Still_Small_Voice

Something great happened to me today.  I won 2nd place in the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes!  Here is the voice mail I got:
"Congratulations you are second place winner with the publishers clearing house. Please feel free to call the claims office at 347-4**-6*** that is 347-4**-6***. Please have your confirmation number 1108 US. Thank you and have a marvelous day."
Yeah.  It's a scam.  I never entered the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes.  It made laugh looking at the voice mail.

Something great happened to me today.  I won 2nd place in the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes!  Here is the voice mail I got:
"Congratulations you are second place winner with the publishers clearing house. Please feel free to call the claims office at 347-4**-6*** that is 347-4**-6***. Please have your confirmation number 1108 US. Thank you and have a marvelous day."
Yeah.  It's a scam.  I never entered the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes.  It made laugh looking at the voice mail.

Something great happened to me today.  I won 2nd place in the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes!  Here is the voice mail I got:
"Congratulations you are second place winner with the publishers clearing house. Please feel free to call the claims office at 347-4**-6*** that is 347-4**-6***. Please have your confirmation number 1108 US. Thank you and have a marvelous day."
Yeah.  It's a scam.  I never entered the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes.  It made laugh looking at the voice mail.

Our stake is near Ogden, but we didn't hear anything about it. I would have loved to listen, and know many of my youth would have benefited as well. Bro. Wilcox is very down to earth, and also a no BS type of guy...very plain, simple, and upfront, and I like that about him.

This was the link:
http://mywebcast.churchofjesuschrist.org/broadcast
But it was a broadcast Zoom meeting.  So, it's essentially dormant now.
I just took a closer look at the email that announced this.  It may have been intended for this local audience only.  Since it was a general auxilliary officer, I thought it was at least nationwide.  But that may not have been so.  When I click on the link now, it says "Ogden West YW/YM instruction."  And as I recall, the young woman who gave the closing prayer was announced as being from an Odgen ward.
I'll try to repeat all I can remember from the fireside. (I warn that I was not listening as intently as I otherwise would have.  I was busy with my calling at the time and only half listening.)
 ** Announcement: Brother Wilcox will speak at a virtual "For the Strength of Youth" fireside on Sunday, January 17 at 7pm.All Youth and Parents are invited to attend. **
BEGIN SPEECH
I believe many of you are thinking that this is probably the worst time to be alive.  This is the worst time to be going off to college and start your life as an adult.  This is the worst time to be on a mission.
I'd argue that this is the best time to be alive.  This is the best time to start your life as an adult. This is the best time to go on a mission.  It is especially the best time to go on a mission.  Why?
Because the world is the Titanic and the Church is the lifeboat.
The Titanic was supposed to be the best, the strongest, the most luxurious ship ever built.  New technology was applied to ensure that this ship was unsinkable.  Everyone thought that this was the pinnacle of mankind's achievement (heh-heh).  In fact, many boasted, "God, Himself, could not sink this boat."  (At this point I - Carb - was drawing a parallel to the Tower of Babel). 
Does this sound familiar?  We have the strongest economy ever.  The stock market is higher than it's ever been.  Our military is the most powerful on Earth.  NOTHING can sink this nation.  God, Himself, could not stop this economy.  Until the tiniest creature on earth (a virus) stopped the entire world.
We all know that the ship hit an iceberg because of lack of care on the part of the Captain.  He was too confident in dangerous waters.  But what happened afterwards was an even greater tragedy than it needed to be because the passengers themselves were too confident in dangerous waters.
After the collision, and after assessments were made, the captain gave the announcement for the passengers to get into the lifeboats because the ship was sinking.  The crew ushered passengers as best they could and tried their best to encourage them.  And if you only saw the movie, you'd think that the crew was being lazy or didn't do their job.  But the research I've done on this story (he held up a stack of papers about 100 pages long) the crew did their job.  First hand accounts say that the crew were almost in panic mode.  But the passengers were laughing at the idea of getting on the lifeboats when the ship was unsinkable.  They thought it was like a fire drill.  "Oh, don't worry, it's just a drill" they'd tell one another.  But the crew was adamant and did all they could to convince them it was not a drill.
Some people got on.  Others refused and even MOCKED those who were getting on the lifeboats (Great and Spacious Building, anyone?).  That is why lifeboats were going down half-full.  Not because of the crew's incompetence, but because the passengers simply didn't take the threat seriously.
Then the ship began to tilt.  Then there was the chaos that you saw in the movie.
This is the best time to be a missionary because there are many passengers out there who are looking for the lifeboat.  Nothing can save this world, but God, Himself.  We are the crew trying to usher them into the lifeboats.  And only something so dire as a pandemic is as clear as the boat tilting.
So, go about gathering Israel and ushering them into the lifeboats.  That's our job.  We're the crew.
-- I remember there was more to the conclusion portion.  But I honestly can't remember what he said.

So I just read that a conservative "mob" or some such thing had "stormed" DC. I don't know what happened. Did anyone die? I could go to the news sites, but I don't trust anything they write. Literally. They are liars. Where was the condemnation of the news media for the leftist "mob" of Antifa and idiots who took over downtown Seattle? Even Seattle's worthless mayor refused to call them what they were. But they are quick to denounce and name-call pro-Trumpists who, you know, get together for political reasons.
I admit I am ignorant in what's going on. I have intentionally avoided almost all media since October. It's just too ugly and draining. But I still know what a liar is, and I still know that the media are liars, and the vast majority of leftists are liars and/or dupes.

I tend to think that there are several categories of people who:
1) Believe in ONE TRUE GOD.
2) Do NOT believe in ONE TRUE CHURCH.
Here are the categories that I'm personally aware of.
Many do believe in ONE true church.  But they basically think that all (at least most) sects of Christianity are true.  But they simply emphasize one aspect or another. Many do believe in ONE true church. And theirs is it. Many do believe in ONE true church.  But it is not on the earth. Many do not believe in one true church because worship is personal, not collective.  And we receive salvation through our personal relationship with God. Many do not believe in one true church because church is a manmade construct and we rely on Christ, not man. I can sympathize with each of these philosophies.  But having known the truth, I simply can't accept them.

I've mentioned before that one meaning of "true" is "it points straight", as in truing a rifle. A gun that shoots true hits what you're aiming at, assuming you can aim a gun correctly. I think this is a valid and important meaning of a "true Church".

If Twitter is going shutdown conservative voices... off to other platforms those users will go. 
Parler.com will be back soon enough.

I also just deleted my Twitter account.  Likely I only used it several times in the past.  I am a weird individual that has no Facebook account and I likely never will.

I just deleted Twitter for good. I never did like it. Also took Facebook off my phone so I'm not tempted to spend too much time there. I also put a moratoreum on myself for posting or commenting there. ( which is probably why I showed up here again. got to get this stuff off my mind! 😁) I only broke my rule once yesterday when I read a really good post by a conservative commentator from my old stomping grounds out west. I was reading the comments and one woman said this:
"I don't know if I should say amen or a-women so I'll just say well written!" 
I burst out laughing and had to " like " that.
Unfortunately, Facebook has also got the monopoly on groups for information like our ward RS info page,  a community info page and another local group against virtual school (which is STILL going on where I live. So-long fun senior year for my daughter!)

I agree, but to drive this home, what is happening is people are defining “driving a car with a religious bumper sticker” is driving reckless because religious people believe in God and don’t care if they die.
And flipping a religious person off and cutting them off is not considered reckless because religious people are already dangers to us all.
The standards they claim to be upholding is not consistent with what is being done.
Supporting and encouraging Riots that are destroying neighborhoods is not considered “calling for violence” but calling an election illegitimate is?
THAT is the issue.

I wonder what Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter think upon these statements (I don't really wonder, we already know), which as far as I can tell are worse than Trumps:

I'm old enough to remember when people had to go around on foot and bicycle instead of cars.  But what would it be like if you were denied the use of cars simply because of your political persuasion?  Cars are NOT essential.  But it gives one a HUGE advantage in the working market.  
We could get by on phone calls and door knocking instead of social media.  But we would be at a HUGE disadvantage getting our message out.
All this with a complacent attitude of taking rights away.
Anyone who says this is not a free speech issue is burying their heads in the sand and bathing in schadenfreude. When they came for the Jews, I said nothing because I was not a Jew...  When they came for me, there was no one to speak for me.
I know.  I said I was going to stay away from political speech.  I did.  But then a thread was shut down because I dared to make a legal analysis and provide historical background to a Constitutional principal.  That was what raised alarm bells. 
Predictions:
All conservative news outlets (TV and Radio) will have pressure put on them to change their message. Those who hold out will soon begin seeing their sponsors cowing in fear of boycotts. All small websites will be afraid of the same things happening to them. Don't believe me?  Watch how soon this thread gets shut down because it is political.  And this is a conservative group of moderators.
I still stand by my original statement that we will probably be a lot happier staying away from politics in our conversation.  That is still true.  But when I take a look at this type of thing (censorship by Google and Apple) happening, I realize staying silent is what will destroy us much more than the "uncomfortable" conversations that arise due to political debate.
Everything will be shut down.  We're going to lose our ability to ever win another election again.  Jus watch how much happens in the next 24 months.  Watch what is lost.
Then watch how everything will be blamed on Republicans and "Trump hold-outs" even though the Democrats control EVERYTHING unhindered by opposing voices.

It's because we live in a double standard world. It is OK for BLM, Antifa, Democratic platform to encourage, entice, promote (even fit the bill for release of criminals), and use Facebook, Google, Apple, and other outlets for their violence. We live in a very hypocritical society. If all things were issued fairly, no one would be having a complaint. If Facebook, Apple, Google, etc...called out the violence that happened for 7 months they might have a leg to stand on. But no, they encouraged it, supported it, and did nothing against those who enticed it. BLM an known marxist organization, that initiated and assisted with violence still have a Twitter account. Go figure -- shocker -- not. 

It looks to me thus far that 2021 may be worse.  Already we had hundreds of people break in to the Congressional buildings in District of Columbia and we are only 6 days in to 2021.

Here are a few things I have learned about the degrees of glory that await the children of God in the next life:
The celestial kingdom has three degrees inside of it.  Nothing has been revealed about the second degree inside the celestial kingdom.
Nothing has been revealed about any different degrees inside the terrestrial kingdom.  In my own opinion there are different degrees inside the second heaven as there are different degrees inside both of the other kingdoms of glory.  (Reading Abraham chapter 3 verse 19 may open up some other thoughts:  "And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all." )
The telestial kingdom has many degrees of glory in it according to my understanding of the scriptures.  ". . . as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world."  -- Doc. & Cov. 76:98

I don't know why people would expect 2021 would be better... because we did not solve/fix any of the problems we saw in 2020.

Here are a few things I have learned about the degrees of glory that await the children of God in the next life:
The celestial kingdom has three degrees inside of it.  Nothing has been revealed about the second degree inside the celestial kingdom.
Nothing has been revealed about any different degrees inside the terrestrial kingdom.  In my own opinion there are different degrees inside the second heaven as there are different degrees inside both of the other kingdoms of glory.  (Reading Abraham chapter 3 verse 19 may open up some other thoughts:  "And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all." )
The telestial kingdom has many degrees of glory in it according to my understanding of the scriptures.  ". . . as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world."  -- Doc. & Cov. 76:98

If you want to risk generating some controversy, you can mention Netflix showing Cuties.   A movie that presses real children into the sexually explicit movie trade, in order to tell a story about how horrible it is to press children into the sexually explicit movie trade. 
The astounding number of people willing to argue with this obvious reality is a sign of how Lucifer isn't exactly losing the battle.

The answer can be found in the footnote that you quoted (20).
Lovers of their own selves: Society owes me something, snowflakes. Covetous: Reparations. Boasters/Proud: "I can do all the evil in the world, but you can't because "protected class" and stuff." Blasphemers: Taking the Lord's name in vain.  Making vulgar jokes/comments about God in general and Christianity specifically. Disobedient to parents: duh. Unthankful: We lived in the best economy in history, but they still want more freebies. Unholy: Hollywood, Clinton, Creepy Joe... Without natural affection: People choosing homosexuality, parents and children not having natural love and proper respect for one another.  No such thing as common decency. Trucebreakers... traitors: duh.  False accusers: Fake media. Heady = rash, without thinking, ungovernable. : ANTIFA, BLM, other rioters. High-minded =  proud. Lovers of pleasures more than God: No one wants to get married anymore. They just want to "play the field" for as long as they can. Having a form of Godliness... :  I know we normally attribute this to the sectarians.  But in our current climate, it refers to the fact that SJWs will use "Jesus Loves everyone" as a justification for ungodly ideology and acts. Creep into houses... : Internet predators as well as literal intruders creeping into bedrooms. Ever learning, never come to a knowledge of the truth: Academics, professional students, SJW degrees and authors of such. Then we're given a promise of the Lord's power to overcome:
However, this comes only through a show of faith from the Saints of God.  Pres Nelson tells us exactly what we need to do to invite the Lord to Prevail.
For me, in my situation, I can't really do any proselyting.  And the temples are closed.  So, the only thing I can do to gather Israel is to do indexing.  I plan on having it be a rule to have all my family do indexing a lot over the next little while.

A few include:
Elective abortion Acceptance of homosexual activities Push toward delegitimizing religion and religious activities Encouragement of hateful and illegal activities as legitimate self-expression Vulgar, distasteful, and evil actions promoted as harmless entertainment for adults and even children Every idea, proposal, or thought immediately turned into a battleground for the evil philosophies of political correctness and political expediency The very idea of patriarchy openly mocked and vilified, and men intentionally brought down in the eyes of their wives and children

The video is sad, but true. Although there are some flawed ideas, I agree with most of the points made in the video. This stuff may not be seen as much in the church due to our culture, but outside of our "bubble" it really is, and many of the things the world values are seeping more and more into the belief systems of LDS youth.
I work in healthcare, and 90% of my co-workers are female. Many women that I work with put off marriage in pursuit of other interests, such as education (something men have been counseled for over a hundred years now not to do). Then, once these women have their degree and are making good money, they want to advance further in their careers. Serious relationships are put on hold. When it comes time to truly date seriously, many (not all) of them do not want to be in a relationship with a man perceived as "lower" than them, even if that man truly loves her. He could have a steady job, but since he is blue collar with no formal degree, he doesn't measure up. She gets upset because she is putting more into the relationship from a money point of view. She places the standard out of reach, and misses out on a real relationship. Once these women start to reach their late 30's early 40's, and learn that their opportunities to be a mother are dwindling they refuse to accept responsibility for their behavior, and shift the blame onto men, labeling them as being lazy and narcissistic, intimidated for not wanting an "educated woman", or for not being ambitious enough. In reality, these women will over time get less and less interest not only because of their poor attitudes, but because the dating pool of good men simply want a younger woman who can have more children, stay at home to raise them, and who isn't worried about only herself. Men (and women) just like to be appreciated, and many of the well-to-do women I work with never appreciated their boyfriends or now ex-husbands.
Women are not the only offenders. Many men are now growing up believing that marriage is not actually worth it to them in the long run, as many feminists have poisoned their minds. I work with a few guys who say they will never get married for a myriad of reasons: it is too expensive, they can't trust women, they are set in their ways, they like their freedom, etc... In reality, they are getting all of the things they "want" from fast food, video games, and internet porn. Some of them still live in their parent's basements because the easiness of the world allows them to; and to the women's point, they have no real ambition...because they don't need it to survive anymore. Some men are afraid of the world, and are content just surviving. Basically, both sides are just being too selfish.

I watched this video and was saddened and appalled at American society and many other societies.  It's no wonder America is falling apart with women and men refusing to marry and raise children for selfish reasons.  Many men just want to casually date and be whoremongers and the same attitude is growing in many women.  Watch the video below.  It begins at about three minutes and thirty seconds where he begins to talk about marriage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5TuV1OrG8A

I watched this video and was saddened and appalled at American society and many other societies.  It's no wonder America is falling apart with women and men refusing to marry and raise children for selfish reasons.  Many men just want to casually date and be whoremongers and the same attitude is growing in many women.  Watch the video below.  It begins at about three minutes and thirty seconds where he begins to talk about marriage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5TuV1OrG8A