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Apologies for having been away for a few months. I am back--and back to my original calling. Many of you know that I retired from federal prison chaplaincy in December 2022. For the past two years I've taught secondary Bible and US History at a local Christian school. Beginning a few months ago I sensed God drawing me back to chaplaincy. I checked with the state DOC (WA), and there was a position at the women's facility. God opened the door, and I start full-time, beginning tomorrow. So prisonchaplain is a prison chaplain again! 🙂 I figured that this was also a good time for me to return to thirdhour.org, say hello to old friends, and perhaps even make a few new ones. -- PC

Figured we needed a positive thread. My son freakin loves his mission. When he got called to Farmington NM I sighed. I hate NM. Got like 3 speeding tickets going thru a 30 mile stretch (NE corner of the state) back and forth from Texas and BYU during undergrad. Total speed trap 65 MPH on Texas side and 55 in MN - and no one lives along the road, its totally abandoned other than dirt, weeds, scrub trees and cops dispensing citations! Anyway, he has been in the Zuni Pueblo for 3-4 months and absolutely loves it. Lots of service (mostly chopping firewood). Confiscating alcohol from the members and the occasional dime bad of cocaine. Had to explain that we don’t take possession of illegal substances. And teaching the gospel. His letters are great. And his attitude is spot on. The ward Sunday attendance has gone from < 10 to over 40. Once again the Lord knows best.

I want to offer a cautionary note here, gleaned from hard experience both personal and professional: Many people like this, actually deeply love the Gospel (as they understand it). They search their scriptures. They take fastidious notes at conference. They pray for hours, and think they receive revelations; some of them very beautiful and moving. But it goes in a weird direction, and suddenly they start thinking they’re getting better revelation than the mainstream Church; better revelation than their local priesthood leaders. We will be seeing more of this, not less, in coming decades; and the Church will not always be quick to hold membership councils for people who deserve it. Guys, stay humble. Stick with your priesthood authorities—from the Prophet down to your elders quorum president. Do. Not. Let. Go. A lot of tragedies could have and would have been avoided if some of Mormonism’s most infamous psychopaths of the past five years had stayed a little closer to, been more patient with, and considered with more humility the counsel of their bishops and stake presidents.

This is an issue that has plagued my ward for years now. I really appreciate that he taught that Church leaders and teachers have the responsibility to teach the truths of the gospel. One cannot effectively teach the truth if in one breath they teach the family proclamation, and in the next they refer to someone using eternally/biologically inaccurate pronouns; in doing so, they sacrifice the truth and tear down their own witness. I appreciate the entirety of his answer, but that part struck me as an excellent way to lead out. I appreciate the way he noted the parable. I think what may be lost on many is that in the parable, while the accusers are turned away from their judgement, the woman is also instructed to turn away from her sins. When members use pronouns, or engage in 'affirming' behaviors, they are supporting the falsehood or sin. This would be contextually similar to Christ referring to the woman's partner in the sin, as if he were her husband; doing so would entirely unravel the Savior's instruction. I appreciate the girl being so bold as to ask, and Elder Oaks being willing to answer.

This young lady's question is a question I have been pondering actually for over a month now. At times, I feel I am waiting for our leaders to come out more directly than they have (e.g. the Family Proclamation canonized), and then at times I think they have been very clear but we have members of the Church who still think and believe -- if not canon -- then they teach the philosophies of men mingled with scripture so carefully crafted. The easiest example, "God told us to love," while ignoring that the first great commandment is to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength, which means we do exactly that we teach his truth, his way, and his light. Having family members on both side who are experiencing homosexuality and gender dysphoria it would be nice to see more direct speech. Calling out the wolves so to speak, and yet I openly admit I don't see the way God sees the wheat amongst the tares (who is tare and who is not but God does). I understand, he doesn't want to root up a wheat who appears to be a tare right now. I believe @laronius hits the nail on the head with proactive parenting; however, I'm not a big fan of calling "Come Follow Me" -- new. This was the Church's teaching this whole time. Teaching of our children was and has always been on the parents. This to me is more evidence that we, collectively, weren't following what the Lord had already taught...now he needed to be more plain rather than us following the teachings and the Spirit. I have never expected the Church to teach my children. I have always seen it as Church supported -- FAMILY centered. It has never been the other way to me.

My family is the holder of the best known copy of the Rules of the United Order. For your fun and enjoyment I have printed out a copy (on my compurter not a photo copy) of the rules of the United Order. The Traveler

Not a fan. I didn’t read after the first few sentences. Missionaries should know the gospel and teach with the spirit. Pretty sure this is not happening here. I’m am terribly disturbed with the amount of gender confusion within the church. Tired of hearing stories of returned missionaries marrying their best friend starting a family, then finally recognizing they are gay and need to be true to themselves - then the divorce and family abandonment. The snowflake culture and accepting / loving everyone has gone way overboard. Remember, the first commandment is more important than the second commandment. If you don’t want to live a Celestial life then don’t. Your choice. God gave us free will. But he also gave is Moral agency. We are responsible for our actions and words. If you don’t live a celestial life then don’t expect to receive a celestial reward. When did we stray from teaching repentance to teaching acceptance?

Has anyone else watched a Peter Santello video or three? Dude has a youtube channel with 3 million subscribers. He basically goes into different communities in the US, finds some folks willing to talk about those communities, and asks a million dumb questions and learns. Indian reservations, Chicago's most violent hood, Appalachia, Las Vegas sex workers, US border towns, Amish, Hasidic Jewish enclaves, etc. I've probably watched a dozen over the last few years. They are fascinating glimpses into worlds I know nothing about. Dude shows up with genuine interest, his only goal is to go, as an outsider, into a place, and learn straight from the source. 3 days ago, he released the first of several promised videos on Mormons. Cool stuff. He found a BYU student history buff who walked him all around SLC and Provo. I look forward to his next LDSocentric videos.

I think I agree with this guy. https://www.instagram.com/p/CyjGDRfuiqm/?igshid=MmU2YjMzNjRlOQ== (Please note that this person's quote is primarily from Harold B. Lee in 1970. He includes President Nelson's photograph, but this is not President Nelson. It's just some guy who goes by "gogogoff0" and who coined a new term that he thinks is fitting. As I wrote above, I think I agree with him.) gogogoff0 There is a growing schism (division) within the Church fueled by Social Media Influencers. It is not a left vs. right, nor is it an American vs non-American. It is those who follow the prophet vs those who I've dubbed as Protestant Mormons. They claim to believe *most* doctrines of the Church, but protest against the prophet and seek to set up their "personal authority" that they derive from their own "personal revelation" as an alternative to prophetic teachings. As I am prepping to write about this, I found this mic drop quote: "We have some tight places to go before the Lord is through with this church and the world in this dispensation, which is the last dispensation, which shall usher in the coming of the Lord. The gospel was restored to prepare a people ready to receive him. The power of Satan will increase; we see it in evidence on every hand. There will be inroads within the Church. There will be, as President Tanner has said, "Hypocrites, those professing, but secretly are full of dead men's bones." Matt. 23:27 We will see those who profess membership but secretly are plotting and trying to lead people not to follow the leadership that the Lord has set up to preside in this church. Now the only safety we have as members of this church is to do exactly what the Lord said to the Church in that day when the Church was organized. We must learn to give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through his prophet, "as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me—as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith." D&C 21:4-5 There will be some things that take patience and faith. You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name's glory." D&C 21:6" Harold B. Lee Conference, Oct. 1970

So, my family has realized that we all suffer from screen addiction. Whether it is gaming, youtube, forums (a- hem) or whatever is out there, we spend way too much time on our phones and computers. My eldest son who is about to return from his mission next week told us that he does not want a smart phone. He just wants a simple phone that makes calls and that is all. What is interesting is that my wife has been asking us as a family to start making the same transition. So, I tried looking up various phones to see how we could achieve this. The thing stopping us is that there are genuinely useful utilities on a phone that are simply not available on the true dumb phones (GPS, Calendar with scheduled meetings, multiple alarms, Church apps...) Long story short, I bought a flip phone that has a fully functional android operating system. But the processor is so weak and the screen size and keyboard size is so small that it is really slow, and it is difficult to use. The idea was that if we REALLY needed the functionality of a full android, we could get to it. But the operation of the phone and the tiny screen size made the process very uncomfortable. So, that was the deterrent. I've now had it for less than a day. And so far it is working. I have used it a LOT less than my Samsung. But you know what is funny? I really like this phone. So, while I don't look at the screen, I'm still admiring the phone in my hand. Just the phone itself. So, my son yelled at me,"Dad! Stop looking at your phone!" ***************** FTR, it is a CAT S22. It is a freaking rugged phone. I could drop it onto a concrete floor and I wouldn't even see a scratch.

Welcome, Dylan. FCA is just a group of people who want to associate with each other and work toward common goals. It appears they welcome Latter-day Saints as members, but don't want them as leaders. Is this fair? To be blunt: Yes, it's fair. People who form associations are allowed to choose how those associations manifest themselves. If we're honest, we will admit (heck, we will openly proclaim) that we do not see many doctrinal issues in the same light as our non-LDS Christian cousins. Look at it this way. If your non-LDS friends wanted to join you in your Young Men's activities, would you welcome them? Of course you would. Would your bishop then call them to formal positions of leadership within the youth groups? Impossible, or at least highly unlikely. But that's discrimination! Well...yes. Yes, it is discrimination. The word "discrimination" means the ability to make distinctions between things. We can discriminate between a small cat and a large rat, and pick the cat out 10 times out of 10. Based on that distinction, we decide how we're going to treat the animal. We Latter-day Saints are in fact distinguishable from our other Christian friends, a thing we're not unhappy about. But this also means they probably won't ask us to preach in their churches, even if we visit their churches. They probably won't ask us to pray at their barbecues, even if we show up at their barbecues. And they probably won't invite us to be leaders in their organizations, even if they invite us to participate in them. Try not to take it personally. Instead, if you're going to participate in FCA, do so with a positive attitude. Don't worry about leadership in the group. It could be worse; they could accept your application for leadership, then demand you change your beliefs and actions. This way is probably better for all involved.

I generally only have a mild interest and small amount of curiousity about woke-related issues, but this one caught my eye and I thought it was worth sharing. It's Rowan Atkinson talking about a planned change to section 5 of the English Public Order Act. I think he makes some good points, eloquently expressed. "For me, the best way to increase society's resistance to insulting or offensive speech is to allow a lot more of it. As with childhood diseases, you can better resist those germs to which you have been exposed." (9 minutes)

"I bear witness that when Christ comes, He needs to recognize us—not as nominal members listed on a faded baptismal record but as thoroughly committed, faithfully believing, covenant-keeping disciples. This is an urgent matter for all of us, lest we ever hear with devastating regret: “I never knew you,” or, as Joseph Smith translated that phrase, “[You] never knew me.” Fortunately, we have help for this task—lots of help. We need to believe in angels and miracles and the promises of the holy priesthood. We need to believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost, the influence of good families and friends, and the power of the pure love of Christ. We need to believe in revelation and prophets, seers, and revelators and President Russell M. Nelson. We need to believe that with prayer and pleading and personal righteousness, we really can ascend to “Mount Zion, … the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.” Brothers and sisters, as we repent of our sins and come boldly to the “throne of grace,” leaving before Him there our alms and our heartfelt supplications, we will find mercy and compassion and forgiveness at the benevolent hands of our Eternal Father and His obedient, perfectly pure Son. Then, with Job and all the refined faithful, we will behold a world “too wonderful” to understand. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." -President Jeffery R. Holland, April 2024 General Conference.

My first Bishop swindled like 20K from my parents. First Stake President left the Church First Mission President was innactive. I saw him on my first day in Osorno Chile. Then @ a zone meeting 4 months later. In his talk he basically berated us for 30 min about how bad our numbers were and then asked us each to give a testimony about what we can do to do better. Everyone before me, mostly the Chileans, gave excuses and discussed plans to double their efforts. I gave a forceful talk in broken Spanish about how our leadership was horrible or non-existent essentially. The conference was cut a bit short after my words. I was then banished to the remotest sector in the mission Porvinir! on the Island Tierra del Fuego. Which I dearly loved. My second mission president was much better. When I read the scriptures I know and feel that they are inspired. I get the same from listening to many talks during General Conference. My Patriarchial Blessing reads like the Patriarch watched a movie of my entire life. I just have do to lots of work in the Temple after my retirement. I love Joseph Smith dearly. And I am well aware of the Kirtland Safety Society incident wherein he recommended that the membership buy into the bank and assured them that the bank would do well. It failed - many members left the church over it. I tried to buy one of the notes recently from e-bay but I couldn't because they are worth way more then their weight in gold today... President Nelson's recommendation about vaccines reminded me of the Kirtland Safety Society. I bet He gave the recommendation because many LDS were using the Church as a reason for requesting religious exemption. Living by the recommendations of the LDS Church (Jesus Christ) has brought me too many blessings to count. My testimony is not fragile. Its like Gorilla Glass or Sapphire. My response to guys like Aaron Sherinian,

By definition, angels are messengers from God. Angelic visitations recorded in scripture are almost always to prophets and devout believers (with Paul, Alma, and the sons of Mosiah standing out as stark exceptions). These visitations seem to me to have the quality of a Priesthood assignment, which might therefore be considered a Priesthood responsibility. This would explain why the angels we read of in these visitations are male.

Amen! And thank you! Either Jesus Christ leads this Church or he doesn't. If he does, nothing else matters. Nothing. Have faith in Christ!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m so thankful for everyone here!

I now have three returned missionaries under my roof, and one out in the field. It is interesting to see the "mellowing" of each of them by way of their mission experience. My daughter has a greater propensity for being social and going to friends houses for a visit. She's also much more ready to stand up for herself. I'm not saying she's ready to run for President yet. But she is definitely more confident and outgoing. My two sons were probably polar opposites from a personality perspective. My eldest son was "the grump" of the family. It was difficult to get him to smile about anything. But he has been easily falling into smiles and has let himself get excited in anticipation for some things yet to come. He's also just a lot more polite and understanding of people's weaknesses. He's a certified genius (smarter than the rest of the family put together - myself included). So, it was very easy for him to get frustrated at others' lack of understanding of things that seemed very basic to him. My second son was the happy son. It seemed that is default mode was to have a genuine smile on his face. And if anything was even remotely funny, he would burst out laughing. I think I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times that he was in a sad mood. Today, he has a "moderate" mood as a default. But he still laughs at nearly any joke. It just so happens that they are all now at the phase where they need to get out on their own. So, I've brought each of them in for a talk about charging rent starting some time next year. That gives them some time to get things organized and so forth. And if they don't do so by the deadline, the rent won't be all that much. But it will increase periodically to motivate them to get out on their own. Each of them have varying levels of preparation as well as different plans on how they are going to make their mark on the world. It is exciting to see their gears working.

This post reminds me of a recent Instagram post I scrolled into. The individual was a member of the Church who said, paraphrased, "I'm a member of the Church who stays in the Church and seeks to change it from within to be more inclusive." This follows the thought provided, "We will see those who profess membership but secretly are plotting and trying to lead people not to follow the leadership that the Lord has set up to preside in this church." I'm, very much, in agreement with the idea and concepts being shared. This is definitely happening in the Church today. I'm pretty sure someone posted here a while -- a while -- back sharing a video from some movie, episode, or podcast where the individual said, "I can do more damage to the Church by staying in the Church..." President Nelson's quote regarding having the Spirit with us is the only that we will make it through these last days before Christ comes as strong followers/disciples of Jesus Christ. The purpose of the Spirit is to bear witness of truth, and to help us see things as they really are. @MrShorty "Perhaps Goff is wrong and maybe the church will figure out how to keep people together in spite of such a divisive issue." As to the following thought here, the Church already figured this out. The answer is Jesus Christ. If a person truly believes in Christ and His Church, the focus will be upon Christ and building up the Kingdom of God/Zion. Those who focus on this will be able to work together in peace and harmony -- despite their difference of thoughts and opinions (because these individuals will wait patiently on the Lord and how he moves His Church). This notion extends both ways on the spectrum -- far right and far left. We have been counseled and taught to avoid any and all "religious hobbies." Religious hobbies is one of the easiest ways for the adversary to gain control and place into the heart of individuals to follow forbidden paths. When any individual places any idea, any action, any decision above the Lord and His Church then they (the individual(s)) will choose to separate themselves from the Lord and His Church. The doctrine is very very clear on many things (the easiest one is marriage), and yet we have members who seek to blur the clarity, and place their thoughts, their decisions, their life choices above the Lord and His Church. This brings up the notion provided by Jacob in the Book of Mormon, "they despised the words of plainness." And we have that happening in our day -- words of plainness being despised by members of the Church such that they seek to change it and are angry with it.

Is oxygenation of our blood more important than breathing? The question itself is defective. "Faith in Jesus Christ" and "the condition of our hearts" are not separate or separable phenomena. Faith in Christ determines the condition of one's heart, and the condition of one's heart determines the ability to exercise faith in Christ. FTR, the answer is "faith in Christ". That is the important determiner. On this point, the scriptures are clear.

In the US that directive is called a living will. The Church uses strong language against euthanasia (violates the commandments of God) but notes that what you describe is not euthanasia. Here’s the relevant section in the Handbook of Instruction:

I may be betraying my age, but I grew hearing that religion is bad. For Christians, the refrain was, "It's not a religion, it's a relationship." The idea being that everyone else had to be religious because they were trying to reach God. Religion was humanity's attempt to find God. We learned that God came after us by sending Jesus to die for our sins. Non-Christians, and some progressive ones, were fond of saying, "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual." What they meant was that organized religions were about systems and rules and programs. They were about personally connecting with their higher power. My argument, as a chaplain, is that religion is good. If people are trying to reach God the Old Testament, New Testament, and Book of Mormon proclaim that they will find Him. As a great example, I've heard stories of Muslims having dreams of Jesus coming to them. Since Islam teaches that Jesus is a prophet, they listen carefully. After all, we should listen to and heed what prophets tell us, right? (i hear the faithful church members saying 'amen.') Jesus tells them that he is more than a prophet--he is the Savior--the Son of God. They listen and some convert, because they are religious. Their religion teaches them that Jesus is to be listened to because he is a prophet. So, no, religion will not redeem anyone. However, religion--a seeking after God--can build a spiritual bridge that can lead the soul to conversion/salvation. Bottom-line: Religion is good.

My earthly Mother still loves to receive my phone calls. And I dearly miss my Father who passed 4 years ago. I wish I could call him. Im sure our Heavenly Father and Mother are not any different. Worship is a complex word with many connotations. God does love us. And he most likely appreciates our love, heart felt prayers, and when we try to follow his recommendations and example.

Thankfully, I don't think I've heard this in my Sunday School class - if I have, it's been rare. Personally, I wish the people doing those podcasts / YT channels / etc. would stop. The point of CFM is for people to learn from the Holy Ghost. If they have a podcast to turn to, they're not turning to the Holy Ghost. People think that some stranger's brilliant insight is more impressive than the Holy Ghost telling them [whatever simple thing], but they're wrong. Even feeling the Holy Ghost testify of the truthfulness of something presented in a podcast is not as important as learning to hear the Holy Ghost during your personal, private or family scripture study. The podcast may be easier or more interesting, it may feel like you learned something, but it's not as important as learning to learn from the Holy Ghost. /rant

I thought my big mouth and I could stay away, but I was wrong. @pam owes me an "I told you so". I blame @prisonchaplain. I saw that he'd returned and got excited. This place is mentally exhausting at times, so I'll probably not be very active moving forward, but you're stuck with me a while longer. 😘 -Godless

I've reached the halfway point in my 3-week training and look forward to opening up the chapel for programs. One of the most active and well received volunteer groups is the LDS one. I'm eager to meet and work with the volunteers. The fellow that used to come to SeaTac proved very dedicated and pleasant. Has anyone here done prison ministry for the church? I'd love to hear/read some testimonies. -- PC

From Facebook, but despite that, I thought it was good enough to share here. “Do you know how whales die? They drown. They spend their whole life living in and swimming in a world that eventually kills them. “Do you know why that is? Whales are mammals. Most mammals walk on the face of the earth, but the whale lives in a world that they are not of. “They are in the water, but they are not of the water. So while fish can swim around for their entire lives with gills, breathing in the water, the whale most come up out of the water to live. There is a life source that is not in the world that he lives in that he needs access to. “You are in this world but you are not of this world. You are not just a mind. You are not just a body. You are a spirit wrapped up in a man or a woman. And in this life you need God—you need to pray, you need to worship, you need to read the word of God. “Because if you don’t learn to come up for air, you will drown.” - @russelldafourth

I believe we should care for our environment as proper stewards. To followers of the Restored Gospel, the temporal lifetime of the world is limited, and is known to God. Outside of general and obvious measures to treat God's creations with respect, any extreme level of environmentalism (such as modern climate-change proposals) are entirely beyond the mark and unnecessary.

I'm torn. On the one hand, I absolutely agree with you. On the other hand, as someone who holds community office, I'm amazed at the things that go unchallenged in our schools and communities because people aren't involved enough to know what is going on.

My daughter sees the light at the end of the tunnel. For as long as she can remember she has suffered from a visual condition. When she was really young, she didn't know there was anything wrong. As she grew older, the problems were worse. Eventually as a teenager, she began verbalizing them. We couldn't really comprehend how bad it was from her scant descriptions. So, I tried working with her using typical home-remedy type things. I was guessing what the problems might be. Non-invasive techniques were the go-to thing at the time. Eventually, as I worked with her more and more, and hearing her verbalize more and more, I began realizing that there was something severely wrong with her. We took her to optometrists and ophthalmologists. We even took her to nutritionists and allergy doctors. That's how wide-ranging the symptoms were. None of them could diagnose what was going on. But one ophthalmologist referred us to a neuro-ophthalmologist. This meant that the problem was not with her eyes, but with her brain. The doctor did many scans and researched much over the course of three visits. Her final diagnosis was "Visual Snow." She sadly informed us that there was no cure. The industry has just barely realized that this was a thing. They didn't know what caused it or what was going on. All they knew was "something is wrong." And she also described several common symptoms. My daughter had all of them. She referred us to another doctor who told us that there was a theoretical procedure being developed, and they need patients for trials. So, he said he'd get us contact information. YEY!!! We had hope! Then COVID... No calls, no emails, the office was closed. No way to get a hold of that doctor or any group that he knew about. We were lost. It was a dead end. No hope. My daughter served a mission. She had a lot of difficulty. But she shoved herself through the experience. And she came home to try to fit in and dive into her adult life. She figured she would follow after her brother who learned CAD. She always liked drawing. To draw on a computer was just a different medium. And she loved making floorplans. But the ultimate goal was to draw land, water, etc. This took special software which my son has mastered. She did fine with Euclidean shapes that are often used on a house. But when she got to earth and water, these were non-Euclidean shapes. And when there were many overlapping/crossing lines her vision made it impossible to go beyond a certain point. While she could try to break into the housing market, these drafters are a dime a dozen. She'd need to have much more experience to make it. But if she were to get into land development, she'd be a shoe-in at any major company. Disappointment set in. She decided to pursue a different field. Around this time, I was asking for a miracle to heal her. I've experienced a lot of miracles in my life (including healing). I have learned to trust in the Lord. I wanted to call on the Lord yet again. When there was another severe illness in the family, the extended family got together to fast for another family member. At that time my FIL altered the Matthew passage to: "This kind goeth not out but by much prayer and fasting." Weary Him until He blesses us. So, I asked my family to fast for her. We fasted and prayed for her every week. I was intending to do this until Christmas this year. At that point I would give her a blessing and she would be healed. So went the plan... But over the past month or so, several lessons from church and speeches from General Conference and Stake Conference, all fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Any one piece seemed to have nothing to do with my daughter. But when they all came together in my mind, I heard Brigham Young's quote: I thought I already tried everything that mortal men can do. I took her to several specialists. That was during a time when my business was slow. It cost a lot. And it's not like I could operate on her brain. So, what was within my capabilities that I was neglecting? Then the words "Visual Snow" came to my mind again. What about it? Yes. What about it? It occurred to me that I was supposed to learn more about it. There's a cure now? You know what to do. I immediately began doing web searches. I came across a path that diverged, but I was guided on which path to take. Again and again. Long story short, I found out that there is not exactly a "cure", but there is a treatment to greatly diminish the symptoms to allow people to live a normal life.. And one of the two doctors who pioneered this treatment is in Dallas. It's a bit of a drive, but it is absolutely worth it. She just had her initial assessment and testing. When she came home she said one very remarkable thing: The next three months will be the proof in the pudding. But we are very hopeful. We're continuing the fast until her treatment is complete. There is so much more I could say about this. I'll forbear because it would bore most people. But it was all very important to me as I experienced it. We may not see a complete cure here. But she has been walking around with 100lb weights on her feet. Even if all we do is make it so she has 50 lb weights on her feet, she will be unstoppable.

Tangent: To be fair, DeSantis is merely revoking a corporatist-government alliance that a free-market conservative would argue never should have existed in the first place and that became intolerable when the apolitical private-sector partner became nakedly political. Though I suspect you’re right that many conservatives are approaching the situation from primarily an emotional, not an intellectual worldview.

We got another one. My wife was following him prior to his baptism. He loved the temple open houses. Our clear communication. And Robins (the birds).

Problems in the Church (among the members) is not the same as problems with the Church (see next paragraph). We members are imperfect. We're all the Lord has to work with. Satan has agents within the Church - wolves in sheep's clothing. Perhaps some don't know or believe they've been recruited to Satan's ranks, yet do his work. There are problems to be found everywhere in mortality. Better to focus on doing what works of righteousness you can manage and yes, let the Lord figure out the rest: "Minister to 'em all, let God sort them out." I can minister to a wool-clad wolf without harming God's kingdom just as much as I can minister to a lamb - assuming my ministering is true ministering, including both sharing the gospel and doing works of service and kindness. If there are any problems with the Church (the organization, authority, priesthood, keys, covenants, ordinances, teachings, laws), I don't know them, and they are truly the Lord's to solve, not mine. Really, my only problem is how to live my covenants.

Update He was baptised about an hour ago. I assisted with his confirmation. A new journey begins.

And for the sake of context, I believe the "basic claim" here is that Uchtdorf is "privileged"--notwithstanding his having grown up in Hitler's Germany with a father who was a non-Nazi bureaucrat, being evicted from Czechoslovakia into eastern Germany, starving in postwar Germany with the rest of his countrymen, living under occupation by Soviet troops, then ultimately having to flee east Germany because his dad was an anti-communist. But we know that Uchtdorf made it into the (barely-one-year-old at the time) German Air Force, which (we are to conclude) means: He was privileged (because if you didn't have connections you couldn't make it *anywhere* in mid-20th-century Germany) (except the chancellery, multiple times); His rise from destitution to prosperity had nothing--nothing!--to do with his own efforts, qualities, or anything else that might support the idea of meritocracy (because as we all know, German culture absolutely values caste, charisma, and the ability to schmooze at the expense of competence, efficiency, and skill); and Most germane to this discussion: White™ Dieter simply has no idea how hard or cruel life can be; and his apostleship would have been better conferred upon some hirsute womanizing tent-dweller in Portland or some "From The River To The Sea!"-gibbering student in London; either of whom would have had the wisdom and passion to funnel the Church's vast resources towards the cronies causes that rightfully deserve them.

The older I get the more I become convinced that one of the greatest evils in the world is thinking. This child thinks he's wise, and has decided that his "wisdom" will benefit the world. I've basically gotten to the point where, as smart and "wise" as I am, I'm full-on aware that I'm an foolish idiot. Add to that the reality that libido basically pumps drugs into one's brain, and you've got a messed up child who's an idiot and a fool, and as good as on drugs (as all horny teenagers are) preaching his view of truth and wisdom to the world. Useful. Well, that's the whole story of gaydom in my view. It's lunacy to look at it any way but a bunch of foolish idiots with chemically compromised brains preaching garbage that's worth less than nothing. That is the why of commandments. That is they why of the Lord's boundaries. This stupid foolish compromised kid has no idea what he's talking about, and yet is locking himself into an eternal course. And on top of that he's preaching to others what his idea of "truth" on the matter is. Sadly, this is common. I, of course, think I understand things. But I'm "wise" enough to know I really don't. I have beliefs that are pretty firm. But debating from those beliefs isn't useful because, as I just said, I'm a foolish idiot. But.... The Lord has given us standards. The Lord has given us boundaries. Within the Lord's standards and boundaries we can find happiness. Outside the Lord's standards and boundaries we never will. It's as simple as that. Homosexuality, despite any view of the science or psychiatry of it, is not within the Lord's standards and boundaries. It never has been. It never will be. It, in any form, will never lead to peace and happiness. Whether or not it's a choice isn't relevant to that. We all have natures that are outside the Lord's standards and boundaries. Everyone of us must put aside those things and traverse within the Lord's standards and boundaries in order to find happiness and peace. Any view other than that is...well...foolish and stupid. The path is narrow and few shall find it.

I only made it through chapter 6. I have no idea where this was going. And life is short. While I believe this story is somewhat representative of many homosexuals navigating the life he describes, I don't believe this was truly autobiographical. The style and flow and certain pieces that don't fit into a single person's experiences. Possible? Yes. Likely? No. I believe someone else wrote it. Therefore, it could be the author's amalgamation of stories from multiple individuals. Regardless, I'll look at this story as it stands as a fully autobiographical piece. I'm glad that it showed a very common reality that when those suffering from SSA come out to family and friends, there really isn't a lot of anger or hatred. It is usually some form of acceptance (whether it is "we love you anyway" or "we'll try to help you through this" or or possibly "cool, dude") rather than rejection. I had a problem with his exchange with Elder Rasband. I find it difficult to believe the response was an accurate depiction. We have been told in the Proclamation that It is important to note that in MULTIPLE articles on the topic, the Church has CLEARLY stated that "gender" in this sentence refers to biological sex at birth. (Yes, there are the extremely rare exceptions of intersex, Klinefelter Syndrome, etc. But we at least start with the rule, then discuss the exceptions later.) If exalted, SSA would be fundamentally incongruent with the nature of eternity and of eternal marriage. Perhaps there is an argument for lower kingdoms (which I tend to disagree with). But to say we have no revelation on the fact for (at the very least) Eternal marriage? Not buying that.

I do not mean to detract from the conversation at all, and this may be a completely false perception on my part, but growing up I always figured that being called to high leadership positions in the chuch would require a certain level of prosperity on the part of that individual and their family so they could financially support themselves beyond the (I assume) humble expense stipends they may receive. At the end of the day, Christ prepares those who He calls to lead His church. The idea of church leaders being out of touch or unable to relate has been brought up several times before. I always remember a talk by Elder Holland where he said: "Not often but over the years some sources have suggested that the Brethren are out of touch in their declarations, that they don’t know the issues, that some of their policies and practices are out-of-date, not relevant to our times. As the least of those who have been sustained by you to witness the guidance of this Church firsthand, I say with all the fervor of my soul that never in my personal or professional life have I ever associated with any group who are so in touch, who know so profoundly the issues facing us, who look so deeply into the old, stay so open to the new, and weigh so carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully everything in between. I testify that the grasp this body of men and women have of moral and societal issues exceeds that of any think tank or brain trust of comparable endeavor of which I know anywhere on the earth. I bear personal witness of how thoroughly good they are, of how hard they work, and how humbly they live. It is no trivial matter for this Church to declare to the world prophecy, seership, and revelation, but we do declare it. It is true light shining in a dark world, and it shines from these proceedings." Prophets in the Land Again Either the church is truly led by Christ or it is not. My testimony is firm in Christ as my personal Savior. Everything else is just an appendage to that.

Churches sometimes have problems--aspects that outsiders criticize and aspects that older teenagers and young adults find more difficult to accept than past generations did. Examples: 1. Politics are too conservative: Both of our churches lean right. The last U.S. president was particularly difficult for some to stomach. My short answer is that how members vote, despite their insistence to the contrary, is more a mark of their politics than it is a religious distinctive. The #1 reason many in my fellowship vote conservative is that they are prolife. Members will sometimes say, "I don't know how a true Christian could vote for a proabortion politician." They can say that, but there is no political litmus test in church. 2. Church doesn't do enough for the environment. My church might be especially guilty on this because we believe Jesus will return at any time. So, some members disregard environmentalism. Nevertheless, "creation care," is something Christians of many stripes embrace. We may not be the most earth friendly, but taking care of what God made is scriptural. 3. Sexual holiness codes are hypocritical and especially hurtful to LGBT. First, they are not hypocritical. Adultery, fornication, and porn viewing are all sinful. We don't talk as much about this because very few Christians are advocating porn viewing, fornication or adultery. They know it is sinful even if it happens a lot. We love LGBT folks, just as we love those who fornicate, commit adultery, or view porn. Nevertheless, if there is sin the call is to repentance--not affirmation. 4. History: The two biggest TV evangelist scandals of the 1980s were of Assemblies of God ministers--Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker. What most don't know is that both men were defrocked. We don't speak ill of them. What they do is now between them and God. As a result, some believe that they faced no accountability. They did. Rather than submit to our restoration process they gave up their ministers' credentials. 5. Overemphasis on doctrinal distinctives. Usually this has to do with our belief that speaking in tongues is the initial, physical evidence that one has been baptized in the Holy Spirit. This is our teaching, and the belief can be explained biblically. However, we're quick to add that when people convert to Christianity they immediately walk with the Holy Spirit, and many will enter the kingdom who have not and will not speak in tongues. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints faces many of these broad issues. Some can be answered fairly quickly. Nevertheless, there seems to be lingering struggles. What we grapple with is different, but there are some similarities. Call this a commiseration string.

Is your heart pure and your eye single to God's glory? If so, you have nothing to worry about, my friend.

This is similar to a thought I had, except I approached it this way: Perhaps the word "greater" is not an attempt to compare two sins in terms of which one is more damning to the offender but rather which one is more damning to the original offended. No matter the damage caused to an individual by someone else's sin it does not condemn the offended only the offender. But withholding forgiveness is more damning to the offended than any consequence to the offended by the first sin and so strictly from the perspective of the offended's own eternal welfare, withholding forgiveness is the greater sin. This may have been what @CV75 or others may have been getting at but I just wasn't understanding the point they were making. But if this is what the Lord had in mind then that makes more sense to my imperfect mortal reasoning.

The idea of following the prophets (or, in my case, church leadership) and of giving them the benefit of the doubt goes a long way with me. I don't see God punishing Protestants who don't allow female clergy, even though my church does. I doubt that churches that allow moderate drinking will be downgraded, though mine doesn't. I cringe at churches that discourage the moving of the Holy Spirit, claiming that the Bible is enough, but guess that what they are missing out on is more in this life than the one to come. So, I mostly agree that if there is certainty about a prophet's authority than that person should be followed and given every benefit of the doubt. The bar for disobeying a prophet would have to be quite high.

I'm all in favor of better border security, but if someone can just declare various laws null and void (even temporarily), without congress or anything, just as a head of department, then either those laws ought to be revoked in their entirety, because they aren't really needed, or something is very very wrong. (And I ought to be able to declare various speed limits null and void, for me, at least... )

I get where you’re going here; and generally agree. But I would note that I think it’s a rare Saint who vets potential counselors solely on their Church membership status or hires the first Mormon counselor they run across. I cannot speak as to the particular case under discussion in this thread. But I stand by my general comments earlier in this thread and will propose that the problem with most of the nominally/formerly LDS families who wound up in the news over the past few years isn’t that they listened to their bishops too much; it’s that they didn’t listen to their bishops closely enough.

I'm always surprised at endowed members who look for reasons to not wear their garments.

I've tried not to weigh in too much on this, because I have mixed feelings about Ballard specifically and about the way awareness of human trafficking is being raised more generally. But I will at least say this . . . From what I understand, at least within the United States, the sorts of scenarios we envision with The Sound of Freedom and Ballard's work generally, are statistically a relatively small proportion of the total "human trafficking" that occurs here. By and large, human trafficking victims aren't abducted by sinister men driving nondescript windowless vans; they aren't kept chained up in squalid motel rooms or storage sheds with half a dozen other victims; they aren't even necessarily homeless or runaways. The far more common scenario is for children to be trafficked by their own parents--most frequently by a single mom trading access to her daughter to a dealer in exchange for drugs; or to a landlord in exchange for a month of free rent; or to a boyfriend and/or his friends in exchange for what passes (in the mother's tortured, addled mind) for affection or emotional support. In a large proportion (probably a majority, as I understand it) of human trafficking cases, bringing the children home is darned near the worst thing you can do. I wish well for Ballard, his organization, and his movie. It's desperately important that we have a cultural renaissance regarding the importance of childhood innocence. There are theories being bandied about, and becoming increasingly mainstream, that tend to justify the exploitation of children and erode the institutions that have traditionally stood between children and the adults who wish to sexualize them. Those theories need to be exposed for what they are, and Ballard is one of the leaders of the charge on that issue--which I think is why he generates a lot of the pushback that he gets (though certainly not all--he does strike me as a bit of a poser; and I have methodological issues with some of the historical theories he has published). I do worry, though, that he sort of sucks all the air out of the room in any discussions regarding the allocation of anti-trafficking resources. Even if Ballard were 100% successful and effective against the specific subsets of trafficking he targets--we would still have a major child trafficking problem in this country.

You are mistaken, my friend. To come back, you only need to be rebaptized -- the same requirement that has always existed. After you have been rebaptized for a year or so, the stake president will interview you and review your time since rebaptism. If you have a testimony of the gospel and a true desire to follow Christ, and if your actions over the previous year confirm this, he will notify the First Presidency, asking that your blessings be restored. Upon approval, he will lay his hands on your head and restore your blessings. Your original baptismal date will still show. Your original line of authority will remain unchanged. Your original covenants, including the date you received them, will be restored. You have lost nothing except the decades that you lived beneath your privileges. Come back and start claiming those blessings.

My youngest is having a better Scouting experience than any of his older brothers, exactly because he does not belong to a so-called LDS troop. All (or at least most) of the other Scouts in his troop are indeed LDS, but the Scouting program is run as intended in their troop. The older Scouts don't drop out of troop activities at 14 years old. At 16, my son was the senior patrol leader, and at 17, he's the grizzled old man of the troop who knows how to do everything. None of my older sons really got to experience that. My point is not to criticize our leaders, or even to criticize the Church membership that struggled for decades to implement Scouting in a way that it served as an adjunct to Priesthood training. I suppose my point is that, in this case at least, we don't receive blessings that are right there for us because we don't allow them to come. We get distracted by what seem to be competing priorities, result in a that the system doesn't work, at least not well. When we force a given program or skill set into a situation it was not designed for, we get poor results. I believe what we call the commitment pattern is an example of this: We take what should be a pattern of emotional maturity to enable sincere conversation and use it as a lever or screw to create what amounts to sales pressure—precisely the opposite of what we should be doing or want to accomplish.

I believe (but don't know) the sealing is valid regardless of the laws of men. That said, a child molester will have a hard road to the celestial kingdom, and if he doesn't live up to covenants, and repent when he falls short, that sealing will be null through his disobedience. More importantly, I'm so sorry for the pain this must be causing you. I can't begin to understand, but I'm sorry and hope you're able to find peace somehow. PS: Welcome to ThirdHour!

The young lady’s letter was insightful. Many adults in the church are being taught (brainwashed) in schools or their places of work and are bringing their ‘understanding’ back to the classrooms of the church. I anticipate that we will continue to receive insightful direction from the general authorities in upcoming conferences. It will take brave local leadership to maintain the integrity of the church. I’m doing what I can to point out when falsehood bleeds into our classrooms. And as parents we do a fair amount of correcting false doctrine that is taught to our children in Sunday School and young men / women activities.