NeuroTypical

*shrug*. God has a plan of happiness for us, but the old tactic of pointing at people doing differently, and yelling about sickness and things being despicable and whatnot, just isn't persuasive any more. We used to be preaching to the choir when we did that. Now we're in the minority, and your righteous indignation is worth exactly squat. It's not helping. It does nothing to persuade anyone about anything. Even though your indignation is certainly based on righteousness. If you're looking for an echo chamber to agree with you and help you feel not alone, I suppose there's nothing wrong with that. But if you're looking to make any sort of positive difference in the way the world is heading, you might want to re-think your tactics. Can you look at these three people as children of God, inheritors of a divine birthright, with the potential to become someone you might see in the temple some day? If not, you might want to do some thinking about the 2nd great commandment. How does God want you to love these, thy neighbors?

Don't get me wrong, I've been on the front lines of this thing for decades. It's just that, well, you seem surprised. We lost the moral majority like 9 years ago, and plain old sputtering outrage about wimmin kissin wimmin doesn't really get us very far any more. People these days will be more outraged at the power differential between a boss and a worker than anything else.

Just to make sure I understand, you're this upset because people are having sex, and you think somehow this is some sort of new low?

Verse 18: "buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh" Sounds like they offered to sell themselves, either into slavery or indentured servitude, yes?

OT Prophetic jerkiness is a pretty hefty response to most criticisms of our latter-day prophets voiced by Christians. It's a pity that our church is about the only one left that spends any time in the Old Testament.

I don't really know enough to have an informed opinion, but it sounds reasonable to me that Trump and Turkey sort of had this whole thing planned out from the beginning. Power vacuum? Make a deal to have an ally fill it. And last I checked, Turkey is (kinda) an ally. What I find fascinating, is the entire antiwar part of the left wing basically died and came back as nevertrumper zombies in love with George Bush foreign policies. People on the peacenik/no blood for oil/US is bad because we get into wars/Bush lied people died/militaryIndustrialComplex is evil left, whom I've been arguing with for years, now are apoplectic that we're ending a war and bringing troops home. And they don't even seem to realize they're doing it. It's just a gut reflex - Trump sez A, therefore B is the only good and decent thing, and A is the most evil thing ever. Hey folks on the left - read up on some A. You sure you haven't heard this coming out of your mouth since the mid-90's?

The reporting on this story is abysmal. Take a look at the headlines: Salt Lake Tribune: LDS Church opposes proposed Utah rule that would ban ‘conversion therapy’ MySanAntonio.com: Mormon church opposes Utah LGBTQ conversion therapy ban Oil City News: LDS CHURCH AGAINST PROPOSED UTAH BAN ON ‘CONVERSION THERAPY’ CBS News: Mormon Church urges Utah not to bar "conversion therapy" for LGBTQ minors ABC4 News: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes rule that would ban conversion therapy KJZZ: LDS Church releases statement opposing proposed conversion therapy ban Fox13 News: LDS Church raises objections to proposed rule banning conversion therapy on LGBTQ children in Utah The Guardian: Mormon church strikes blow against Utah ban on conversion therapy Longview News-Journal: Mormon church opposes Utah LGBTQ conversion therapy ban Jackson Hole News Guide: Mormon church opposes Utah LGBTQ conversion therapy ban The Alpena News: Mormon church opposes LGBTQ ‘conversion therapy’ ban The Columbian: Latter-day Saints oppose Utah LGBTQ ‘conversion therapy’ ban Gephart Daily: LDS Church opposes ban of conversion therapy for LGBTQ youths Texarkana Gazette: Mormon church opposes 'conversion therapy' ban GV Wire: Mormon Church Opposes Utah LGBTQ ‘Conversion Therapy’ Ban Daily Miner: LDS church opposes Utah LGBTQ conversion therapy ban KNPR: Mormon Church Opposes Utah LGBTQ 'Conversion Therapy' Ban Now read this article from DesNews: Conversion therapy rule draws statement of opposition from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints How many articles that we're reading actually mention that tidbit?

Maybe a difference between you and me: My biggie repentance event was preceded with years of believing I was evil and doomed and horrible and a bad person, unworthy of love, who would be righteously rejected by all the good or smart people. I didn't believe I had done wrong, I believed I had no value, that I WAS wrong. Compared to the pain of internalizing that lie for so long, the short-term uncomfortableness of discussing some stuff I used to do but hadn't for years, then going through a quick process of renouncing and changing my walk, followed by being forgiven/redeemed/cleansed? Accompanied with the revealed truth that I was indeed a loved son of God, inheritor of a divine birthright, a good person? Forgive me while I jump for joy. I have to jump, in order to keep my heart inside me, because it's leaping for joy whether I go with it or not.

Well, for my biggies, I've never said repentance was easy or no big thing. Quite the opposite. But yes indeed I am grateful for the repenting I've done, they've absolutely been wonderful experiences. I don't see any conflict between "wonderful" and "hard" here.

Old first, new second. My goodness!

Yep. Elder Oaks basically threw down and dropped the mic on the subject.

So, not to detract from your engaging story, but the church does more than encourage education, it provides quite a bit. There is an entire curriculum on self-reliance, we cover getting out of debt, starting your own business, ways to deal with unemployment or underemployment, how to network, etc. Honestly, if you don't have the $200 for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, the church has you covered for free. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/self-reliance?lang=eng

We have the same thing coming our way in Colorado Springs:

The folks mad at Elder Oaks, assumed he was mocking the "second wife" who was concerned about mansions and living with wife #1. I didn't see the slightest hint of mocking. Perhaps a bit of dry wit. The audience certainly laughed.

Uhm... they all do. Even the Catholic one. It's the same as a Catholic going to Testimony Meeting and hearing the testimonies about how the LDS Church is the one true church... it is the same as claiming that the Catholic Church is not the true Church. *shrug* When we stuck our kids in one run by the Nazarenes, they were the nicest people on the planet and bent over backwards to accept us and our weird LDS ways. Years later, when we stuck our kids in one run by our local mega church, they largely did the same. My wife ran into one random person in like 5 years that had a problem with Joseph Smith. That person was quickly ushered aside and we got love bombed within an inch of our lives. Maybe that's just Colorado though. Or maybe it's just Catholicism, because we both claim authority, while protestantism is all about "when you have two or three gathering in my name, that's church".

Why is this any bigger than enrolling in a Baptist/Methodist/Christ Church/Catholic/etc. private school where they teach the kids LDS is a cult? Why would a question like this be bigger? My guess would be the difference was in all the LDS people yelling about how you couldn't keep your temple recommend if you attended your gay daughter's wedding. It used to be a hotly contested and debated issue, starting in the mid-90's. It's tapered off in the last 5 years or so. As for enrolling in a religious based private school, one might wonder why you'd willingly select one where they'd specifically teach your kid our church is a cult, vs. all the other religious based private schools where they wouldn't.

There were always big questions around "should/can I go to my gay daughter's wedding" and "to what extent can/should I participate" and whatnot.

Yep - my last couple of interviews, I'd always start answering by asking my priesthood leader to define "affiliate with". Their definition was pretty much in alignment with the new re-wording. So I get to continue to hang out online with my apostate critic buddy in a transgender marriage. Yay!

The women's session videos are up! https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/general-conference?lang=eng

So, what did you think?

And they don't stink! I've been so used to a certain amount of low-production values and cheeziness in LDS visual media, I'm a little in awe.

I can hear the conversations now. "You spent how much on this?" "You make this thing, but you still won't fund NT's next trip to SLC?" (I hear these conversations because they're coming out of my mouth right now. Not too shoddy, though!)

Well, if you hated the StarWars one, you'll absolutely loathe the new Stranger Things one that showed up today. I'm not even going to bother posting the link. I'm a sort-of-half fan of Stranger Things, and while I got all the references, I thought it was stupid. I can feel my desire to mention such things on this forum leaking out of me as I type.

It's a good test of food storage, if you have it. For the 2 weeks you describe, "food storage" here means what's in your fridge, freezer, pantry. If I were in your situation, I'd create an inventory of everything you've got. - Can it last 2 weeks with a little planning? Then turn it into an adventure and post your daily meals here. - What expires first? - What do you really not look forward to eating, but you can if you have to? Mix it in, so you're not stuck with only that at the end. Another option would be to talk with the bishop. If you're a full tithe payer, if you pay fast offerings some, if unemployment or underemployment isn't an issue, I'm guessing your bishop would be overjoyed to just help you for a short period of time. Bishops have so many difficult situations, people who struggle long-term to make ends meet, people struggling to accept they need to make lifestyle changes - you don't have any of that. He can help you with 2 weeks of food from the storehouse, and you go away happy with the issue fixed? Probably the easiest meeting he'll have with anyone that week. You would be doing him a favor with such an easy thing to fix. No really - consider this option. It truly is just between you and him - it's likely nobody else in the building will ever hear about it. I've been finance clerk for years, and I don't have the faintest clue who gets food assistance from the church. I do see the "food assistance" folder in the top drawer of the locked filing cabinet, and it's not a thin folder, but only the bishop is involved in that.

Yeah, Mirk, how are your doTerra efforts going these days?