clbent04

People who are considered Extraverts (E) in our model are not as sensitive to outer stimuli and need to seek them out in order to gain a kind of functional equilibrium and to perform well. Introverts (I), on the other hand, are more sensitive and need to escape the same stimuli in order to be more functional. Unlike Extraverts, Introverts can quickly exhaust their mental energy reserves, and they will only tolerate such situations so long before they yearn for solitude and quiet. People with the Thinking (T) trait seek logic and rational arguments, relying on their head rather than their heart. In contrast, people with the Feeling (F) trait follow their hearts and emotions and care little about hiding them. Individuals with the Intuitive trait prefer to rely on their imagination, ideas and possibilities. In contrast, individuals with the Observant trait focus on the actual world and things happening around them. Assertive (-A) individuals are self-assured, even-tempered and resistant to stress. In contrast, individuals with Turbulent (-T) identity are self-conscious and sensitive to stress. People with the Judging (J) trait do not like to keep their options open – they would rather come up with five different contingency plans than just go ahead and deal with the challenges as they come. In contrast, Prospecting (P) individuals are much more flexible and relaxed when it comes to dealing with both expected and unexpected challenges.

Oh okay. I'll look for that

Results for @clbent04

This is a good personality test I'm inviting everyone to take and post their results here, especially @Vort , @Carborendum , @zil , @person0 , @Grunt , @MormonGator , @Sunday21 , @SilentOne , @pam , @Blossom76 , @anatess2 , @Anddenex , @DoctorLemon , @Midwest LDS and @Rob Osborn . A post just for fun comparison if you want to participate. If you want to see anyone else's results, invite them too! Test is free, pulls up immediately without needing to sign up for anything, takes about 15 minutes. https://www.16personalities.com/

As long as there’s ZERO indication that they don’t abuse their trust as teachers to your children, I wouldn’t raise the issue any further than just letting the Bishop know they are living together. If the Bishop decides to not revoke their callings and you are still bothered by the issue, ask yourself why. If it’s a matter of living in sin, we all live in sin, whether it be living together as an unmarried couple, being judgmental, prideful, selfish...

Exodus 20:2 commandment #3 ”THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN.” What does it really mean to not take the Lord’s name in vain? Does it even have to do anything with using one of Jesus’s or the Father’s many names to express anger, shock, excitement...? I’ve heard before that it doesn’t necessarily have to do with the words you speak. More so it’s meant to command us that when we take the name of the Lord upon ourselves by taking the sacrament, that we prove ourselves faithful servants and followers to the Lord, that we don’t sit idle when work is to be done, that we use our time wisely... Is this looking into the commandment too deeply or taking it out of context as the Lord originally intended for us to understand it? Anyone familiar with the Greek/Hebrew behind commandment number 3 to clarify if it was meant to only address the spoken words out of our mouths? Sacramental Prayer Doctrine and Covenats 20:77 “O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.”

@Vort laying it down once more. Nicely said.

One of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard was that given by President Monson when he was first called to serve as an Apostle in 1963. All the more meaningful when you watch this clip considering President Monson’s lifelong dedication to the Lord. Favorite quote by President Monson: “The sweetest experience I know in life is to feel a prompting and act upon it and later find out that it was the fulfillment of someone’s prayer or someone’s need. And I always want the Lord to know that if He needs an errand run, Tom Monson will run that errand for Him” (On the Lord’s Errand).

Haven’t you heard? We baptize the dead all the time without their consent. Just look at the irate Jews who keep telling us to knock it off. Big controversy over the years. So what’s one more non-consenting name in the hat? Lol. No big deal. Joking aside, this does stir up quite a bit of controversy from time to time. But God did command us to “redeem the dead.” If it doesn’t happen now, it will happen in the Millennium. Every name accounted for. No one forgotten. Everyone is to be given a chance at one time or another to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This at least clarifies to me where you were coming from before with continually questioning the motive of my questioning. All things considered, I don’t think you are as ill-natured toward me as I previously suspected. You’ve just had some occasional judgemental comments here and there that have confused me regarding your intentions of posting on my questions. One thing you should understand is I have two different types of questions I post on this website. Questions I simply find interesting that have no bearing on my relationship with God, and questions that do. Most of the questions I post on this website are on topics I just find interesting. Yes, Mormon religious topics are at the top of my list of what interests me. Whatever perspective I receive from others regarding my lighter topics of interest has no bearing on my relationship with God. In fairness to you, you probably have no idea which of my questions are serious and which are simply posted out of curiousity, hence the continual questioning. This particular post is one of the few that is not just for fun. So with these kind of more serious posts, I do find your matter-of-fact, no-nonsense answers to be helpful. Thanks for the advice. I followed it and contacted my Bishop that very day.

I can’t really say what I would do in Nephi’s situation. I do know I am a spiritual shrimp compared to the spiritual giant Nephi was. Even when I do feel the Spirit, I have little to no idea how to follow it’s guidance or use it for personal decision making. I can’t recall one memorable time in my life I prayed to God asking him for an answer where I felt the Spirit reveal it to me. If the Spirit told me to go left, there is a good chance I would take a right. Not because I want to be disobedient to the promptings of the Spirit, but because I’m still a beginner with understanding how to follow the Spirit’s guidance. Would God give someone like me in my current spiritual status the test of following His command to kill someone? I don’t think so. For one, I’m not ready and willing right now to do anything the Lord commanded of me. And two, I’ve built too many communication barriers between me and the Lord for me to clearly receive such a command. Nephi did not have the issues I have. Nephi was a great man, he was a righteous man. He was ready and willing to follow the Lord, even as hard as it was for him to internalize such a command. Even though I haven’t learned how to use the Spirit for personal decision making, I have been able to feel it when it testifies to me of things which are true. I’ve felt the Spirit so strongly in the Mormon church (Priesthood blessings, listening to someone speak in Fast & Tesitmony Meeting, Church leadership), giving me knowledge that is it true, that I could never in good conscience accept any other belief system. As for relying on the Spirit to help guide me, I’m grateful for examples like Nephi and Abraham. Without examples like these, who do we have to look up to in order to improve ourselves?

Real stumper, eh? Answer is your breath

Well I didn’t make up the Nephi/Laban story, so as far as Mormons believe God can command someone like Nephi to righteously kill in His name, that part doesn’t come from my imagination, but my exaggerated application of it did.

When I was younger and read of the Nephi/Laban story, it made me think of how extreme we were meant to be as Mormons. Were we meant to be diehard zealots ready to perform Jihad at any moment? Were we to be groomed in the Church to the point a secret word could be spoken into the microphone at Church that could trigger all of us into action? This, of course, was mostly the imagination of a younger me trying to comprehend taking a life in “cold blood” as you say, or imagining how one could feel the Holy Spirit to be prompted to commit such an act.

Thanks for the response @JohnsonJonesYou are a bishop I take it? Now that I’m hearing answers from everyone opposite to what I expected, as much as it does give me hope hearing that I’m wrong on this subject, I am tempted to take this same question to my current bishop and have it pushed up to the stake president for double confirmation. I would write down this exact question to my bishop to confirm the answer on this subject: Is it possibly for someone to have the chance of obtaining Celestial Glory who never mastered the Law of Chastity in this life? Or more specifically, if that person never overcame the battle of lust, viewing of pornography, or the act of masturbating in this life, would that person still have the chance of making it to the Celestial Kingdom considering the following criteria was met: -They had faith in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and His Atonement -They continued to repent throughout their lives with real intent to change for the best even though they never ended up being successful at completely avoiding pornography and masturbating

Part of my understanding of the Law of Chasity was solidified from a pre-marriage meeting my wife and I had with our singles ward bishop. In his office he posed the question to us of why the Law of Chasity is uniquely focused on in the temple. I responded to him that I believed the Law of Chasity to be the most defining test when it came to sifting the wheat from the tares from the Celestial Kingdom to anything less. He paused and then responded that my answer was the best answer he had ever heard. My intent isn’t to prop myself up here, but more so to make the point my bishop had validated and subsequently solidified my thinking about the Law of Chasity. This would later negatively affect me in how I viewed my own eternal welfare as I continued to struggle with my addiction to viewing pornography. So how do I reconcile my own likely trajectory path of not being able to master the Law of Chasity in this life, my conversation with my bishop, and my view of not having a chance at Celestial Glory?

I would not be opposed to finding help. I’ve been to an LDS counselor/psychologist for a couple months in the past on my own dime, and I briefly attended ARP. The guys in the ARP class were struggling with alcohol and drugs, so it just seemed out of place for me being the only one there attending for a pornography addiction. I understand addiction is addiction, but at the same time it would be nice to find a group that specifically focuses on recovery from pornography addiction. When I slow down and think about the situation with my little sister and how it’s affected my view on prayer, I come to the same realization you said that we can’t pray away someone’s agency. I know I shouldn’t let it be another one of my excuses inhibiting my relationship with God, but it’s affected me nonetheless. This is a common message I seem to be receiving from most on this thread that gives me hope. Thanks. I know most of you are more advanced in the gospel than I am, so it’s reassuring when I hear from someone like you that as long as I keep trying and don’t give up, there’s hope for me yet. But I still need to reconcile what I know, or think I know, about the Law of Chastity. I thought I made reasonable gospel connections before about the Law of Chasity, and how mastery to it was essential in this life before having a chance to advance to the Celestial Kingdom hereafter. And again, to qualify what I consider mastery, it includes things like not willingly lusting in your heart and not viewing pornography. But I haven’t heard from anyone on this thread that it’s an automatic block from the Celestial Kindgom if we leave this life never having completely mastered avoiding those two things. Am I hearing that correctly? The Law of Chasity is after all very serious. I’m not looking to water down the strictness of Law of Chasity here. I want to understand the seriousness of the Law of Chasity as it really is. If we truly don’t have to overcome willingly lusting in our hearts in this life (taking that second you knew you shouldn’t have, indulging an impure thought...), then that would give me hope for myself.

I attended once or twice several months ago. It didn’t really do much for me, but in fairness, maybe it would have if I stuck with it. The class and material just seemed dry, but maybe I wasn’t humble enough to receive the instruction? I still have the Addiction Recovery booklet so maybe I’ll try going through it on my own, or try another ARP class hosted by a different ward to see if I connect better with the teacher

Thanks Carb

People like Paul who have lived in this world lived the better parts of their lives as if they weren’t of this world

I’ve crippled myself to the point that getting out of the spiritual rut I’m in seems hopeless. Whether it be one of Satan’s lies I’ve come to believe based on my own life experience, a simple misunderstanding of the gospel and how the Lord will judge us, or even a blunt truth about life, the following lists why I feel unable or unwilling to get back on track. I don’t want to stay like this. I want to get back on track for myself, my wife and daughter to grow and progress in the Church, but it’s as if I’ve boxed myself in. The simple solutions to my problems like prayer don’t seem like solutions at all to me. Nothing seems to work for me. Overcoming the battle of lust has been the crux of my issue after trying so many times only to fail once more, but it’s compounded from there. If I could overcome the battle of lust once and for all, I believe that would give me hope in other areas I’m struggling in. I would be able to see for the first time in my life that the gospel works for me personally. Lie, Misunderstanding or Blunt Truth #1 -I’m not good enough for the Celestial Kingdom. I just don’t have enough resolve, determination, faith... I’m not nor ever will be of Celestial caliber. I’m not spiritual enough. Lie, Misunderstanding or Blunt Truth #2 -No one can make it to the Celestial Kingdom who has not mastered being a righteous steward with the powers of procreation in this life. If you leave this world in a state where you still abuse the powers of procreation (willingly lusting in your heart, pornography...), then you are automatically cut off from the Celestial Kingdom as the Law of Chasity is a very strict and serious law. There is less lenience and mercy that the Lord can afford with this law in comparison to others Lie, Misunderstanding or Blunt Truth #3 -Praying to God is ineffective and a waste of my time. Every time I think of praying to God now I’m reminded of how my most sincere prayers have been left unanswered. Example 1: I prayed to overcome the battle of lust for years. Yet I’ve never been able to overcome it. Example 2: After my parents passed away, my little sister was accepted to BYU and began her freshman year at 18 years old. At a local gym in Provo, she met a 37 year old man who worked there as a trainer and had hidden intentions of meeting a younger girl and leaving his wife, and essentially abandoning his 6 children to start a new life with someone else. I knew my little sister, being in the vulnerable state that she was, was an easy target to be manipulated by someone like that. My older sister and I got wind of some of these developments that our little sister and this older man were developing a relationship. We flew out to Provo immediately to put an end to this relationship by exposing this man’s dual life to our little sister. We contacted his home ward bishop and his wife so that we could bring my little sister to meet them face-to-face to help her see the whole picture. For a brief moment we actually got through to my little sister after meeting with the bishop and the man’s wife. She was willing to leave BYU since by her own admission she wouldn’t be strong enough to stay away from this man if he continued to contact her. We started making the arrangements to pull her out, but then her guardian, a member back in Texas that took my little sister in after our parents died, told us we shouldn’t take her out of Provo, that my little sister should stay because whether in Provo or somewhere else she needed to prove to herself she could do it. It was hard advice to follow, but her guardian was a good mom to 4 kids of her own and a seasoned member in the Church, so we decided to trust this advice considering my older sister and I had never been parents ourselves and had little to no idea what effective parenting was. I remember during the 2-3 days we were there in Provo, I fasted for the entire duration pleading with the Lord to please watch over and protect my little sister, and to help this man not abandon his family. I prayed on my knees with my sisters in my little sister’s apartment room. I’ve never prayed so hard in my life thanking the Lord that we were able to reach my little sister before the relationship between her and this man had developed any further. I remember praying fervently to God that He would watch over her and protect her, and that she would be given the strength needed to overcome this trial. We left our little sister there in Provo. And long story short, the relationship developed once more. Once my little sister was fully committed to this man, he officially left his wife and 6 kids there in Utah, finalized the divorce, and had a Vegas wedding. My little sister and this man now live on the East coast, and just last year or two I was able to reestablish connection with her after being so distraught by the whole episode. Lie, Misunderstanding or Blunt Truth #4 -Going to church and all the other checklist items is meaningless if I’ve already self-pegged myself as ending up somewhere other than the Celestial Kingdom. And how can I teach my family about Mormonism if I personally don’t have hope in the system?

Alright, that one made me laugh, but I’m thinking of a traveling missionary to be more like someone like Paul in the New Testament who preaches with power under any circumstance

Also as a means to express appreciation for what they have been given?

You’re hinting at attitude?

Parents give children chores to teach to help them become contributing members to the household, to help manage the household, and teach the kids discipline