. I pray that He will continue to bless me as He has thus far, and that I will never forget Him, that I may always be worthy of His Spirit and His outstretched hand! I will need it now more than ever, as this is only the beginning of this new road.

I can imagine that. My wife used to be a public school teacher, so she is accustomed to the effort. We have a dedicated homeschool room where she works her magic with the kids. I think it is fair to say that the majority of her time as a mother is spent teaching and preparing.

Well, my wife and I took our kids out of the public school system and are homeschooling them, that is the action we have taken. There is some expansion in the works on that to create a local homeschool co-op. I would suggest one of the most effective things that could be done would be for people to leave the public school system en masse. Then you have complete control over what is being taught to your children, and the principles of the Constitution and liberty can be instilled within them at home.

Because of the modern social climate fostered by the organizations and individuals who support and sustain CRT, they have established real and actionable institutional power for minority races (black in particular), and have implemented Affirmative Action which is by definition "a system of advantage based on race". Therefore, an interesting thing about this new-fangled definition of racism is that, in acquiring the power and influence to re-define the word racism and institute Affirmative Action, minority proponents of CRT have exerted "social and institutional power" and unintentionally defined themselves into perpetrators of racism.

There was a time when real policies existed for this purpose. It was called Redlining. Those policies are no longer in effect, so the current claim is that the historical issues propagated poverty to the current day, and impoverished communities (minorities in particular) are continually impacted by the racism of the past with no recourse to improve their lives on their own. Of course, that is false, because almost anyone can improve their livelihood through their own efforts.

My daughter and I literally just got done doing a co-op session on Portal 2. Both Portal 1 and 2 are fun, but with 2 you can download a seemingly endless supply of levels, or create your own (I'm too busy to make them, though). EDIT: Just realized this thread was resurrected, but still a great game.

Uhh. . . Can someone love the gospel and not love Jesus Christ at the same time? I'd say the two are mutually exclusive when it comes to a point of not even trying. (Looks like you responded to this already) Perhaps not directly, but don't we see a little of that from King David? His circumstance was certainly different as he committed a major sin and then experienced continual remorse and a desire to repent; Fether was not referencing people who want to turn away from their sins, but those who want to continue to live them. If they can't come to terms with the unfairness, they have a lot more to learn, and a lot more looking around to do. How is their life any more unfair than a child who is sold into slavery and sexually, mentally, and physically abused their entire lives until they die or are killed? How is their life any less fair than someone who never has the opportunity to marry, and yet lives their entire life having to cope with normal sexual desires? If they struggle with that question of fairness, their mind's eye is shallow and they need to recognized the endless pit of unfairness that exists in our mortal world.

I only read the first two pages of this thread and came out shocked no one shared this connection. I sincerely believe the brethren have been instructed, as the Lord's servants, that the time has come to let the wheat and tares grow together as we navigate the "winding up scene" during the "latter part of these latter days". When wheat and tares grow together, some of the wheat may be starved by the tares, and some of the wheat will be spared by not gathering the tares. In the end, all the tares will be burned and only the wheat will remain. So long as we maintain our number one priority to live in accordance with the commandments of God, and the principles of the Restored Gospel, we will be prepared.

I agree with all of that. Even so, because this is such a common human experience, it is rehashed time after time in society, books, media, and even Church talks and resources. Both spiritual and temporal guilt for things outside our control is covered by the atonement. I think a better way to have conveyed his normal emotional response without carrying or portraying the weight of undue guilt would have been something similar to, "While they have recovered, it is hard to not feel responsible." That type of modification acknowledges the normal human emotional response, while also recognizing is not actually responsible in such a circumstance. That said, I really doubt that others who have read or listened to his words have focused in on such a minor detail, as that was not the focus of his teaching.

I think the analogy was perfectly fine and appropriate. What I find to be somewhat troubling is that he feels responsible for having transmitted the virus. It seems reasonable to feel devastated at such a happening, but unless he willfully ignored safety measures (against their will or without their knowledge) while also knowing himself to be infected, there would be no reason to feel responsible. If he feels responsible for something over which he had no knowledge, control, or reasonable ability to prevent, that sets a really bad example to the world. That would mean there are potentially as many as 500,000+ people in this country who should feel they are responsible for the death of someone who died from COVID-19. I shudder to think about the implications of all other transmissible illnesses. All that said, I doubt he considered such prior to making his statement; clearly, his focus was on thoroughly conveying the analogy of a spiritual virus. 🤷‍♂️

How much did I pay? ~83K (Full plot was double that) The whole thing is 31.5 acres. We own 1/2. Here's a satellite view.

I can supply the land if you can supply the money! Recently got me a nice 15.5 acre plot about 40 min from Independence. Only 4 minutes from the local chapel too! 🙂

I understand data. When the virus first hit I regularly downloaded the CDC data to do my own statistical analysis. It appears to me that you may be interpreting more from my words than what is being said, and more than what is meant. I disagree with the person who made the statement about getting the virus and dying in six months rather than three; I was merely pointing out the hypocrisy. I think my statement of facts from the beginning is very simple. FACT: Old people have died in response to the vaccine. FACT: President Nelson is within the proper age group to be negatively affected, but as far as we know, has none of the pre-existing issues that would result in an adverse reaction (i.e. death). FACT: It can be reasonably assumed that if President Nelson were to die from an adverse reaction to the vaccine, millions of members would shy away from taking it. It can likewise be reasonably assumed that the absence of an adverse reaction will soften the hearts of millions who might otherwise be opposed, for whatever reason. I haven't said a single thing to suggest the vaccine is bad, or to suggest people shouldn't take it, etc. You seem to be in some kind of defense mode where every negative sounding statement about the vaccine automatically makes someone an anti-vaxer or something. I suppose it makes sense given you were part of the trial, but it still seems overblown and inappropriate.

Sure, now can you get the people who record all COVID-19 death's to follow that same advice? I heard someone put it this way: If people are willing to say that about the virus, why change tune when speaking of the vaccine?

Did you not read the article? There ARE old people who have already died from the effects of the vaccine. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-18/what-to-know-about-vaccine-related-deaths-allergies-quicktake

You all do know that the vaccine is only expected to provide protection for one year, right? https://www.verywellhealth.com/length-of-covid-19-vaccine-immunity-5094857

I understand where you are coming from, but that simply isn't true. God may or may not prevent His prophet from death at any given moment; it all depends on His plan.

Not really. There have been plenty of people who have had severe pains and symptoms after the shot so far. If it is a pretty bad experience for some, as I have heard, I could certainly imagine it resulting in death among those who are older and more frail. I'm sure President Nelson will be fine because, as far as I know, he doesn't have any underlying conditions, but he is very old. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-18/what-to-know-about-vaccine-related-deaths-allergies-quicktake

While I'm sure the vaccine is probably fine, we also should remember that President Nelson is in his late 90's, has lived a good, full life, and there is essentially no downside to him taking it. If it kills him, members will know worldwide and reject it; if he appears completely unharmed, members will be less skeptical and will take it, likely to their advantage. It is a win-win situation: either many members are guided away from an evil in the world (bad vaccine), or they are guided away from an evil within themselves (pride). I wonder if he will take a photo op for the second dose? 🤔

Given the Constitution outlines the method for being amended, it does not follow that an amendment necessarily means the Constitution has not been preserved.

Clarification: The Constitution specifically vests the authority to choose electors with the State Legislatures. That is an important note.

Unless the Supreme Court has failed the Constitution and thus it is hanging by a thread. 🤔

Everything that is happening now has happened before! https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Electoral-College/ Is it wrong of me to hope we have 1877 all over again?

Yes, you are correct, and that is why I specifically only pinpointed states that do not have laws or a legal mechanism in place to punish or nullify a faithless elector. See for yourself: https://www.fairvote.org/faithless_elector_state_laws Yes! And we had 4 successful Faithless Electors in 2016, and three that were replaced. Nope, I meant immense. (fixed)

Faithless Electors' votes in WI, PA, and GA are counted as cast, meaning there is no penalty if they do not vote for the candidate selected by their state's popular vote. All three states have a Republican majority in both their House and Senate. In theory, regardless of the outcome of each state's popular vote, electors in these states could be chosen specifically to vote to elect Donald Trump, or to abstain from voting for Biden which would force the election into Congress. In Congress the House gets one vote per state for President and the Senate gets one vote per state for vice president. Despite the House having more Democrat representatives, Republicans represent more states. Hence, a Republican President would be elected, an likely a vice president also. Our constitutional republic was designed specifically to avoid the pitfalls of democracy. While the uproar would be immense, such an outcome would be completely legal, constitutional, and legitimate. Despite that, it could be considered 'dishonest' if only for the fact that the majority of the American people are uneducated to the extent they do not understand this is how our republic was designed. This would be the most 2020 way to end the year. . . and get the next civil war started. 🤣