Dravin

There may be differences between early Earth and early Mars to take into account while coming up with a hypothesis or experiment. It doesn't answer the fundamental questions, as you say, but it is still worthwhile to consider the starting conditions you are proposing life began in. In full disclosure I'm not overly familiar with the proposal, I'd have to read up on the literature to know what their thought process is and why they think Mars is a better candidate than Earth.

I see now. No, the only way is through baptism. You should parse his "a member through baptism" as a single 'chunk'. He was being descriptive rather than hinting at alternative paths to membership. As a practical matter something like that would require you to predict your income for the coming year (or what ever period of time you think such a statement would be covering) as tithing is 10% of your income/increase. At any rate, no, that doesn't occur. Tithing is handled thus: Paying tithing: There a little envelopes with accompanying forms. The forms are so they know who the money is from and because one can also give offerings to things other than tithing and so they'd know if you put $100 in there that you meant $80 of it to go to tithing and $20 to humanitarian aid. You fill out the forms, drop it into the envelope along with the money, seal it up, and either mail it or hand it to the Bishop (when you see him at Church, not as part of some sort of formal handing over). A lot of folks pay whenever they receive their paycheck for ease of calculation and to prevent accidentally spending it or 'borrowing' against it and having to try an make it back up with later paychecks. If one was so inclined they could simply pay in a lump sum once a year. Tithing Settlement: It sounds ominous but it amounts to the Bishop asking you if you are a full tithe payer and you being given a record of your donations over the course of the year (it is a once a year meeting held at the end of the year). The purpose of giving you the record is so you can make sure there aren't any errors in the record and so the Bishop can ask you about your tithing status. Your tithing status is quite simple it is: Full Tithe Payer, Part Tithe Payer, or Non-Tithe Payer. There are no interrogations, quotas, or demands of financial forms, you simply reply. If you're still curious about tithing settlement there is a previous thread talking about it here: http://www.lds.net/forums/general-discussion/56003-timing-tithing-settlement.html Temple Recommend: As part of the interview you're asked if you are a full tithe payer. It's that simple. I just want to be clear that I don't think your question was stupid, just that, as asked, it isn't necessarily giving you the information you're most likely seeking (based on my past experience with discussions with people such as yourself). Also, concerning the baptism/membership issue I was attempting to point out a potential fundamental misunderstanding not because I think you have to already know the answer, or because I'm offended that you may have such a misunderstanding, but to try an head off us talking past each other. P.S. It's Dravin not Devin. :)

Not strictly true, you can get a recommend to participate in some aspects of the temple prior to a year. It's termed a limited use recommend and one can obtain it almost immediately after becoming a member. Then you should work on what it is that is preventing you from attending the temple. While there are a fair amount of people who like to portray having a temple recommend as some Herculean task it pretty much amounts to keeping the covenants and commitments you made at baptism. I think you're asking the wrong question. Technically the answer is yes, but the answer must be yes unless every member receives one automatically regardless of behavior or belief prior to two years of membership (or how many ever years you want to term many), so the answer doesn't tell you much. The fundamental limitation on obtaining a temple recommend is one's individual commitment and follow through on their covenants. The questions asked are standardized, it's not like one is maneuvering to try and convince people you're worthy like some sort of courtroom or political drama. For the record the baptismal interview questions are also standardized. No. Legally it's a charitable donation, religiously it's a portion of what the Lord has given you that you are returning to him. Tithing isn't money paid into an escrow for a temple recommend or some such. Sign a paper to what end? Are you thinking that you're somehow making a legally binding commitment to pay tithing? If so, you're terribly mistaken. There are forms filled out, but they are primarily filled out by the missionaries, they revolve around making sure the baptism was performed correctly and creating a membership record for you (mostly a matter of making sure your personal information is correct). I honestly can't recall if any of the forms require your signature, but you'd be filling them out with the missionaries not the Bishop. No. I'm thinking there are some really fundamental misunderstandings going on, such as just what, from the LDS perspective, being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints means. I wasn't imputing any behavior to you, simply giving a caveat to the claim that everyone is welcome.

I would too, of course that's not the situation in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. No, you need to make and keep previous covenants to attend the temple, one of which is the commitment to pay tithing. If it really was, "You pay, you attend." then adulterers, as long as they paid, would be recommended to attend and people who have no income would be barred. Such is not the case. The temple is a place where members who have made and are keeping previous covenants go to make additional covenants. It makes no sense to usher people in to make additional promises and commitments to the Lord when they struggling to keep the covenants they've already made. What you're talking about is the local chapel, and indeed, everyone is welcome regardless of how well they are keeping the covenants they've made or even if they are interested in making covenants in the first place, as long as you aren't disruptive you're welcome.

Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service 12: How Do I Prepare People for Baptism and Confirmation? If you scroll down to "How to Conduct the Interview" you'll see how the interview is conducted and the baptismal interview questions.

You could take a gander here: Church History

One thing to keep in mind is that while one can probably point to some very basic standards of customer service, or courtesy, the consumer is not a monolithic entity that has the same concept of just what good customer service entails. Not just in the case of what sort of experience you expect from a $50 a plate restaurant verses a $8 plate restaurant but just in something as simple as small talk. Some people just absolutely love small talk involved in their customer service, me I'm not a small talk with strangers person and am actually happier when I don't have someone who, either by training or natural inclination, engages me in small talk.

@Wingnut - What gets me is even if he was all bad I'm left thinking, "So?" I can't help but feel something got left out. Like the book being heavily biased and her being concerned with a 1st grader's inability to read critically. That I can understand. Still, the issue is not, "He's a bad man and thus an unsuitable topic." but, "The source material is biased and my son lacks the critical thinking skill to properly negotiate that bias." Of course the existence of the bias is up to debate, but accepting the premise it's a reasonable objection. I find it's fairly common for people to have trouble precisely articulating what their position is if they aren't in a habit of trying to do so regularly (and even then it's a tricky endeavor). So her thought process may be But what she expresses is:

That just seems weird to me. The objection (as quoted) isn't, "In researching Clinton my child will encounter age inappropriate material." but rather, "Clinton was a bad man. No child of mine will do a book report on a bad man." The first I can kinda understand, the later is just foreign to me. I can only imagine what happens when her child is tasked to do a book report on Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany.

Pornography use introduces non-endogenous opiods into the body?

While I have no clue if Traveler's assertion is correct, that Earth's population is growing isn't a rebuttal. All it means is despite the portion of live births to abortions that the number of live births is above replacement rate.

While it didn't make my heart melt, my natural inclination to that which I perceive to be intentionally heart warming is generally to be unimpressed, it certainly wasn't offensive.

Invite YSA to activities outside of the official YSA activities. As it sounds like you lack control over the program I'm not sure what other proactive steps you can take. Even if you did have control over the program other than possibly encouraging people invite others to activities outside of the program I'm not sure what you could do.

If you're curious about the who of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve (as opposed to simply the what) you can find short bios here: General Authorities

Nope, it isn't very long, and yet it has a bottom (it also has a top and a middle).

If I recall correctly she helped with shoveling. My memory is hazy because my first memory of the day was being woken up and told, "The car is stuck at the bottom of the driveway." In other words I was a little bleary eyed at the time. In the end it wasn't the shoveling so much as using salt for traction (I would have used sand but what I had at hand was a bag of salt) that freed the car.

/makes super hero pose.

I don't think being tired or annoyed over it is a an overreaction. MLMs, at the initial stage for most people, are mostly about turning relationships into money, usually to the detriment of the relationship if the marketer isn't careful*. Whether it is a problem or not depends on if Church resources are being used in the efforts. If they are, then that's a big no-no. *There are people who don't do this, these people are successful marketers who still have friends and unstrained family relationships. If your business plan is, "Spam everyone I know, even remotely, with invites." you most likely won't do well. If they aren't using Church resources it isn't unethical as annoying as it may be. Well, I suppose some of the deceptive tactics can be an ethical issue but the idea of selling to people you know who happen to go to Church with you isn't. You'd have to get inside the head of the person doing the selling to know if they're mining the ward directory or remembering your name from the ward Christmas party and looking you up in the phone book. If it is a straight up invitation to a marketing party: Just say no. If it is a stealth invite to a marketing party: Say no as soon as you know about it. If it's a stealth invite marketing party and you're actually there: Leave. If you suspect that Church resources are being used in these marketing efforts: Talk to the Bishop. Saying no may mean putting up with guilt trips and puppy dog eyes, but if someone is going to let you not being interested in their product damage your relationship... well, I'm of the opinion you're probably better off without that relationship.

As it pertains to helping you strengthen your faith they know how to react. They have experience with helping people strengthen their faith. This is kinda what I was trying to get at with my earlier post (but it probably wasn't clear). As it pertains to your faith, they're qualified and able to help. Where it concerns the situation itself, not so much and they'll probably turn to those in the local ward leadership where that is concerned. To reiterate: Concerning the spiritual situation they're qualified. Concerning the temporal and possibly physiological (such as clinical depression) they aren't, but they know people to turn to who are better suited to helping with those aspects.

Keep in mind these are generally young men or women with not a whole heck of life experience and what training they've received concerning difficulties people have is focused on helping people rely on God to overcome difficulties or challenges or in reporting things to local ward leadership so they can provide assistance in some form. If something is influencing your progression in the gospel they need to know on some level, but keep the above in mind in regards to how you are expecting them to react.

While he is a personage of spirit, spirit consists of matter from the LDS perspective:

Some past discussion on the issue that might be helpful in your pondering: http://www.lds.net/forums/lds-gospel-discussion/23464-eating-forbidden-fruit.html Off the top of my head there isn't anything in the standard works that spells out that Adam and Eve did not poses blood, but it's an idea coming from prophetic/apostolic exposition. For instance Doctrines of Salvation by Joseph Fielding Smith gives such an explanation of their condition (1:76-77 based on Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual Chapter 8: The Fall ). I think Mormon Doctrine also gives such an explanation but I don't have a copy to double check.

Granted, but it is accomplished by the loss of limbs. I wish I had a Masters of Science degree in Geology.

The more closely you are living gospel principles, or in other terms living more like an ideal member, the less of a transition membership will be. Obviously that's the pragmatic outlook. Spiritually, while some blessings and promises are reserved for those who have made covenants (been baptized in this context) many blessings and promises aren't so reserved. So in other words, you'll benefit spiritually from living gospel principles as best you can according to your knowledge even before you are a member. For the most part the missionaries are going to invite you to keep gospel principles as they teach them to you, all the better to get the jump on those invitations for both reasons above. Though as MissMollyMormon points out, the gospel is a marathon not a race so while running towards your goal is very much a good thing it isn't required that you run faster than you have strength to do so. So if in a goal to live gospel principles as best you can right now, according to your knowledge, don't get discouraged if you can't achieve the goal instantly (on the flip side don't become complacent).

1) They can contact you weekly via email, if available, or via letters. They may be focusing on the phone thing but saying they can't contact you is incorrect. 2) To my understanding you've nailed the reason behind the rules, fundamentally the concern is distraction. One thing to consider is that long distance phone calls are relatively expensive and not everyone's parents can afford them. If one companion is saying goodnight to their parents over the phone on a weekly basis or what have you and another's companion can't afford such phone calls it's not just distracting to one companion, it is a distraction to both. The same applies to visits. That said I have heard of missionaries receiving exceptions where concerned non-member parents are involved. I don't know how common such exceptions are or how exactly one goes about getting them.