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Further, this boy is way too smart! I recognized a pattern today - if I come in here while he's playing, after a while he starts meowing pitifully. So I go into his "safe zone" (aka the family room) and sit on the floor, and as soon as I touch one of his toys, he starts purring!! How am I supposed to resist that? We then proceed to play together. And sometimes it's just me watching him play, but every time I engage with him, he purrs!

The funny thing is, the way this question (or instruction) is always worded tends to distract from the correct answer - we see the "we" and think it's a group effort. In reality, it's an individual effort and it happens as each individual draws closer to Christ, becomes a better disciple, becomes one with Him. Each person drawing closer to him draws closer to all the others who are drawing closer to him (like the tip of a cone). Those who decline to draw closer to him will fall (or stay) farther and farther away and never be united with the Saints. Thus, the way you do it is to draw closer to Christ - help your wife to do the same, teach your children to do the same. Focus all your effort on him: Scripture study is no longer scripture study, it's studying the word of Christ, learning about him, seeking for his instructions and examples. Prayer is no longer prayer, it is seeking to learn God's will, seeking the power of His Son in your life, and to become worthy of and sensitive to his Spirit Church is no longer Church, it is the worship of God and learning of Christ's gospel etc. FWIW.

I'm a complete push-over. Lunch was delayed by 3 hours today (and became dinner) because Klaw fell asleep on top of me...

I believe (but don't know) the sealing is valid regardless of the laws of men. That said, a child molester will have a hard road to the celestial kingdom, and if he doesn't live up to covenants, and repent when he falls short, that sealing will be null through his disobedience. More importantly, I'm so sorry for the pain this must be causing you. I can't begin to understand, but I'm sorry and hope you're able to find peace somehow. PS: Welcome to ThirdHour!

@person0, the only approaches I can think of to your situation are: Prayer - lots of it - you really need the Holy Ghost to guide you here Studying, to the the point of memorization, if possible, the relevant scriptures Collecting the relevant General Conference talks - a tag or notebook in the Church's "Library" app so that you can pull it all up as needed and quote and cite directly Charity - to see these leaders through Christ's eyes (as much as any of us can do that) Beyond that, pure love brings courage and sometimes courage is needed to confront sin. The Lord had some pretty strong condemnations all through the Bible for leaders who led his sheep astray. If called to speak, speak the truth; if called to teach, teach the truth. Were I in your shoes, I don't think I'd hesitate to tell my children that their leaders were wrong and shouldn't be trusted on this issue. Growing up in "low-density Zion", knowing that everyone else would be doing something different from what my family did made it a little easier to be different - I was expecting to be different, expecting the temptations and mockery - not saying that's easy, but expectation helps. Finally, with all that study, I think I would never say phrases like, "you're wrong", "that's false", "you're leading people astray" (unless the Holy Ghost clearly told me otherwise). Instead, I would not directly respond at all, but would rather say, "In the book of Moses we read...", "In his 2009 GC talk, Elder So-n-So said..." and just read the doctrine / gospel / truth. Remember what Alma had to say: Don't try to logic them or argue, quote the word to them. And inoculate your children against false leaders - kids often like their leaders, often trust them more than parents - you need to find a way to counter that tendency. (Ignore anything I wrote above that the Spirit tells you to ignore, and follow his promptings instead. )

Yesterday, His Royal Highness, Prince Klawboy McPurry, Lord Shred, Count Cuddlebutt, Earl of Scratch, Knight Defender of Klawtower (AKA Klaw) was rescued from the shelter-dragon's prison. He is slowly and cautiously exploring his new realm. (Perhaps because he's still under the effect of a pain-killer and mourning the lost of his reproductive ability - an injury inflicted during his Thursday battle with the shelter-dragon.) He's still wary of his assigned guardian, chef, and box-cleaner. In a while, I'll try some wet food and then try for a photo (right now he's napping in solitude). [Later] I have been allowed to pet HRH and was rewarded with purrs, biscuit-making on my arm, bites, and licks (though the licks may have been because my fingers had recently held kitten treats which HRH consumed - hooray - was getting worried about him). [Later] Little boy decided to come out of hiding at 11pm (after I'd gone to bed). After sufficient crying, I resigned myself to being up half the night and sleeping on the couch. (Yes, I'm now a slave.) And here's my first photo of Klaw, taking a break from playing: ...isn't he adorable? Maybe if you have headphones, you can hear him purring in this video (volume was louder on my computer - maybe YT lowers the volume on shorts? ). Anywho, this was my post-breakfast reward - HRH deigned to climb up for cuddles all on his own.

The righteous will be resurrected beginning at the Second Coming, so yeah, lots of urgency there. I imagine any in prison who accept the gospel and repent would only be awaiting their temple work and then resurrection, so I think it would be a big impact all around. Only the dead who refuse to repent would continue on as if nothing has changed (I assume, sort of).

If you want something kept secret, tell no one. Perhaps even the angels in heaven are capable of slacking in their duties when they think there's plenty of time to get them done... I think the virtue of never wasting a moment (which is not the same as never resting) might be the very last one we learn (finish learning). And in the opposite, waste is likely the first bad habit we develop.

And Satan is just as happy to mock them as he leads them on to destruction. He'll take those who really believe in him, those who use his name while claiming not to believe in him, and those who call him God - he's an equal-opportunity destroyer.

I just wish to point out that, true to form, this shirt is a lie. Satan doesn't respect pronouns. He'll be the first to destroy you and your pronouns and mock your foolishness the whole time. Liar from the beginning and for all eternity. (PS: I respect pronouns, just not the erroneous / grammatically incorrect use of them. My pronouns are I, me, mine, and myself. I'm happy to share them with you, should you wish to use them for yourself... Isn't it strange how you're not me and yet we can both be I...)

Not sure what may have been there before the edit, but though I didn't say it specifically, the condition for hate is always the same - wickedness.

Some things from the scriptures: Deuteronomy 1:27 - seems the ancient Israelites had no trouble believing God could hate them: Same idea in Deuteronomy 9:28. Psalm 5:5 indicates David believes the Lord hates all workers of iniquity. (Ditto Psalm 11:5.) Hosea 9:15, if I'm reading it right, Hosea taught that the Lord hated people for their wickedness. Malachi 1:3 - the Lord hated Esau. Helaman 15:4 - the Lord hated the Lamanites (or so Samuel the Lamanite taught). It seems that all mention of the Lord hating people(s)1 (as opposed to behaviors or things), ended when Christ came to earth... (No mention in the NT, D&C, PofGP, nor later in the BofM.) Perhaps, per John 3:17 (now is not the time for condemnation), hate is in abeyance until "the great command to reap down the earth" (D&C 38:12). 1I didn't look for synonyms of "hate" - I remembered a few places where the Lord said he hated people, but I can't remember any places where he said, for example, that he despised or abhorred people, so I didn't go looking for those. One could argue definitions and translations and interpretations all day long. In the end, not sure it matters, but am pretty sure that the modern "unconditional love" is dangerous and potentially damning "doctrine".

@Traveler, whatever you do, do not move to Turkey! You'll be extremely unhappy.

Nice to see you, @person0! Hope life is treating you and yours well.

And the males are, um, dogs?

Here are the previous two cats I had - I got them in Moscow in 1991 or 1992, I forget exactly. This was the day I got them. Both are long since gone to kitty heaven:

Looks to me like kitty is well-trained for proper prayer behavior: eyes closed, arms folded. Good kitty!

Ah, Sir Robwell, happy as a kitty with an excess of bags to play in!

Love the long names. Image link shows broken for me - perhaps it's a rights thing with office.net.

Salads are good for you, you know. One of the cats we had when I was a teenager loved to read the bible - as soon as you opened it, she came to join your reading session.

My dogs responded better to their names than to the dog whistle, which got tossed in a drawer and forgotten about. How sad that my dogs were better humans than the ones using "dog whistles" or accusing others of doing so. I look forward to the day when everyone will be called by one name.

Welcome to Third Hour, @Shon Schip!

You're most welcome. Of course, the only way to be rid of it is to listen to the whole thing...

Am I the only one?