Madam_Mim

@unixknight Just giving a "thumbs up" without any kind of reply might seem like I didn't really care about your explanations, so just to make that clear: I simply have nothing to add to that ☺️It was definitely an interesting read. 
I guess that's all for now. Thanks everyone for your comments and patience! 

@unixknight Just giving a "thumbs up" without any kind of reply might seem like I didn't really care about your explanations, so just to make that clear: I simply have nothing to add to that ☺️It was definitely an interesting read. 
I guess that's all for now. Thanks everyone for your comments and patience! 

I do think it's a little different, if I understand your question... but in effect both types of  knowledge are the same  In the former example you mention, there can be room for doubt to creep in under certain circumstances.  People struggle with their faith all the time even if they have had a testimony.  Not everybody experiences this, but many do.  I think that has a lot to do with human psychology though.  I mean, I know for certain that my car is parked outside on the top level of the parking garage, because I can look out the window near my cubicle and see it.  But the longer I go without looking, the easier it might be for me to experience doubt that it's still there.  It doesn't mean I wasn't absolutely certain when I last looked.  I mean, I *saw* my car was there.  Maybe I took a picture of it.  The evidence was about as absolute as it gets.  But, if 2 hours from now I've been away from the window, am I still absolutely certain?  There's a chance it's gone, isn't there?  Doesn't mean it really is gone or that I didn't see it before.  The human mind is a paranoid thing, and no absolute certainty exists for long without re-checking.
This is why I pray for stronger faith and testimony from time to time.
Does God watch everything I do?  Well, I don't know if I'd phrase it that way.  I believe He does *know* what I do, and He knows what's in my heart, but I don't imagine He's sitting in a chair somewhere looking at the life of unixknight every moment.
Yes.  We have free will otherwise it would be impossible to sin.  To sin is to choose to disobey God's will.  By definition, that must mean we have that free will to make the choice.
And yes.  "The wages of sin is death."  That's metaphorical, and it refers to the absence of eternal life in the light of God.  We all sin, but through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven and those sins washed away entirely.
Personally I believe it's not possible to imagine the Celestial Kingdom based on any image or experience from my mortal life, but I do believe I will continue to grow, to learn and to experience things we can't even dream of.
I don't imagine eternity as simply being an infinite timeline in a 3 dimensional universe.  I think eternity means not only time but space and dimension.  What is awesome to think about isn't an infinite number of years, but whole new dimensions our mortal brains can't comprehend.  I also don't believe that we'll be stagnant in that state.  We will always have change, growth, new experiences and new things to see and do.  Stagnation would be pretty scary, but I don't see it as being plausible.

I've thought about why God doesn't make Himself more  obvious, and I think the answer, at least in part, is this:
The central feature of the Gospel is Faith.  Without faith, we have nothing.  So why is faith so critical?
Well, Every single thing Jesus taught, especially in terms of how we interact with one another, is to be selfless.  To put others first.  To put God first.  To put aside our own greed, lust, narcissism, whatever.  Anything that we might prioritize over loving others (including God) is to be pushed aside.  This is what Christian spirituality is.  It encompasses self denial, fasting, abstaining from things... Name it.
What is faith, but the ultimate expression of putting aside our self for a higher purpose?  If God were to make His presence more obvious, then believing in Him would be a no-brainer.  It wouldn't require faith to believe in Him and follow Him.  Knowing God existed would become a given and nobody in their right mind would choose an atheist view if they knew, for a fact, that there as a God in Heaven. 
But what then?  How could one demonstrate faith and a philosophy of selflessness?  It's been said that honor is what you have when you do the right thing even when nobody is watching.  Well, if every single person knew they were being watched all of the time, how would anyone, even God, judge us?  By His existence being nigh impossible to prove empirically, only those who exercise faith in Him, and live like He knows what we do, are showing a desire to live to a higher, more selfless path.
Who would you trust more to take your daughter out on a date?  Eddie Haskell, who's the very paragon of a polite, friendly and clean cut young man (as long as he knows there are adults watching him) or Wally Cleaver, whose behavior changes relatively little when mom and dad leave the room?
 
 

I don't know if I'd necessarily say they have "purpose."  I think sometimes things happen because God causes them, and sometimes He doesn't cause them but they can be used for good.  That being said, yes.  Absolutely.  Every bad thing that happens in this world can either improve us spiritually or not.  It's up to us to choose how we respond.
Sure that's occurred to me.  And what if it is?  My response would be the same.  If Allah is the true incarnation of God and He is telling me to join the LDS Church, then I'd better do it, don't you think?  😉
At the end of the day though, your own experience, feelings and senses are all you have.  My own senses and feelings didn't teach me calculus, but I still have to rely on them to correctly convey calculus to me as instructed by my teacher or professor.  Yes, another person was involved in the process of me learning calculus, but I still had to rely on my own wetware to get it. 
Are my feelings right or wrong?  All I can do is trust my experience.  It's the only tool each of us has in common.  I know I'm not prone to hallucinations.  I don't have flights of fantasy.  I haven't ever had a similar experience about anything else.  I know the voice of my Father in Heaven.  I'm not going to make myself doubt it just for the sake of calling myself an enlightened skeptic
But we can be certain. I know you aren't but I am, and I'm not alone in that.
That's a complicated question to ask a member of this Church.   The simplest answer I can offer is that yes, I believe it to be literally true, but heavy with metaphor.

(Different reply for a different topic)
Big picture here: we do not know everything that God knows.  To quote the Articles of Faith: "9 We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."  (emphasis mine)
As to what is known--
Heavenly Mother: I refer you to this https://www.lds.org/topics/mother-in-heaven  Yes, you'll notice it is really short, because simply not much is known.
"How spirit children are created": the how is unknown.  We do know that each person has always existed, first as an intelligence, and then as a spirit.  But what an intelligence is vs what a spirit is, or how that change occurs, we do not know.  
"Does Heavenly Mother actually give birth to all spirit children": when you ask this question, I'm guessing you're thinking "birth" as in that thing which involves a physical baby being pushed out a physical birth canal, usually accompanied by a lot of screaming.  Well, there was no physical babies involved here, so no to that framework of thought.  We're talking about spiritual parentage here, so that's something beyond our mortal frame of reference.  

The easy answer, there are times when God does intervene and stop a disaster (I provided one in my previous post already). There are times he doesn't. As a parent, although I know my child is going to get hurt I don't always step in because they obviously need to learn from their own experience.
There is a plan, and God will intervene according to the overall plan. God will intervene according to the faith of his children. Thus, the closer we are to God, we have the ability to calm the waves, we have the ability to accomplish a lot more. We also exercise faith, when the world is moving further away from truth that our Father in heaven is still in control. His ways are just, and one day we will realize this also.
In a wicked world a natural disaster that is not prevented will provide an opportunity to repent and change, especially if they were warned. If God diverted every disaster, atheists like yourself, would seek some natural cause to its prevention and would not give praise to him who diverted it, which already happens today.
To the faithful, as only the faithful will see it as a sign of God, we recognize it is a part of life. We move on. Easy example, one of our general authorities was flying in a plane and they were going through a huge storm. One person who knew who he was, although they did not believe in the same religion, approached him and asked why he wasn't praying for their safety. His response was something to this nature, "I have lived a good life, and am ready to die. I don't know what farmer or farmers who are praying for rain for their crops."
Those with an eye of faith, recognize any sign from God will come with a warning if it leads to the hardship of his children. We don't blame God because his children are disobedient. If his children were obedient there wouldn't need to be any sign of such hardship.
We don't falsely accuse God like a child who falsely accuses their parents with the simple immature words, "I hate you"!, when the parent is simply doing something because they love their children. It would be nice if all the sons and daughters of God actually lived good lives according to the commandments of God, but sadly they don't, and we will face any consequence that comes our way.
There isn't much known regarding Heavenly Mother and how spirit children are created. You will get different answers from probably everyone here who will provide some statement from scripture or words of modern or past authorities. All this is speculation.
I personally believe spirit offspring are born in the same way they are temporally, except there is no morning sickness, there is no pain, there is simply conception and birth, and then once again the process of becoming like our heavenly parents.

For the sake of explanation, let's take the greatest person in the world that you've ever heard of and equate their entire life sum to a sum value (for illustrative purpose)-- the greatest person you're ever met is worth $1.04.  The single best person who's lived, striving by their own best efforts and nothing else = $1.27.  
A person who has embraced Christ, His goodness & gift =  $9,789,039,368,399,930,058,254,252.92
The greatest any human being can ever become on their own, is absolute pittance when compared to the moral greatness of God.  God acknowledges that the $1.27 person exists, and they can have their $1.27.  But as long as Ms $1.27 rejects God, then God can't make her any more than $1.27.   When she chooses to accept God and His gifts, then she can/will be made more by God. 

@unixknight - provided a portion of what I was providing; although, as he specified it is much more complex than a simple cause and effect with each natural disaster. Let's review some scripture history we have access to (although not complete).
1) Sodom and Gomorrah was a city that was destroyed due to their disobedience, and we have the mercy of our God that specifies if there is but ONE person that can be considered righteous he will not destroy any city. We don't know exactly how, people have their interpretation. It was the disobedience of this people who had been warned and remained in their wicked state.
2) The Book of Mormon before Christ comes is a result of disobedience, which even those who were covenanted people felt. All those natural disasters were a result of the disobedience of the human race.
3) Famine and pestilence can be a result of not listening, and thus the Lord takes means to humble his sons and daughters.
4) Not every natural disaster is a result of disobedience, but simply being a part of this world, and yet God has control over all natural disasters. The easiest example is the Lord in the New Testament who calms a storm. Another example is the Brother of Jared is able to move a mountain due to his faith and will of God for the people at that moment. So, God can sway or temper any natural disaster due to the faith and obedience of his sons and daughters.
So, yes and no, if we take scriptures natural disasters do indeed happen because of disobedience (look to Pharaoh and the result of his disobedience).  Natural disasters also occur as a result of our fallen world, but through faith these can be diverted as generations exercise faith and become one with the Son (just as the Son calmed the storm).

Interesting! I didn't know that.
 
You mean natural disasters happen because people have been disobedient? 
 
I was picturing someone from an LDS-family who can't be reunited with them because he didn't go to the temple. But I get it now. If you want to make sure to be with your family forever you have the choice to take the necessary actions and can't expect special treatment or god making an exception just because you've been a great person. I still don't understand why a god would care so much about certain church rituals but I'll just accept that they simply ARE very important and move on  
Oh but on a personal note: Terrestrial Kingdom sounds fine to me! If you're expected to get married and have children in the Celestial Kingdom (sorry if I'm talking nonsense.. I'm still not completely sure how to picture it), that wouldn't be a desirable place for me.

Sure. That makes the person a liar. Liars don't do well in the patterns of existence. Liars are constitutionally incapable of receiving the things of God. So they don't. God is not mocked.
From earlier:
Why do you suppose the above bolded part? I see little reason to believe that's the case.

A degree of glory is not a house to be 'downgraded'.  It's a state of being.  
A person who is truly selfless, loving, and devoted to God & others (aka person with Celestial glory), can indeed visit/serve a relative who is still selfish and lackluster about caring for others (aka a person with Terrestrial glory).   But due to that selfishness these relatives can never be fully one: such oneness only happens when all fully & truly selfless, loving, and devoted to God & others (aka a person embodying Celestial glory).  
I mean, you technically could completely lie to yourself, your family, your Bishop and God.  God knows you're lying, and that the promises you're making will only stand to damn yourself.  But unless there is radical repentance & change of heart, such selfishness & lies will bar that person from being one with their family in the eternities.  
It would be FAR better to be honest from the start.  Do not dig yourself into a hole of lies and mockery.  

There's a really good book by C.S. Lewis called "The Problem of Pain"  that addresses that very question.  I used it as a source for a talk I recently gave at Church on this very subject. 

@Madam_Mim, I majorly appreciate the self honesty of your posts here (this and many others).  

It is a matter of perspective.
Some (definitely not all, and probably not a majority) of those in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have what you may consider a mythology in relation to Heaven, the Earth and a conflict between the forces of good and evil.  IN this, a war broke out in heaven between Good (those who supported the Lord) and Evil (those who supported the adversary).  This war did not end.  The adversary and a third of heaven were cast down, but they still are able to be on this earth, and on this earth, this war continues.
Think about a war.  It is nasty.  It is terrible.  It has different sides.
We still choose sides in this war.  It is a war with battles and ideas.  Some believe that it is still a physical war with physical consequences in this world.  Sometimes people still choose sides, and there are strategies and tactics that continue.  The spiritual battle becomes a real and physical war.
In this, it gets complicated.  You have all this as creations of the Lord, but at the same time, some of those creations are furthering the side of his enemy, while there are those of his that he uses to combat those who are helping the side of his enemy.  As any commander, his first goal is to protect the ground he already has, or to keep the volity or sanctity of his troops pure.  Thus, this is what you see in a majority of the battles and wars of the Old Testament.  It is a spiritual war becoming a physical reality in our world between the forces of the Lords and those that oppose the Lord's people. 
It get's crazier.  We view death as the end of life and existence.  From the Lord's perspective, this is not so.  Death is merely another point of existence.  To put it similarly, life could be us in School, death is when we leave School and the afterlife is seeing what we can do with what we did (whether we never graduated high School, got a college degree, got a graduate degree, went to tech school, etc).  Having us leave school is not actually that big of a deal, it's not the end of existence as we might view it in this life.  Thus, when he sees death and killing it is not as we see it, or the end of existence.  In some cases, it may even release those from pain and suffering in this life.  Sometimes, if one is going to far on the side of the enemy, it may even be a time out, or way to get them to come to their senses rather than desert to a foe that could care less about them.
However, it is STILL a WAR.  In that light, I also view that all sickness, and many ailments and evils that afflict us (and children and innocents especially) are caused by the enemy, or the spiritual adversaries to heaven (those opposing the Lord).  We see in the Book of Job that the illness isn't something that the Lord creates and causes to occur on Job, but something the adversary does to him.
This leads to the question of WHY the Lord allows this to happen?  IF he loves us, why does he allow such things to occur.
This is another items of Mythological thought you may have in regards to the Church.  We believe we are Children of a Heavenly Father.  He LOVES ALL his children.
If you have ever had children fight, what do you do?  Do you instantly kill the child you think is guilty?  That would be horrible and terrible. 
A loving God will not do that to his children either.  He does not instantly condemn his children to non-existence or to a place without his light.  So, we have this war between his children.  He gives a LOT of lee way.  I feel this is why the adversary and 1/3 of the hosts of heaven that followed him are still here.  Their Father will not totally abandon them until they have gone the full measure of rebellion to the point where there is no hope they can ever be redeemed or saved.  Just like we would with our children, until they become full on criminals we probably do our best to protect them and help them, even when they are fighting with their brothers and sisters.
When viewed from a temporary view where life begins and ends in this earth, it seems incomprehensible.  When viewed that this world and this life is a mere instant compared to the eternities, and that it's akin to a year in school or less (maybe even just a day in school), and that he is basing his judgments and doings on the scale of eternity rather than just this life, it becomes a little easier to accept (though probably still very hard to understand for many).
Now, this is NOT a thing believed by many of our Members, and it may even be a very small minority.  For that minority or group that does, though it may be a mythology to you, it is actually a religious belief and theology for me and others.  It explains why bad things are happening in this world to a small degree, as this world is but a small moment compared to the eternities of this conflict that is going on around us.  The pain, the sickness, the ailments that seem random are not so, but weapons used against us by a force that hates us with all they possess.  It is not the Lord who is doing it, but our enemy.  It is allowed, ironically, because they are also the children of God, and as such, are also loved just as he loves all his children.  Ironic, but it can be viewed as a larger and greater extension of what we see in our own homes when our own children fight and squabble amongst each other, but on a greater and larger scale.
 

Thanks for explaining the garments! 
As with most things so far, it doesn't seem that "strange" anymore after reading your comments. But I have to admit - even though you don't see it as a burden - I feel a little bit bad that whoever invented them, didn't just use a ring or a bracelet as a reminder of your covenants instead. 
I agree, *just* reading doesn't bring one closer to god. And I didn't read the bible with that intention - I read it to learn what it says (before that, I only knew portions of it). So yeah.. it's not surprising that reading it didn't suddenly bring me closer to god because I wasn't, as you said, "opening up". Thinking about one of your questions.. I'd say I never had a relationship with god. 
Sure, as a kid I had to pray every night before going to sleep and sometimes my family went to church, but this was never very serious or important to me. 

I'd assume we've read them with different presuppositions? Of course I don't know, but I guess you've read them when you were already a believer? I've read them when I was already doubting. 
Or we simply take different things from the stories or have different views on what we consider to be admirable. Just one famous example that's often mentioned: Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac. Many believers admire Abraham for having such strong faith while to me this is purely horrific and scary.
If the translations of the bible got it wrong and he didn't actually wipe away almost all the people on earth because he regrettet making them, and he didn't create humans and helped his favorite people to kill other humans he created, and he didn't kill all the first borns in Egypt, and he didn't command the killing of people who slept with the wrong person, and he didn't give instructions on how to treat your slaves, and he didn't degrade women - ok, THEN I shouldn't take the bible as a reason to not worship god. 

But even if we ignore the bible stories, I would still wonder: Did he create a world that includes horrific, deadly deseases/miscarriages/natural desasters etc. even though he could have created a world without all those things? Ugh... sorry, I'll better stop my ranting now and get back to LDS-questions.
 
I understand the words. Sadly enough, my not very helpful or explicit question was still the better option compared to the first one that came to my mind ("Whaaaat!?"). 
I'm sure you understand that reading something like the part I quoted sounds very alien to someone who isn't familiar with this (of course I knew about the garments, but not about this particular virtue about them) and I wasn't sure how to phrase a question without sounding derogative. 
But the answers you were all giving already helped! 
 

Answer this from the LDS Christian perspective: and can you tell me about your relationship with God during this time?  Were you praying to have Him better help you understand things?  Looking for applications?  Living open and willing to act on the knowledge He gave/gives you?  Do you know what His voice sounds like to you?
You don't need to actually answer any of those questions on here Mim- this isn't meant to be a cross-examination.  I'm simply illustrating the logical process.  *Just* reading scripture is pretty useless.  *Just* studying history of things is downright useless.  A person cannot have a relationship with God without opening up to God Himself.  And any relationship that you're not wiling to do something about and nurture, is just doomed to starve. 
First things first, need to state an obvious fact: there is nothing magical about the piece of fabric itself.  The fabric itself does zero.
The life of wherein a person chooses follow Christ, to follow His commandments, and honor their covenants with Him (which the garment reminds us of), that does make a world of difference.  Walking with Him helps you be strong (He gives strength) to better resist doing sinful things, and better repent when you do screw up.  By staying on His path, you'll also avoid a lot of the heartache sin / a sinful life brings about.  But avoiding some doesn't mean they'll never be heartbreak in your life (because there will be): rain falls on the just and unjust.  Having Christ with you helps us better endure and brings comfort during these hard times.

Both.
And here’s logical reasoning especially packaged for atheists (haha, tongue in cheek).  When you’re mindful of doing good, the resulting consequence would be that you avoid putting yourself in places where bad things happen.

My problem is: Studying the scriptures (mostly the bible) is what made me an atheist. The stories and messages in the bible... I don't even know where to start and I don't want to rant, so I'll just say: They didn't *inspire* me. 😏 And learning what god said and did according to the bible showed me that even if I knew for a fact that he exists, I couldn't worship him.
Also, reading books about the history of the bible, how it was put together etc. didn't help either. 
 
Anyways - I just have to ask about this: 
I read about the garments on the lds-website and it said
When worn properly, the garment provides protection against temptation and evil.
What does that mean? Do you believe it protects you from *doing* evil things or that it protects you from something evil happening to you? Or both?

This was always my problem with the Moroni Promise. Missionaries present it as a kind of "panacea to doubt", but when you think about it it's not so simple. Like you say, the world is full of people who "know" that the doctrines they profess are true. And since some of those doctrines contradict each other we are force to accept that (however sincere they may be) at least some of these people are mistaken. The answer you'll get from a missionary (and from the equivalent in other faiths) will be something like: "Don't put your trust in what we or anyone else say: ask the Spirit."  But this doesn't actually help very much: if other people can be mistaken about what they think the Spirit (i.e. God) is leading them to "know", is it not possible that we could be mistaken too?

Do people here about Christ in Italy?  Do people here about honoring your father and mother?
While LDS Christians believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's personal church and has the most Truth, all Truth and Goodness come from Him.  Anybody who preaches about Christ is doing God's will (even if it isn't the fullness).  Anybody who even teaches the importance of being honest is that that moment teaching His truths.  
Building line upon line.
That's not my stance at all.  If you hear a specific answer one way or the other, you should listen.  If you don't hear a specific answer, keep asking / investigating.  

I've imagined that scenario.  Firstly, I'm not convinced the Pope listens to God.  Second, if the Pope suddenly were to make an announcement that the true Church is the LDS Church... well,  let's just say I doubt he'd be allowed to get that far.  
Good things take time.  And those who aren't hearing the message yet won't be forgotten or left out.
What about the first time you pray about it?  If the answer is 'no' you'd walk away, right?  You can stop praying about it at that point.  At least, that's what I would have done.
And if, on that first time, you pray about it and the answer is 'yes'?  Well, in my case, I joined the Church... but no I didn't stop praying about it.  I'm a human being, and yes, I occasionally feel doubts.  When I do, I pray again.  So far, the answer has always been consistent.
As for a case where someone first gets a 'yes' and subsequently gets a 'no' well, it's hard for me to imagine a scenario in which someone got conflicting answers.  I suppose that would be up to the individual to determine how best to handle it.  God exists whether the Church is true nor not... So He should always be the one we pray to for guidance directly.  This is why our Church doesn't have intercessors to pray through.  We're always supposed to go directly to the source ourselves, not through priests or anyone else.  That way, your relationship with God exists independently.

No doubt it is incredibly frustrating...
But He is doing plenty about it!  He's sending missionaries all over the world to change that very thing.  Materials and information are freely available to anyone, and everyone is welcome at our meetings.
It happens sometimes.  If we pray for answers and don't get them, sometimes it just means we need to be patient.  God operates according to His schedule, not ours.  
If we pray about something and feel it isn't true, then it's time to do a little study, a little more prayer, and to counsel with those whom we trust. 

I didn't want to imply that the prophets would try to force their rules on anybody with their revelations. I was only thinking about the idea of getting certain messages out for everyone to know. You know.. God being like "I HAVE to let the world know about this!" and then announce it through his prophets. Btw: I'm not suddenly a believer who wants those things to happen - those are just random thoughts. I was thinking how much it used to upset god in the bible when people worshipped other gods or didn't follow his commandments, so it must be frustrating for him to see billions of people who don't even know about this church or worship another god - he doesn't seem to do much to change that.
 
Oh right, I remember reading that. But what if you don't get a revelation of truth after praying about it? Or even worse: If you pray about it and feel that it's not true?
 
 
Oh gosh.. there's more?! I'll read into that another time.