dprh

Pres. Nelson's words hit very close to home for me.  In March, I went through a Stake Disciplinary Council and was subsequently excommunicated for conduct unbecoming a member.  I have a long history of leading a double life in and out of the church.  I confessed to my wife, my bishop, my Stake President, and God in January and I've been working on changing, repenting, since.  For so long, I felt that I couldn't change.  I was too weak, too cowardly, too deep into my sinful life to ever be able to get better.  And I was right.  I am not strong enough, on my own, to change.  What I'm in the process of learning is that I am not alone.  I am doing what I can and Christ is making up the difference.  I have felt my heart change.  I still have a long road ahead, but I have the Savior walking beside me.  
That is my long way of saying, I feel that time is short for me specifically.  Not in that my life will end soon or that the Second Coming is next year, but that my need to repent, to change, to become who I need to be, is now.  I cannot procrastinate any more.  

Pres. Nelson's words hit very close to home for me.  In March, I went through a Stake Disciplinary Council and was subsequently excommunicated for conduct unbecoming a member.  I have a long history of leading a double life in and out of the church.  I confessed to my wife, my bishop, my Stake President, and God in January and I've been working on changing, repenting, since.  For so long, I felt that I couldn't change.  I was too weak, too cowardly, too deep into my sinful life to ever be able to get better.  And I was right.  I am not strong enough, on my own, to change.  What I'm in the process of learning is that I am not alone.  I am doing what I can and Christ is making up the difference.  I have felt my heart change.  I still have a long road ahead, but I have the Savior walking beside me.  
That is my long way of saying, I feel that time is short for me specifically.  Not in that my life will end soon or that the Second Coming is next year, but that my need to repent, to change, to become who I need to be, is now.  I cannot procrastinate any more.  

Ah, Thanks.  That is right.  I found a good summary of it here .  

A single woman has so many options. There are so many people in this world who are in need of mothering. There are tons of career paths to take such as teaching, daycare, nursing, social work, etc., etc., etc. What is her job? There may be opportunities there to mother. If not, there are so many volunteer opportunities. She could look on justserve.org to find volunteer opportunities in her area.

Update: thank you so much to everybody for the advice and love. We went in last night to the Bishop and confessed and have started the repentance process. We do already feel so much better. I don’t know exactly what the future holds for us yet, but I know that I’m going back to the path that I belong. Love to you all!!

Punishing people is not the role of the church, the role of the church is to help the sinner find peace and cleansing through Christ.  There is a big difference between two people who are truly in love and committed to each other having their emotions carry them into a place they shouldn't go than a rebellious soul who cares nothing for the commandments of God and deliberately tries to get all the pleasure they can from whoever they can find as a willing partner.  Don't brand yourself as the worst of the worst for a perfectly understandable mistake you regret.
If you have been faithful to each other, I highly doubt you will face excommunication. and I doubt you would be disfellowshiped too.  There may be some informal discipline like not being allowed to take the sacrament for a time while you work through this, but I can guarantee you that as soon as you come clean to the Bishop you will feel peace in your heart.  The Bishop will keep the matter confidential.  Your sealing is valid, but the blessings of it do still depend on your faithfulness so you need to take care of this.
Why linger in this dark unhappy place any longer?  Call the Bishop and let the miracle of forgiveness work it's magic in your life.

A long long time ago, on my mission, I was moved into an area with my companion.  There had been sisters there for a few years.  While we were going through all the stuff they left we found an old talk someone had typed up.  It wasn't a General Conference talk, and I don't recall who gave it, but it was a General Authority and it was addressed to mission presidents or stake presidents.  
It talked a lot about this topic.  From what I remember his point was that God is God because of His dependability and reliability.  Intelligences, spirits, and things obey Him because they trust Him, not because they are compelled to.  He has a perfect track record, so to speak.  If God were to rob justice, or anything else that would damage his dependability, he would cease to have that power over other things because of the broken trust.  Other intelligences would no longer obey Him.
I've looked for that talk a number of times since coming home 16 years ago and have never found it again.  It was quite interesting.

Not that I disagree with anything that has been said, but there is a natural tendency for adults to automatically answer questions of children rather than modeling how they can  think for themselves---a skill-set that becomes increasingly more vital the older the child gets, though increasingly absent in today's world.
Granted, some questions and circumstances lend themselves better to teaching how to think rather than what to think, though we don't always avail ourselves of the opportunities to teach the how when age appropriate..
For example, in response to the first question (What are good ways to help me feel strong when I really feel weak/tempted?) One may socratically ask questions like: What ideas have ideas they have already come up with and tried? What has worked and what hasn't, and why? Do some strategies work better than others? Are you strong in some areas of your life? Where does your strength come from in those areas? What makes us weak? Do you involve others in your strengthening strategies--Particularly the Lord?  What happens if you give in to the weakness? Etc.
Thanks, -Wade Englund-
 

Justice cannot be robbed. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) but because Jesus was sinless, and being God, having eternal life, what was unjustly taken from Him was His life, which is eternal and infinite, having no end. And while God’s own justice must reject evil, which has no place in His kingdom, His own sacrifice makes possible His right of mercy.
Alma 34:9 For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.
10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.
11 Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another. Now, if a man murdereth, behold will our law, which is just, take the life of his brother? I say unto you, Nay.
12 But the law requireth the life of him who hath murdered; therefore there can be nothing which is short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world.
13 Therefore, it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice, and then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall the law of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away.
Justice can demand of us death, and rightly so, for the wages of sin is death. But Jesus Christ who is our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5) and our intercessor (Hebrews  7:25) with the Father can, in effect, hold back justice and say to it, “you took from me my life, which is endless and infinite. Therefore, in restoring to myself what is infinite, I can claim ALL life.” Thus justice is necessarily satisfied. This is how God can continue to be God, having satisfied the demands of justice, which has claim on all of us sinners. It was necessary for Him to make such a condescension, with the capacity to die unjustly so that He could take up His life again and in that capacity, which is infinite, rescue the rest of us. 

I hope your not making a “holier than thou” statement here.

@Junior, here is the truth. You can change wherever you want. You don’t need this church to change and become a better person. But to become the best person and to spend eternity with our Heavenly Father, you absolutely need the church and to listen to its leaders.
I had a bad pornograohy addiction growing up. Amidst this addiction I had 3 different bishops that I confessed to.
The first bishop was very soft, told me that this was normal and that I should continue trying to overcome this. Nothing changed.
The second bishop was absolutely appalled (and discovered later that he didn’t believe in sexual addiction or any kind). He paid for me to see a counselor and that was it. Nothing changed.
The third bishop I had revoked my temple recommend, barred me from the sacrament, and met with me every week. Here is where the biggest change came from.
You have that third bishop I wish I had when I had the first and second.
This church isn’t meant to just make you a “good” or “better” person, but to make you like Christ in every way. In order to do that, you need to follow the leaders that are over you.
The things you are arguing for are not backed up by ANY of the general authorities in the church. Your views to not match the views of the church you are trying to argue your way into. Doesn’t this bother you??? It should either 1) convince you tht you are wrong and should follow the direction of the bishop, or 2) realize you don’t REALLY believe in the church as being Christ’s true church