Traveler

You will have to explain this. All the countries that border Iran have closed their borders to limit those leaving Iran. The same for Gaza. I do not know much about Yemen, but I have not heard of anyone currently risking their life to go there. Syria and Lebanon are more stable than they have been for a decade and I have not heard of anyone trying to go there with some exceptions of a few citizens that left that are try get back. The Traveler

The Middle East has been one of the world’s prime war hotbeds for a couple of millennia – even before the Christian – Jewish vs Islam conflicts. Even if we ended all the Christian – Jewish vs Islam conflicts, Islam would be at desperate war with itself. With the death of Mohamid, Islam divided into two opposing factions, Shia and Sunni, over the rightful heir of Mohamid. According to end of times Islamic theology, Islam must defeat all other religions and especially those that do not believe in an Abrahamic G-d. Just so @Phoenix_person knows, this puts him personally higher on both Shia’s and Sunni’s list for death or submission than any religion or country – Israel or USA included. For his own sake, @Phoenix_person should be most grateful for Israel’s current threat to Islam. There is one other possibility – what is sometimes identified as the 13th Imam will come with Jesus and unite the true believers in Christianity with Islam – everyone else will be destroyed. The one reason that a devout Muslem can live in a non-Muslem society is to endlessly work to bring about Sharia law in that society in preparation for the end of times. I once asked an Islamic teacher (Shia teacher from Bahrain) about where on this planet anyone was living according to Sharia law or the closets to Sharia law. I was surprised and dumfounded when he said, “The Mormons in Utah”. As a side note. Iran is looked down upon but the majority of Arabic Muslims because the Iranians are of Persian decent which is not considered the truly blessed descendants of Abraham. I have speculated that Israel is quickly approaching the last-days considered by both Islam and Christianity. I thought that Iran might unite Islam against Israel. Though these times may be leading to something – it is not quite obvious yet. Or though it seems so. The Traveler

In my youth I had the opportunity on a number of occasions to know and personally converse with Elder Hugh B. Brown. Because of his position in the first Presidency, I felt that I had inside access to divine things. During this same time there was this old guy in my ward that seemed to present his testimony each fast Sunday. I did not pay much attention because this guy had no calling and always talked about Jesus. I knew that he was once a college professor at BYU and had awards for perfecting certain flowers – but as near as I could see he was basically ordinary and since he had no calling, he was no more special than anyone else and he lived in a very ordinary unimpressive house. When this old guy passed away Elder Brown came to speak at his funeral. I went to the funeral because it was in our ward and Elder Brown would be there. As Elder Brown was speaking, I was deeply touched. During his talk Elder Brown mentioned that the old ordinary guy had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I had heard people claim this before but as Elder Brown spoke, the spirit whispered to me that Jesus had appeared to and conversed with this old guy. I was stunned by this revelation. I did not know that Jesus would appear to an ordinary member of the Church. I though such things only happened to Apostles. Later, Brother Brown confirmed my understanding. I have had some stunning personal revelations and manifestations, but I have never conversed directly with Jesus to my knowledge (If I had, I strongly believe I would know it). I have come to understand that it is not for us to speculate about what is made known to who. We need not worry about how and what grand things are made known – even in our generation or even to ourselves. We need not worry about what things we may wish to know. G-d knows what is best for us – and we should seek and strive to be willing to receive whatever G-d would reveal to us. We can ask, and if it is right, it will be made known to us. The Traveler

Just a word of advice in case you are interested. You ought to mark this source as extremely unreliable. Why. Because the enrichment of uranium is a long, delicate, tedious, technical and very arduously difficult process. There are so many reasons, among them is that as uranium is enriched to plutonium 238, there can be reactions at the atomic level that will destroy the entire process - think Chernobyl. The process must be very controlled and all the time human lives that are involved are at great risk. Plus, as the enrichment process progresses the radiation levels go up exponentially – which means the process must be slowed down the closer one gets to weapon grade. What does all this mean? The short version is that regardless of whatever the nuclear treaty was under Biden – meaning that the enrichment process did not go over 40% at the extream maximum necessary for non-weapon grade use to produce energy in a reactor. There simply has not been enough time since Trump's secon term for Iran to be even 2 to 3 years away from weapon grade plutonium. The only way Iran could be close to a nuclear bomb is if they were never even remotely under compliance during the Biden Presidency. And whatever verifications that took place during that time, had to be a total and complete sham. In addition, there are reports that Iran already had enough enriched weapons grade plutonium to complete at least one nuclear device. The Traveler

I will post a few more things. I think we need to see how things play out. I have some information from a fairly reliable source, there is some verification but only from biased sources. Think of the scripture that - in the mouth of 2 or witnesses. The top nuclear scientist with a few of his critical colleagues were killed. This should be a setback – how critical may take a couple of months to ascertain. The top 3 commanders of the IRGC have been killed and it is reported that several other top leaders are fleeing to some unknown place. If this is accurate there could be a possible regime change in the near future. At least 3 nuclear targets have been hit and damaged, including the main enrichment facility. Iran has approximately 300 ballistic missiles left in their arsenal. 100 of which have been launched at Israel – maybe more as we speak. It is likely that all the missiles will eventually be launched as the last attempt at showing force. Along with the first barrage of ballistic missiles, drones were launched followed by two squadrons of fighters. The drones were eliminated by Israel and the squadrons returned while still over Iraq. Many Islamic countries have opposed Israeli’s attacks. The two most significant are Türkiye and Pakistan. The Houthis in Yemen launched a missile attack – two of which were off target and hit Palestinians. Many Islamic countries have remained silent – most likely relieved that Iran is being diminished. No one has come to the aid of Iran – yet. So far, no US targets have been attacked. I think it is because Iran is diminished. I am waiting to see what kind of demonstrations will take place in the USA. It may be possible that the threat of Iran will end before Gaza. I am also waiting to see how the Democrats in the US support or take a stand against Israel. The Traveler

Israel has hit Iran hard – including nuclear facilities. Iran has just launched a counter with maned aircraft. I believe this war is far, far from an end. The Traveler

There is a long list of criminal syndicates with foreign ties operating here in the USA. Many from the past, such as the Cosa Nostra, have gone more underground. There are several Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) that pose significant threats in the US. And there are other groups from Latan America, Asia and Eastern Europe. There are even indications of organizations from Africa. In 1970 the RICO (Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act) was passed to fight organized crime. If we include RICO with international ties, we will find that with the efforts of globalization in today’s landscape that the vast majority of RICO problems in the USA do have some level of international reach. It is not uncommon for criminal TCOs to have organizational reach inside our prison systems and there is significant evidence that among their most prized targets are judges and elected officials. It is estimated that in Mexico 80% of their judges and elected officials have ties to criminal organizations – especially drug cartels. No one that is not a US citizen has a right to enter, visit or in any way come to the USA. Even if they enter by any designated legal process – they do not have a right to stay. Their time spent here is a privilege that can be granted or removed without legal due process. All that is necessary to be proven is that an individual is established as a non-citizen. The Secretary of State has the authority to cancel any visa or work permit for any reason they wish. I would be surprised if any non-citizen in the USA has any legal ground to be here if they do not have a legal visa or work permit. I am not sure what due process is necessary to deport a foreign national from the USA. In all my travels I have never encountered any country that I could stay in, if any legal official on any whim decided to cancel whatever permissions I had and expel me from their country. At my age I do take some prescription medication. Forgetting to register all my meds or even making a spelling error is likely to end my visit quickly. Our Homeland Security has said they are going after mainly anyone involved in RICO criminal activity but if they encounter any undocumented (illegal) immigrant while going after criminals all will be deported. Undocumented immigrants have more to fear from criminals and being associated with criminals than they do with our Homeland Security and ICE. The last question – how can we determine what politicians and judges (or even media operatives) are assisting international drug and other criminal activity organization? Last point - officials in LA seem to have difficulty preventing and putting out fires. It is so bad that most major insurance companies will not provide fire coverage for homes or businesses anywhere in or near LA. This is not a problem that can be blamed on Trump or even the republican political party. The problem of fires in LA are strictly onerous to one political party that dominates the LA and the California state. Isn’t it about time to change that? The Traveler

When property is being damaged, lives of las officers and citizens are being threatened (physically not by verbal), law enforcement is being overwhelmed, and the local governing body is ignoring federal law – like when the Democratic president called up military troops to assist during civil rights and integration. How soon we forget. However, our prophetic scriptures of the restoration do indicate that violence will abound on this continent. I do suspect that there is a trend. The Traveler

What do you suggest when foreign interests are involved in planned and executing destruction of property (federal, state and private), endangering the life of citizens (both officers of the law as well as innocent citizens), looting of property that causes citizens to lose their businesses – local law enforcement openly states that they are overwhelmed and local authority refuse to intercede or call for backup? How much of LA has to burn to the ground before you will say – enough, it is time to make a change? The Traveler

It is because you have it backwards - it is something you wrap around your head. The Traveler

Worse yet, what if we both were called to minister to each other. The only thing I know for sure concerning people with tattoos is that they are uncomfortable in their own skin. What I would say about hair; if you want to use up all your hormones growing hair – I am not going to stop you. It is not that my hair fell out – it fell in and gave me a lot of hairbrained ideas. The Traveler

I have a personal opinion. I will attempt to present it to the best of my ability. I grew up in Provo, Utah through the 50’s and 60’s. For most of those growing years it was illegal (city ordinance) for someone of Black decent to reside in Provo overnight. I grew up having never seen a black person face to face or talked directly. It was common to use certain words and terms to describe inferior things that to me had nothing to do with race. One such term was a “cotton picking” whatever. It was not until recently that I was informed that referring to anything as “cotton picking” was raciest - sorry I did not know sooner. At the age of 17 I joined the army so I could get special leave to serve on a mission when I was 19. I can relate many stories about my coming to know and have “black” friends. However, the best way to explain things is that there were two very prominent demographics of persecution in the military during that era – “blacks” and “Mormons”. My closest and most trusted friend was black. He changed forever my personal concerns and understanding of prejudice. I am more concerned with present-day prejudices than I am of the past. The mane reason is because we cannot do anything about the past. We can do a great deal in the present. The worse problem with prejudice is the taking of certain traits of an individual and superimposing that trait on all the individuals of similar class or other relationships. I have prejudices – most of them arise out of ignorance. I struggle with people sporting tattoos, various substances addictions and habits of uncleanness and poor grooming. I really dislike people using profanity. I tend to think that someone willing to run for public office to be of lower moral character – especially if that office becomes a lifetime pursuit. Perhaps my greatest prejudices are those that put wealth on display (weather they have any or not) or think they are entitled – especially because of something they cannot contribute to themselves one way or another. I do not know why blacks did not hold the priesthood for so long into the restoration. There was a time I thought I knew – but as of now, I am not convinced of what reason might have been. It is my understanding that it was the literal ministering of angels that, brough by commandment, a change. A change for which I am personally grateful. I am hopeful that I will accept more necessary changes in what I think and do before I must make an account to my L-rd. The Traveler

This is a problem with PBS presenting only one side of an issue and lean heavily on the side of extremely anti-Trump. ICE is committed to following up on children that came unaccompanied across the border. There is evidence that unaccompanied children that cross the border are prone to being human trafficked. The Traveler

I do not think this is very difficult to understand why the logic of liberal thinking leans more towards mental issues. There is strong correlation between recreational use of psychoactive drugs and mental illness. The legalization of recreational use of psychoactive drugs is strictly a liberal political plank. It has never been a conservative backed issue. Conservatives are also less likely to rely on alcohol or tobacco for recreation. Legalization of marijuana is a predominant liberal solution to depression or just dropping out if someone does not like life. Studies now prove that the adolescent (under age 25) brain is severely damaged with marijuana – the more the use the greater the damage. From personal observations – I believe that adult brains are fried with heavy use as well. The other tenant of liberal thinking also relies heavily on victimization and lack of personal responsibility. Many have claimed that psychoactive drugs mellows out users – but I am not sure. It appears to me that bipolar or schizophrenic mental issues often result from high recreational use of drugs (including alcohol) – but these mental states, which, on occasion, erupt in fits of anger – which leads to a variety of social issues and loss of employment which reinforces victimization and a vicious downward cycle. All such thinking leads to bar fight (often considered manly – perhaps toxic manliness) or other forms of aggression. I am concerned for two reasons. I have no idea how to help and I seldom see anyone break out of this cycle once it gets a hold on them. The Traveler

I cannot account for every missionary of this generation. I was counseled by my first missionary president that dusting of feet in D&C 60:15 is a reference to “general” authorities and not for the “missionaries” as we/they are called of our current era. However, I would admit that there were times on my mission that I would have liked to have attempted that ordinance. The Traveler

It is hard to say what really is going on. During the 60’s I was with some friends on a scuba outing at Long Beach California. It had been a long day in the water, and we were all tired in the late afternoon gathering all our equipment and stuff on the beach. We watched a “black” fellow running along the board walk grab a purse from an elderly lady walking on the board walk. The fellow took off and the lady screamed. In that era the surfers ruled the beach and as far as I knew all surfers were white back then. About 5 surfers took off after the black fellow with the intention of not letting such a thing happen on their beach. We thought this might be fun to watch so we left one to watch all our stuff and the rest of us followed the excitement. It did not take long for the surfers to catch up, but the fellow had found refuge with about 20 of his friends (all black). The surfers immediately called to their friends for backup and within seconds (so it seemed) the ratio of white on black was about 3 to 1 and a physical confrontation quickly erupted. The police quickly arrived but by then about 2 black fellows were rather beaten up – the purse had been retrieved. There were no arrests because there was uncertainty about who took the purse in the first place. Everybody broke up and went their way with the exception of the two black guys that were taken by ambulance. None of us thought much about all of it until the national news hour that evening. The story line was a race riot over blacks not being allowed on the beach. The broadcast gave the impression that the 20 black guys were badly beat up by hundreds of racists white guys. Somehow it seemed that several ambulances took just about all the black guys in critical condition to local hospitals. It was announced on the news that the police assisted in beating up the black guys that just wanted some beach experience. There was no mention of a stolen purse. I was a teenager at the time and was quite surprised that the national news could possibly get a story so wrong. I have been present only twice when something happened to make the national news. Both times what was reported was so unaligned from the truth – that I do not trust the national news. I have only one somewhat distant friend that was in DC on February 6th – they did not see anything burning or pushed down. I am quite sure (though I do not know) that there are criminal elements among the undocumented immigrants in California. There is a significant drug problem in California and there has been for a very long time. I have been in LA and have seen for myself the effects of illegal drug imports. It is my understanding that as much as 90% of the crime that takes place currently has some connection to the drug trade and drug cartels. I could be incorrect, but it is my opinion that any efforts to enforce immigration laws will have an effect on the drug cartels and their organized crime in our country. If efforts to curtail the drug cartels and their operations persists – we are only seeing the beginning of their reach in our society and politics. Having visited Mexico, I am concerned with such influences of corruption in our country and society. As someone that follows the prophecies, especially of the restoration, I believe that we quite possibly are entering an era of increasing division and violence. My plan is to increase my efforts of repentance and stand in holy places. The Traveler

There is a movement taking place to allow biological men to compete in women’s sports. I thought it might be beneficial to have a threat of the arguments that are being used and ways to combat those arguments. I will start with a recent argument I have seen. There are benefits in having sports and competing. There are things learned by competing on a team. Everyone should have the privilege to compete in sports and try out to be on a team. I actually agree with all the arguments but there are some things that everyone should know. When we compete in sports there will always be those that win and perform well in the competition and those that lose and do poorly in the competitions. The same applies to teams the compete – some will win more than others. Competitive teams require that those wishing to be on the team “try out”. There were several sports and teams that I tried out for but did not qualify. The only sports that I did well in were skiing and cycling. But even in the sports I did well in – I never reached the level of highly competitive ranking. I never reached the level of competing to be socially recognized or honored. I did not achieve all the benefits of competing in sports. Not everybody does – and I am but one of those. Everybody can work towards achieving in sports but not everybody can receive honors for it. Because there is a difference between biological men and biological women there is a unique category for biological women. Some argue that anyone identifying as a women should be able to try out and compete in the women category. This is a misnomer. Everyone can try out and compete in sports – men’s sports, even women can try out if they so wish. However, for fairness of sport – there is a category for biological women. We call this category women’s sports. Anyone, regardless of how they identify, can try out and compete in sports. I contend that they can do it regardless of their biological designation. However, only those that clearly are biological female should be allowed to compete in the unique and separate category of women’s sports. I realize that there are genetic variations that render an individual on the fringes between male and female. The simple and obvious solutions is that anyone with XX chromosomes can compete as a female as long as they are not taking male (testosterone) treatments – if they are taking testosterone treatments that will disqualify them from the female category, but they can compete, along with everyone else in the open category of the non-biologically female sports. PROBLEM SOLVED! The Traveler

I will offer my opinion and understanding on this matter. As I read scripture (especially the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants) I am impressed that the events and prophesies of the Last-days are being fulfilled. It is my understanding that the righteous will be spared and the wicked be destroyed. I think this means that the righteous (covenant keepers) will be at peace in their hearts – and the wicked (covenant rejectors) will be greatly stressed in their minds and hearts. As a side note – the Book of Enoch claims that there were two kinds of wickedness that brought about the flood to destroy the wicked in the time of Noah. One was that the wicked changed the order of marriage. The second was that the wicked conceived children (or believed all children conceived – my interpretation) are for evil and lustful purposes. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to resolve what this all means. It is my understanding that in the time of Noah the earth was cleansed (baptized) by water and that before the Messiah returns that the earth will be cleansed again (baptized) by fire. I also speculate that the ripeness of iniquity has 3 elements. The first two is demonstrated by what the Book of Enoch records; the final element is for the wicked is to cast out the righteous. I speculate that this is the same as the many scriptures in reference to the last days as separating the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff and Zion from Babylon. As the City of Enoch was taken up to avoid destruction, so shall the Zion people be taken up and not destroyed. The primary purpose of the church currently is to prepare a Zion people ready for the return of the Messiah. I think now is a good time to repent. The Traveler

One problem I have is that I judge the world from my own experiences. I cannot think of anything in my life that ought to be changed. I can say that there are things I have learned that with that new insight that I would do things differently – but it kind of goes along with what you have indicated. Everything has taught me something and given me experience. The one thing I have difficulty with is social attachments and empathy for others. My wife often reminds me that I have never had a broken heart. This is problematic because the scriptures tells us that we must have a broken heart. I do not think that I could have had a broken heart and not known it. It is just that regardless of whatever has happened – I have always felt that there was so much to be thankful for and happy about. I could make a very long list of problems I have caused for myself and others. My wife has asked me not to talk about most of the stuff on the list. She does not think that kind of information helps others very much. But all those experiences gave me helpful insights and courage later in life that were critical. Perhaps it is just me but I have everything to be thankful for – especially being able to repent and change things that are possible for me to change. I cannot imagine that my experiences so far ought to be different that what they have been. Each night in my prayers I thank G-d for everything in my life – and there is nothing I feel to criticize. I am told all the time that there are a lot of miserable people – but I really do not know why. The Traveler

You have left me with a lot to ponder – I find this conversation both interesting and invigorating. I very much appreciate your excellent efforts to find flaws in my interpretation of things. But I did want to respond to this particular exchange of notions. I am quite sure that there were great details explained about how things would be during this mortal probation – even who would be involved. I believe that honesty (including self-honesty) was paramount in the pre-existence, and we honestly laid out our plan – knowing what experiences were necessary to “convince” us of evil and its effect? I can visualize how Lucifer would aggressively point out all the inevitable consequences within the spectrum of evil experiences especially as a warning to those that would be so inclined. I believe that especially, even from the beginning, that Jesus was well aware that he would suffer more than all others in aggregate. In short Jesus knew all the suffering that would take place and as absurd as it may seem mapped out his mortal probationary existence to so conpensate – not only suffer himself but to allow all of us to pile on evil upon evil. I am overcome with grief just thinking on this. Since Lucifer was active there – I speculate that he argued against all the suffering and consequences and for a seemingly good cause. That no one would be happy with unleashing freely the degrees of evil that most certainly would result. And since he wanted to be the Messiah – a better alternative to save everyone without him having to pay such an awful price – convinced many to agree with him. Comparably, my sins may not seem so bad but I am still greatly ashamed of what more suffering I have caused and definitely, to some point, would that I had not done so. I do think that even though my mortal probation has not ended yet – I am not the same person that I once was and hope that I will yet evolve to someone much (infinitely?) better. The Traveler

I worked for a while with an individual that was the head of the Utah chapter of atheists. For fun he and I decided to have a debate on the question of whether there is a G-d. This took place in our company’s cafeteria. We went on and on for a couple of months and attracted a rather large audience (we even had many that worked elsewhere come to listen) – but I realized that our discussion was not getting anywhere. I finial was inspired to ask Chris to define his notion of G-d. After his response I conceded the debate to him with the insistence that according to his notions of G-d – I also did not believe in any such being or possibility of such a being either. When he asked me to define G-d – I presented the two ideas to be coexisting. The first is that evolution exist and has no limits. The second is that anything that happens or exists – can be reversed engineered and even improved upon. I then put forward that since this universe exists and evolution is a principle of this universe – that eventually G-d will evolve or has already evolved. Then according to Occam’s razor there is a G-d. The Traveler

There is a question that I believe to be shrouded in speculation. Does the atonement allow Judas Iscariot or King David to repent and obtain a Celestial glory? There is another question - Did G-d know of their sin before they acted? You imply that if they had known of their gross sin in the pre-existence that they would not have followed the plan of G-d but would have chosen to follow Lucifer? The Traveler

With this post, I will attempt to deal with more than one thing. First, I desire to address @zil2 . Your questions are good and have caused me to think and adjust my understanding. The word agency has always caused we to ponder – wondering what it possibly means. I have had somewhat of an epiphany over your reference that we (Adam) were given agency in Eden. I have thought of agency as a binary – we either have agency or we do not. I have understood that we were given agency in the beginning of the pre-existence – especially during the councils of Heaven when the Father presented the plan of salvation. D&C 93:31 explains agency but verse 30 says something interesting about independence in that sphere in which G-d has placed it – to act for itself. What is a sphere? There is a cross reference to D&C 77:3 that relates sphere to a “destined order”. I am thinking that a sphere is ordered by law, ordinance(s) and covenant. This leads me to believe that there are different spheres, and each sphere has its unique “level” of agency. This is a new idea of agency for me. This little idea has ramifications that could create a thread of discussion all its own. But there is another point from verse 30 – “to act for itself”. There is a cross reference here to 2Nephi 2:13 that implies both to act and to be acted upon. I have always thought of agency to be exclusively to act and not to be acted upon. I have never considered independence as having the element of being acted upon. There is a conundrum about agency that has always troubled me. If conditions are repeated but we respond one way once and then another way when repeated which was the true or real act of agency? How can we say we are controlling our “independence” and not something outside us overriding to cause “our?” act to change? Could G-d suddenly as a singular choice, sin, or Satan suddenly as a singular choice. become a being of light and truth, as an act of “independence”? I think not – I am thinking that agency is no more than a binary choice to either act according to a level of light and truth within a sphere or to follow a level of acts of darkness and lies within a sphere. All this bring me (or us) to what has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. How predictable (non-variant or non-changing) are independent beings? PS – I still need to address your point of proxy work. The Traveler

I would like to post something for atheists. Most atheists I have known have come from traditional (or creedal) Christian background. If it was not for LDS theology (which seemingly few atheists seem to know much about – I would not have much regard for the religious side of society. I can talk to most atheists about my LDS beliefs better than I can talk to the vast majority of traditional Christians. I do not know about everybody else’s experiences on the forum, but for me, the lack of logic and basic intelligence in the religious community is very frustrating. Especially if anything to do with science, technology or basic logic is involved – it is like talking to a wall. Or the three monkeys – that see nothing, hear nothing and say nothing. But I also would like to say something about evolution. Another word for evolution is change. Mostly we think of evolution in terms of genetic changes. However, the particular bumper sticker referenced by @Vort seems to be referencing evolution is terms of individual intelligence. Because of the LDS concept of “eternal progression”, I do not feel that we have a dog in the evolution fight between atheists and traditional Christians. And for those LDS that think we have a dog in that fight – I really think we are more on the side of the atheists than the traditional Christians. In short – we LDS believe that it is possible to evolve from this mortal human state to a divine state necessary to be compatible to being “One” with G-d himself. The Traveler

The plan of salvation requires that we experience a fallen state so that through our experience we can know the good from the evil. We learn from scripture that we must live in this mortal probation with a veil blocking us from the pure light of truth. Because, if we sin against the pure light of truth with knowledge – we cannot be forgiven for our sins. Those that sin against the pure light of truth are called the sons of perdition. These sins are not covered by the atonement of Christ. I have speculated on how and why an infinite atonement does not apply – but that is another discussion. The point is that we cannot act by knowledge (I believe to be necessary for agency) in this mortal probation to be able to experience sin and qualify for an atonement. The other reason for the veil is that if we have knowledge our trials become meaningless and our purpose of experiencing a trial is thwarted. This is why I believe that agency does not fully apply to our mortal probation – we really do not know what we are doing – note that Jesus specifically recounted that mortals should be forgiven because we know not what we are doing. I believe that this fog of understanding and requiring faith alone creates a unique condition for our mortal probation portion part of the plan of salvation. It appears very obvious to me that we cannot control anything in this mortal experience beyond our own thoughts, hopes, intentions and dreams. Physically, everything around us operates beyond what we think we control in a moment. When we turn on a light switch – if the light comes on or not, it has nothing to do with us. The Book of Mormon tells us that even every breath we take is overseen by G-d who is allowing us breath. This is a fixed environment controlled far beyond what we are even capable of as mortals. But I believe that we do have agency and what is playing out is because of our agency – that I believe was part of our pre-existence (See Doctrine and Covenants 93:31). Note that this scripture references our agency as something that was from the beginning – not something that takes place at a particular moment. I think that when scriptures reference a beginning that it is talking about the beginning or initiation of the plan of salvation. The Traveler