Midwest LDS

I guess it depends on what you mean by how Latter-day Saint I am. If you mean how committed I am to the church and how much I believe it to be true the answer is 10. If you mean how culturally Latter-day Saint I am, then the answer is a 6-7. I try to live up to my obligations, but I'm also an introverted non morning person so that knocks me down a few points😃.

Rulon Gardner. Watching him beat Aleksandr Karelin in the 2000 Olympics was one of the most exciting things I'd ever seen. That Siberian looked like he could bend iron bars between his fingers! Definitely cheered in my living room that day.

Sometimes they do, and that's okay for a while. It's like how it's better to obey the commandments because you (generic) are afraid of getting in trouble, rather than break them. Ideally, you (generic) would one day obey because you love God, but you have to start somewhere. In your (specific) case, you are trying to do the right thing, even though you are relying on other's testimonies to strengthen your own. Remember what it says in Alma 32:27 "27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words". You can absolutely work on strengthening your testimony a little at a time, just as the Zoramites' poor did. Also, remember the father whose child was afflicted by an evil spirit in the Bible. He came to the disciples first, who could not heal the child, so he brought him to the Lord in Mark 9:23-25 "23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him." This unamed man could not banish his unbelief entirely, yet he came before the Lord anyway, and begged for help overcoming his doubt. You can do the same thing brother. Do what's right now, and ask the Lord to help you with your unbelief.

That's so awesome, way to go @Tyme we are ecstatic for you!

It depends on what you mean by comparison. Here the Lord is making sure Joseph remembers that even the Lord, the greatest of God's children, had to pass through pain and suffering and Joseph is not greater than the Lord so of course Joseph will too. This was not intended to put Joseph on any kind of equal footing with the Lord, it's just the Lord attempting to make a point with Joseph.

If you are concerned you can request to be present. Parents have always been allowed to attend their children's interviews, and that has been reiterated recently. Maybe if you explain how important this is to you, your ex-wife will attend the meeting? Oh and FYI, on a seperate note because you should be able to attend the meeting if you want to, I never would have fixed things that were seriously wrong when I was a teenager if my parents had been required to sit in my interviews with me. I believe parents should be allowed to attend meetings and they are, but I also believe kids, especially teens, should be able to request private meetings with their bishops as well.

Not that I'm aware of. I've known Joseph used a seer stone most of my life and I'm a convert. Now granted I'm not that old (yet😃) but it was never hidden. Heck, the church kept the seer stone in it's archives, and I can think of numerous articles discussing or mentioning it like the ones presented by @NeuroTypical. It's the truth so why wouldn't they? I've never understood why people would struggle with the concept of God, who can create whole universes if he wills it, using a simple stone to help his mortal prophet. Oh and FYI, definitely keep Praise to the Man, one of my favorites☺.

Second place! Hooray that means I'm like the Soviet Union in the Cold War or John Kerry in 2004. Truly I now have a place among the mighty!

Making someone exempt from certain taxes allows them to keep more of their own money to do with as they will. Welfare is money given to someone directly by the government that they didn't earn. Perhaps a small distinction, but an important one to me.

Definite no on abortion, it's horrendous. Contraception doesn't bother me at all thats between a man and his wife. Ideally you would be able to rely on your own resources first, your families second, the church's third, and leave the government out of it completely. If you're talking tax breaks or something then that's fine, but the goverment should be uninvolved in welfare. They don't do it right and only create dependency and deficits with it.

Sometimes brother I think the Lord sends us prophetic dreams not because it will change our behaivors that instant, but to give us something to spur us to change later. I don't claim to have that gift, but I've had sacred dreams before that helped motivate me to make long term changes. Maybe that was why the Lord sent you that dream (it sure seems like a special one to me).

The one on my car says "Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure". Clarifies my opinions on most things nicely😉.

Just pick that Star Wars research up from the 80's. Once you can shoot ICBM's out of the sky with lasers you'll be set.

Not as much concerned about Mr. Swalwell. He's just an idiot. Not even the Soviet Union or China nuked it's own citizens, and if those tyrannical regimes didn't do it, no one will. You don't win anything by destroying your own infrastructure. I'm actually not concerned about a confrontation with our military because they take their oaths seriously as a whole. A minor shooting incident in a riot that gets out of control like at Kent State? Sure. A massed assault on normal American citizens? I don't believe it. I've known a lot of servicemen and they just wouldn't do it. I believe a government order of that magnitude would instigate, best case scenario, an almost complete stand down of our own forces as they get rid of the leaders ordering that, or worst case a Civil War as the majority of our armed forces refuse the order and fight back against those who won't. Either would be a tragedy, but I trust our boys and girls in uniform a lot so I feel like the first scenario is far more likely.

No. I got a great education at BYU for a very reasonable (compared to many other colleges) price. It was my first chance to be surrounded by a lot of good LDS girls, one of whom I married, and I was able to learn a lot about church history from some first class professors. Obviously I would support the brethren in whatever they decide to do, but BYU was a great experience for me and I would be devastated to see them close it down.

Oh I agree. My example was set in a utopian age that I can only imagine happening when Christ comes again. Basically until then I always want to outspend the other two combined.

Nay. I'd agree that's a good idea as soon as every other country on Earth disarms before us and we can verify it.

I also like that they are allowing missionaries sent home for medical reasons to continue their missions as service missionaries. While they have nothing to be ashamed of, I know being able to finish their missions will help a lot of them feel better about being home early by allowing them to continue serving the Lord, and they can fill a vital need at the same time.

Also, and this is important, no sitting president has ever lost the nomination since we started having primary elections. The only one who may have lost was Johnson in 1968 which is one of the reasons he bowed out and even then that took the Vietnam war going badly to happen. With the super delegates which are part of the Democratic primary, he probably still could have clinched the nomination if he was willing to lose to Nixon. There were sitting presidents who lost the nomination before the candidates were selected by the public, but since the electorate has had a choice it hasn't happened. I don't like Trump, even though I approve of some of his economic policies, but anyone running against him in the Republican primaries in 2020 would have to have a death wish for his political career.

Same thing that happens to most decent people who die without a knowledge of the Gospel. I imagine after getting over some initial surprise that he is still alive in the Spirit World, he is beginning the process of learning the Gospel of Jesus Christ and repenting of his sins.

I would just peruse the list of old parties that don't exist anymore and use those. The Know Nothing party, the Greenback party, and the Liberty Party all sound fun.

Sure! I think if Democrats focus on passing moderate bills, and paint themselves as the reasonable opposition, avoiding some of their more radical ideas like attempting to abolish ICE or actually impeaching Trump, they will look really good heading into the 2020 presidential election. If, instead they start pointless impeachment hearings, and continue the politics of rage, it will weaken them and make them vulnerable again. USMCA may be in danger, as many Democrats don't like Trump's tariffs. I would say if they come in wanting to look moderate they will pass it. If they come in looking to stick it to Trump by going against everything he supports, USMCA may be in trouble. It's a little too early to tell.

Lol I love that scene and that movie.

Interesting night politically, and it looks like we are in for some divided government for the next 2 years. Personally, I'm more relived Republicans did so well in the Senate. Unless something changed overnight, we picked up Florida, Indiana, North Dakota, and Missouri. If we don't lose Arizona, that's a 4 seat pickup which was the best case scenario I pictured in the Senate, otherwise a gain of 3 seats. I'm curious to see what the Democrats do during the next 2 years, as I think their actions in the House will greatly influence the outcome of the 2020 election.

I'm not surprised. I was reading that, percentage wise, this is the highest voter turnout in a mid term election since 1966.