Midwest LDS
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Posts posted by Midwest LDS
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On 1/13/2021 at 6:08 PM, NeedleinA said:
Well, I did it.
I uninstalled Firefox and added 'Dissenter' browser instead. Apparently based on some version of Brave.
So far Dissenter is s-m-o-k-i-n-g fast. They claim it's speed is in part to no user tracking, cookies, etc.
Their claim is, they are not selling 'you', your user data off to advertisers.
Dissenter = free speech replacement to Chrome or Firefox Browsers.
Gab & Parler = free speech replacement to Twitter.
Rumble = free speech replacement to Youtube
Thanks for the site recommendations. I am giving a talk on missionary work using social media and I was looking for extra options to mention besides the obvious Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc.
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5 hours ago, Grunt said:
Why doesn't the meeting moderator mute everyone's mic?
They do but people unmute themselves like in Neurotypicals example.
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20 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:
So, everyone knows how to sit at a computer, "read" an "electronic newsletter", "click" on a "link", have a computer with "audio", and nobody is afraid of words like "stream"? That's relatively quite a tech-savvy ward. Your technology specialist is fortunate!
The biggest tech issue we have in our ward is people, especially the older members, forgetting to turn off their mic's. It doesn't seem to matter how much we tell them to double check, there are a few who just seem to never remember to do that and then they accidentally broadcast their complaints, personal discussions, eating habits to everyone.
- seashmore and NeuroTypical
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14 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:
And I don’t understand this rage to drop stuff from the hymnal. If you don’t like a hymn, don’t sing it! Don’t insist that the rest of the Church throw it down the memory hole. Other churches have hymnals that are far thicker than our own .
This confuses me as well. For example I'm not a fan of "In our Lovely Deseret". Its tune is the same as a beautiful and sad Civil War song about prisoners in Andersonville prison that I love, so it already doesn't quite live up to my expectations. Plus the lyrics in "Deseret" make me laugh (probably an indictment against me if anything, it just sounds so hokey to me). But I will not be leading a protest movement to have it removed from the hymnbook. If someone gets something spiritual out of it, then by all means sing it.
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I can honestly say I've never heard that hymn in my entire life. It seems rather Utah centric so maybe that's why. Regardless there are just so many other things worth being offended by than a single rarely sung hymn.
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I've been thinking about this discussion and I also thought of something I've found to be important in matters of judgement. What is my motivation in judging this person? If my goal is to look at someone, as the Pharisee did to the Publican in the Savior's parable, and say to myself thank goodness I'm so much better than him, I'm failing to judge properly. Proper judgement in my experience involves also wanting to help either yourself or someone else do better. Am I explaining to someone why following the Word of Wisdom (for example) is better than not because the spiritual and physical blessings have greatly improved my time here on Earth and following it is the better choice? Than I am on safe ground. Am I snidely commenting to someone next to me that the brother in front of us is obviously a bad member because he smells like cigarette smoke? If I do so than I'm guilty of a greater sin because I'm just trying to make myself look better in comparison. Proper judgement also involves plenty of charity.
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I think we need to be careful. I've been following this thread for a bit, and I've been thinking about things brought up by both sides. But I think we've (speaking generally) strayed from earnest political discussion into vicious attacks that serve no one and foster the spirit of contention. I don't say this from a holier than thou viewpoint, I've made this same mistake before myself, nor am I a mod so take or leave my opinion as you please. But we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and many of us are active members of his church. We should do better than this.
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49 minutes ago, prisonchaplain said:
I'm wondering if the "Trump 2024" theory is something put out there to appease his hardcore supporters. Neither the current President, nor the VP, will end up the nominee in 2024, imho. If they do, as @Midwest LDS says, they will lose. I hope it does not take that loss for the GOP to shake itself loose. On the other hand, so much good was accomplished in the past 4-years. Reagan will always be my style-and-speech hero, but DJT did get the business done.
In many ways he did. Any conservative can be happy he got through 3 Supreme Court nominees and dozens of other judicial appointments around the country. Plus if we can hold onto the Senate (it'll be tight but I think we will win both Georgia races) Biden won't be able to pass any of his super extreme ideas like court packing. So a bit of a silver lining there.
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12 hours ago, prisonchaplain said:
One of the theories floating around is that President Trump is convincing his base that they are an aggrieved party, and that this election was stolen. He may know he could not have won, but is preparing for 2024. He'll still be younger than Biden and he can run on a Let's Take This Back & Finish the Job! message. Excited? Hopeful? Dreading? Not in a million years? …
I would say it's a bad idea. At the end of the day, whatever else happened, Donald Trump lost this election. He lost because despite what he did right from a conservative point of view, which was quite a bit to be sure, he's awful at getting people to like him. He lost a 2 to 3 % swing of Republicans who voted for the Republican representative and senator in their state but voted for Biden. He needed to run against someone as outright hated as Hillary Clinton to stand a chance. The minute he didn't, as we can see, he choked. If he ran again and manged to secure the nomination he would lose again due to his complete lack of charisma especially on Twitter. This is one Republican who hopes he stays away from trying to get the top job so we can win again in 2024.
- JohnsonJones and Just_A_Guy
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4 hours ago, NeedleinA said:
From the Church Newsroom - What is Religious Freedom?
I suppose that means the opposite it true. As religious freedom goes down so does: prosperity, harmony and stability. Food for thought as we look around at ourselves and others.
That would make sense to me. From a historical perspective some of the most successful empires in history practiced religious toleration towards their subjects. Persia is one of the best known examples of this, but several of the great Indian empires including the Mauryan and Gupta empires also demonstrate this principle. Religious toleration, from a purely secular viewpoint, reduces civil unrest and foments loyalty amongst your subjects. Of course it's also ideal from a religious perspective as well, Agency being of supreme importance to God, but there is lots of good historical data backing up the concept.
- NeedleinA, Carborendum and scottyg
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9 hours ago, Vort said:
If your point is that the Republicans are liars and hypocrites, then I grant your point. The fact (and it is a fact) that the Democrats are far worse doesn't justify the Republican hypocrisy. But this is nothing beyond political gamesmanship. You can bet that the Democrats, in this position, would do exactly the same thing. Their pearl clutching on this matter is political theater, nothing more
100% agreed. For every quote someone lines up from a Republican saying we should only nominate someone after an election, I could post a quote from a Democrat, including Justice Ginsburg, saying it's the Senate's job to nominate someone when a vacancy occurs. If the question is "are politicians right and left hypocrites?" the answer is yes. But if the question is "do Republicans need to nominate someone who will protect what remains of our Republic?" the answer is also yes. I don't know if we have the votes to get it done, but we have to try. There are Democrats right now declaring that they will increase the size of the court and impeach any justices that don't meet their litmus test of who "should" be on the court if they get elected. This is unacceptable, we have the presidency and the senate for now, we have to try to oppose this argument.
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13 hours ago, Phoenix7093 said:
So........ I did it! About a month ago, I managed to finally go through with it. There were a few bumps along the way but in the end it was all planned, lessons completed, baptism interview conducted and baptised within 24 hours! It was really special and I only had the sisters, the stake president and my best friend (who actually baptised me) in his back garden hottub due to covid restrictions! I had to get approvals from the missionary president from the local area and a Bishop in Arizona (due to my friend being based there currently, but was home in the UK at the time) so you could say it was a very multinational affair!
As I suspected all along, I can now say that it was the best thing I ever did, altho not sure I could pluck up the courage again! Haha
Its amazing to now be an official member of the Church. It really feels like I'm home.
Welcome to the Church we are super excited to have you!
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I've been two times in the last month, our ward is divided into five groups of 25 or less. Our ward is pretty scrupulous about following the guidelines, masks, wiping down the podium after each speaker, only recorded music etc. It was so awesome be back. Sure I would prefer the pandemic to be gone and for everything to be back to normal, it's really sparse with 25 people or less, but I love being back in the building. The Holy Ghost was so strong and, as much as I am grateful for my priesthood and being able to do at home service, there is something special about meeting together with the Saints to worship Christ. I am just glad I get to be back at church, it's gives me a feeling of normality in a world that's completely topsy turvy.
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16 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:
I'm tired of being the underdog, hoping for a fandom boost.
You're not the only one. I'm super excited about the movie for all the reasons you mentioned. Now if they can just get a cameo with Patrick Stewart charging into battle holding a pug😉......
- NeuroTypical and MrShorty
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15 hours ago, Phoenix7093 said:
My biggest hang up is baptism, I just don't know how I'm ever going to reach it. I'm absolutely terrified at the thought of the ceremony, having people look at me, being a focus, it fills me with dread but I so want the gift of the Holy Spirit I would gain from it
I can understand this. My wife struggles with anxiety, and the thought of being the center of attention can be a real trial. I have just a couple of thoughts.
1. Right now large gatherings are not allowed. I don't know how they are doing things in your neck of the woods, but we are not allowed to have more than a few people at any baptism. Right now, it's likely your baptism, if you choose to go through with it, will be a very small affair with just the people you want to be there.
2. It's not a long ceremony. In normal times when there is no pandemic the entire thing is usually around an hour, but the baptism itself is quick, 5 minutes tops outside of changing times. Also, I don't know if you've received a blessing or seen one given, but receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost also doesn't take very long. It's almost certainly going to also be around 5 minutes or less as well perhaps shorter depending on who is performing the ordinance.
3. It's worth it sister! That feeling of knowing, as you come out of the water, that your sins are washed away and the feeling of peace and comfort that come from receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost are beyond compare. Talk with your bishop or branch president and your missionaries and I am sure they will work with your concerns to help you feel comfortable at this ceremony.
Also as far as resources for new members, there are a ton of talks and stories from converts online. Also this website https://www.comeuntochrist.org/ is designed for investigators and new members and is a great place to start looking for resources, comfort, guidelines etc. I'm sure there are other things too. Reach out to your Bishop/Branch President or Relief Society President for more local resources. God bless you sister. I'm a convert too (I joined when I was 8 ) and this is Christ's church. The Lord will help you with your concerns, I know he will.
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25 minutes ago, MormonGator said:
@Midwest LDS, dude, don't "like" this story. You are the one who beat me up and stole my wallet after you found out I didn't vote for Trump!!!!
😉
How else are you going to learn? Plus I needed one of those grilled cheese pizzas at Pizza Hut and I was out of cash
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2 hours ago, Jamie123 said:
True...but by that rule Martin Luther was "steadying the ark" too...as were all the Protestant reformers.
It's difficult for someone in Uzzah's position to see how things would pan out. Consider the same scene in a different universe:
And when they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, the oxen didst stumble, and Uzzah thought to reach out his hand to steady the ark upon its rickety wagon, for fear it would fall.
But then Uzzah, remembering God's promises, withdrew his hand.
And behold! The ark falleth to the ground and smasheth into many pieces, along with the stone tablets held within. And everyone was really embarrassed, especially those whose office it had been to use only the best of ropes, tie goodly knots and make sure the wagon was in good order.
But notwithstanding the manifold grannies and frayed ropes, and the pitiful condition of the wheels (one of which misseth several spokes) the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah. And he struck him down, and he died there beside what remained of the ark of God, the cherubim (neither of which now hath a complete set of wings) and the precious stone tablets.
Later in heaven, the Lord sayeth unto Uzzah, "Wherefore alloweth thee my lovely ark to smasheth to pieces upon the threshing floor of Nakon? All it needeth was one hand of thine to steady it!"
And Uzzah replyeth in complete bewilderment "But Lord, didst thou not promise to protect the ark?"
"Verily I did," sayeth the Lord. "But wherefore supposeth thee that I arranged for you to be present at that exact spot where the ark didst wobble?
"Well surely," quoth Uzzah. "Thy humble servant could not presume to be thy instrument in bringing thy promises to fruition!"
"For goodness sake!" sayeth the Lord, who now becometh quite irritated. "It's not rocket science is it? No one asketh thee to write ninety five theses and lead a Protestant Reformation! All I expecteth of thee is that thou useth one hand to steady the ark over the bumps. Canst I not expect a bit of common sense?"
I understand where you are coming from and I don't hate or mock Uzzah by any means. He made a mistake I could easily see myself making in a similar situation. However, he still made a mistake, hence the punishment from God.
And it depends on who you ask about ark steadying with Martin Luther. If I were to ask a Catholic, I bet they'd say Martin made a huge mistake that shattered the church due to his own arrogance😊. Now Protestants and myself look at it differently of course, and in many churches I would agree that this would be a tough question to pose about when you should intervene and when you shouldn't. But in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as you know we believe our Prophet and 12 Apostles are the literal mouthpieces of Christ. When we try to "fix a problem" or '"steady the ark", if we have a testimony, we are making the same mistake Uzzah did. We know God has said he can take care of his church, but we choose to disbelieve him because we "know" better. Doesn't mean we are anymore evil than Uzzah, but we would still be wrong. Of course you have to believe we are actually lead by prophets and apostles for that analogy to work, so I don't blame a non member for looking at it differently, but that's how we see it.
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5 hours ago, Jamie123 said:
Serious question.
The natural man part of me would have wanted to try and steady it. I would hope my spiritual sensitivity would have been strong enough to resist that urge, all of the Israelites and especially the Levites knew God had said he would protect the Ark, but the flesh is often weak. But then that is the point of the story. We have to learn in life to avoid "steadying the ark" in situations where, just like Uzzah did, we "know" God's church is failing and we are the only one's who can fix it. I put know in quotation marks to represent that we are wrong but are convinced we are right. That's what makes ark steadying such a tempting sin and why the Lord was so clear in warning us against it.
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41 minutes ago, MarginOfError said:
And then you have me, whose political positioning is best described as Socialist Libertarian.
But I don't have a political party that represents my political beliefs.
I've got you covered brother. I found the Libertarian Socialist caucus of the Libertarian Party. I didn't even know these people existed. I don't have any idea how big the organization is, but their Facebook page has over 12000 likes https://dsa-lsc.org/. This links to their homepage.
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9 hours ago, Plein Air said:
Our ward has yet to do any online stuff. Also still rotating alphabetically to keep the numbers under 100. Quite a few ward members are still trying to shake hands and hug people. I have to back away from them quickly while explaining that they need to keep their distance because of my illness. I think I would get better results if I just told everyone I had COVID.
I know you were kind of joking, but it might work if you really can't get people to stop trying to hug you or shake your hand. My sister and her family had a bad case of COVID. They recovered and have been fine for months but whenever anyone hears it they treat them like a family of lepers (hence why they only tell close family members and friends now lol). It might be worth a shot.
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2 minutes ago, anatess2 said:
It was not just that one tweet either. Mormongator has been virtue signaling about his mask wearing for days now... which is uncharacteristic for him. My post was a direct reply to that virtue signal.
I see well I didn't mean to get involved in your discussion, I only responded because you tagged me. However, I was serious when I said have a blessed day. We are on the same side more often than we are not☺
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1 minute ago, anatess2 said:
Saying why you believe masks is a good thing and encouraging others to do so is one thing. Saying that, "I can wear a mask, you can too" like that tweet you liked, or "Wearing a mask shows you care about other people", implying that you don't care about other people if you're not wearing a mask, or... what my friend did to my husband - called him a disgusting human being because he posted a joke about Braveheart shouting Freedom from the mask mandate... is the stupidity we are now in with this social media mask culture.
I can see why you might be upset by that. I agreed with the sentiment of the post which is why I liked it. I can, and do, believe most people should wear masks. However, I don't like online cancel culture anymore than you do, so I think we were just looking at the post from different perspectives.
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4 minutes ago, anatess2 said:
Only one point? You don't believe that virtue signaling masks is bad as well?
It's not virtue signaling if I legitimately believe it's better to wear masks. I do and I don't mind telling people that.
- pam and JohnsonJones
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Why is taco seasoning so bad?
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by Midwest LDS
I think it just depends on the recipe. I made some Mexican Street Tacos last week with steak, red onions, cilantro, and lime that was honestly (not bragging I'm still pretty new at trying to make stuff like this) was as good as the stuff I get at my favorite Mexican places.