marge

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

Thank you everyone for your help.  
After a lot of prayer, prescription has been filled and I'm taking my medication, I wouldn't say it's guilt free, but I'm working on it 😊

So glad you're feeling better!  Thanks for keeping us updated!

Thank you everyone for your help.  
After a lot of prayer, prescription has been filled and I'm taking my medication, I wouldn't say it's guilt free, but I'm working on it 😊

Divides us how?  
I also understand, and agree, that you don't want to get it wrong.  Honestly, that's what has led me here.  The theology and doctrine of Latter-day Saints just made sense to me, if our understanding of God was correct.  If it isn't, then he isn't a loving or forgiving God and we're all hosed anyway.  
Through prayer and faith, I came to understand that this is the correct doctrine.  I'm not confident enough to say I understand everything, but I do know without a doubt in my mind that I'm where God wants me to be and on the path He has chosen.   I also have come to understand the depths of His love for me, and that repentance isn't "just in case".  It's Plan A.   
Because I know these things, and repent daily, I'm not as concerned with "getting it wrong".  I AM concerned with progressing and enduring to the end, but because I know He loves me and has provided me the tools and knowledge to make it back to Him, but I'm not as worried about whether or not I get it wrong.  
I'm not worried about you getting it wrong either.  Don't take it the wrong way, but even though I think you aren't acting with His authority and missing part of His doctrine (I honestly don't know what you believe, so this is an assumption), I think you are still doing His work and He loves you for that.  I believe you'll do just fine when we are judged, and will have come to know Christ's true self in Spirit Prison.

Re: the subject topic
"Becoming like God" is the underlying theme of the entire Bible. Ancients worshiped gods that typically had only marginal overlap with human beings. The gods didn't take much notice of human problems, and when they did, it was mostly for their own entertainment. You curried the favor of your chosen gods by doing this or that act of worship to, in essence, flatter the god into granting you some beneficial token. But in general, it was better to keep your head down and not really raise the gods' notice of you, because that would make you the peg sticking up, waiting to be hammered down.
The Hebrew God Yahweh was different. This God actually felt human emotions, including love, devotion, and faithfulness. This God expected his followers to emulate him, to take his characteristics upon themselves. In reality, Yahweh the Hebrew God didn't have human emotions; rather, humans potentially had the emotions of Yahweh. The Israelites were the chosen people of Yahweh, chosen to worship him by emulation. Yahweh was indeed the mighty God who upheld the nations and held their fate in his hands, but he was also the loving groom who, though his foolish bride might err and even be unfaithful, yet he would welcome her back if she repented and utterly turned away from her filth and wickedness. I don't think the pagan gods were quite so forgiving.
Jesus (who was himself literally Yahweh) took this idea to its logical conclusion. He taught of a God who was not only a terrifying being who demanded utter fidelity and whose mighty hand destroyed the wicked, but who was also a loving, caring Father in heaven, solicitous even of his erring children. The Father in heaven was a personal God, not just to Jesus but to all, even to the Gentile nations. Jesus himself would bring us to the Father, whose perfection Jesus' disciples were commanded to emulate (Matt. 5:48).
The fundamental LDS teaching that man is to become as God is does not break new ground for any true Christian. In the Bible, Christ taught that he was to inherit all that the Father has, and that we were to be co-heirs with him of the Father's fulness. That the Latter-day Saints might take Jesus' words more literally at face value than do most other Bible-believing Christians does not substantially set us apart from them. If they believe in the Bible, then they already believe that we are to acquire God's fundamental characteristics in perfection and that we are to inherit with Christ all that the Father hath. That's just exactly what we believe. So the differences in that specific doctrine between Latter-day Saints and non-LDS Christians have been greatly exaggerated.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. It's not for me, or you, to say.

Mormons—like most groups bound by a common ideology—often fail to live up to our highest principles.  But we are told, in no uncertain terms, to avoid unnecessary judgments of others who are outside of our “stewardship” (even more so when we don’t have the facts); and I think dealing in hypotheticals like this comes uncomfortably close to the line.
If the player were me:  I’d probably have more kids.  If the player (or his wife) were someone close to me, I’d probably try (if they were willing to talk about it) to get a fair sense of their considerations and thought processes, and if a suitable occasion presented itself I might perhaps gently encourage them to consider the possibility of having more.
But then, I have six kids as it is; and I don’t make anywhere near five million bucks.  

Others have already covered policies and practices..  So let talk doctrine.
If I am understanding Catholic doctrine correctly (and I make no promises that I do. I am a outsider with an outsiders view and understanding) is that at conception something brand new is brought into existence.  It never existed before and it will never exists again.  If you stop conception you stop people from ever existing.. which is worse then murder.  Thus a Catholic who understands this doctrine (assuming I understand and explain it well enough) will feel a lot of guilt about going on contraception.  It is really understandable and unavoidable.
But since the OP is here requesting our view point.  Here is our doctrine.  The Pre-existence.  Any one that ever came to earth and got a body or will come to earth to get a body, existed before that point as personages of spirit.  We had personality and opinions and we could and did make choices.  Conception begins the creation of a physical body.  Assuming everything goes well at some point (not clearly defined although there are many opinions) one of these personages of the spirit moves in and their experience with mortally begins (for however long that lasts aka until they die).
Thus for our faith, contraception is not in and of itself a problem.  The why we are choosing to use it could be sinful, but that is no different from our motivation for just about any choice.  Are we trying to do what God would have us do to the best of our abilities, or are we trying to defy God and trust in our own wisdom and understandings?
 
  

The policy description under Birth Control was updated just a few weeks ago.  The current policy is in the General Handbook, section 38.6.4
This does not represent a major change from the previous policy; with the only noticeable difference being that the previous policy explicitly encouraged members considering surgical sterilization to seek counsel from their priesthood leaders. The new policy implicitly removes priesthood leaders from the decision making process.

LOL, thank you, I'll try

Hi Marge, here you go.  Good luck on having less guilt!
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/birth-control?lang=eng
 

Hi @marge, great to see you again?  How has the crazy year been treating you?
LDS Christians believe that the timing of children is something to be prayerfully considered between a husband and wife.  There's nothing inherently sinful about condoms, birth control pills, medicines to help conceive, pre-menopause medicines, etc.   Children are indeed a blessing from the Lord, but we should also be good stewards of our households.  I myself have been recently involved with doctors investigating why hubby and I haven't been able to conceive. 
Things LDS Christians do passionately disagree with: elective abortion.  If a child is for some reason not welcomed to that family, it is HIGHLY encouraged to pursue adoption.
Cases of rape or medical endangerment: these are nightmare circumstances that nobody wants to be in.  In such cases, a person is highly encourage to seek the best medical advice and prayer possible, both for their decision and general well being.  It's also an important time for friends/family/church family to be there to support each other.

this guy on youtube is pretty cool too, especially for a non member, he's very clear and easy to understand
 

Tomorrow morning may be the exact 200th anniversary since the First Vision of Joseph Smith. Something to think about.
 
 

What’s So Bad about the Devil?
 
Satan, Lucifer—the devil—just why is he so vilified? His troubles began in the heavens. He attempted to raise his throne above the stars of God. He was the angel of light, God’s most beautiful, powerful angel. One given so much should be grateful. After all, to whom much is given much is required. Instead, the created one attempted a coup against the Creator.
God cast him out of heaven, so he targeted humanity. He encounters Eve, and asks her if God really forbade them to eat from the trees of the Garden. He knows that only one tree is prohibited, but his question implies that God is unjust—unreasonable. Eve clarifies the command, yet she accepts Satan’s implication that God needs a defense. The devil then lies directly, saying that she and Adam will not die if they eat the fruit. He adds that they will become like God, knowing (deciding) good from evil.
The devil burns in the Lake of Fire for all eternity. He rules no kingdom. His only pleasure comes by deceiving us—making us believe that we can decide good and evil for ourselves—that we can be like God. Of course, if we are like God then we do not need him. Those who buy the lie also reside in that horrid lake forever.
Deceiver and rebel—that’s the devil! There is nothing attractive, cute, or noble about Satan. Truth and gratitude—creation must embrace these, as we humble ourselves before God. The Creator means us only good—only love!
 

Might be useful-- the Institute study guide:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/32506_eng.pdf?lang=eng

People are just trying to find something else to panic about so they won't have to deal with this anymore. 

Historically, the crisis ends when a vaccine is developed and administered. If that's not possible, then it ends after the population learns how to adapt to preventative measures.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid.
My prediction: The winners will trend toward homosexual male couples, as the benefits of upper-body strength for showy lifts and such become more common.
Time for BYU to start a heterosexual-couples-dancing-only club. Even if they're the only members.

So, after my heart attack, this happened:
Doctor: "These new meds might make you a little light-headed and short of breath.  If that happens, just have a cup of coffee and you'll be good to drive."
Me: "I'm mormon - we don't drink coffee."
Doctor: "Oh.  Soda?"
Me: "Sure!"
Doctor: "Ok, a Coke or something then.  It's the caffeine."
 
Have you mentioned to your doctor that you don't drink coffee, and asked him for another suggestion?

Some years ago, I wrote a short synopsis of the Book of Mormon for @Sunday21. To my surprise and satisfaction, several people found it useful. I have since thought it might be a useful jumping-off point for others such as my youngest, who will soon be 14 and might appreciate a 10,000-foot view of things. So I copied it out, put it in a Google doc, and edited it some. It is nothing like official, of course, and contains some of my own interpretations, doubtless along with some errors. But for whatever it's worth to anyone, here's a link.
The Book of Mormon made understandable (overview)

I'm not LDS but my New years resolution is to stick to come follow me for the year, and its on the book of mormon, which is perfect, because I really should read the whole book.
Anyone else excited for come follow me this year?

If you had cancer, would you choose a highly skilled oncologist with bad character or an incompetent oncologist with good character? 
We all need to come to terms with the fact that people suck.  We need to have a mature and nuanced view of history and historical figures.  People can have terrible flaws but still accomplish great things.  Christopher Columbus had flaws but his accomplishments changed the course of human history.  Thomas Jefferson was a slave holder but but made invaluable contributions to the the founding of our nation.  Brigham Young said and did some bad things but he was a great colonizer and leader who kept the church together.  And on and on and on.  This is the problem with hero worship.  Our heroes will always let us down in one way or another.

I've read and studied the Book of Mormon cover to cover probably 40 times, always from front to back. I have done topical study from it, of course, but nothing is like starting with "I, Nephi...", and ending with "...the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen." Every time I read it, I gain new insights and rediscover old insights that I might or might not yet have noted in the margins. Every time, the spirit of that divine book touches me. I know people who have read the Book of Mormon probably twice as much as I have. They say the same thing.
I would not discourage topical study. Sometimes that can be useful and enlightening. But I would say that the very best way to read, study, and understand the Book of Mormon is by reading it front to back, as Mormon compiled it. My opinion.