Still_Small_Voice

Just in case anyone remembers the Ralph Bakshi movie...

@pam
 

Doctor Nelson didn't make enough money from his time as a world-renowned heart surgeon, you see. So now he has a sweet gig where, at 95 years old, he spends 80 hours per week traveling around from meetinghouse to meetinghouse helping people, and for this life of luxury he receives the exorbitant sum of around $120,000 per year. If only he could have made that kind of coin during his surgery days! Maybe he could have afforded to retire instead of working hard into his tenth decade.

I want to point out one distinction here that the article and most people don't understand.  The church has two distinct streams of donations. Tithes and offerings.  Tithes are used for operating expenses.  Offerings are spent on welfare and humanitarian aid, which is why you never see a high number in the Tithes column.  And likely that 4% you mention is probably due to infrastructure costs, and not straight donations.  No, that's where your fast offerings, missionary funds, Deseret Industry, etc all comes from. Most of those funds are handled locally, and never even reach the central church, but are redistributed through the bishop at his discretion.  This is not part of the billions in the article.  And virtually every penny goes to charity, since we know bishops are unpaid, and many of the labor in making and distributing food is done by volunteers.  So, don't make the mistake of thinking the church is stingy on humanitarian efforts. They are simply not reporting that... and I believe are doing so deceptively.

"And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see." -- John 1:46
I might rephrase the question.  "Can there any good thing come out of the Salt Lake Tribune?"

Does it ever have stories as surprising as this one?

Literally no redeeming value. Truly a waste of resources and human effort. It defiles everything it touches and everyone associated with it.
Apropos of nothing in particular. Carry on.

When I hear of an unusual teaching in the Church we need to remember this counsel given to us:
"Elder Christofferson taught: 'It should be remembered that not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. It is commonly understood in the Church that a statement made by one leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, not meant to be official or binding for the whole Church.'
In the following conference, Elder Andersen taught this principle: 'The doctrine is taught by all 15 members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. It is not hidden in an obscure paragraph of one talk."  -- October General Conference 2019, Trust in the Lord -- Dallin H. Oaks

When I hear of an unusual teaching in the Church we need to remember this counsel given to us:
"Elder Christofferson taught: 'It should be remembered that not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. It is commonly understood in the Church that a statement made by one leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, not meant to be official or binding for the whole Church.'
In the following conference, Elder Andersen taught this principle: 'The doctrine is taught by all 15 members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. It is not hidden in an obscure paragraph of one talk."  -- October General Conference 2019, Trust in the Lord -- Dallin H. Oaks

When I hear of an unusual teaching in the Church we need to remember this counsel given to us:
"Elder Christofferson taught: 'It should be remembered that not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. It is commonly understood in the Church that a statement made by one leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, not meant to be official or binding for the whole Church.'
In the following conference, Elder Andersen taught this principle: 'The doctrine is taught by all 15 members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. It is not hidden in an obscure paragraph of one talk."  -- October General Conference 2019, Trust in the Lord -- Dallin H. Oaks

As a new member, I don't spend time reading the anti stuff.  I never have.  I've often thought, though, if people put as much time into learning about Christ and his Church as they do tearing it down once they leave, they'd never have left.
Let's face it.  Being a member of the Church isn't exactly easy.  It would be so much easier to just agree that it was false and walk away.  That just wouldn't be the truth, though, and I'd always know it.

Do they work?
Well... depends on what you mean by "it's working".  Yes, essential oils work - if you're talking about what they're INTENDED to do (which may not be what you're EXPECTING to happen).  Essential Oils is simply one of many homeopathic remedies in holistic medicine.  Here's a reply I gave in another thread about homeopathic cures:
 
If you're thinking of selling essential oils like Do Terra and all those other "Fad" outfits - yes, you can make money but you HAVE TO already know how to run a business and sell something like any other sales endeavor.  If you're one of those many many people who think, oh, I'm going to sell essential oils while I ... take care of my brand new baby... or... in my spare time... or... as a hobby.... or... I don't like selling but talking to my friends about essential oils is not selling... or... etc. etc. you're going to lose your money.
I just started a soap and candle making business that uses essential oils.  My target income is $1,000 per month.  It's not going to support my family but my husband supports my family.  My soap and candle business is my answer to my mid-life crisis.  Can I make my soap and candle business profitable enough to support my family?  Yes.  I am very sure of it.  But it will be an 80-hour per week job at the onset until I get profitable enough to hire out.  I can make a lot more money with a lot less time doing what I do best - programming on my computer.
 

Scents can remind you of...things...pleasant or unpleasant. These memories can help you cope with insomnia. I took neuroanatomy, not by choice, the area to do with scent weaves itself around the brain. 
Does some scent have a pleasant memory for you? Pumpkin spice? Peppermint? Lavender? Easy to find out. Go to a bulk barn or winners and sniff the bottles. Put a bit of that scent on your pillow, ban work/news/worry from the bedroom and the scent can help soothe you.

As I said previously, I've donated to them in past campaigns.  It seems this campaign is just to allow them to continue to fundraise.  
That said, I'm anxious for Witnesses to come out next fall.  You all can see me on the big screen!

What sarcasm?  He was telling you that if you really liked it, buy the DVD to share with you friends so they can see it too.  Like a salesman making a sales pitch or somebody who really liked the show and wanted everybody else to see it.
Of course that implies you buy it only if you have the money to do so.

Have you taken lessons from missionaries?  I'd suggest that be your first step.  See how you feel after that.

Wow, that was pretty good. Hope they get to make the entire thing.

Reaction #1: It's exactly this kind of elitist bullcrap attitude that makes me say "Good riddance" to BSA and the snobbish idiots who infest it.
Reaction #2: On the other hand...they have a point. LDS troops are historically bad (both in the sense of being not good through the years and in the sense of being really crummy). Scouting was never allowed to operate in LDS troops the way it was supposed to, and the result was hobbled LDS troops populated almost exclusively by 12-14-year-old boys, lacking older boys as leaders, pretending to run a "boy-led" program when in fact the boys were just along for the ride.
Reaction #3: They can rejoice all they want. In twenty years, BSA will exist as a pale shadow of its former self, if it exists at all.

BSA leadership told the Church (and numerous other stakeholders) that they wouldn’t change heir policy . . . And then they did, by ramming through a vote when they knew the Church delegation to the national board would be gone.  
BSA leadership told GSUSA that they wouldn’t admit girls . . . And then they did.
BSA leadership heavily leveraged itself financially to build its Summit Bechtel location—which, frankly, they didn’t need; but which was a tremendous ego boost for the leadership.  They have squandered vast resources of cash, property, and goodwill; leaving themselves now as socially and financially vulnerable and non-viable as they’ve ever been in their hundred-year history.
And of course, the council burro-clowns are consistently about as helpful as another hole in the head; and the whole organization has been gouging its membership with useless program, manual, and uniform updates for decades.
I have no idea exactly in what ways Ballard feels the BSA left the Church; but to my mind, it has little to do with gender issues specifically. It has to do with the fact that BSA leadership doesn’t believe in their own product.  They are not trustworthy; they are not loyal; they are only occasionally helpful or friendly or courteous or kind; they despise obedience to any person, institution or principle worth obeying; they are unreliably cheerful; the opposite of thrifty; cowardly; filthy; and blasphemous.  
And in my (admittedly) limited experience with non-LDS scouting:  the boys know it.  They are dismissive of the vestigial character-building aspects of the program and largely see the BSA as a chance to get away from their parents and go play with knives and tell each other dirty jokes.
We can, and will, do better. 

Violence at a football game is utterly unacceptable.

NASA is getting in on the action this year.

Just for you!
 
 

How about no graphic sex? Gay, trans, pan, bi, A, furry, or straight?

There was a $100,000 dollar bill printed a long time ago.  The Bureau of Engraving & Printing, a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, states, “The $100,000 Gold Certificate was used only for official transactions between Federal Reserve Banks and was not circulated among the general public.  This note cannot be legally held by currency note collectors.”
There were also a $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 printed.  The $10,000 bill was printed from 1918 to 1934 I believe but they were extremely rare.  If a bill of that value was printed in 2019 because of inflation my calculations show it would be worth around $200,000.
Presently the $100 is the largest bill printed.  The $500 bill and above have been discontinued.

LINCOLN, Nebraska (CBS Local) -- October 30th 2019 — A man tried to use a fake $1 million bill to open a checking account at a local bank branch, police in Nebraska said.
The man presented the bill to a teller at a Pinnacle Bank branch in Lincoln’s Havelock neighborhood Monday morning, witnesses told investigators. He adamantly claimed it was real despite attempts by tellers to convince him otherwise.
The man left the bank with the phony bill — and without a new account.
Read more at:  https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2019/10/30/police-man-tries-open-account-bank-fake-1-million-bill/