Carborendum

Just remember those numbers when this is over. Then you can thank the Trump administration for keeping the numbers down below the 50,000 level and say he saved over 100,000 lives.

Did you just call @Vort a green-blooded Vulcan?

I never noticed the announcement on the Church Website. Around what month was it posted? Anyway, It was interesting that the Dubai temple was at the request of their government (at least that is what Pres. Nelson seemed to say. Did I mis-hear him?). But the Shanghai temple was a concession that the Chinese government made because of the condition of the Hong Kong temple (rennovation). I think this is a good example of how bad things can lead to good things. Anytime a door is closed, a window opens.

Excellent idea.

He's enjoying retirement. And he really loves having grandkids.

I'm convinced that were supposed to read it on three levels. Read it as if it were completely literal. Read it as if it were completely figurative. Read it as if it were the skeleton of a literal story with a lot of imagery, symbolism, and figurative storytelling to fill in that skeleton. With each of these reads, we get different information and knowledge which I think is all true on some level. These are like looking through only one eye. It appears to be a compete picture. But it isn't. It is then important to see it from a mixture of all three reads. Like our eyes each see a slightly different picture, using both eyes allows us to see an image with additional benefits such as depth perception and its subsequent effects.

Emmanuel explained it. Let me re-format it for you. Does that help? BTW, I've looked over some of your past threads. It is considered good manners to come back and give a "Thank you" reaction or respond with a thank you or short post or something just to let those who responded know that you got it and it was helpful or if you're still puzzled. Or else, why bother answering you?

Can you imagine lugging that thing around? In seriousness, I believe that the logo will be smaller and have the missionary name to the side. The logo might need to be modified to have the Christus and arch symbol to one side while essentially having the traditional tag information to the side of the symbol.

As a matter of trivia, I know a certain father-in-law of mine who has studied interesting events that have occurred at regular intervals if counted from 1BC. Long story short, he believes that the "real" birth year of the Savior is 1BC on our current calendar. As I understood it, this is a common school of thought.

If I may wax rhapsodic for a moment: It was quite poignant to hear the coordinated hymn at the end. Y'all know it felt cool for me to hear it in Korean. I was quite struck by the Spirit as we heard all the nations change to English at the end. It dawned on me that the message was that we are fulfilling Joseph Smith's prophecy of the Standard of Truth. And we are coming together to be unified in the faith. We are all one people. As the end of the Book of Mormon describes the separation of people into tribes, we see that happening today. The partisanship in the US is only a small part of what is going on in the world. The whole world is separating and isolating. The cancel culture is only a symptom. But the Church IS OUR TRIBE. And instead of separating, we are coming together from all over the world. I realize that "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet" is usually aimed at our current prophet ("to guide us in these latter days"). But this particular expression seemed to me as an homage to ALL modern prophets, and particularly to the Prophet of the Restoration. Did anyone else feel that?

Unlike yourself. Meaning... not moving at all? Nothing in the statement you quoted demands any specific pace except that it is moving forward. The only alternatives are being stagnant (no progress) or moving backwards. So, what is it that you're disagreeing with because I don't see anything in the quote that you disagree with. Could it be that this person said much more than the quote you gave? If so, share it. But I get the feeling that the problem was not with what he said, but how you took what he said. This has ALWAYS been the doctrine and always will be the doctrine. We can only be saved through the Atonement. Our works never have been enough and never will be enough. You're talking about Universalism. Are you actually LDS? If so, explain your interpretation of: If all churches / faiths are equal, what does this verse say to you? I certainly hope not. It won't die with my children. And it won't die with their children. Most people who think like you have few or no children. Who do you think will win? I think you misunderstand how the gospel of Christ works, and what the guidance of gospel principles does for us as individuals and families. This last speech before Pres. Nelson covered it. In Paraguay, the Seventy asked all the Stake Presidents something to the effect of (they haven't put up the written text yet) How often have you studied the Book of Mormon in the past year? How often do you pray individually and as a family? When was the last time you paid your tithing? Attended the temple? Made a ministering visit? Held family home evening? In short, when was the last time you did all the "little things" that we all know we're supposed to do? Again, something was said in General Conference this last session that addressed all this. I hope you listened to it. My understanding is that the Gospel was never supposed to be "comfortable" in the sense you appear to be describing. What have you recently sacrificed or offered to the Lord in terms of your time, talents, means, or anything that the Lord has blessed you with? On this we agree. We are simply looking at different portions of the world. Are you the branch leaning towards the world or towards the roots of the Tree of Life? One day we all will make a decision about whether our connection to the tree is stronger than the flaxen chords connecting us to the world, or if the flaxen chords are stronger than our connection to the roots.

Well, Dubai and Shanghai were the surprises this time. Very interesting.

Our ward and stake has been talking about it as if it is a given. There was no "special permission" because it was a no-duh kinda thing. (Meeting with other families). But the maximum of 10 people kinda limits it for us.

And here I was ready to blush...

Do you have a Catholic/Lutheran/Anglican/Episcopal background? Michael is considered the patron saint of the military.

I'm not sure what you're saying here. But mythologically Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars are Father, son, and grandson respectively.

One could argue that this was a bathroom only the bat-family could access.

I don't think it "slipped away from us." I think the Lord had a plan to take us through phases. "Mormon" is a very quick and meaningful label. It is much more catchy and easy to market and remember. The "And I'm a Mormon" Campaign was a valuable tool to perform that marketing to get the term "Mormon" into the remaining corners of the world culture (or at least the English speaking world) that had not heard the term. The next phase was that AFTER the term is in the consciousness of the public, we teach the world the rest of the information. I've actually had people tell me that they didn't even know what a Mormon was until the "And I'm a Mormon" campaign. And when they heard about the switch it was all over social media. They had to know what the deal was. My response was that there were circumstances where people were in the "Mormon Helping Hands" disaster areas and they offered gratitude for two groups that provided invaluable assistance: The first is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The second is the Mormons. But it was all part of the big plan. All those who thought we were separate got the sucker punch -- the old one-two. Now they know we're that same, and that we're a Christian Church. ------- The pessimist in me says that the new logo requiring a larger slab of stone in front of our buildings will invite vandalism from the haters. Such irony that they will have such hatred for us that they will get offended at us displaying an engraving of the Savior.

Last conference or so, Pres Nelson said that a temple is planned "at an undisclosed location -- in Russia." I wonder if he's going to announce the location.

If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Fast & Furious IRS targeting of conservative groups Solyndra Jeremiah Wright Iran Nuclear deal including $400 Million payoff that we got nothing in return for Spying on Trump's Campaign Droning of US Citizens In case you're wondering why I named scandals instead of what he actually said: He lied about all of these. Regarding your politifact argument, I agree that they aren't as left wing as the MSM. But they are just a tad left of center. This tilts your numbers in the following ways: When a lie is said, a leftist politician is more likely to be given a "mostly false" rating than a "pants on fire rating" (as an example). Conversely, when Trump says virtually anything, he's almost always going to be given a lying rating no matter how slim a margin by which that "lie" can be considered dishonest. They are less likely to check a lie by a politician on the left than on the right. The sheer number of checks on Trump vs the sheer number of checks on Obama is a dead give away. Example: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/27/donald-trump/fact-checking-whether-biden-called-trump-xenophobi/ Seriously? They point directly to the fact that Biden reacted to Trumps Corona actions as xenopobic, and yet give the claim a "mostly false" rating? You call this neutral?

Why am I getting a vibe that "Ordain Women" is going to get a present this conference?

Zero.

I've always been surprised, my friend. There are two ways we can look at something to "shake" us out of our slumber (a-la Benson's "Awaken to our Awful State"). I believe that we have been on a straight trajectory ever since the Church was established. We're finally being shown with the mirror of reality just how far society has gone from the Lord's word. And we will find that difference startling. It may be that while trying to keep our roots firm, our branches have bent and swayed towards the worldly path. It is time to either snap the branches or snap the invisible chords that bind those branches to the world. Either of things would certainly be "earthshaking". But it would not be surprising. Everything that we will learn today and tomorrow will be what we've been told and possibly preparing for since the restoration. We're locked and loaded. It won't be a surprise. It will be expected. We're waiting (hoping) for it. The thing is that each conference is a wealth of knowledge. It seems that they're saying the same things from the same scriptures, emphasizing the same principles. And on some level, they do. But they do say something different each time. And I find it refreshing every six months.

If we shadows have offended...

Incongruous statements. The big point you're missing is that Trump did NOT "dispense medical advice". He was giving an update on what his administration was doing to get the FDA to open doors to further study and approval. It was NEVER meant to say "Hey, you should go do this..." How you can recognize that it was 100% the couple's fault, and yet still try to blame Trump? How can you say that his update on what his administration is doing is somehow encouraging this type of behavior.