NeuroTypical

She's 9. It's not a very big issue, I'm just throwing out my line to see what other people are doing/have done.She is very good at reading - yes, she can pick the right word from a list, or spot the wrong word in the sentence. It's just figuring out the next letters. I guess the only reason I'm asking is she picked up reading in a flash (we did the Teach Your Kid To Read In 100 Lessons deal, took one year). That was 3-4 years ago, and she hasn't really progressed in spelling much at all. It's good to hear that it's hard for people, but of course I'm reading what you're all writing, so I see y'all picked it up somewhere... LM

How did your kids learn to spell? By what age could they write a few sentences? When could they spell well enough to put together paragraphs and papers and whatnot? My girl is years ahead in reading and writing, but spelling is slow going. LM

I think you might have answered your own question.This link might help you quite a lot: Oct 2005 Ensign: Elder Alexander B. Morrison - Myths about Mental Illness

Correct. I don't have the same password, I have the same password algorithm. It's easy.LDS.net - pick the first letter L. The password would be everything up and left, then back down: o98ik Next letter D. Uppercase - up and left, back down: E32WS Put them together - instant unbreakable password that you'll never forget: o98ikE32WS. As long as you never forget your method, you never need to remember a password. LM

If they ever bring up trust, that's a red flag. Honest folk understand that trust is earned and built up over time, and will assume that zero trust exists in a new transaction with a new person.

Oh - you mean if people just stop killing each other, then there would be no more war? Heh. I'll make sure to transform humanity into a new utopia with that little tidbit. Thanks Goose. Any idea why John Lennon never got it done? I'm sure we're just inches away.As I said, if someone actually comes up with the solution, I'm all for it. LM

I think I agree with this guy. If you don't like it, go solve war - stop bugging the soldiers and blaming things on Bush and annoying people and whatnot.And if someone actually came up with the solution to war, I'd be happy to jump on board. LM

Somewhere in my little mormon boy upbringing, I was given the mental picture of God hearing every swear word we say and writing it down in a little book. That book would be brought out at the final judgement and used to keep us out of heaven. (I think the lesson went along with repentence being the eraser or something.) Did anyone else grow up hearing that? Does anyone else explain it that way to kids?

No, allowing the federal government to micromanage American businesses is a horrible idea. We have this thing called the constitution which gives the feds specific powers - and telling businesses what sorts of rooms they must have, isn't one of them. Right - it's a states issue - not a federal issue. Let the states regulate the businesses in their borders - keep the feds' noses out! Well, now that you've read this post, you have a more valid conservative slant on this legislation.LM

It's 'fallout' because 1- nobody heard about it in the media coverage (or anywhere else that I can see), and 2- it's another dang unfunded mandate bunch of increased government we-say-so-ism butting it's way into private businesses that will make doing business harder and more expensive. LM

Come on everyone - let's join hands and pray: "Lord, please bless those people who sin differently than I do!" LM

I know a handful of people I respect immensely who have been in combat and seen and caused death. They are stalwarts, righteous and honorable people. They come from diverse backgrounds, but they are unanimous in two opinions: 1- Killing is a horrible thing that traumatizes the killer in various ways. 2- Unless you've experienced a taste of what it's like, you have no basis from which to judge those who have. The brain reacts to traumatic events in diverse ways. Inappropriate laughter is one way. Distancing onesself from the tragedy is another. Often, folks will need a little guidance and help in order to find the good coping mechanisms and avoid the bad ones. I'm buddies with a vietnam vet who still suffers from PTSD symptoms over what he experienced and did. Such things can change you and leave permanent scars. Instead of sitting in our safe chairs surrounded by freedom and liberty and unrighteously judging these soldier's reactions from our position of ignorance, maybe we should take a moment and thank them for being willing to risk life, limb, and mental health in our country's service. LM

My Dad used curse words in this way. It was a marvel to behold. He'd go down into the basement and hit his head on a low-hanging metal duct, and in his pain and frustration would proceed to damn the duct to hell. Not just to plain simple hell either - everyone would get a discourse on various attributes of hell. You may not know this, but hell actually has a color. It's 'dark brown' in case you were wondering.

I remember that show. I thought it was about the best someone who was outside of the church could do at trying to be unbiased and paint both adherents and critics in the most charitable light. One thing I think they did goof up on, was some of the artwork. For the life of me, when I think of the Angel Moroni coming to visit, I really don't have this image in my mind:

Sounds like you're doing the usual thing people do when they get a divorce - find yourself in the grips of the overpowering obsession to turn absolutely everything possible into a weapon against the other person.Sorry you're in that place. You're certainly not alone there. It doesn't look like a fun place to be. I wish I had some advice on how to get out of that place, but I've never found any that matters, except "eventually, you'll wake up one day, and the mere existence of the day won't be just another thing that's his fault." Until then, God bless. If there are kids involved, please do whatever you can to make the transition easy on them. LM

Hey - I've been that guy! :) FYI, I didn't get a good answer right away, so I went inactive for 6 years. If it happens, don't sweat it - just love the guy. In the end, here was my best reason: The only good reason to stay in the church, is you figure God wants you to. All the other reasons might sound nice, but they're far distant seconds to the main reason. I had to spend 6 years growing into the person that could actually figure out what God wanted of me. LM

We prepare for many different things. In addition to our food storage, we have 'bug out bags' in case we have to leave. We also have 'get home bags' in our cars in case there's a problem. We used them just last week, when a surprise snowstorm stranded me and our two kids in our car for a few hours. Cash is an excellent component to planning that helps smooth over a ton of 'what ifs'. LM

We humans have a breathtaking ability to do horrible things to each other. Christ's atonement covers any and all sinners, all who wish to be free of their sins. One thing that is also commanded is that we forgive each other. I think this is more emphasized in the BoM than in the Bible - we're actually told that failure to forgive is a greater sin that whatever was done to us. It strikes me that there are lots of people who have been on the receiving end of harm, who just don't forgive, for whatever reason. If these folks can't find it in them to forgive, then by definition, they won't need to be burdened with proximity to the repentant person who made it to heaven via the cleansing blood of Christ. It's a startling concept. LM

All excellent points, and all wonderful reasons to never, ever, ever invite Harry Ried to speak at any sort of church sponsored activity, ever again. Ever.LM (Same for Mitt Romney)

Not sure where this comment comes from. There's plenty that's true in the Godmakers.* Mormons have temples. * Mormons go to their temples. * Mormons have two eyes and one nose. * Mormons tend to walk around on two feet. Just about everything else in the movie is nonsense. LM

I didn't date until I was 26. Now I'm sitting on a couch watching Clifford the Big Red Dog with my two kids. I remember spending hours just overpowered with the knowledge that I was just so dang different than anyone, and worried sick about what that would mean to my future. But things turned out ok. Yeah, you're story is not the usual one. But don't do anything dumb out of desparation, and I'm guessing you'll be fine. LM

I'd just like to sieze the opportunity to take my favorite jab at the more foolish part of church critics. Bagley's book was a main source for that horrible movie in 2007. It cost ten million to make. It lost nine point nine million. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 0% Cream of the Crop rating as of February 2008. Roger Ebert gave it a rare "zero stars" review. The New York Post gave it 0/4. I'd like to add some smarmy loud laughter here, but the serious subject matter constrains me. An event this important deserved a much more serious treatment than the "Buck Rogers vs. the evil emperor ming" nonsense that got vomited on theater audiences for two weeks. LM

Yeah. All those gumption lacking people are probably better off killing themselves, right? Lemme guess - all the cripples and 'tards should just stay away from us normal people too?I don't usually get offended at posts, but yours sure comes close Wisc. LM

Well, no it doesn't. People IN the church might believe this and act this way, but the church itself is not prophecying doom and gloom.When Pres Hinckley urged us "with all the emphasis of which I am capable" to get out of debt, he added a qualifier: "Now, brethren, I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of famine in the future. But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order." Providentliving.org is all about teaching principles of self reliance and preparing against hardships, but I don't see any melodrama about impending widespread stuff. I think we're big on preparedness for three reasons. First, we retain our pioneer roots, and remember the problems people had just feeding themselves. Second, we understand that hiccups occur in everyone's lives. Be it unemployment, a natural disaster, terrorist event, loss of a loved provider - we all experience difficulties of a temporary nature. A church full of people who is prepared to weather these temporary things is so much more prepared to help our neighbor. Third, we're very aware of the prophecies surrounding the last days. The events preceeding the millenium have a lot of good in them, but also a lot of very bad in them. Again, if ye are prepared ye shall not fear. LM

Good post, up until that part. All the decent criticism I've heard about Bagley's book don't exactly sound like "he sez facts but we don't wanna hear them!". The decent criticisms I've heard all revolve around him cherry-picking a paradigm, overemphasizing facts that support it, and deemphasizing facts that don't. Bad juju, no matter what side you're on.LM