MorningStar

repenting

Oh moderator of mystery! Where have you been for so long? Where were you when T-shirt was posting graphics of chocolate dipped in mayo and waffles with mayo on them?

I see what you mean. :) I have some great quotes by Spencer W. Kimball in The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball that speak very positively about sexual relations in marriage. Would you like me to dig them up? I think they would make a nice contrast to the no no's. I asked if I could use quotes from that book and they said, "Yes, as long as it's what President Kimball taught, that's great." They want us to focus on what he taught.

Where's your blog?

Christmas isn't too far away and I'm already stressing about gifts! My family has decided on homemade gifts or service gifts. I think we are going to make a gratitude book for my mom with pictures and letters from us. One year for my sister, I gathered every artichoke recipe I could find and made a book for her with a cute artichoke graphic on the front, had it laminated and bound, and she keeps it on a little stand in her kitchen she loves it so much. It took me at least 15 hours to type it all out and even more time just finding the recipe, so she really appreciated it. Either for her birthday or for Christmas, I am going to record myself reading "Superfudge" to her. When we were growing up, she used to make me read it to her at night while she fell asleep. I also want to find Kindergarten Cop on DVD because she used to come over and ask to watch it, then fall asleep before 10 minutes. I will call it her "Lullaby Package". I'm trying to figure out how I might record myself on a CD for her. Hmmmm ... More than anything, I stress about not spending too much on the kids, but it's really difficult. We tend to throw in some needs like clothes, which they like. I end up buying for my little family last pretty often because we are trying to get something for all our siblings and parents too, but we just can't afford it. If we were stinking rich, we would buy my in-law's a new house, so it's not that we don't want to spend money on them - It's just that we have a very tight budget and want to put our kids' first. I'm trying to think of some inexpensive gifts for the kids and I want so much not to get into anymore debt. Do any of you have any inexpensive gift ideas? I would like to hear some for women, men, and kids and get started on this now. Hopefully my friends and I will be able to get together and make candles like we did last year. That would be a good one. What are your ideas? :) MorningStar

Thank you for sharing that! I think that will ge a great help for someone out there. :)

I'm so sorry to hear that. You weren't prepared properly. I think it's as important as teaching our kids about drugs, smoking, and alcohol.

Hi Deb! If you believe God answers prayers, I think the best thing you can do is read The Book of Mormon and ask Him if it is true. It testifies of our Savior Jesus Christ. If the Spirit witnesses to you that it is inspired of God, then you will know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. This is my favorite chapter in The Book of Mormon, when Jesus is ministering to the people and blesses thousands of them one by one. People today say that the Bible isn't true and that Jesus was just a regular man, but The Book of Mormon defends the Bible and testifies that He is The Christ. :) MorningStar

Thank you!

I was told I wasn't supposed to stray from the manual at all and I don't think the lesson seemed too negative. I think it is just a very serious subject and very difficult for anyone to hear who is struggling and isn't ready to change or confess. I think the majority of our lessons are very encouraging, but this one is a wake-up call which is sometimes needed. There is a time to gently nudge someone along and a time to shake them and get them to wake up. We and our children are in spiritual danger and we need to fight the evil around us. I received some anonymous written comments from the women. Most of them knew of someone who had lost their marriage because of pornography and one sister said her friend found out about her husband's problem when they got the arrest warrant in the mail for solicitation. He hadn't bothered to tell her about the trouble he was in, so when she got that in the mail, she checked his car and computer and couldn't believe what she found. He said he got into pornography in high school and did it on his mission too. They were married in the temple. After a couple years of trying to help him, she left and got a restraining order to stay away from their daughter. There were many more stories about couples married in the temple where the husband had been looking at porn all along. Some of them stayed together and some didn't. In the last year, five women in my ward have told me their husband has a problem. I've mentioned this before. Our stake president says at least 50% of the men in our stake have a problem with it - this is based on the confessions he has received. Our Elder's Quorum pres. estimates 75% of the men in our ward have a problem. This is very serious and if the lesson makes people squirm, so be it.

I like it!

I have to admit, I thought that too. A man who looks at pornography doesn't want to preach against it and feel like a hypocrite, or for his sweating to give him away. Best to move on to something else to avoid that.

Gross! They didn't try to flush it, did they?

Well, if it's the same way in Heaven, I'm sure it'll be wonderful for those who didn't find it pleasant here. :)

Welcome! I hope you'll be able to visit often. Love, Sarah

We got two boneless ribeyes with strings tied around them. They looked like they were at least an inch thick. They were pretty good, but this morning me and the steak aren't really getting along. I think tonight I'll make Caribbean Chicken Rice. :)

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?!?!

That is weird! People really need to talk about it and need to hear that any of them can be trapped and what to do if they have an addiction to it. Many men first got exposed to it when they were 7 or 8 and learned everything about sex on the playground. That's a recipe for disaster. We recently had "the talk" with our son so we could explain to him how special sex is before his friends tell him crudely and so we could teach him what pornography is and how to avoid it. A friend told me how babies are made in Kindergarten and between that and her showing me her parents' porn, I was quite disturbed by it. It would've been much better to hear it from my mom. I also think it's funny how people don't like to say "sex" in church. It's not a bad word. Some people can't even say the proper terms for parts of the anatomy without blushing. I think I would've asked your teacher, "Would President Hinckley 'skip the part on porngraphy'? That makes no sense to me. There are probably several men in there who currently have a problem and need to feel uncomfortable as they listen to counsel against it so they will consider confessing. The reason why people don't like to talk about it is because it is a problem for so many of them.

That's perfectly understandable. :) It's a different experience going to a church you've never been to. I dated an Evangelical guy many years ago and I was pretty nervous about trying his church out. It was OK, but I felt a little awkward not knowing when to stand up and all that, not knowing the songs, and just the different style of worship. I'm the mom of three boys who are 7, 5, and 3. Do you have boys and girls? I think we will have a girl eventually.

I'm looking forward to hearing all about it! As a member, I enjoy having the missionaries over because they bring a very sweet spirit into our home. I've sat in on a couple discussions and they read scriptures and taught people how to pray. Our missionaries are taught not to argue with people, but we can't guarantee that they'll all listen. Please do tell us all about it. I hope it will be a wonderful experience for you.

This scripture always gives me comfort when I am worried about making ends meet. Matthew 6 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? aConsider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, ashall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little bfaith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father aknoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 aBut bseek ye first the ckingdom of God, and his drighteousness; and all these ethings shall be fadded unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take athought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. The bolded part is my favorite.

Thank you! We got these really thick steaks from the store and we didn't know what to do with them. :)

This sister in church gave us the greatest idea when she was speaking today in sacrament. She said when her kids were young and fighting with each other, calling names, etc., she and her husband came up with the idea of giving each kid a roll of dimes. Whenever they said something unkind, they had to put a dime in this big jar. At the end of the week, whoever had the most dimes left got to have the whole jar. She said it was amazing how it eased the contention in her home and the kids got to see how much happier it made them to be kind to each other. We are going to use that one tomorrow! I just have to pray that I will follow through with it all week. My husband and I might do a separate one for ourselves so one of the kids will get to win something. Hmmm ... I wonder how we should do ours.

I am so sorry you are going through such a trial.