Carborendum

As long as it is interesting, nothing wrong with a long post. If it's boring... well... Respectfully, I didn't think you were forcing me into anything. The point I was making was about your statement. When dealing with physical things, we have physical proofs and evidence. But with things of the heart, the soul, salvation, and God, we don't have physical proof very often. And even then, there are arguments about the validity of such proofs. So, "proving" anything for any side becomes futile. All we can do is tell you what we believe, what our belief system teaches us and you get to consider for yourself. We may even share personal experiences. But those are our personal experiences, not yours. So you need your own. If you're "just curious", no problem. No proof required. It's just an intellectual pursuit, not a spiritual one. Good on ya for wanting to learn new things. If you're wanting proof from a religious perspective... not likely attainable through internet interactions. But we are happy to discuss things with you as long as everyone remains polite. I'd like to refer you to the Bible hub. It has many different translations available. It may be useful to "translate" KJV verses into more modern words. This is also useful if you would like to learn the archaic language of the KJV. Read a verse in the modern translations, then read the KJV to see how the wording changes. It would really be helpful to learn the language since the BoM tends to imitate that language. In the interim, you can always ask for a translation. Good. That's refreshing. This is a very common, but excellent question. Unfortunately, the answer can become quite complex. It is complex because of our belief in the afterlife. Most of Christianity has the heaven/hell dichotomy. No other options. Catholics have the idea of purgatory (which, from your other postings, you are probably familiar with). In our faith, there is a waiting period before final judgment. That could be another thread in and of itself. And there is the final state of our souls which can be divided into four levels. This could also be another thread in and of itself. Perhaps you could start threads covering various topics so we don't get all confused with all the topics being in one thread. Insightful question. The Holy Ghost is a conscious being with thoughts and motivations and so forth just as the Father and Son have. And faith is a principle. The Holy Ghost has a primary mission of testifying of truth. That truth which emanates from the Father is resonated by the Holy Ghost as His power of witness resides in us. By that method, we have a credible claim to Divine faith to guide our actions. And when it does, we are motivated to live according to God's law. (Laying-on-of-hands) This goes back to authority from God. When we say "priesthood" that doesn't only refer to the organization of priests in our church. It refers to that authority to act in the name of God for various functions. When a man has been given the proper authority to officiate in certain ordinances, then that person can physically place his hands on the head of a certain individual and pronounce a blessing on that person. One such ordinance is to state that this individual has performed the initial rites preparatory to receiving the Holy Ghost into his life. Then he is commanded to "Receive the Holy Ghost." While early in our search to commune with God, we will feel the power of the Holy Ghost to testify of truth and confirm that we are on the right path. Once we receive the Holy Ghost (this is where doctrinal pronouncements are very vague. But I'll share with you my personal interpretation) we have two things happen. We have a spiritual relationship with the Holy Ghost as we would have with a husband or wife. Not sexual. But there is a bond made. Even when the husband and wife are separated, they are still husband and wife. There is a shared relationship that goes both ways. Only through severe sin can that bond be broken. That relationship gives us strength and advantages that we would not have if we were not so bonded. (Again, another thread in and of itself). We are able to claim the gifts of the spirit according to that which is written in scripture. To some it is given to have one gift. To others, to have many. It's all an individual thing. There are certain faiths that are known as charismatic Christians. They don't really want to be associated with us. PrisonChaplain is a rare exception. We tend to like him. But that is fine. We don't usually use that terminology to describe ourselves anyway. But I used it in case you may be familiar with the term so that you can understand how we believe in modern day miracles and gifts of the Spirit. We at least share this belief with them. We're just a very traditional church. And, yes, we read the KJV to our children. They learn the language just as school students read Shakespeare in the Elizabethan English. It is almost sad to me that school children are now having to read Shakespeare in a modernized tongue. That just destroys the iambic pentameter. Yes, no one else grown up with them. This is part of what we call "the Restoration." Again, another thread entirely. Yup. (10 commandments) This is actually a very good question to ask. What is our interpretation of the 10 commandments. I have heard many people from many Christian faiths talk about what they believe about the 10 commandments. And they provide modern interpretations. (Stick a pin in that for a moment). But one thing we don't believe is that the 10 commandments were just for the Old Testament times. Various sects and individuals promote theories about which ones we're supposed continue to observe or not. We believe that the 10 commandments are still valid, and we need to obey them. However, some ways that the Jews interpreted them are not what we'd agree with. For instance, ask a very observant orthodox Jew about Mt Rushmore (or any statue, really). They'd have to say, "that's an idol. And I'm against idols." Well, to us, there is a difference between worshiping and simply building a memorial to honor someone's contribution to our present way of life. We still don't want idols that we worship as a deity. This is what I meant about "modern interpretations." That is how we obey the 10 commandments. That could be a hornet's nest. We have some specific wording in our Doctrine & Covenants as well as interpretations offered by leaders of the Church. "Hot Drinks" is the actual wording which commonly referred to coffee and tea at the time of the revelation. This did not refer to what we call "herbal teas" today. Herbal teas are nothing more than the same herbs we might put into a stew or broth. But the "tea plant" (Camellia sinensis) is what is prohibited. We've also been advised that caffeinated soft drinks and energy drink are thing we probably want to avoid, or at least use in moderation. But it is not prohibited. Alcohol is prohibited. And there is a history which changed the application throughout the last 150 years. But that's a long story. About Jesus using wine, again, that is a long discussion. But for my interpretation: alcohol was allowed because clean water was very difficult to come by. So, the only sanitized water people could depend on was alcoholic drinks. We saw Jesus hanging around wells a lot because He wanted to drink clean water. But back in the day, the most common choices were either be at least a little drunk or sick. Take your pick. It really wasn't practical. Basically, the prohibition is for this dispensation (era) only. Chocolate is not prohibited. But ask a dentist and he'll tell you differently. For all of the rules, the one we (as a people) tend to ignore is to use the best judgment to try to eat healthy and live a healthy life. Each Mormon is going to have slightly different ways of applying this doctrine. So each person's mileage may vary. Yes, it is a very complicated thing. But, again, I'd encourage you to start a new thread to organize all the discussions, one at a time to avoid confusion. Thanks for your interest.

Well, we'd be happy to share our beliefs. But if you really don't know much about our faith, it would be inevitable that we will use terminology that you're not familiar with. So, that would pretty much be impossible. For some concepts, there really are no other words without using several paragraphs and examples to explain things. But if you have a question and you need a definition, just ask. This is completely normal. But there is a weakness with this process. And this would be true if I were trying to learn about your beliefs as well. If you want proof of something, say, in a court of law, that would be the way we go about things. But with philosophy or religion, that process is extremely limiting. For one thing, what do you consider as valid "evidence" of anything? Belief systems tend to be self-supporting and limiting. We arrive at truth by abiding by the source of truth: God. When we're talking about divine truth, He is the source of truth. And if we're to "believe" someone else's faith, we need to be "willing" to consider that some of our beliefs are incorrect or need modifying. If we're not willing to do that, then of course we're not going to believe something that contradicts what we already believe. That's completely normal. It is the exceptional person, indeed, who is able to just lay aside some of their own belief system to even possibly consider another belief system. Unfortunately, this is a bit like asking a scientist at the time of Galileo, "Prove to me that your scientific findings are true without resorting to your experiments and data you've collected." That said: 1. We are a Christian faith in that we believe in God the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. That salvation comes in and through His atoning blood and in no other way. Through His Atonement, all mankind may be saved as we accept Him as our Savior and follow His teachings. We differ from trinitarians in that we believe they are three distinct beings who act as one mind and one heart. 2. We believe in the following principles and ordinances as the physical manifestations of our following His path: Faith is much more than just an idea in our minds or a feeling in our hearts. It is the motivating principle of action. If we are fully capable of doing something the Lord requires of us, but we choose otherwise, our faith wasn't sufficient to motivate the proper choice. Thus faith in Christ becomes something we work on throughout our entire lives. Repentance is the turning our hearts, minds, and actions away from the sin and turning toward Christ. Baptism is the first physical ordinance we perform which signifies our dedication to follow Christ. Laying on of hands is required to receive the Holy Ghost. Higher ordinances are also required as we continue. We must endure to the end. (Faith in Christ is something we work on all our lives) We don't believe: once saved = always saved. 3. Authority We believe that proper authority to act in the name of God, must come from God to man by prophecy (direct contact with the Divine/ visions/visitations) not simply by studying the word alone. Then those who have such authority can be authorized by God to give some authority to other men via the laying-on-of-hands. Part of that authority is to create an organization and system of running the Church (The Kingdom of God on Earth). And that system/structure has been provided by God to administer His will on earth. We are separate from some "charismatic Christians", but we tend to believe in miracles and gifts of the spirit as they do. 4. Scriptures: We believe in the following volumes as sources of scripture. Bible (While we generally use the KJV as a standard and common translation, there is nothing wrong with using other translations). Book of Mormon Doctrine & Covenants Pearl of Great Price Continuing Revelation 5. Civic Behavior: We believe in obeying the law. We also encourage participating in the political process. We believe in freedom of religion. No one can FORCE another to believe something religiously. But we have the right to practice our own religion per our own conscience. 6. In the most generic sense, we tend to have a value system that is common to Catholics and the more organized Protestant sects like Methodists, Lutherans, & Pentecostals, with some differences. 10 commandments (modern interpretations). Law of Chastity: No sex before marriage and absolute fidelity within marriage. No homosexual marriage. None of the "lesser stuff" that much of society seems to accept nowadays, like pornography. Word of Wisdom: No alcohol, tobacco, coffee/tea, drugs, gluttony, etc. Take care of yourself. Your body is a temple. 7. Family is a high priority. We believe that family bonds can continue throughout eternity. That is through a process we call "sealing."

As I understand it... (this means that I am not an expert in this area, but I've read a few things). Samuel was also an Ephraimite. He was chosen as God's prophet of that era. He even wore priestly robes (as evidenced by Saul tearing them). And the sacrifices were to be offered by Samuel, not Saul. David was of the tribe of Judah and he offered sacrifices in the temple. He was considered a prophet-king. So, it appears that prophets (at least) were allowed to offer sacrifices just like the Levites. Likewise, Lehi was clearly called as a prophet. So, that means that he held the priesthood authority to do so. The common understanding is (and I don't know what the scriptural basis is, but it makes sense): While the Melchizedek priesthood was not common, it was still present. And those holding it could also offer sacrifice. And it was that authority that Lehi brought to his sons and the Nephite nation.

Yes, I got your point. Let me put you into a situation. You know that God is in charge. At the end of all the tribulation of the end times, you know that the result is that the good guys win and the bad guys lose. Then knowing that ahead of time means that we shouldn't have any worries or concerns, right? Well, in a general sense, yes. But the fact remains that during those times of tribulation, many people will still go through tremendous difficulty. Some Latter-day leaders have said that the persecution of the end times will be more horrible than any we've seen in the history of the world. Considering some of the horrors of history, that is pretty frightening. With that in mind, is it a total, complete comfort that "all will be well in the end?" Even Christ asked if there were any other way to do this. Yes, He submitted to the will of the Father. But He did "shrink that (he) might not drink the bitter cup." Now, if you can keep your eye on the prize firmly enough that you can look forward to all the stuff that comes before it, you're a better man than I am. I hope I can endure it. But I know I certainly won't enjoy it.

You had asked why there was a cause for concern. I provided an example why there may be valid concerns even though the Lord still has overall governance of the Church. At the same time, that very example gives a warning that our "concerns" shouldn't take us down the wrong path. The warning being that we shouldn't use this concern as an excuse to leave the faith or stop listening to the Prophet. One cousin (and her household) left the Church because of one bad bishop who was later called to be stake pres. Another cousin (and her household) left the Church because Pres. Nelson required missionaries to get the jab. And no one in her house was a missionary. The thing about sifting is that the method of sifting is determined by the One in charge. **************** I remember a general conference talk where the speaker (whom I believe to be one of the children of the household that he spoke of) told of a family who were verbally abused by the bishop in public because of something that the father had done. The family went home feeling completely shamed and angry. They were ready to leave the Church over it. But when they got home, the father had them gather in the family room. They all knelt and waited as the father seemed to be praying. After a while the father opened his eyes and began to speak. (...to the best of my memory...) "Children, this is not the bishop's church. This is the Lord's church. And we will do what the bishop is asking because the Lord wants us to, not because the bishop wants us to." They eventually came back to full fellowship and all was well.

My family was wondering if there was any significance to the total number being 12. (1) Joseph Smith (3) Witnesses (8) Witnesses (12) Total It was almost as if the first quorum of the 12 were being formed. But too many of the 8 went astray before the priesthood restoration. Makes one wonder what they gave up.

God led the Israel when Samuel was the Prophet. Yet there was concern about his sons being Judges in Israel.

I can't really search as well as others since I'm not actively on social media. I have a Facebook account. But I don't think I've actually logged in for several years. I have no other accounts on Instagram, X, TikTok, or any of the myriad other stuff that's out there. This site is where I have my biggest digital footprint.

No, I had no apprehension. I trust you until I have reason to believe otherwise. I was merely adding a disclaimer if any naysayer was going to comment.

It looks like the same guy. I'm assuming, of course, that Old is being forthright and has done due diligence on his screen captures and links.

Too much government money going to the special interests who hyped DEI wokeness anyway. It will never stop. The guards will change. But the forces will continue. That is the way of all the earth. That is the destiny of all empires.

Yes, all two of them.

I can only hope that this is about bringing the disaffected back into the fold. But I have serious misgivings about this guy being in charge of what is published on the official Church Newsroom site.

I can't stop laughing!!!

That is exactly the problem. I remember the question that Chris Gardner asked the rich guy "What do you do? And how do you do it?" The rich white man told this down and out black man the answer. Chris then went after it by doing what the man told him to do. Now Chris is a multi-millionaire. Wokesters would rather tear down anyone with wealth so that we're all equally poor rather than allow avenues for everyone to become rich.

That's because privilege is invisible to you.

Box elder bugs are a common pest in that area. They can be cannibalistic with their dead. And they don't make a lot of noise. Could that have been your bugs?

I'm not familiar with this relief. But that doesn't look like a bucket of water. It looks like a basket in which he places the fruit. There are many flood myths in many cultures. This lends credence to idea that there really was some historical event that people believed to be a "great flood." There are also many garden myths from ancient cultures. The garden was considered a symbol for paradise. And all stories begin from paradise and go through the hero's journey from there. But in both cases, the basic description of a (flood and a boat) or an (idyllic paradise) are where the similarities end. The details are quite different. Gilgamesh and Enkidu were invaders into paradise, and they chose to kill the gods and other rightful inhabitants. Then they cut down the great cedar which connected earth to heaven. The flood was supposed to be secret among the gods. And the humans outsmarted the Gods by building a boat the same size as the dimensions of the boat the gods built. Only in the very general and vague outlines are these stories similar to the Biblical accounts. And it is in the details that we see the goodness of God rather than the pride of man. EDIT: I just found a similar relief online. Apparently, this is a depiction of a djinni (angel) performing his duties in the garden. The tree to the left is fruit. The tree to the right is "the sacred tree" (in Assyrian). In Babylonian, this was the "cedar of heaven." It was that cedar that gilgamesh and Enkidu chopped down.

So, things have taken an interesting turn. The boy in this story is doing better. The parents aren't exactly abusive. But they are very strict and they simply don't know how to adult, much less parent. He has already signed up for the military. He has gone to boot camp. And he's just waiting for HS graduation before he heads out. He has chosen to believe that the families he sees at church are the family he wants to have when he grows up. I see a bright future for that boy. But now... I have to ask, Is normal life really that foreign to people? His little sister keeps making the wrong choices. While the brother has chosen the life that will provide the family that he has seen in others' examples, the sister has chosen to continue in her mother's footsteps of basically being a slut. There is no other word for it. She has had the chance to see all the same families as her brother. She has seen just as many good examples of what she could have. But she keeps making bad choices. She considers herself a victim. She thinks all her friends have abandoned her. The truth is that she abandoned them in favor of her lifestyle. She had a long period where it appeared that she would come around. But in the end, she simply made a choice just like her brother. But she chose differently. She didn't want this life. She wanted the life of a slut. Again, there is no other word for it. As a result she actually did temporarily kill herself through starvation (anorexia). She was resuscitated and nursed back to health. But she is continuing down the same path and worse. There is simply nothing we can do. She stopped talking to all her family and friends. Recently, she opened up to my daughter whom she still considers a friend. This is the same girl who was gaslighting my daughter for months without my realizing it. The girl has decided to move in with her pregnant friend who is carrying her uncle's child. We have no way to contact her or her friend or figure out if the uncle is in jail for this or not. Two people in the same situation. Both are shown a better life and how to get there. One chose the better path. The other chose a path of death. We simply can't do anything to help her. This is just insane. I've been suicidal with depression before. But this is something else entirely. I am at a loss how people keep choosing such paths that are so long and protracted through a valley of pain and sorrow. There are hands being offered all around, but they simply don't want to accept them. I don't really know why I'm telling you all this. There's nothing I can do. But I can't just keep it bottled up inside me. I guess I just consider this therapy. Thanks for listening.

I wonder if his books are available in Spanish.

Oh! My gosh! It really is the apocalypse!

I’ve made statements to the effect that truth and chastity are inseparably connected. This was based on the metaphoric “Armor of God.” The Girdle of Truth is often associated with chastity (protects the privates). I had pointed to Hamlet asking if Ophelia was honest. This was a double meaning. He was first asking if she was being serious about giving his keepsakes back to him. But he realized something was up, and that they were probably being spied upon. So, he took it a different way. He turned it into a question about her chastity. A man who got a woman pregnant needed to marry her which would “make an honest man out of him." Pres Kimball wrote of the relationship between honesty and chastity very briefly in The Miracle of Forgiveness. Even with all that, I recognized that in our generation, we don’t quite seem to understand what honesty & chastity have to do with one another. Part of that is modern religion. Part of that is modern culture. Jordan Peterson said,”Sex has never been free. There were always consequences. Casual sex is a myth. There is always some sort of emotional exchange and bond formed.” He brought up the idea that children are always a possible consequence of casual sex. With today’s wide and affordable access to contraceptives, there does appear to be a crack in the wall. But because we’ve only had both cheap contraceptives and widespread casual sex in the culture for maybe one generation, we don’t have enough data to determine if that really changes anything. So, it is too early to tell if this technology changes thousands of years of history and evolution or not. Recently, I’ve done a lot of learning about male-female relationships in today’s society. One thing that had me worried was why my children and all my nieces and nephews were having such difficulty finding an eternal companion. I count 14 young adults of marriageable age. Only three are married. One solidly moving toward engagement. One more has a prospect, but the more I observe that one, the more misgivings that relationship is generating. We’ll see. Many of these young adults are finding it difficult to find someone who is even interested in getting married. One of them has no interest in finding a girl because of the maneaters out there. He doesn’t know if he can find a girl that won’t just destroy him like two of his uncles have experienced. He is a textbook hermit. He works from home with a fine paying job. And he’s looking to double his income by taking a few more classes. He’s making a lot of money, has few expenses. And he is a savvy investor. He’ll probably be a millionaire by 30. But what woman out there is going to be his proper match and value an eternal marriage? We see declarations of such “strong-independent-modern-women” (SIMW) who don’t need a man, but still expect her man to make more than she does to prove he’s worthy of her. Really? What logic generates that? These SIMW only look for rich SIMPs. But if a man is really all-that then why would he want a woman who will walk all over him? SIMW want to lead except for the times that she is tired of leading. Then she expects the SIMP to immediately take the reins and know exactly what to do and make all the right decisions that she must eventually approve of. Are they being honest with themselves? SIMW goes to gyms with barely anything on and sets up her exercise station directly in front of a man who has been working out for the last 10 minutes. Then she raises a stink about how he’s checking her out. Is this honest behavior? SIMW decides that she no longer needs a man and divorces him because she wants to lead her “authentic life” for real fulfillment. And BTW, she wants joint custody with 100% child support and a ton of alimony. Is she for real? SIMW refuses to get married until she can find a man with $300k income, over 6ft tall, and is a 10. She believes this is possible because that is what social media says she can do. Nevermind that she has never gone to the gym, herself, and she has a seriously high body-count, and she doesn’t even make $30k/yr. Is her head screwed on straight? She wouldn’t know truth if it hit her in the face. No, social media says she's a 10 and can bag any man. No problem. Now, what about men? When women behave like this, it is all too easy for men to forsake marriage. Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free? Where is commitment? What is commitment? Men just take what they can get whenever they can. But now we see a lot of men leaving the dating/marriage market entirely because they know that they always get the shaft. From me too fraud to divorce always favoring the woman (especially no-fault divorce) men know what a high risk merely dating can be, let alone marriage. Why? Because there is no trust. No one is honest anymore. Honesty is always linked to chastity. If your chosen partner has a high body count, then how can you trust them? They never made a commitment about the most intimate decision of their lives. They chose intimacy and made it like playing a video game. It’s just something you do when you have the time. You can take it and leave it. If you’re flippant about committing to intimacy, then you’re flippant about committing to anything. BIOLOGY: Oxytocin has been called the “cuddling hormone.” A great deal of it is released during intercourse. It is not merely a sexual high. It is an emotional bonding high. It is also released when mothers nurse their babies, so it is not just a sexual thing. When we engage in intercourse so often without even really considering a relationship, our very biology is getting screwed up. The oxytocin is trying to tell you that the person that you just shared this with needs to be with you. You need to stay. You need to commit to a relationship. When we ignore and treat casually such biological signals, it messes with our entire psychology related to commitment and keeping promises. This is why Balaam was able to destroy the children of Israel by sending in the loose women to tempt the men away. There is never any such thing as casual sex. There is always a consequence. And refusing to acknowledge that consequence/responsibility is dishonest. It doesn’t matter if we avoid tyrannical government. Hollywood already introduced casual sex into this society when I was a kid. Yes, there was always some of it in any society. But "society" at least knew it was wrong. It wasn’t until the 80s where it started being considered acceptable behavior. And it was during the Friends era that it became expected. When society stopped being honest, we were all ready to listen to any politician tell us anything. And we'd believe it. Not because we had confirmation by the Holy Ghost, but because it was pleasing to our ears. And pleasure without responsibility is all we wanted.

UPDATE: The foreclosure rate is nearly 50%. That's a lot more than I was led to believe earlier. The article blames this on the 12.9% interest rate. This is reminiscent of the sub-prime mortgage market that contributed to the '08 collapse. Usually, banks and mortgage companies are required to give back any additional proceeds from the sale of the property back to the homeowner. However, because the financing arm (separate business entity) arranges public auctions with the most minimal compliance with the law, they end up selling it back to the developer at sub-principal prices. Then the developer can sell the property to any new purchaser at market rates. So, yes, I guess it is a predatory practice. The development says that they have to charge higher for the tremendous risk that they take on with such a development. But they wouldn't need to do that if they offered the properties to people who they knew could actually afford it. Additionally, they are about to be investigated by the IRS, EPA, USACE, and TCEQ. I saw some of their plans when I was negotiating with them. I didn't see any problems with the EPA, USACE, and TCEQ issues. There were some concerns. But as far as I could tell, they did it the legal & technically correct way. They could have a problem with the TCEQ because of construction conditions. But the overall final design looked compliant. As for the IRS, I have no idea. One of the stupidest comments I read about this was that the site was prone to flooding. Well, duh-uh. It's Houston. The entire region is prone to flooding. But the plans I saw had proper mitigations in place. All the same, I'm glad we were not able to come to an agreement. I may have had my license taken away for simply being involved with the guy.

So... What did he say that made him so offensive?

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-781456 I'm not sure I understand what all happened. I've read several different websites about this story. And I don't really hear much about these "extremists." What was their motive? What made them extremists? What separated them from the Jews of this Synagogue? Why did they target the sanctuary? I don't know why I think this is important. I don't know if it is important. But for some reason, I just think this is a very thin story for something like this.