LDSGator

What matters? The attempt? Or success?
Obviously, for our own sake, it matters that we try our best. But the idea that our failure or success in how we interact with others, despite our best efforts, determine their salvation is not correct. 
God does His work. We do our best. 
The OP is suggesting that our bedside imperfections are key to other's damnation. 

Our exchange student landed safely in China. We heard from him via WeChat. 

I love all that. In fact, why I lean towards the open borders side of the debate is because I think America is so special and wonderful that everyone should be able to take part in it. We do need border security, I’m not against that. I’m against alarmism and false stories about Chinese invasions though. Got me there. 

Math indeed.
 
This is yet another crazy story that will be forgotten in six weeks. Thinking that the Chinese have sleeper cells in America shows a cute imagination, and no actual sense how the Chinese government works. If there really was a Chinese plan to arm immigrants against our government, they’d come in nice and legally. The last thing they would want is a risky plan to cross the border. And you wouldn’t be hearing about it either. 
But out of all the things to worry about, this is dead last. 

That just means you need to watch more movies!  And it ain't just humans - it's the dang aliens!
https://www.ranker.com/list/best-movies-about-america-being-invaded/ranker-film

I love all that. In fact, why I lean towards the open borders side of the debate is because I think America is so special and wonderful that everyone should be able to take part in it. We do need border security, I’m not against that. I’m against alarmism and false stories about Chinese invasions though. Got me there. 

Yeah, I don't care about Red Dawn notions of armed incursion.  (The original was ok, the remake was boring.)   But there are endless valid and real reasons nations sneak people into other nations where they operate covertly.  And there are also endless valid and real reasons nations worry about the various impacts of illegal immigration.  If you like our culture,  standards of living, economy, and institutions and want to preserve them, there's plenty of cause to worry about the impact all of it has on that stuff. 
History is fascinating.  They tell me the reason our southern border is so porous, has to do with the terms they agreed to during the last US Mexican war in 1847.   The US won pretty soundly, but was still in the process of inventing itself, and there were several American opinions at odds with each other.  How a lot of the frontier lands were going to get populated , who got to be a "US Settler", how would citizenship work, etc.  In the end, we signed treaties that officially made it illegal to be illegal, but everyone knew the border would see a lot of migration.  There's been a flow back and forth ever since, especially seasonal as the US became a major food producer.
Trump wants to do what he's done in the past, build another massive monument to his ego with a solid gold TRUMP on it to make sure he goes down in the history books as building the wall.  But his ego aside, there are plenty of good nonTrump, non-ego-driven reasons to have a robust southern border with tall walls and wide gates with good immigration laws.  The wall is one component to that. 

Math indeed.
 
This is yet another crazy story that will be forgotten in six weeks. Thinking that the Chinese have sleeper cells in America shows a cute imagination, and no actual sense how the Chinese government works. If there really was a Chinese plan to arm immigrants against our government, they’d come in nice and legally. The last thing they would want is a risky plan to cross the border. And you wouldn’t be hearing about it either. 
But out of all the things to worry about, this is dead last. 

99.9% of the “Chinese” that are illegal immigrants are here for a new life in America. Not for armed insurrection. 

99.9% of the “Chinese” that are illegal immigrants are here for a new life in America. Not for armed insurrection. 

Oh, agree. I checked out of the details here, and I was only speaking about the missionary involvement. 

I feel sorry for the missionaries that have gotten caught up in such drama. They are there to spread the gospel. Poor kids. 😞 

Maybe we need an ordinary rendition, too (I couldn't find a version with all seven verses - it should be a crime not to sing all seven every time   ) :
 

If anyone is interested, the video I posted is from the documentary, New York Doll.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Doll
The Dolls were a vastly influential and moderately successful punk band from the 70’s. Kane was a member of the band and converted to the LDS faith late in life. Outstanding doc. 

@zil
This guy fronted one of my all time favorite bands, The New York Dolls. An absolutely gorgeous version. I feel the spirit every time I hear this.    
 

Right, they are jackasses too. Being a fool is universal. Having said that, pre-Trump conservatives could generally laugh at themselves and most on the left could not do the same. 

I like to sleep at night.  And I believe in following the commandments including being honest in dealing with our fellow man.
It’s not your duty to get him a more lenient or harsh legal finding. 
But if you did not directly witness the event then frankly it ain’t your business.

Bro, I am beyond lost. You have so many “this may be, this might be, perhaps” that I’m not sure anyone can give you solid, insightful advice. 
 
That said, I really do wish you the best. 

We meet our exchange student in about two hours. He is the fourth one we have hosted, for two weeks, from China. It’s an amazing experience! 

Right, they are jackasses too. Being a fool is universal. Having said that, pre-Trump conservatives could generally laugh at themselves and most on the left could not do the same. 

You've got it all wrong.  Roker isn't out to get me, because of my white privilege.  But according to progressives, weather is racist.  And not just TikTok millennial progressives either.  We're talking institutional entrenched mainstream progressives.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220125-why-climate-change-is-inherently-racist
https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2020/06/climate-crisis-racist-answer-anti-racism
https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-white-colonisation-of-the-atmosphere-its-time-to-tackle-this-entrenched-racism-185579
https://time.com/5864704/environmental-racism-climate-change/
Nature: Racism is magnifying the deadly impact of rising city heat
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22022022/racism-climate-change-research/
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/01/what-deniers-climate-change-and-racism-share/579190/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/climate/black-environmentalists-talk-about-climate-and-anti-racism.html
 
Yeah.  Conservatives don't take liberal bias far enough!

My favorite joke about liberal bias in the MSM came from Bernie Goldberg, himself no liberal.
 
“Conservatives take liberal bias in the media too far. Al Roker is not out to get you when he forecasts rain on the fourth of July.” 

My favorite joke about liberal bias in the MSM came from Bernie Goldberg, himself no liberal.
 
“Conservatives take liberal bias in the media too far. Al Roker is not out to get you when he forecasts rain on the fourth of July.” 

Love it. My favorite part was at the end in the footer:
It took all my powers as a typist not to write, “Winter is coming.”