Tebium

Then yes, they can behave as if they are possessed by evil spirits!

The knife may be one of the things that's ebbing the flow of the blood. Pull it out and all the air..er...blood comes out maybe?

Here is an interesting thought I had... The Church encourages the well rounded individual, so you have dances in the Cultural Hall and Potlucks, and usually a stage that is rarely used, other than as an extra room for classes sometimes. So what time period did the Church decide to stick a basketball court in every church building? Even the smaller units, if they have a cultural hall will have a half court. Some of the older stakes would even have a Stake Gym which had a basketball court that would rival any found in a high school. Maybe it's cultural for the US. Do they have stake soccer fields in Brazil, or Stake Cricket Fields in England? I have been in other Churchs and most of them don't have an attached basketball court. Could the church just as easily chosen Football or Baseball or Badminton as the 'Church Sport'? I remember my brother telling me when he was on his mission in Korea, he and his Zone ended up playing a college team there....AND WON. A bunch of American Mormon boys growing up on Church Basketball.

I have found the book to be quite entertaining. It has some great stories in it, like Nephi dealing with Laban, or the wars and contentions, Teancum going into the enemy camp, etc. The books says that we need to liken the scriptures to ourselves. This would be one way of getting involved. Now I am not saying that by likening it, you need to go slay your local govenment boss, put on his clothes and go ransack the county clerks office for genealogical records, taking the clerk with you to join you and your brothers out in the wilderness. I am sure you're not involved in much political intrigue or assassination attempts for the governorship or the land either. So some of the stuff you probably won't get much out of other than saying...'oh that's nice, someones head just got scalped.' but, as far as listening to the teachings of Jesus and following his commandments, we can avoid a lot of pain and misery in our lives. The main purpose of the book is to testify that Jesus is the Christ and that he loves all his children, including you. If it helps you feel that, then it's served it's purpose

I have too at times struggled with whether or not the Church is true. You can get all the spiritual feelings you want, but God doesn't just force or let us rely on these alone, though that is part of it. There are certain doctrines that if you put into practice, you can see for yourself whether they are or God or not. There are things like tithing, or the Word of Wisdom that you can practice you see if what the Lord promises if you obey them actually happen. For example, the Word of Wisdom says that if you live it, you will run and not be weary, or you will gain great treasures of knowledge, etc. So live it and see if it works. Or with tithing, live it and see if the windows of heaven are opened to you or not. If we covenant to do things for God, and do them and God fulfills his part, then you will know it is of God. If you follow the principle and things go sour and things go awry, then possibly it isn't of God. We have been in financial straights with the job and a flood in the area lately. Our home got flooded, and I lost my job right off the bat. I have had a couple fly by night jobs since then, however, we have continued to pay tithing. For some reason, we have been able to make the mortgage and meet our needs these last 6 months despite the difficulties. Our bills have been met, we haven't had to ask for Church assistance or welfare, and we are still coasting along despite having alot less money. So find some principle and test it.

But they were just telling me today during Elders Quorum it was okay to cannibalize my kids and burn the flag...wasn't that the lesson you guys got? Seriously though, the Catholics are ones to talk about family values... Priest Pedophile Crisis, need I say more?

It's like an action/adventure book... "We need to get to the detonator and stop it from exploding and destroying the city!" Ned said, "But before we attack with our sub atom ak47 rifles and kill people...let us pray." It's like Dirk Pitt by Clive Cussler mixed with moments of prayer.