Midwest LDS
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Posts posted by Midwest LDS
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Sorry you are having a rough time @clbent04 I know what it's like to feel like you'll never be ok, and it's tough. I had two thoughts while I was reading your post. First, stop seeing life as a sprint when it's a marathon. One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 31:15 and it explains something I think you need to take to heart.
"And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved."
That's God, our Eternal Father, letting us know that if we endure to the end we will be saved. But what does enduring to the end mean? It means we didn't quit! It means every single time we fell flat on our face, even if it was for the ten thousandth time, we pushed ourselves back up. Second, I understand your despair. I've been where you are at right now and with the very same problem. Christ set me free. Not because I am better then you, far from it trust me, but because no matter how many times I fell down, and couldn't take the Sacrament, and couldn't serve in callings, I didn't stop trying. I kept talking to me wife, kept talking to my bishop, kept going to addiction recovery meetings, and church, and paying my tithing. I decided that even if I couldn't stop my addiction, I was going to make danged sure I was trying everywhere else, so if I died in the meantime, I could say I didn't leave any stone left unturned. Now I'm free because Christ saved me. God does not always answer our prayers in our time frame, but he does answer them. The question is do you want it? Are you willing to keep trying even though success doesn't come quickly? Are you willing to keep going to church even if you face disfellowshipment or excommunicaton? Brother, Christ WILL save you, but only if you keep trying. Every time you quit, you are opening yourself up to Satan, and he is clouding your thoughts with doubt and despair. So buck up, dust yourself off, tell Satan to go back to hell where he belongs, and go to church. God bless you brother, I pray for your success.
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I know. Her I was, all set to start corrupting the church from the inside when you outed me. Thanks for ruining my nefarious plan @MormonGator?
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Yoy know I shed a few tears this morning. I loved President Monson. He was the first General Authority I could listen to when I was a kid, because I loved his stories. He was a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ, and it warms my heart to know he is back with his beloved Frances, and is with Our Lord and Savior who he loved so much.
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@MormonGator Well you know my heathen ways too well. That's what you get when you hang out with a convert from the mission field?
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The necessity for this policy always annoyed me. I fully support the church, and absolutely believe we should only baptize our direct ancestors nor do I council disregarding it. When the Lord's leaders speak we should listen. I just don't get why we are the only religion that's required to modify what we do for our beliefs because it annoys other people. Especially since this kind of thing only gets reported because anti's busily sift through our records so they can get us in trouble. I wish people would stop disregarding the church's policies, but I also wish people would stop bothering us about it too.
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I have no position on earrings personally beyond the church's official position. My wife and I have talked and said 12 is probably when we will let our daughter decide whether she wants to pierce her ears or not. I like the earrings my wife wears, I think she looks great in them, so I don't think this is that big of a deal overall. I'm just glad I don't have to do it because I am a huge wuss and would probably faint (it's hard enough for me to get a shot☺).
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@Shath You are misunderstanding what was meant by charity. Someone who receives welfare assistance from the church, anything from food assistance to having bills taken care of or a million other things the church provides, is often (but not always) asked to do something in return for the assistance, like pick up around the church. It's not a full time job, and it helps them feel better about themselves for the help received. I know it did for me when I received assistance. We are also a volunteer church. All of us have worked unpaid to clean the church unless we are physically unable too. Someone is assigned too put a schedule together for all of the members in the ward to participate. That's just part of being a Mormon. I don't want to be paid for that because I consider that service for the Lord.
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This is one of those topics that can be perenially upsetting. I think all of us have bad experieinces with other church members being offensive to us. If we are being honest with ourselves, all of us have probabbly offended someone at church too. Usually when we do it, we excuse ourselves ("I was tired, I didn't mean it the way they took it, they shouldn't be so thin skinned etc etc.") While I think it's perfectly acceptable to point out things to our leaders and fellow members, such as the OP's repeated cleanings of the ward making it someone else's turn, we should strive to turn the other cheek especially with our fellow saints (this very much applies to me as well). I think we always want justice when someone does it to us and mercy when we do it to someone else☺.
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That's the best news I could have this morning @Blossom76 ! I'm so happy you received a witness of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. That knowledge has made so much difference in my life, and brought me closer to God because it shows me that God still loves us enough to speak to us. Remember to give your husband time, patience, and love because it can take some longer than others to receive the witness of the Holy Ghost like you have.
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1 minute ago, MormonGator said:
That's a great rule my friend. We should all live by that.
Thanks. I had to come up with it when I was a teeneager and knew everything, and managed to be really wrong with some church questions from some non members. You know one of those times your brain never lets you forget? Gotta love learning by failing lol.
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I agree @Alex I always try to tread carefully when there is no hard and fast answer to a question, especially with investigators. I hate to give answers I think are right and then find out I'm wrong later. Doesn't mean I don't still frequently mess up that rule, but I do try to live by it ☺.
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This particular parable has always been intriguing to me. My interpretation is that the unjust steward knew what was coming, and made extensive preparations to take care of himself when that day arrived. Similarly, we as saints know what's coming (death and final judgement) so like the unjust steward prepares for the inevitable loss of his job by doing everything he can now to prepare for that day, so we should prepare now to be taken care of when death comes,(by having faith in Jesus Christ, following His commandments, and repenting of our sins), rather than waiting until it's too late to prepare.
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@Blossom76 You would be correct in your statement that the priesthood ban originated under Brigham Young. The fact of the matter is, we really don't know why it was instituted. I can give you theories that I have on the issue, but in the end that's all they are, theories. While we can make educated guesses as to why Brigham Young felt a priesthood ban was neccesssary and why the Lord let it go on so long, we don't really know the answer. I know Brigham Young was a mighty prophet, one of our most dynamic ones and, in many ways, one of my favorites, and I know that sometimes the Lord makes allowances for weaknesses in his people (one reason why it was decades before the Word of Wisdom was made mandatory and why some of the Old Testament gospel laws are harsher than the laws proclaimed by Christ in the New Testament), but until there are more historical documents found or some sort of revelation on the subject, we just won't fully know the answer why.
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I would like some sources too @Alex because I could not find anything about Ball and polygamy. I'm genuinly curious. I found this link @Vort https://www.mormonwiki.com/Joseph_T._Ball,_Jr. I looked through it a bit and Mormon wiki looks kosher. All I can find on the subject is that Joseph Ball was an early black member who was Branch President of the Boston branch, apparently the largest outside of Nauvoo, and that he apostatized with William Smith for unknown reasons in 1845 before receiving his endowments. He was also baptized initially by Brigham or his brother the record apparently isn't sure.
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@Hername I'm sorry you are in such a difficult position. Really, you know your boyfriend better than any of us. Has he fully repented of his sins? If so, you should forgive him too (although that does not require you to marry him). If not, you should run fast and far. If he has repented fully, then you need to seriously ask yourself if his past will continue to bother you or not. I would do some praying and go to the temple. You are never required to marry a person. If you feel the power of the Holy Ghost confirming your choice , go for it. Remember you can ask for help from our Father in Heaven to overcome any potential fears you may have about his past. If you still feel badly about it after that, I would move on. The choice is yours, but I will pray for you it's a tough one.
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@NightSG and @DoctorLemon I was curious so I looked it up. Multiple fornications do not disqualify a young man or woman as long as they have fully and completely repented and as long as they don't have any children. Although it may take approval from the First Presidency if it's a case of repeatedly violating the Law of Chastity over a long period of time. I edited this per @zil advice but she has a press relase on the issue.
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2 minutes ago, Danny Phantom said:
Thank you! To update, she is going to get her temple recommend in about a week when she meets with her Bishop again. She’s been doing very well! On top of that, we’re looking at a late spring wedding!?
Hey that's great news @Danny Phantom thanks for the update and I hope you have a great start to your marriage!
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6 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:
Well, ironically, I've heard that the Book of Mormon is the strongest support of the trinity ever written...at in least one individuals view (they were not Catholic though, they were protestant).
It gets even stronger in it's support in the Book of Mosiah.
Some of it is because of very delicate nuances that separate the hardcore Trinitarians from the LDS views...but if one isn't a hardcore Trinitarian, oddly enough, there are times that the two different views may seem a LOT alike...though different.
Yeah, if you look at the scripture without the First Vision I can understand the confusion, especially if you grew up with an understanding of God as being one in substance rather than as one in purpose. It goes both ways in the Book of Mormon (Mosiah vs. 3 Nephi 11 for example). It's the same thing in the Bible, some verses seem to obviously favor a non-Trinitatrian God, others a Trinitarian one. For me that always showed why it was so important to have a living prophet who can explain what God meant in scripture through revelation, rather than someone (generic) trying to argue what he thinks it means through logic.
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I think I understand where you are coming from @Blossom76. If you just look at the Book of Mormon without anything else, I can see why you would see some Trinitarian notions. We always look at these verses through the lens of Joseph Smith's first vision though. We know that God the Father and Jesus Christ are seperate beings due to that vision and, since the Book of Mormon was translated after the First Vision, that verse would have been understood by Latter Day Saints to refer specifically to the Son of God at the time, and Joseph Smith was inspired to clarify that at a later date, hence why the difference is unimportant to us.
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I was thinking about your questions when these verses came to mind @Blossom76 so I decided to post them. This is in Ether 12:23-25
"23 And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them;
24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.
25 Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words."This particular section is Moroni speaking as he is abridging the Jaredite plates he included in the Book of Mormon. Even the ancients were worried their words weren't clear enough because of their own weaknesses. The Lord goes on to comfort him on the matter, but I've pictured the same thing happening to the prophets and apostles who wrote the Bible. Imagine how difficult it is to describe the wonders of heaven in mortal words! I reccomend this chapter for a lot of reasons, but I know you've had questions about multiple translations so I thought I'd post it for you.
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Did anyone else love The Last Jedi?
in General Discussion
Posted
I did too. While I agree about the casino scene, that part was a bit drawn out and dull for me, I loved the rest of the movie, and I was just as surprised at the backlash.