NeuroTypical

Yes it is, no it isn't, and yes it can.Sorry.

How about looking at it from another direction: Being overweight can be a symptom of something wrong spiritually.

I think being LDS means you get to be peeved at finding that. But you don't get to make out in a public building like a church without running the risk of everybody and their dog finding out about it and enduring some tongue-clicking and finger-wagging. *shrug*

Hi and welcome blissfullyballard! I'm here for similar reasons - I saw my LDS friends had something that I really wanted, so I looked closer too. Hope you have a good experience here.

I've found that you can find this sort of criticism leveled against any religious figure or organization. "You should use your resources the way I think they should be used." I've even seen this line of thinking leveled against Mother Theresea. When she died, she owned one pair of shoes, two simple robes, and a bucket. And still people were all ticked off at how she used her voice and sway and popularity, what she advocated, and how she should have advocated differently or better. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of armchair quarterbacking (I'm doing it right now), but I try rarely rise to the level of getting disturbed when people who aren't me, having resources that aren't mine, make choices I think I wouldn't make if I was in their shoes. The tongue-clicking and finger-wagging and stern-troubled-looks I leave to those who seem invariably to hold anti-capitalist or anti-business beliefs.

A guy in my ward is former RLDS. Nice guy, nice family.

Hi cousin! You can find all sorts of stuff out about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at LDS.org. Anything specific on your mind?

I don't think you're being silly at all, scotsgirl. If what you say is true, then the church had only your mother's lies to go on, and what should have happened did not happen.It seems to me that you have a part to own in things, and many parts that have impacted you unjustly. If you can find the strength to go talk to your bishop about what you own and what you don't, I believe you will be blessed. The whole purpose of church discipline, after all, is to help a member get out from under the crushing weight of sin. While you own some of that, it sounds like you've also been burdened by your mother's sins. God bless you.

They don't make a font big enough for the "amen" that deserves.They tell me on more than one occasion, someone in the federal govt takes an interest in how the church welfare system works, because it works so well. They come and learn all they can, but go away unhappy, because there's no way in blazes the fed govt would ever be able to emulate the "work and contribute for what you get" principles. They don't call it 'entitlement spending' for nothing.

Hi Martin - welcome!

If you want to think about what charitable activities the church does, you have an innacurate picture if you exclude the millions of hours of free labor provided by its members. If you want to exclude member service hours because we're somehow not "the church" you're thinking about, and you've got some sort of image in your head about rich old men sitting in Salt Lake doing business deals to increase the power of an elite few, well, from experience, I don't think I can really help you. But I will state, clearly and distinctly, for you and everyone else to hear: I am the Church. So is every other faithful member who has ever driven a load of firewood, or helped someone move, or blessed someone through home teaching, or brought food to the sick or lonely, or devoted two years of the prime of their life to spread the gospel, or leaving their chosen career as heart surgeon early to devote the rest of their life to church service. Magus, you're looking at dollars and service hours and see glaring inconsistencies. I've never seen someone do that and be happy.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen?

Great photos of great historical importance. I'm not sure how it changes the narrative though.

So, I homeschool, and I follow homeschool legislation a little bit. The international stuff is sort of scary. There is a case or two out of Germany where police have siezed children because their parents were not schooling them the right way (i.e. tried to homeschool them instead of sending them to school). Another case where a German family came to America and applied for asylum under religious persecution grounds because the authorities wouldn't let them have a christian-based homeschool program. It is true that America is not Germany. But no, we don't get to say such things don't happen.

Who? Anchor of what?Isn't this that 'peacock meets windows' thing they tried back in the '90's?

Well, it is having an impact - it is keeping you from being a member in good standing of the church, because you are not keeping your baptismal covenants. (Whether that's a negative thing or not, is solely up to you. )I became active about fifteen years ago. I still miss doing all the stuff I used to do on Sundays.

Cool kid. I think he's correct. I doubt we'll ever resolve all of the nature and nurture facets of how people come to be SSA. I also don't really know why people put so much emphasis on resolving the question "in their favor". It's not like being born gay disproves God. It's not like SSA being a learned mental issue means it can't be so deeply ingrained that it's permanent.

Pope John Paul II, Reagan, and now Margaret Thatcher. We owe a lot of the prosperity and blessings of the '90's and 2000's to the carried-out plans of those three.

Wow. A 9/11 thread, twelve years later. Airwolf - why now? Are you part of a new generation just learning about it? Or have you been doing this for years? Refreshing to take a break from hearing about how the govt. caused the ammo shortage because they wanna disarm us and arm the homeland security people to herd us into camps.

That's cool - but how do you calculate it? Does it mean that 10% ended up divorced, or just unhappy, or what? Do you follow-up with couples 5 years later and measure happiness or divorce rate? Or is it based on how things look when they complete counseling? I don't mean to put you on the spot - I've just always wondered if there's like a standard way to measure the impact that counseling has in a couple's life. Are there guidelines? I'd probably have problems being a marriage counselor because of how hard it is to measure success. If I don't know how my clients are doing 1, 5, 10 years down the road, how do I know if I made a difference? How many of those divorces do you call a successful resolution to an impossible situation? Man. It's so much easier to just sit on anonymous message boards and tell people how to fix their lives. I couldn't do what you do.

Maybe I'm nuts, but what's wrong with experiencing fears and stress? Isn't that what happens to normal people in situations of massive change and uncertainty?From my perspective, maybe you just sit there and hug each other as you both experience fears and stress. Enjoy the time you have, and count down the days until you leave.

Hi and welcome to the forums. First, not all mormons get married young. I got married at 26. Second, mormons are not stranger to divorce. We do emphasize family and marriage, and place a great importance on making a marriage work, but in every congregation there will be divorced people. We all try to do the best we can. Third, becomming a mormon to land a better husband is a horrible idea. Such plans tend to backfire. Such marriages tend to be stressed, as couples fight about paying tithing and living church standards, etc. And when children come, they turn into pawns, as the believing member wants the children to be active in church, go on missions, get married in the temple, etc. Such marriages will sometimes fail, which is not fair to the children. You should become a mormon only if you believe God wants you to be one.

Jeffmk, welcome! I don't know what you are - you are certainly the first beer drinker I've met who likes BYUTV. I can't stand it myself. (BYUTV, I mean.) But whatever you are, you're hardly alone with these thoughts and doubts. I'm a fan of doubt. It keeps us from being gullible - from buying every story from every snake oil salesman that comes down the way. But doubt must be resolved, or it festers. I used to be in your situation. I bet all on the promise in the BoM - the one that says if I did A, B, C, and D, I would get an unmistakable confirmation. It came. You might consider doing something similar. But anyway, welcome!

Put 1000 couples in a room who don't want to go much further than rubbing each other's "lower stomachs", and how many pregnancies do you think will happen? Skip, it isn't about figuring out exactly how close you can come before screwing up. It's about having respect for a potential future bride. Sounds like you're hoping you can disrespect her a little more before you have to stop.

I've always wondered - what's your success rate, and how do you calculate it?