Midwest LDS

Happened to glance at my spam before deleting it, and boy, am I glad I did! I'm in the money, folks! CA$H DOLLAR$!! And i can tell this isn't your typical Nigerian spam scheme, because it's not from Nigeria! It's from some perfectly legit-sounding outfit called Astound.net (paint me astounded!) based, apparently, in Italy. Mamma mia! Can anything bad come out of Italy?
I thought I'd share the news of my good fortune with you, so you can all feel appropriately jealous of me. You're welcome.
*******************************
For Mutual Benefit
    Larry Paulson <[email protected]>
Sep 17, 2020, 1:27 PM (20 hours ago)     to petlar7   This message seems dangerous
Similar messages were used to steal people's personal information. Avoid clicking links, downloading attachments, or replying with personal information.
Looks safe     Hello,


I am Larry Peter Paulson Director Inspection Unit United Nations Inspection Agent in Hartsfield?Jackson Atlanta International Airport Atlanta GA. We are rounding up for the last Quater of the auditing, all abandom Consignment in US Airports are being transfer to our facilities here for inspection and confiscation. During our investigation, I discovered An abandoned shipment on your name which was transferred to our facility here in Hartsfield?Jackson Atlanta International Airport and when scanned it revealed an undisclosed sum of money in a Metal Trunk Box. The consignment was abandoned because the Content was not properly declared by the consignee as money, rather it was declared as personal effect to avoid diversion by the Diplomatic Agent also the Diplomat inability to pay for Non Inspection Fees.

On my assumption, the boxes will contain more that $6M and the consignment is still left in storage facility till today. The Consignment is a metal box with weight of about 242LBS (Internal dimension: W61 x H156 x D73 (cm). Effective capacity: 680 L.)Approximately. The details of the consignment including your name the official document from United Nation office in London are tagged on the Metal Trunk box.

I want to use my good office and clear the Consignment and deliver it to you. If you WILL ACCEPT MY     C  O  N  D  I  T  I  O  N     AND want us to transact the delivery for mutual benefit, you should provide your name, Phone Number and full address, to cross check if it corresponds with the address on the official document including the name of nearest Airport around you and other details. You should send the required details to me for onward delivery.

All communication must be held extremely confidential. I can get everything concluded within 24 to 48 hours upon your    acceptance    and proceed to your address for delivery. But it must be on the condition that you will give me 30% of the amount contained in the boxes and i must get assurance from you concerning my 30% before i will proceed.

I want us to transact this business and share the money, since the shipper have abandoned it and ran away. I will pay for the Non inspection fee and arrange for the boxes to be moved out of this Airport to your address, Once i am through, i will deploy the services of a secured shipping Company to provide the security it needs to your doorstep. or i can bring it by myself to avoid any more trouble. But i will share it 70% to you and 30% to me. But you have to assure me of my 30%. do respond to me immediately if you are interested to conclude this with me.

Looking forward to hear from you

Best Regards,
Larry Peter Paulson
INSPECTION OFFICE

Morals have changed since I was young.
There are two different types of kisses (actually more than that, but for simplicity, we'll say two different types).  (1) Chaste kisses given to show affection, such as that in greeting (at least in some nations in Europe, though normally not the US unless between family members) or to show family love, and (2) those that are given to show a deeper lust and romantic love.
Which type of kiss is being given.  If it is a quick chaste kiss to show welcome to a friend or family that is FAR different than a romantic kiss.
For those with high morals, the ideal used to be (when this old foggie was a young lad) that you didn't kiss anyone until you were either seriously dating or engaged at a minimum.  Normally if giving one a kiss it was a chaste kiss goodbye on the doorstep (so, one quick kiss, not a make out session) which would not offend parents if seen. 
Before my time, I hear that kissing was even scandalous, and holding hands was the proper way to do things (maybe) if dating.
In THAT LIGHT
The entire make out culture, or making out seems rather immoral to me, though I know I had a daughter or two that kissed boys more romantically than not when they were dating (and out of the house and in college...so no disapproving Dad could lecture them later). 
However, I'm from an prior generation and things seem to have changed in the world. 
Something to remember though...
The world's morals and views of things may change...but God is unchanging.

I think about what COVID means to me.
Personally, my family was already 80% reclusive before the pandemic, other than working from home, wearing masks, and not going to movies, little has changed.  Both kids are in school.  I've had two shots of the vaccine - part of the Moderna phase 3 trial.  My cousin's wife survived COVID, with some permanent lung damage that'll be with her for life.  My boss' kid managed to shut down her entire elementary school class because she sneezed in the classroom, now they're all in the 2nd week of self-quarantining.  Other than that, I don't have any personal stories.
My county is doing well.  At the start of this thing, my county led Colorado, and Colorado was one of the fastest growing.  Now, we get around 30-40 new cases daily, with few deaths. 165 deaths total.
My state is doing ok.  3-400 new cases daily, still few deaths.   CO hasn't hit 2k dead yet - the number seems in no hurry to reach that milestone.  Comfortable 3% hospital bed use.
The country is coming down off the 2nd wave.  Somewhere between 700-1000 dying every day it's like an extra flu in the country.  I'm guessing cold weather and return to school will kick off the third wave - I bet we're going back up in 2 weeks.  

 
My planet continues to grapple with the global pandemic.  Somewhere between 200k-500k new cases per day, somewhere between 4-8000 deaths per day.  This thing won't kill us, but it is absolutely a noticable blip on the human's usual death rate.  Everyone's got a chart, everyone's got an opinion, I'm not sure if we'll know how bad this was/is, for another year or more.  Some charts look like this, which tell a story of how bad it is:

Some charts look like this, and tell a story about how it's relatively not very bad at all:

 
 

Welcome to the Church we are super excited to have you!

I think this study is what placed "singing at church during COVID" on everyone's radar:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6919e6.htm - "High SARS-CoV-2 Attack Rate Following Exposure at a Choir Practice — Skagit County, Washington, March 2020"
Poo-poo it all you want, but it seems reasonable to ask people to at least understand what they're poo-poo-ing.  It's good to have a working knowledge of human rights and the constitution.  But folks without at least a basic understanding of "emitters" and "superemitters", and the relationship of droplet formation and loudness/volume, would seem to be at a disadvantage when trying to form a relevant opinion - because the lawfulness of a public health order is only half the story.

The part I’ve bolded, is the part that caught my attention.
How many girls have you had “kissing sessions” with?
Of those girls, how many of the relationships turned out to be “secure”?
Answer:  unless you are now married, the answer is zero.  You didn’t have a secure relationship with any of those girls.  If you had, the relationship wouldn’t have ended.
So now, you’ve got a bunch of failed relationships where either you, the girl involved—or both of you—thought it was serious and committed, and it really wasn’t.  And so the breakup becomes, not an amicable parting of two good people who on further investigation simply turned out to be incompatible; but a betrayal, a reminder of unmet expectations and unkept promises.  All of that leaves a mark, psychologically and spiritually.  It impacts the way we bond, and the quality of future relationships. 
God doesn’t want us to play around with people’s emotions like that just for the sake of a cheap semi-sexual thrill.  And we aren’t really doing ourselves any favors with that kind of thing, either.
I’m not saying we should never kiss anyone we don’t plan to marry.  But I am suggesting that physicality cannot be cavalierly transactionalized without, to some degree, stunting our ability to form and enjoy and maintain meaningful relationships in the future.  Fully restoring that ability—viz, repentance—is not an easy or a pleasant or a short process.

Here is my opinion 
“Never do anything that could lead to sexual transgression. Treat others with respect, not as objects used to satisfy lustful and selfish desires. Before marriage, do not participate in passionate kissing”
- For the Strength of Youth
 
“The For the Strength of Youth pamphlet contains standards that, when followed carefully, will bring rich blessings and help us stay on the covenant path. Although it was written for the benefit of the youth, its standards do not expire when we leave the Young Men and Young Women programs. They apply to each of us all the time. A review of these standards may prompt other ways we can be more careful in our gospel living.”
- Becky Craven, General Conference 2019

I haven't heard any sermons on murder in a long time.  It must not be evil anymore.
...
Sometimes the prophets stop preaching because they have said all that ever needs saying on a topic.  Then it's the Lord's turn to preach a sermon.  And if people can't take a look around today and see what is being shoved onto faithful Saints of God by those who "only want people to take care of each other" then they never would have heard it in 100 general conferences entirely devoted to the topic of the evils of socialism.

Before getting into quotes, we need to first define what is meant by "socialism" in the questioner's context.  The USSR's version of socialism is not the same as Barnie Sander's version, and the questioner likely has a different version as well.
Rather than talking about an entire nebulous package, I find it's best to talk about individual principles.   Let's take the importance of work for example.    There are plenty of quotes out there along the lines of "by the sweat of your brow, thou shall eat bread."   There's also lots of quotes about caring for the needy.  And a HUGE thing that's been stressed lately by the Brothern is financial responsibility and self-reliance.   
Etc.
 
 
<Sorry Pam, I know you were looking for a Ask Gramps style answer, and not the discussion-based one I gave>

You mean, in pioneer Michigan?  Or Oregon?  California?
Or are we still talking about Utah?

I could go all week without seeing another person and be fine with it. That's just my personality. But even for me when I go to church and associate with people of faith and other admirable qualities I can't help but be uplifted. I get your emphasis on living the gospel in the home. We are living in a day where if that is not happening then all the church in the world won't be enough. But that time spent in worship together can make all the difference in the world for some people and I hope I can be a part of that. Could I go the rest of my life only worshipping at home? I would like to think I could. But life would not be nearly so full and enjoyable without those relationships with fellow saints.

https://www.latterdaysaintcharities.org/
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/english/charities/pdf/2019/LDS-Charities-Annual-Report-2019_R11.pdf?lang=eng
No. The temple itself needs the higher priesthood to function fully. The bishop has no authority in the temple.

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. 
 

That's funny (not funny ha ha but funny odd).  My wife had the exact same issue.  In the end, she opted for a ceremony with just myself baptizing her and 2 witnesses.  

Honestly, my first instinct is that you only need 3 people + yourself for baptism, so just pick 3 friends who've seen you fall on your face so many times another time won't remotely matter (--written by a klutz).  And if things take an hour because you can't stop sticking your foot out of the water, or just need the time for breathing space, that's ok.  Your friends love you.  Let them be there and support you.  Even through irrational fears of a ceremony or looking dumb -- let them be by you. 
On slightly different note: Christ is/will be with you.  He does not fail.  

I wonder whether anyone in the GOP today has the kind of intra- and cross-party luster that they can parlay into the presidency four years from now, that Reagan had in ‘76.  (Reagan’s convention speech that year positioned him as heir apparent before Ford had even left the White House.)
The GOP has been doing a splendid job of eating its own lately. . .

Halloween is NEVER canceled.  If you try to say otherwise I will ban you from the forums.  A pox on you all.
 

The Babylon Bee is on point here:
https://babylonbee.com/news/new-netflix-movie-actually-murders-puppies-to-teach-that-murdering-puppies-is-bad

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.

We went back for the first time yesterday, our ward has two attendance times and we will meet once a month.  We had 57 people in our session.  It was certainly a bit different in feeling, though I had a strong testifying moment from the spirit that we attend Sacrament Meeting for the Sacrament.  That is the most important, by far, reason we attend.  I knew this already and have said so many times, but the spirit definitely testified to that doctrine quite clearly.

Ours is done as well....I will never again sign up for it.
Just look at the rotten tomatoes score...currently 88% for "critics" and 3% for average people who still have a conscience. I read a few reviews of it and am appaled at how this is being hailed as an "extrordinary" film. No, this girl doesn't have what is considered a proper upbringing, but that is no excuse to swing the pendulum the other way in the extreme. The way the media are trying to portray the world and what is considered moral and desireable is disgusting. It is also quite suprising to me how quickly our society has openly forgone moral standards. Morality is now seen as something subjective...but when you read the scriptures, those people repeatedly fell quite quickly as well. Our day and age are no different - especially if the adversary is quadrupling his efforts.

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😉......

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😉......

Let's break this down (yes, I will re-cover the same ground)--
1) There is no law against a man's beliefs.  The 11th Article of Faith goes along with this.   You may believe whatever you do.
2) There are laws against actions.  So while you may believe that it's ok to do A, if the law states that it's illegal, then doing such is illegal.  
3) Now how do man's laws come into being?  That varies across time & space, but for the USA currently they are mostly voted in.  This has upsides & downsides. 
Every person has the right to vote according to their beliefs.  So while I don't agree with "Bob"s views, I totally support Bob's right to vote according to those views to make the law of the land the best it can be (at least according to Bob's views). 
Likewise I will vote  according my beliefs to make those views to make the law of the land the best it can be (at least according to my views).
Such is being a good civil citizen: we each strive to vote for what we believe to be the best code of conduct for our lands.  If either Bob or I were to vote for anything else, then that's doing a sub-par job.  

The multi-decadelong fanboys like me will compare it against previous attempts.  This trailer does several things for me:
- They got ornithopters right!  Dragonfly wings!  I'm in heaven.
- The music is a remake of Pink Floyd's Eclipse.  The never-made Jodorowsky's attempt at Dune, was planning to approach Pink Floyd for the soundtrack.  All the spice and spice trances and spice visions and spice consciousness transformations seem to demand nothing less.  
- I remember spending the '80's and '90's, sad that human technology just would never progress enough to be able to do justice to the Lord of the Rings.  Then computer CGI and Peter Jackson gave us the gift of ten thousand orcs laying siege to Minas Tirinth.   Watching this trailer and seeing the worm devour the spice harvester, watching the shields, the look of the Sardukar troops, well, I'm hopeful.
I'm tired of being the underdog, hoping for a fandom boost.  Now, if they can just get Feyd's outfit right...