NeuroTypical

A joke:

Indeed there are. We believe the various gifts of the spirit that were present and promised in the NT are still here with us today. Here's a chapter from a book we use in all our meetinghouses in Sunday School. Briefly, we believe in, and many of us have witnessed, these:The Gift of Tongues The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues The Gift of Translation The Gift of Wisdom The Gift of Knowledge The Gift of Teaching Wisdom and Knowledge The Gift of Knowing That Jesus Christ Is the Son of God The Gift of Believing the Testimony of Others The Gift of Prophecy The Gift of Healing The Gift of Working Miracles The Gift of Faith We tend not to talk too much about these. As the end of the linked chapter states: The Lord said, “A commandment I give unto them, that they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world; for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation” (D&C 84:73). We must remember that spiritual gifts are sacred. The Lord asks only one thing in return for giving us these gifts. He says, “Ye must give thanks unto God in the Spirit for whatsoever blessing ye are blessed with” (D&C 46:32). LM

I remember when my dad the WWII vet caught me scrawling swastikas on my table. Of course, I was SEVEN - and not a grown adult! I take this more as a failure of our public school system than anything particularly wrong with Adidas.

My wife will eventually tire of me and run me down in the driveway, so my results don't really matter.

This book tends to polarize people. Some like it, some hate it. I've spoken with people who tell me this book brought them into the church, and other people who claim it was their reason for leaving. I'm in the "love the book" camp, mainly because I've followed it's advice and gone and sat in the Bishop's "hot seat". It was one of the hardest experiences of my life, and also one of the most rewarding, freeing, burden lightening experiences. LM

Bring it.

I'll throw the story on the pile. January '08 - Utah LDS church shooting, 1 dead December '07 - Colorado double shooting, 4 killed 5 wounded March '08 - Maryland church shooting, 2 wounded September '99 - Texas church shooting, 7 killed 7 wounded July '07 - Jewish Federation shooting, 1 woman killed 5 women hurt July '08 - Tennessee church shooting, 2 killed 7 wounded (also here)

I doubt it has nothing to do with the spirit. It has to do with the occasional person and group waking up and taking stock of reality. It's a hard thing for America to take itself out of it's present culture of immediate satisfaction to the most minor taste or food craving. But when you do, and you start looking at the history of the world, you realize that tough times are really not that uncommon, and preparation makes sense. I suppose the spirit might be at work somewhere, but I'm betting it's more along the lines of some folks using the grey matter God gave them. LM

I'll make sure I take a breath in honor of my Canadian friends. You guys deserve some recognition, after all, no other country on earth is better at being directly north of the United States!

Well, the term "never bring a knife to a gun fight" is certainly widely held... I'm thinking about distances of a dozen yards or less. They tell me that's the distance most attacks occur in. I'll always remember the way my local cop illustrated the point. He had someone on the other side of the room pretend he had a pistol in a holster, and instructed him to pretend to draw this pretend pistol to defend himself if needed. Then without warning, he jumped to a full sprint and closed the distance between the two of them in less than 2 seconds. He asked us to consider this example as we practiced drawing and accurately firing our weapons. The "Personal Protection Inside the Home" course my wife recently attended thought along the same lines. If you encounter a bad guy intent on doing you harm, he's just about as dangerous to you with a knife as he is with a gun within a certain range - and that range covers 80-90% of all the violent attacks people living normal lives tend to experience. I suppose the military would think of situations and ranges differently, and train for different situations. On the battlefield, or sitting in the lookout tower, you won't be nearly as interested in the guy with a knife 100 yards away. The rules would be different in jails and prisons too. LM

Oh, I'm not disturbed deeply by it, I'm just sad to see their ignorance. I mean, it's not like a ton of mormon kids don't sin abundantly. I have a buddy who lost his virginity at a YM/YW activity for pete's sake.I guess some folks prefer blinders. LM

Oh man - I love to see wisdom in it's purest form! Good luck DoH!LM

If you think he's in trouble, ruthie and Gwen have both given several good bits of advice. All much better options than trying to find someone online who can go look for him.LM

I smile by collecting funny self-efacing Mormon jokes! -- The LDS missionaries might be able to convince my wife that marriage is eternal, or they might be able to convince her that heaven is a place of joy and eternal happiness, but after being married to me for 12 years they would be unable to convince her of both at the same time. -- A man dies and is getting his tour of heaven. His guide is pointing out the various features and landmarks when the man asks, "What's that cliff?" "Oh, you don't want to look down there. That's hell!" The man is curious anyway, and creeps up to the edge and looks over. He sees lush, green valleys, verdant farmland and trees everywhere. "This doesn't look so bad," he says. Puzzled, the guide comes over and looks down. "Dangit!" he snaps, "Those Mormons have been irrigating again!" -- A Nephite woman sitting at a dressing table with her Nephite husband still lying in bed, with a picture of their Central American Archaeological Temple-style Wedding on the wall. She says "First you're righteous. Then you prosper. Then you get proud. Then you get wicked. Then you get humbled. Which is it going to be today?" -- It's Show and Tell day in school, and each kid has to bring something that represents their faith. Little Mary walks to the front and says in a very soft voice, "My name is Mary. I'm Catholic, and this is a rosary." Little Isaac walks to the front and says, "My name is Isaac. I'm Jewish and this is a dreidel." Little Nephi walks up and says, "My name is Nephi. I'm LDS and this is a casserole." -- A Catholic priest, a Baptist pastor and a Mormon bishop are out fishing in a boat. As the day goes on and they are becoming more friendly, the priest says, "I feel like I can confide in you guys. I have been known to drink on the job, and sometimes sleep through confessions." The pastor says, "I accep that. I have my failings. I have been known to take sermons written by others, and give them as my own." The bishop says nothing. Finally, the other two say to him it's only fair that he confess some failing of his own, since they have. So he says, "Well, I have to confess I have a serious fault. I am sometimes given to gossip. And I can hardly wait to get to shore!" -- Two clergy persons are on an airplane, a Catholic priest and a Mormon bishop. After a while, the priest turns to the bishop and asks, "Is it still a requirement of your faith that you are not to drink coffee?" The Mormon bishop responds, "Yes that is still one of our beliefs" The Catholic priest then asks, "Have you ever had a cup of coffee"? "Yes," says the Mormon bishop, "I have to admit--on one occasion I did succumb to temptation and tried a cup of coffee." The Catholic priest nods in understanding and goes on with his reading. A while later, the Mormon bishop speaks up and asks, "Father, is it still a requirement of your church that you remain celibate?" The Catholic priest replies, "Yes, that is still one of our vows." The Mormon bishop then asks, "Father, have you ever fallen to the temptations of the flesh?" The Catholic priest replied, "Yes, Bishop, on one occasion, I was weak and broke my vow." The Mormon bishop nodded understandingly for a moment. A few minutes later he smiled, looked at the Catholic priest and then said, "A lot better than coffee, isn't it?" -- The young son of a Mormon bishop was in church one morning when he saw for the first time baptism by immersion. He was greatly interested in it, and the next morning proceeded to baptize his three cats in the bathtub. The two youngest cats weren't very pleased about it, but suffered the young man to do it, but the old family tom cat rebelled. The old feline struggled with the boy, clawed and tore his skin, and finally got away. With considerable effort the boy caught the old tom again and proceeded with the "ceremony." But the cat acted worse than ever, clawing and spitting, and scratching the boy's face. Finally, after barely getting the cat splattered with water, he dropped him on the floor in disgust and said: "Fine, be a Methodist if you want to!" -- A Mormon told me that they don't drink coffee. I said, "A cup of coffee every day gives you wonderful benefits." He said, "Like what?" I said, "Well, it keeps you from being Mormon ..." -- The BYU athletic director is being lobbied by a bowl game sponsor. "At the big after game party, we have all kinds alcoholic beverages, from the finest beer to the best aged brandy." "We don't drink alcoholic beverages," the AD says. "Well, we have the best coffee, fresh ground, handpicked coffee beans, the most exquisite of teas." "We don't drink coffee or tea." "Well, then, cola beverages, Coke, Pepsi. . .Don't tell me you don't drink cola beverges, either," the sponsor says incredulously. "Actually we do," the AD says. "But not in front of each other." -- LM

"Lord, please help me forgive people who sin differently than I do." LM (Forcing himself to say something nice about liberals)

What jolee said. This isn't a mormon/nonmormon issue, this is an "you shouldn't get married if you're so big a pushover you fall for a man who practices emotional blackmail" issue. You'll have this same issue in the church, by the way. Figure out why you're a pushover, figure out how to stop being one, THEN go find a worthy man to marry. LM

I haven't heard this line of thinking before. Can I ask where you're getting your information?Once a knife has cut something, it stays cut - there's no pulling anything back. Just like a bullet. Cops tell me they treat suspects with knives or guns the same - both can cause serious harm or death. Bouncers and street brawlers tell me if someone pulls a gun or knife, the game has just become deadly. Knife law varies from state to state, on what's allowed and what's illegal - but most (if not all) states consider them "dangerous weapons" - i.e. an item capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. No, really, what is your source for this stuff? A round from a handgun can kill someone a mile away. A bullet out of a rifle can fly several miles and still kill someone. "Effective distances" - meaning you can hit what you are aiming at - are usually measured in yards, with some rifles very effective at 600 or even 800 yards.LM

I appreciate the overall point you're making with your post ram, just one tangent: Most of the time, police get there too late. Police very rarely stop criminals in the commission of a crime. They chase down, they investigate, they serve warrants, but apart from the deterrent factor of their presence, they rarely 'get there in time'. In other words: Q: How come you carry a gun? A: Because a cop is too heavy! LM

A bunch of bean counters predicting Russia's future? Isn't that kind of silly? Russia doesn't break up. It occasionally experiences a violent bloodbath and re-shapes it's government, but it doesn't break up. LM

Ordinarily, callings are extended in person though...

people that would come in a house, knowing the resident was there, and well armed.... would win an darwin awardRight - and all the burglars that wouldn't win the award, have at least rudimentary ways of finding out if you're home or not.Advertising the presence of guns in your home, is a way to make your home a target. LM

JBS also put up an excellent post. I only have one issue: Those things are not deterrents, they're burglar magnets. You are basically putting up a big sign in your yard saying "there are guns in this house". Burglars will skip over the next house to come into yours, because guns are great things to steal.LM

Excellent post, MOE. I'm with you on most of it, just a few comments: I'd agree with that. I'd also suggest a review of your city's crime statistics to see how prevalent violent home invasions are. Here in Colo Springs, there have been quite a few of them recently. Even one totally random armed kidnapping. Well, "supposed to" is what's codified in law, and that varies from state to state. Some states figure you're supposed to flee the home if possible - and you commit a crime if you defend your home. Colorado has a "make my day" law which means you're not guilty of a crime if you use deadly force to protect your home and the stuff in it. It's important to know the laws of your state before planning for handling an encounter.That said, MOE's advice is still very sound and accurate. I'd much rather say "We've called the police and I am armed" than his suggestion, but the basic theory still fits. Before you use your gun to stop an attack, you should try to deter the attack in the first place. Before you deter, you should try to evade/avoid the attack in the first place. Avoid: Good lighting, neighborhood watch, solid locks, alarm system (dogs count), making it obvious you're home, etc. Evade: Running away and calling the cops from a neighbor's house, etc. Deter: Doing the stomp on the floor thing and making your intentions known. You ought to give all of these a try whenever possible, before turning to your gun. Very much excellent advice, as long as the cops in your area actually care about the 2nd amendment. Many don't. Our local cops have openly stated they wish every single homeowner would carry a gun in their own home. Not all cops would agree - many assume a gun means you're a bad guy. LM

A thing to keep in mind: The type of person he is now, is the type of person he'll be in a year, 5 years, and 10 years. If this fills you with warm fuzzies, go get hitched. If it fills you with concern or denial, you should break up with him.

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