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Cardinals.

Interesting. I always thought "pleasing bar" made perfect sense... But that's a fascinating paper. Thanks.

Or maybe the Nephites came up with things that their predecessors didn't. Not exactly the same, but the idea of something separating those of power from the rest: Perhaps at some point, the Nephite judges had something similar - a bar separating the court from the "audience". They certainly had lawyers... Anywho, just a thought.

Do you know that the written talks are submitted before hand so that the translators, interpreters, and technical people have a "head start"? That it is far more likely, especially given the video, that the spoken talk diverged from what was written and that the printed version was not edited from what Elder Packer had previously submitted? Just checking. I used to assume that the printed came second, but it turns out, it comes first (per Elder Bednar).

Watch the video. It's perfectly clear what happened.

This question was definitively answered in the April 2024 General Conference by Elder Holland and Elder Dushku.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Congratulations, @Lindy! Wonderful that your family is growing so and you get to see it all happening.

Got it. Not limiting "environment" to the natural one.

What am I forgetting? I don't recall any natural disasters associated with King Noah (assuming the one in Mosiah 11-19)...

Ok. Clearly I don't understand your way of communicating, so I'm done here.

You seem to be asserting that the words alone somehow make the statement "more". Whether the words are present or not, one needs a way to gain a testimony that they are the will of the Lord. Whether you do that by having a testimony that the speaker is called of God and won't lead us astray, or whether you do that by prayerfully receiving confirmation from the Lord, or by some other means, if one is to accept it as from the Lord, one needs some way other than the words "thus saith the Lord". Otherwise, you need to rid your house of all non-fountain-pens and repent! So this: ... was just a hypothetical, not an assertion that it's happening? Or greater light and knowledge has clarified that in their excitement over "eternal progression", they got some of the details wrong. You asserted that a majority of the saints aren't living their covenants. That sounds rather dire, but whatever.

Actually, all you have is some man saying the words, "thus saith the Lord". Whether he speaks those words or any other words, it would still be up to you to go to the Spirit and gain a testimony regarding whether the words are of the Lord. I mean, I could quite easily say, "Thus saith the Lord, fountain pens are sacred writing implements and all others are an abomination before me." Doesn't mean the Lord actually said that. (Though He might have... ) If you know that light and truth have been taken from the Church, then you must also know what that light and truth are. So please give an example of one of these truths or deeper doctrines that has been taken away. What then, is this:

I think this is true. Also, that they may not pass on everything, but they will give us counsel that will help us to do what we need to do to best navigate the future. I don't agree. Whether the prophet knew specifics, I don't know, but it's clear he prepared us for spending a lot of time at home rather than at Sunday meetings.

Adding: If you are married, do the following with your spouse. If you are not married, find someone of the other gender to join you in this endeavor: As part of your pursuit for understanding and testimony, and after counseling with the Lord, get the names of a couple who need their temple work done - preferably, ancestors of one of you. Make the sacrifice required to go to the temple and do everything in one day: initiatory, endowment, sealing (as a couple, and to children, if any and if possible). I believe that if one does this with a sincere, humble, prayerful request to gain testimony and understanding of this eternal principle, and confirmation that it requires both genders - male and female, husband and wife - that this will go a long way toward getting there.

Thank you. The word "inspired" doesn't appear in this talk (hence my passing over it). Printed text: Audio: Seems clear to me in the video that he was not following his written talk at that point - perhaps remembering a prior version. I'm with @Carborendum on this - there was no "we gotta correct what he said" after the fact. Rather, the written talk as submitted was published, but not read word for word during GC. (I've seen this elsewhere, usually with only minor changes, sometimes with ad hoc comments about a prior speaker. I've also seen those ad hoc comments added into the text, so it appears sometimes someone does change the text to match the talk as given.) IMO, both versions of the talk are equally correct.

The Church will never seal same-sex couples in the temple. I understand why those who want it would wrest scriptures and everything else under the sun to argue that it will happen and why (ETA: they think) it's reasonable to believe it will. I don't understand why anyone else thinks it could. The principles of eternal marriage and procreation by exalted couples could not possibly be clearer or more obvious. The notion that the Lord would let his Church go that far from truth in this dispensation is absurd. Any prophet who tried would be stopped (probably well before he tried). Not that there's any hint any of them would. Same-sex couples cannot procreate. There will be no "adoption" or "surrogacy" in the Celestial Kingdom. The mere idea is absurd. Scripture is clear that there will be no marriage of any sort anywhere other than the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. The Lord changes policy, procedure, and modes of presentation to fit our needs. He does not reverse eternal principles. If anyone doubts this, I recommend a deep spiritual dive into the eternal principles of marriage and family (procreation), while repenting, keeping covenants, fasting, praying, ministering, attending one's meetings, serving, and attending the temple - and asking the Lord every day to give one a testimony and understanding of the eternal principles (the things behind the related commandments). What you receive you will likely have to keep to yourself, so plan for that and prove trustworthy. Same-sex sealings is simply never going to be a thing.

OK, so I got curious. It would have been "inspired counsel" (counsel = advice; council = group of people). So, I sharpened my google-fu and searched (cuz the Church website search options are lacking). In October 2011, "Counsel to Youth", we find: ...but the video says the same thing. In "Parents in Zion" (Oct 1998), it's listed with other things as "inspired guidance". The end. So I removed Packer from the equation and required "family", "proclamation", and "inspired". Elder Richard J. Maynes calls a portion of the proclamation "inspired counsel". Elder Scott says it was "inspired of the Lord". And, I'm tired of perusing the results. At this point, I think it's up to @Maverick to provide a link.

I hadn't thought of it directly prior to now, but this could be yet another casualty of Satan's attack on the family. Those who have experience in loving families naturally and deeply desire for those relationships to continue throughout eternity. But those who have no such experience (whether it's just absent or it's replaced by negative family experiences) may think, "why in the world would I want to spend eternity with my (or a) family (since all my mortal family experience is negative)?" For them, Satan's successes in destroying the basic family unit make the idea of "eternal families" a hurdle to overcome rather than a desired end...

There are scriptures to support this view. I have yet to see scriptures that support this one. Amen.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but it seems to me, @Maverick, that what you're saying boils down to: 1. You judge the vast majority of the members of the Church unworthy of Celestial glory. Elder Oaks on that judgement. 2. In consequence of your unauthorized judgement, you don't believe God will do what scripture teaches (see D&C 76, 131, 132 - and others): 3. Therefore, to reconcile the conflict between your unauthorized judgement and your disbelief in scripture, you choose to believe in something scripture says isn't possible - progression between kingdoms: See Elder McConkie's "Seven Deadly Heresies", specifically, heresy five (with cited scriptures). The simple solution is to stop the unauthorized judgement, believe the scriptures, and trust Christ. Personally, I believe the scriptures, I am incapable of accurately judging another person's spiritual status, and I know that Christ's grace is sufficient for the humble. I also think telling people not to worry about it because they can always catch up in eternity is a terrible, terrible thing to do - and lies in the same vein as Satan's "all is well in Zion". Folks won't have any problem attaining these kingdoms without help from the Lord's restored Church. They won't need His priesthood, ordinances, or covenants to get there. They don't need to understand the fullness of his gospel. The Church has its hands full bringing as many as will come into those covenants so that they can prepare to receive celestial glory by the grace of Christ. In short, we know enough about both of the lesser kingdoms and must focus our efforts on the celestial.

Welcome to ThirdHour, @daniel axtell!

Part of some science-y show I watched explained that doorways trigger our brains to "leave the old behind" and "prepare for new" (to greatly simplify). As we get older, it's harder to recall what we left behind - though going back into the previous room can help. They explained that if one wants to retain something from one room to the next, one should simply repeat it to oneself as one passes through the doorway. This seems to work for me.