So many questions...

[Madriglace]

At this moment I am so thankful for my calling as Sunday School teacher ... this topic was covered several weeks ago ... sometimes the Lord puts you where you can gain the knwoledge to help your brothers and sisters.

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve taught:

“When we seek inspiration to help make decisions, the Lord gives gentle promptings. These require us to think, to exercise faith, to work, to struggle at times, and to act. Seldom does the whole answer to a decisively important matter or complex problem come all at once. More often, it comes a piece at a time, without the end in sight”

From personal experience when you seek answers it doesn't often come as a bolt out of the blue or as you think it should. I was having a problem with a friend and I worrried and worried and worried and then worried some more. I prayed about it and then worried some more. After several months of this I was sitting in RS and praying about the problem and a very gentle voice said exactly 3 words. "Let it go". I immediately obeyed (which is way out of character for me) and peace just flowed through me. I think it went on so long because I needed to be ready to listen and recieve and obey. Sometimes we need to "be still", we have to be in the right place at the right time at the right frame of mind for this to happen. When I finally got myself back home I was still just going through the motions ... one day in Sacrement meeting we were singing the hymn "I Stand All Amazed" ... when we sang the verse that says "to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as I" it hit me that that was ME! I was rebellious ... I was proud and that my elder brother loves me anyway. I needed to be where I was to realize what I was doing.

This is not pointing fingers at anyone but me .... my point being and from what Elder Packer said and Elder Scott ...because you are wanting that powerful sign that is probably not what you will get. Like me you may have to work to get yourself where you can listen and recieve and obey the smallest softest prompting .... remember ... after the test of your faith comes the sign.

[Moksha]

Great frustration can come from trying to know the unknowable. If you went with the path of least resistance and greater happiness, would that not involve acquiescing to the faith of your family for the sake of providing harmony.

Belief is what you choose it to be. Choose wisely.

:)

[TheAngelPalmoni]

Wow, you are amazingly honest, it's refreshing. I had a very interesting life experience with a friend, He had been dating a member girl for 5 years, been taught the discussions many many times, but still didn't feel anything towards the church except for 2 things. It made good moral sense, and everyone seemed nice. So with many baptismal invitations he just kept asking if that was enough to get baptized. His member girlfriend would not marry him unless he was LDS he understood it perfectly but yet still completely honest. He was a professional Magician and I did close up magic so I was able relate certain gospel ideas to magic. Still nothing at all, it just made good sense.

It took reading Our Search for Happiness by M Russel Ballard and the Book of Mormon again (his 3rd time) during a cruise ship contract (magic shows), and he had a gentle soft spiritual experience.

For 5 years, more than anything, all he wanted was to know so that he could be with his girlfriend.

[TheAngelPalmoni]

I didn't know until 1/2 way through my mission when a non denominational Christian made me really really take apart everything I thought my Testimony Stood on, I put it all back together stronger.

Meh everyone is different

[Soul_Searcher]

Maybe you're right. Perhaps this isn't what I wanted to hear I want some magic answer...Sounds like I have to just keep at it. But thats the problem. I dont know if Im strong enough, I might give up again.

Although I read Mosiah 4 last night as suggested. Very interesting chapter, I will need to read that one again, it deffo got me thinking.

[Faded]

I used to feel this way. It was nice but I felt constantly from everything I wasnt doing. I feel a bit freer now. Just confused instead. lol.

Hi Soul_Searcher. The truth of it is that nobody can truly answer your doubts but yourself, but you should understand a few things. My wife, Tarnished, has shared her thoughts on the matter, but you should realize that through her self-induced spiritual vulnerability, she nearly lost her marriage to sin. She would not have ever done any of the things she did if she had not followed her doubts and turned her back on the Church. Then she started having doubts about her marriage. When the opportunity to stray came, she took it, largely because she was following her own doubts. Doubts about me. Doubts about the Church. I tried everything to help her to resolve her doubts and to come back to Church. The trouble was, there weren't any definitive questions. Just a general idea that she didn't feel comfortable and she was determined that she would only go back to Church when she could say she was going to Church because she wanted to go. Not for me. Not for her family. For herself.

The day that she told me she had had an affair was the most utterly and completely stunning and devastating day of my life. And after she explained how she had gotten herself into such a mess, the truth of what was happening all along struck me. "You realize that you just got completely suckered by the adversary. Satan led you away from strength and safety and look what he has led you to!"

She definitely needed to sort it out for herself. She definitely needed to come around to wanting to go to back to Church herself. The massive disaster certainly helped her see where everything was going and was a reality check in a big, big way. But what a price to pay! She was so very stubborn and so much tragedy resulted from that stubborness.

You're circumstances are different but you should realize that the root cause is the same. Doubts in your faith come from the adversary. Feelings of doubt come from the adversary. Feelings of embarrassment about what you have been taught are from the adversary. Stubborn determination to not have anyone tell you what to do - DEFINITELY comes from the adversary. He has plans for you if he can get you away from safety. So please be very careful how you proceed from here.

If we take the idea that, "Needing people and organizations of people is weakness" to it's logical conclusion, then we would all run off and become hermits, shunning all human contact for the rest of our lives.

Edited April 9, 2009 by Faded

[Soul_Searcher]

Ive got a lot from this. I get it that I have to be the one to decide what I want, how to do it and that it will take time. I think there a things that are holding me back from doing this but I might start a seperate thread for that. I hope that with everyones support I can do whatever it is that Im trying to do. Thanks again!!!

[Faded]

Ive got a lot from this. I get it that I have to be the one to decide what I want, how to do it and that it will take time. I think there a things that are holding me back from doing this but I might start a seperate thread for that. I hope that with everyones support I can do whatever it is that Im trying to do. Thanks again!!!

If you need to understand something one point at a time, that fits perfectly into the LDS Gospel Discussion - LDS Mormon Forums section. Take it one concern at a time obviously, and keep an open mind. You have nothing to lose and everything go gain by resolving your doubts, but the important thing is confronting them head-on. Edited April 9, 2009 by Faded

[HiJolly]

You're circumstances are different but you should realize that the root cause is the same. Doubts in your faith come from the adversary. Feelings of doubt come from the adversary.

Faded, I really appreciate your comments here, and of course you have very, very intense and deep feelings concerning the situation. I too faced something similar, though things didn't go as far (thank God).

I don't wish to contradict you because I know the truth in what you say, but I would like to add something that I think is very much worth considering.

If we have false beliefs; if these are based on assumptions or previous teachings that were flawed (for whatever reason); then at some point, we must doubt, challenge and remove them before we can "see as we are seen, and know as we are known" ref: Doctrine and Covenants 76 and 1 Corinthians 13

The Holy Ghost testifies of truth, but if we are holding contrary beliefs or understandings then the truth cannot take hold. In that case, the Holy Ghost must lead us into removing the contrary beliefs. THis is the process that I referred to earlier, saying that it can be painful. Sometimes old beliefs are well-known friends that have betrayed us.

Feelings of embarrassment about what you have been taught are from the adversary. Stubborn determination to not have anyone tell you what to do - DEFINITELY comes from the adversary. He has plans for you if he can get you away from safety. So please be very careful how you proceed from here.

I agree with all of that.

If we take the idea that, "Needing people and organizations of people is weakness" to it's logical conclusion, then we would all run off and become hermits, shunning all human contact for the rest of our lives.

I have on occasion wished I could do just that. But I do acknowledge that I need to belong to a community of believers. It is 'truth'.

HiJolly

[Faded]

Faded, I really appreciate your comments here, and of course you have very, very intense and deep feelings concerning the situation. I too faced something similar, though things didn't go as far (thank God).

I don't wish to contradict you because I know the truth in what you say, but I would like to add something that I think is very much worth considering.

If we have false beliefs; if these are based on assumptions or previous teachings that were flawed (for whatever reason); then at some point, we must doubt, challenge and remove them before we can "see as we are seen, and know as we are known" ref: Doctrine and Covenants 76 and 1 Corinthians 13

The Holy Ghost testifies of truth, but if we are holding contrary beliefs or understandings then the truth cannot take hold. In that case, the Holy Ghost must lead us into removing the contrary beliefs. THis is the process that I referred to earlier, saying that it can be painful. Sometimes old beliefs are well-known friends that have betrayed us.

Yeah all of this is very valid. Holding to false beliefs will not bring us closer to God and it cannot lead us to our greatest possible happiness. We should verify and validate the core beliefs: Verifying that God is real. Verifying that Jesus Christ is real. Verifying that the Holy Ghost is real. One must always begin building at the foundation. Then we build on that foundation. The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ falls right in line with that. We must test it and learn whether it is real. But if we do not first know that God is real, then we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Remember when they were building the Salt Lake Temple. They laid the underground foundation of sandstone. After several years, they discovered that there were cracks in the foundation. So they removed the useless foundation and started over. This time they built the foundation of granite and they built differently. Soul-Searcher's foundation appears to be in the same state. Cracked. Damaged. Crumbling. It will not support the weight of the building that she would wish to build on top of it, so it's time to rebuild the foundation.

I'm certainly looking forward to her bringing her many questions -- hopefully one at a time of course -- so we can help answer her concerns. But we all know very well that it is up to her alone to choose to rebuild.

Currently, I think she's questioning whether she wants to even try. Nobody can answer that question for her, but she stands to lose so much from digging in her heals and stubbornly refusing to listen to the advice of others. She needs to be made very aware that Satan and his fallen angels are doing everything the can to encourage her to keep away from faith of any kind. Satan is clever. He gets you to doubt one thing. Give in and he'll add more doubts. Continue to give in and he will convince you to doubt everything you once knew to be true. "For he seeketh to make all men misrable like unto himself." Soul-Searcher needs to be fully aware that she the feelings of resistance, stubborness, resentment, distaste, etc -- are not coming from her alone. She's being helped to feel that way and she's getting a lot more help in that direction that she realizes.

A little over a year ago, after much begging and pleading, I got my wife to come to Church. She was miserable and I could tell. She wanted to leave ASAP. Nothing could disuade her from feeling that way. Fast forward to this year. She is exactly the same woman who was so miserable at Church. Now she loves it. She looks forward to it. We talk freely about religious subjects, something we could never do before. She has fallen back in love with the Gospel, the Restored Gospel, the whole thing. She didn't realize that she was miserable before, but I could see it plain as day. It was heartbreaking and it made me miserable too, because I felt so helpless. Now she's MUCH HAPPIER. What changed? She decided to stop listening to the voices of the adversary and his followers (both spirits and actual people). She decided to start turning herself back to God and listening to Him. I have never seen her more alive and happier. You cannot imagine how much happier I am because of her change.

[Tarnished]

A little over a year ago, after much begging and pleading, I got my wife to come to Church. She was miserable and I could tell. She wanted to leave ASAP. Nothing could disuade her from feeling that way. Fast forward to this year. She is exactly the same woman who was so miserable at Church. Now she loves it. She looks forward to it. We talk freely about religious subjects, something we could never do before. She has fallen back in love with the Gospel, the Restored Gospel, the whole thing. She didn't realize that she was miserable before, but I could see it plain as day. It was heartbreaking and it made me miserable too, because I felt so helpless. Now she's MUCH HAPPIER. What changed? She decided to stop listening to the voices of the adversary and his followers (both spirits and actual people). She decided to start turning herself back to God and listening to Him. I have never seen her more alive and happier. You cannot imagine how much happier I am because of her change.

I don't know that I would say I am exactly the same woman, I have made quite a few changes in my life as well as coming to realizations about certain things I had questioned before.