a TEST is coming

[Guest]

On 9/18/2017 at 3:51 PM, The Folk Prophet said:

In 1990 in an Ensign article by Gordon B. Hinkley (First Presidency Message) he quotes Orson F. Whitney quoting Heber C. Kimball:

“I want to say to you, my brethren, the time is coming when we will be mixed up in these now peaceful valleys to that extent that it will be difficult to tell the face of a Saint from the face of an enemy to the people of God. Then, brethren, look out for the great sieve, for there will be a great sifting time, and many will fall; for I say unto you there is a test, a Test, a TEST coming, and who will be able to stand?” (Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1945, p. 446.)

What is (or are) this (or these) test (tests), do you think?

The article actually addresses (if not answers) that question.

Quote

I do not advocate a retreat from society. On the contrary, we have a responsibility and a challenge to take our places in the world of business, science, government, medicine, education, and every other worthwhile and constructive vocation. We have an obligation to train our hands and minds to excel in the work of the world for the blessing of all mankind. In so doing we must work with others. But this does not require a surrender of standards.

We can maintain the integrity of our families if we will follow the counsel of our leaders. As we do so, those about us will observe with respect and be led to inquire how it is done.

We can oppose the tide of pornography and lasciviousness, which is destroying the very fiber of nations. We can avoid partaking of alcoholic beverages and drugs and stand solidly for measures designed to lessen their use. As we do so, we shall find others who feel as we do and who will join hands in the battle.

We can more fully care for our own who may be in need rather than pass the burden to government and thereby preserve the independence and dignity of those who must have and are entitled to help.

We can refrain from buying on the Sabbath day. With six other days in the week, none of us needs to buy furniture on Sunday. None of us needs to buy clothing on Sunday. With a little careful planning we can easily avoid the purchase of groceries on Sunday.

As we observe these and other standards taught by the Church, many in the world will respect us and find strength to follow that which they too know is right.

While not exactly saying what the test is, it gives us a way to pass the test.

• Remain in the world, not of the world.  Excel in what you do.  Contribute in a positive manner
• Focus on the family.  Raise your children right.
• Law of Chastity, particularly pornography.
• Word of Wisdom. -- and he hints that passing laws to that effect is something we should support.  That kind of makes the libertarian in me wince.  But that was the prophet, so...
• Care for our own rather than depend on government.
• Keep the Sabbath Holy.
• Other Church standards.

EDIT: He also points to temple work as well.

Edited September 27, 2017 by Guest

[zil]

Nice to see you back, @Carborendum.

[askandanswer]

58 minutes ago, zil said:

Nice to see you back, @Carborendum.

I think Zil accidently left out an r =- as in nice to see your back  

[zil]

2 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

I think Zil accidently left out an r =- as in nice to see your back  

I think @askandanswer left out an apostrophe and an e, as in: "Nice to see you're back..."

[Anddenex]

4 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

I think Zil accidently left out an r =- as in nice to see your back  

 

1 minute ago, zil said:

I think @askandanswer left out an apostrophe and an e, as in: "Nice to see you're back..."

[Vort]

12 minutes ago, zil said:

16 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

I think Zil accidently left out an r =- as in nice to see your back  

I think @askandanswer left out an apostrophe and an e, as in: "Nice to see you're back..."

No, he just assumes you're a back woman. Truthfully, I think we all assume that. You're in it for the lats.

[askandanswer]

Or perhaps, being @zil, what she really meant to say was "Nice to see your lack." People who think fountain pens can be used for writing often seem to have  typo problems when it comes to using modern tools like keyboards

[zil]

Just now, Vort said:

No, he just assumes you're a back woman. Truthfully, I think we all assume that. You're in it for the lats.

  Were that the case, and it's not really, I would most certainly not be commenting on the back of a married man.

[Vort]

3 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

Or perhaps, being @zil, what she really meant to say was "Nice to see your lack."

There you go again! I'm sure you meant, "'Nice to see you're lack.'"

[zil]

1 minute ago, askandanswer said:

Or perhaps, being @zil, what she really meant to say was "Nice to see your lack." People who think fountain pens can be used for writing often seem to have  typo problems when it comes to using modern tools like keyboards

As you can see, I know exactly how to use a keyboard:

PS: I'm guessing I can type faster than you can.

PPS: Bet yours isn't even programmable.

[zil]

PPS: Bet yours only has one set of F-keys, and their default is something other than actual F-keys.

Edited September 27, 2017 by zil

[Vort]

Just now, zil said:

PPS: Bet yours only has one set of F-keys, and their default is something other than actual F-keys.

PPPS I bet yours uses Roman letters and standard ASCII punctuation. How lame.

[askandanswer]

14 minutes ago, zil said:

  Were that the case, and it's not really, I would most certainly not be commenting on the back of a married man.

Great decision @zil I congratulate you. That sounds like real progress! What's your next goal?

Edited September 27, 2017 by askandanswer

[askandanswer]

8 minutes ago, zil said:

PPS: Bet yours only has one set of F-keys, and their default is something other than actual F-keys.

Lol you're right on both counts. Clever Zil. I'm only vaguely aware that they are programmable.

[Guest MormonGator]

6 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

Great decision @zil I congratulate you. That sounds like real progress! What's your next goal?

Going to Australia and beating you up with a boomerang, son.  

Edited September 27, 2017 by MormonGator

[zil]

15 minutes ago, Vort said:

PPPS I bet yours uses Roman letters and standard ASCII punctuation. How lame.

And does yours have angle arrows or just the standard up, down, left, right?  How 'bout an extra space key between all your many arrows?   (In short, I'm madly in love with the Gateway2000 AnyKey keyboard.  I can't figure out how the rest of you manage.)

7 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

I'm only vaguely aware that they are programmable.

The vast majority of keyboards are not programmable.  (You can buy software that will let you program a response to specific keystrokes, but that's not the same as programming the actual keyboard.)

Edited September 27, 2017 by zil
gonna have to report a bug :(

[zil]

11 minutes ago, Vort said:

PPPS I bet yours uses Roman letters and standard ASCII punctuation. How lame.

And does yours have angle arrows or just the standard up, down, left, right?  How 'bout an extra space key between all your many arrows?   (In short, I'm madly in love with the Gateway2000 AnyKey keyboard.  I can't figure out how the rest of you manage.)

4 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

I'm only vaguely aware that they are programmable.

The vast majority of keyboards are not programmable.  (You can buy software that will let you program a response to specific keystrokes, but that's not the same as programming the actual keyboard.)

[Vort]

That whole angle-arrow thing is...weird. And what does the blank key in the center of the quiver do?

[Traveler]

I wanted to thank @The Folk Prophet for starting this thread.  It is interesting in how much interest it has generated.  I would add another thought.  That is; that whenever G-d has determined to reveal that something very important is about to happen – how many is it that don’t get it – until it is past time to really do anything effective about it.

I think the first time we have recorded a serious event in scripture and that preparations were needed was in the days of Noah when humanity was warned concerning the flood.  I am not sure even today we appreciate what happened and why.  

However, I think the advent of Jesus becoming a man and then dying for mankind is a much better example of how – despite all the inspiration and revelation – no one seem to grasp what was going on.  The Jews (elite and educated class) certainly did not get it.  Even the chosen Apostles were confused and bewildered.  Following the death of Jesus their first inclination was to go back to their pre-Jesus habits and go fishing – almost as though nothing had happened????  The society of the Nephits was not showing a lot of insight. 

I have kept a record of my thoughts for over 50 years.  I have thought I have seen the trend of things and could predict the future – at least a little.  I will give a little example.  Prior to the year 2000 I was involved in several Y2K audits – mostly in automated warehouses and distribution centers.  One very alarming trend was a major shift to “just-in-time” distributions of food and other critical supplies.  There is no back up or anything set aside for any emergencies.    I predicted that by the year 2010 we would start to experience shortages of some isolated critical supplies.  I thought for example that one month there would be no sugar (or perhaps flower) available in the stores.  That something would happen to the supply chain and we would run out of basic items from time to time.  But nothing has happened – yet.

I thought these shortages would be part of the “last days” and that the stock piling of the saints would pay off in incredible benefits (and power).   But it did not happen.  I never saw any of the problems we face today as something to prepare for.  I never thought that we would disrespect our national anthem at sporting events.  I never thought we would see the day the illegal immigration would be touted as an economic benefit.  Nor did I ever think that gender confusion would be touted as a benefit to society.

I am sure a test is coming.  But I am confident that anyone (including us saints, expert in studying scripture and the words of the prophets) that thinks we’ve “got it” and are ready – I am not so sure.   I am not so sure the saints should think to do anything differently than what we have done (or what we should have done and been told to do) for (as best as I can calculate) the last 6000 years.

 

The Traveler

[zil]

1 hour ago, Vort said:

That whole angle-arrow thing is...weird. And what does the blank key in the center of the quiver do?

It's a space bar.  Or you can reprogram it to do whatever you wish.   The angle arrows are very convenient for repetitious actions (like deleting the first or last character of a line in an app that won't restore cursor position when moving from line to line).

[laronius]

1 hour ago, Traveler said:

I never saw any of the problems we face today as something to prepare for.  I never thought that we would disrespect our national anthem at sporting events.  I never thought we would see the day the illegal immigration would be touted as an economic benefit.  Nor did I ever think that gender confusion would be touted as a benefit to society.

I am sure a test is coming.  But I am confident that anyone (including us saints, expert in studying scripture and the words of the prophets) that thinks we’ve “got it” and are ready – I am not so sure.   I am not so sure the saints should think to do anything differently than what we have done (or what we should have done and been told to do) for (as best as I can calculate) the last 6000 years.

It's interesting how since the beginning of the Church (even the ancient Church) members kept thinking that the Second Coming was just around the corner, that the events taking place in their day totally matched the prophecies and that the world was just ripe for a barbecuing. And yet here we are, not too far from the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Church and life just keeps plugging along. The world just keeps getting worse and yet we are able to live (relatively speaking) normal lives. Kind of makes you wonder exactly what that tipping point is when it just can't continue like it always has.

[NightSG]

17 hours ago, Armin said:

Do you mean a fifth kyu degree...? (yellow) I'm not familiar with the degrees in Aikido.

5th dan.  Kyu grades in aikido vary by style, and sometimes up to sandan, but higher dan grades tend to be similar to judo terms of time in art needed. 

Unfortunately, being non competitive by nature, aikido often devolves into a form where even randori is almost scripted. Good instructors tend to overcome that by encouraging realistic attacks in advanced randori, and also by working with other arts to bring in new elements to the overall system. 

[askandanswer]

6 hours ago, laronius said:

The world just keeps getting worse and yet we are able to live (relatively speaking) normal lives. Kind of makes you wonder exactly what that tipping point is when it just can't continue like it always has.

I suspect that people of just 50 years ago would not think that the kind of lives we live are normal when measured by how they lived their lives. i aso suspect that if people are all still here in 50 years, that the kind of lives we are living will not seem at all normal to them.

[askandanswer]

9 hours ago, MormonGator said:

Going to Australia and beating you up with a boomerang, son.  

When it comes to boomerang's what goes around comes around.

[Guest MormonGator]

9 hours ago, askandanswer said:

When it comes to boomerang's what goes around comes around.

lol. Thank you for being able to dish it out and take it my friend.

Edited September 28, 2017 by MormonGator