LDSreliance

We will have to agree to disagree. All I am saying is that your line of thinking can be taken to discount anything and everything related to this gospel. None of it can be proven with empirical evidence or with the human brain and its logic and reason. But, by the same token, it cannot be disproven, either. If you want to know if the Book of Mormon was historically accurate, you have to use the Spirit and those senses as President Oaks states in that treatise. You can't conclude that based on a trip to the Middle East not meeting your expectations.

That is dangerous ground to tread, brother. President Oaks has penned a few words in response to any who argue that the Book of Mormon is just a revelation of wholesome stories: https://rsc.byu.edu/historicity-latter-day-saint-scriptures/historicity-book-mormon To take that position, you have to go over or around Joseph Smith, his prophetic calling and testimony, and almost every other prophet since. If you want to debate the historicity of the Old Testament, be my guest. But I believe the Book of Mormon is "the most correct of any book" and is a true account of a branch of the House of Israel on the American continent who were visited by the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Yeah, that is sad. Somehow it is binary where society says isn't possible to both be friends or associate or be family with someone that is LGBT or transgender and also believe that their actions are wrong. 20 years ago I used to work with quite a few gay men and women and it was no big deal. They kept their lifestyle to themselves, for the most part, and we all got along and were friends and it was all very comfortable. Now, that same situation would be miserable and uncomfortable unless I was outspoken in celebration of the movement.

It is not very common, I don't think. I illustrated the two extremes on either side of the spectrum but I am sure it is like a bell curve and the vast majority fall somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately, it seems that not embracing some lifestyles is seen by some as condemning and judging, though, so there may not be much functional difference. For example, my parents in law told their oldest daughter that she could not show any PDA or sleep in the same bed as her married lesbian partner at their summer cabin where the extended family gathers for reunions each year. They did not take that well and chose not to come at all and distance themselves from the rest of the family, for the most part. That kind of situation makes it very hard to show love to the person but not condone their behavior and lifestyle.

I share the same aversions and conflicts as the OP. I think that God had to provide/allow at least one trial for the latter days that was so confusing, so heart-wrenching, and so entirely reliant on the Spirit for guidance that it could deceive the very elect unless they learned to hear Him. I think we have two right now: gender confusion and sexual orientation. It breaks up friendships, marriages, and church membership for a growing number of us. There are no clear right and wrong answers other than the unchanging doctrine that eternal marriage is between a man and a woman and gender is divinely appointed. Satan is so cunning and brilliant that he is pushing the second great commandment over the first great commandment. He makes the fight binary where we feel an impulse to choose one over the other. For some, their heart strings get tugged for people struggling with same sex attraction and push for social change in the Church and rail against the prophets. For others, they condemn their own children or friends and treat them with disdain. It is an incredibly hard tight rope to walk to be able to love the sinner and condemn the sin. But that is our duty if we are to become more like the Savior. I don't pretend to be far along on that path. I am very conservative and all of this makes me uncomfortable. I wish it would go away but it isn't. And it is going to get worse as this rising generation grows up largely without those hard line teachings from the 70's and 80's against homosexuality. So buckle up and learn to hear Him or you may get yourself sifted out.