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There is something about being with your parents that psychologically turns you back into a child (until you've managed to work past this yourself, which certainly isn't going to happen before you reach adulthood and full independence). It's a sad thing to realize that the biggest mistake you ever made was to believe your mom and follow her counsel. I fear this mom may be beyond your influence. But I hope not. Or at least, I hope that God will pour out light on the situation.

NOTE: It's probably no use me writing this as I think tact is for weenies, but here it is anyway - just keep in mind the source. What's mom's response to these two statements? If you haven't told her these two things, that should be your first response. If you haven't laid out all the ways in which the daughter has flourished, with concrete examples, do so. Is mom your wife's sister, or your wife's sister-in-law? Where's the girl's father in all this? Could you have more luck talking to him? As to the car... Is she not going to the same school as your daughter? Can she not ride with your daughter? (Or her mother be made to believe that's what will happen? ) Can you not tell her parents there is neither a need nor room for another car? Can't you point out that they can't afford it? (We don't know the personalities of these folks (beyond their treatment of their daughter), so it's hard to say what you can / can't talk about, let alone how...) Some possible approaches to the car question: Ask her to map out how they're going to afford it (with luck this would force her to face the fact that she can't) Point out that it teaches the daughter the wrong lesson - to rely on others when she could instead earn (there's so much more satisfaction and development in earning than in receiving a gift) Point out that if the girl is responsible enough to own, care for, and drive an automatic, she's capable of learning to drive a stick (It's not that complicated!) (I suppose this could backfire and they could decide daughter isn't capable of either and take her back... ) Point out that nearly everyone in Europe drives a stick and they manage to survive If the girl has visibly changed, is there any way to arrange for mom to observe that from a distance, without the girl aware mom is there? Perhaps mom actually wants a permanent baby - in which case, you can't solve this, mom needs a therapist... As someone who, in my now 4-decades-later wisdom, basically ruined my own life by believing something my mom said when I was 17 or 18 - pray hard. Pray really, really hard for God to intervene in the life of this child. Pray for him to teach the child's mother that His daughter (your niece) is capable and should be challenged to reach her full potential. She is, after all, a daughter of God, and His grace is sufficient for both of them (mom and daughter). Hard and challenging times are coming - mom should be building courage and confidence in her daughter, not dependence and doubt. Feel free to use me as an example - my mom's fear and doubt stopped me from doing what I could have soared at, had I put my mind to it. I didn't try because Mom said not to. This woman does not want to be that mom. (Or she shouldn't, anyway. And if she does, she should be ashamed of herself.) [NOTE: I'm sure my mom had no idea what she was doing, and didn't intend it the way it worked out, but still.]

This one should be obvious as the nose on one's face: How is this not obvious? We are not to cause others to work on the sabbath. I set my Amazon preferences (it was not easy) to not deliver on Sunday. It took a while, but it finally seems to be working. I can't stop them from boxing things on Sunday or shipping them, but I can stop them from delivering, at least. As to all the rest, the answer is in the scriptures for all the world to see: BD Sabbath BD Sabbath day's journey BD Sabbatical Year TG Sabbath TG Sabbatical Year Study them not for what they say, but for what the Spirit teaches you through them. Note the reference and what you learn. When you're done, reorganize your notes (I reorganized twice) - I grouped them into categories of teaching (ended up with 8 categories). My notes filled an A3 sheet of paper. I was shocked by how much I learned - things I had never been taught nor considered. As someone born and raised in the Church, I thought I knew the sabbath inside and out. Boy was I wrong. If you wish to study further: Gospel Topic Overview for Sabbath Day Gospel Study Guide for Sabbath Day There will be overlap, but also links to GC talks, magazine articles, videos, etc. My 8 categories are: Meaning / origin Covenant / sign Attitude Blessings Importance Lessons from Sabbatical Year How to keep Violation leads to destruction <-- did you note that one! Some other note categories I added later include: Prepare for the sabbath Types of sabbath observance So, study, note what the Spirit teaches you (get out your pen and paper, or your keyboard - they tell the Spirit you're serious), organize and summarize your notes. Soon you will have all the guidance you are ready for, with enough left over to continue improving your sabbath for years.

I thought this was hilarious, so I'm sharing it:

PS: Might be too soon, but what an opportunity you have to teach about humility and forgiving others regardless of whether they've asked for it.

Nope. But the goal is that he knows to turn to and trust his parents when he can't trust others. Love your son. Love the Lord. Teach your son to love and trust the Lord.

Yeah, well, if the arm holes are as tight as they look, you (like women currently), will be wishing for good old fashioned sleeves to come back. (The arm holes on the last style of tops I bought are very, very restrictive - and there was no alternative. The best you could do was go with too large a size - at which point the length makes it a dress... I would kill for a t-shirt (men's t-shirts, not women's) style top for women's garments.) Meanwhile, that's not really a wife-beater. The shoulder fabric is far too wide.

This. I went through teenage years in low-density Zion. I knew long before any of the other kids (outside the Church) came along with temptations or just bad ideas that we (my family, members of the Church) don't do those kinds of things. And I knew when other girls in the Church chose to do things I'd been taught not to that in my family, we don't do those things, even if a member of the Church does. It made living the gospel so much easier, knowing in advance that we were going to live the gospel no matter what anyone else, in or out of the Church did, and if that made us different, good for us (hard though it may be). Draw the line - they do what they do, but no matter what they do, we live the gospel. And yeah, explain the why. Bear and build testimony. The gospel should be ever-present in your home. It may be too late to prepare your kid in advance that members of the Church aren't always good examples of gospel living, but it's not too late to use this experience to teach faith and humility. Personally, I'd be worried that involvement in other religions would convince my kid that the Church isn't true at all... (Reminder: all that was written by a non-parent who barely remembers her teen years.)

Because, you know, computers and the internet shut off at 5pm local time and don't start working again until 9am local time (assuming it's not a weekend or "bank holiday"). But have no fear, your bank is making serious profit off your money while it sits in limbo transfer...

So sorry you and your child are going through this, @RMConcernedDad! I cannot offer you advice - not a parent, don't recall being a child. It sure sounds like the ward leaders are failing to do as Christ commanded - the Book of Mormon makes it quite clear that Christ does not want anyone sent away, but rather included (e.g. 3 Nephi 18:25). Hopefully some of the parents here will have advice for you.

I may not know much, but: All that says you are anything but worthless. I'm sorry for all your struggles. I cannot explain anything except that my own trials suggest that each of us is here to learn to follow Christ no matter what. (And each of us has a different "what" to overcome.) I could only guess at the answers to your questions about who is called an why, and I don't know that guesses would be right or help you. Welcome to ThirdHour, @westdelrio! If nothing else, we can offer you the friendship of fellow saints.

Long time no see, @Anddenex! Nice to see you back.

That was my assumption, but as soon as you say "unease", someone always responds with "no need to panic"...

The question is whether your sense of unease is you alone, or also includes the influence of the Holy Ghost. Before someone jumps in talking about not panicking, keep in mind that you don't know exactly where @mikbone's money is, nor what the Lord has in store for him, and so maybe he does indeed need to make some changes while others of us are fine how things are (or not). I have been trying to worry about my own situation, but cannot. I don't know if that's because I'm Spirit-deaf on this topic, or because I'm in a good position... But I try to pay a bit of attention and consider prayerfully what things I should do next to prepare for whatever the Lord has in store for me and my furballs. (They're taken care of - if I die, they can survive by eating me. Hopefully they don't kill each other over who gets my liver...)

They (the Es) must all flock there in relief that someone wants them.

In other news... Does anyone else feel bad for the letter E? Excluded from its rightful place, pushed aside and forgotten, dragged out only when someone needs a sarcastic "E for effort"... Alas, poor E. No wonder it trails along behind so many words, hoping to be seen. We now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion.

Welcome to ThirdHour, @I Forgave You Yesterday! I'm looking forward to hearing more from you.

How do you know there will be no women in heaven? Revelation 8:1 Yeah, not funny.

Yes, and silence in heaven...

Because Satan is abroad in the land.

Link to the chapter, for context. Bible Dictionary entry for "John, Epistles of". A bit of quick googling suggests this letter wasn't written to anyone specific, but to the churches (perhaps in a specific region). What I read makes me think of it like an article in the Liahona. Verse 27 builds on the same theme. That said, all I can figure is that the "anointing" suggests he's addressing those who hold the priesthood, and perhaps those who have received whatever early temple ordinances they had. And I think "know all things" means simply that they know the truth of the gospel as preached by the Lord and the apostles - sort of like saying "you know all this". Contrasting with those who are being deceived by people teaching false doctrines. (see verse 21+, which describes what John's trying to counter) Some other translations change "and ye know all things" to "and all of you know the truth" (for example). Check out this entry in the Scripture Citation Index (look for the orange-highlighted reference). Brigham Young seems to be suggesting what I said - that this is a way of referring to members of the Church. You can keep scrolling through and see how other prophets and apostles have used this scripture in their talks. Here's the NT Institute manual chapter on 1-3 John (scroll and you'll find a section specifically about this verse). HTH.

Personally, I think ancient scribes did some serious redacting to remove anything that overtly mentioned the Son of God. Mention of the Messiah was OK, but not the idea that God would have a Son. (I have no scholarly evidence of this, but either something like that happened, or the Book of Mormon prophets were incorrect when they said all prophets have testified of Christ.) Further, I think that whenever you, or I, or anyone testifies of truth concerning Christ, we are speaking with the spirit of prophecy.

I wish I knew. I had the same sort of thoughts about the kingdom. Only a guess about the daily bread - perhaps the Nephites were so abundantly blessed during times of righteousness that they didn't need to ask for daily bread - whereas the Jews under the Romans, at least, those who followed Christ, were not so prosperous...

For the ease of readers: 3 Nephi 13:2-13. For the ease of readers: Verse 13 made a lot more sense to me when I learned that some translations read: "And suffer us not to be led into temptation (<JST), but deliver us from the evil one: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." The other translations change "evil" into "the evil one", aka Satan. IMO, that makes the "For" make sense, otherwise, the "For" doesn't really make sense to me. (See Moses 4:1-3, and some of its footnotes.) This is reminding us of the council in heaven, where the evil one sought to take away the kingdom, power, and glory of God; but Christ acknowledged they are God's forever.

Ages ago, when I was in college. We would sing a hymn in Spanish at the start of one of my Spanish classes. For some reason, I can only remember (without looking it up) some of the words to "High on the Mountain Top". Doing so isn't going to make me like it better. "Like" is not, in the case of music (as far as I can tell), a matter of comprehension or appreciation - and in this case, not even a matter of familiarity - we sing this thing often. Me either, actually, but I do like it - and I was going for what I like vs dislike, not only my favorites. My dad, who played piano, didn't like this one - he thought it too simple and something used too often. As for the subject mater, for some reason, I like thinking about the consequences of "eternity" and "infinity", so that aspect of this song appeals to me. My dad had the same opinion of "Ye Elders of Israel" - which is one of my favorites (perhaps in part because I never get to hear it in Church). It also has a story element to it. I have a friend (woman) who absolutely detests "As Sisters in Zion" - due to its syrupy text. I don't dislike this one, but I can't say I like it either - it sits in my "meh" zone.