VelvetShadow

Thats the sticking point for me though, I don't see the point of being baptised without planning to go to the temple and until I know what happens in the temple I can't in all good conscious be baptised. Again this is how I feel, this is my opinion, I understand not everyone will feel like me but this is how I feel and this is what I am prompted to do by a lot of prayer and I'm not going to ignore what God is telling me.

I feel like my opinion is being waved off as something I shouldn't worry about, when I worry greatly about it, this is my eternal soul we are talking about, this is a big deal to me. And I was just expressing my opinion, I wasn't looking for input or insights from anyone, I was just expressing my opinion. It would be nice if that could just be acknowledged like @MormonGator did, he was very supportive and just acknowledged that my feelings were valid and understandable.

I think the Book of Mormon is true, but I can not ignore the fact that the temple ceremonies are not revealed to me before being baptised. There are a lot of groups that believe in the book of mormon

That is exactly how I feel, and I mean no offence at all but it is how I feel, I don't feel comfortable joining a church that I feel is hiding things from me

The first one yes, the second one I am not so sure, and it doesn't help that they keep the most important ceremonies a secret from me. I can't join a church that isn't upfront about all their beliefs/ceremonies. I don't like that I feel like they are hiding things from me. Again this is my opinion, this is my view on it and I have nothing against those who see it differently.

I mean absolutely no offence to anyone by expressing my opinion on this, but it is my opinion and I'm sure the opinion of many others as well. Each to their own I don't agree, I have searched high and low for real factual information on what happens in the temple and there is no information out there that tells you what really happens, only vague information nothing concrete that actually explains it properly. I am not going to join a church with a 'general explanation' of what happens in the temple, the temple is so important so I need to know what exactly happens there before joining.

I mean absolutely no offence to anyone by expressing my opinion on this, but it is my opinion and I'm sure the opinion of many others as well. Each to their own

I have faith in God, I have faith in Jesus, but asking me to have faith in a church that won't tell me whats going to happen a year after I join - thats something completely different

But it is not explained before I am baptised and that is my issue. And from what I've heard not in temple prep classes either (just that its very symbolic), only at the temple itself. So you would have to walk out of the temple just before the ceremony and that would be a lot of pressure on a person. I don't agree with it, thats just how I see it, everyone is different, this is just how I view it and in all honesty it is the main thing stopping me from joining the church.

Its different for me, I have always trusted Christ, that is not an issue, but to trust a church enough to join when I know there are things they will not reveal to me until I have been a member for at least a year, that really does matter.

Thank you, I really appreciate you saying this

Depending on what they are it could make all the difference in the world. The point is you really don't know what you are signing up for because the temple ordinances are kept so secret

I was not aware of your issues with the OP, but to speak for myself, and with the greatest respect to you and all LDS people, I don't agree with the above requirements for baptism. I think its more complicated than that. You can feel and know all you like but that doesn't mean you know exactly what you are signing up for when you join the church. For example, I have asked what happens in the temple a few times and I get no specific answers, only 'you find out when you get there but its about making covenants with God, and its where you get your garments', but they will give me no details of the ceremonies or what exactly is said/done in the temple. To me thats a problem, until I know what happens in there I can't say with all honesty that I know what I'm getting into if I join. What if I don't agree with what happens in the temple? It will be too late for me because I would have already joined and been a member for at least a year, and then I might find out that what happens in the temple is not acceptable to me at all. It's a very big problem for me and I'm sure others as well.

Get your baby away from this man, the most important thing is the wellbeing of this innocent child, everything else has to come second.

I am an investigator and in defence of the OP I have been asked repeatedly by very nice, well meaning missionaries to be baptised, in what I believe is too short a time to agree to commit my life to a belief system that I don't know enough about yet. When I expressed this to the missionaries they say 'as long as you know the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God then you know enough to join". I found this strange (and to be completely honest a bit unethical) so I asked the bishop at my local ward about it and he said it is normal practice and if I believe in the Book of Mormon and Jospeh Smith then I should be baptised ASAP. While I will not be joining the church anytime soon, (I am the kind of person who wants to know everything before committing to something), I can completely understand how others do join very quickly, the missionaries DO ask you to join after only a couple of lessons. If the OP did in fact follow and trust in the missionaries to join the church after only a few weeks of investigating, it is completely understandable that they would not know enough about the church to know exactly what they are agreeing to join. If this is the case you can't really put all the blame and responsibility on the OP when this is the standard practice of the church.

I had no idea that mormons dont believe in the Nicene Creed

Very cool, I thought the masons was a total boys club, glad to see they support ladies groups

I thought he was the second prophet of the mormon church? Aren't we supposed to believe what he said, he was a prophet, just like Jospeh Smith? Im new to this so correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought when the prophet speaks, you listen

Thanks. So does that mean Jesus is in the celestial kingdom heaven with God or is Jesus somewhere else because he is a God too? Especially if he was God before he was born on earth. Im a bit confused as to where Jesus went in mormon theology, I thought if you achieved exhalation to Godhood you got to be a God of your own universe, not share this one with our God, because if that's right then there is more than one God in Celestial heaven and I thought there was only one God? I didn't think there could be two Gods in the Celestial heaven of this universe? I thought mormons weren't supposed to pray to Jesus because he's not God, he's the son of God. But if he achieved exaltation (and he had to of he IS Jesus) and he is in the Celestial heaven, there there is two Gods there, and if Jesus is a God now, then why can't mormons pray to him? My brain is a crazy place I know, but all the same, these are real questions that are honestly very confusing and I'd really appreciate all your input.

I could be totally wrong and I'm only just getting into the beliefs of mormonism, but I thought LDS believed that Michael the Archangel was incarnated as Adam? Is that right? And I think you have a good point, if the point of the plan of salvation is to be exalted to godhood, you would have to assume Jesus made the cut, so does that mean we won't see Jesus in Heaven, if he's been exalted to a God he'd have his own universe to be God of right?

Hope I don't sound like I need a tinfoil hat here but who are the 'they' you are referring to?

Interesting thought isn't it? I'm just learning and can only speculate but I would guess his motivation would be so that he could be like his Heavenly Father, just like it is for us.

Thanks everyone, that really helps. I think for now I might just start putting aside 10% of my net income to get used to it while I'm still studying and learning about the church and deciding if God wants me to join. I get taxed 50 cents out of every dollar on the majority of my income so I honestly wouldn't be able to do 10% of my gross.

Hi everyone, I've read through an entire thread on tithing and now I'm even more confused! The D&C says one tenth of all interest annually, but if example 3 is correct you're paying tithing on top of tithing so I don't think thats correct, maybe example 2 is closer to it? Or maybe I'm looking way too much into this and it really is as simple as example 1? I don't have a problem working out the 10% of my income but its the assets I am having trouble with. I want to understand this correctly so can someone please tell me which of the following basic examples is doctrinally correct? Which example would you consider an honest tithe? Which example would you yourself pay on? Thanks so much for your help. I can just see myself in a temple recommend interview saying "um I'll have to speak to my accountant and get back to you on that!" Example 1 I join the church in 2018 my home is worth $600K and I owe $100K on my home My income is 100K a year I would tithe 10K of my income total tithe 10K 2019 my home is worth $600K and now I owe $50K on my home My income is 100K a year I would tithe 10K of my income total tithe 10K Example 2 I join the church in 2018 my home is worth $600K and I owe $100K on my home My income is 100K a year I would tithe 10K of my income Total tithe would be 10K 2019 home is still worth 600K but now I owe 50K on it my income is still 100K a year I would tithe 10K of my income and 5K of the value of the portion of my home I have gained since last year. Total tithe would be 15K Example 3 I join the church in 2018 my home is worth $600K and I owe $100K on my home My income is 100K a year I would tithe 10K of my income plus 50K of the value of the portion of my home I own. Total tithe would be 60K 2019 home is still worth 600K but now I owe 50K on it my income is still 100K a year I would tithe 10K of my income and 5K of the value of the portion of my home I have gained since last year. Total tithe would be 15K Example 4 I join the church in 2018 my home is worth $600K and I owe $100K on my home My income is 100K a year I would tithe 10K of my income plus 50K of the value of the portion of my home I own. Total tithe 60K 2019 My home is still worth 600K but now I owe 50K on it my income is still 100K a year I would tithe 10K of my income and 55K of the value of the portion of my home I own. Total tithe would be 65K

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