[dcharles]

I think you need to be careful about associating faithfulness and obedience with rewards and prosperity. I honestly do not believe that one begets the other (look at Job). There are people all over the world who are profoundly Godless and horrible human beings that have a tremendous amount of success and material wealth. By contrast there are many people who devoutly follow their religion, whatever that may be, that barely get by.

Besides that, doing something for personal benefit or material gain misses the point entirely. We should do these things out of love and thanksgiving towards God without expectation of recognition or reward. It’s all about acting selflessly, not selfishly.

[dcharles]

Not that you asked for it, but if you’re interested in a non-LDS point of view, I think musicman sums it up very well here:

mr_musicman wrote:

My question is, what is your eventual goal? I know you want to go on a mission and stay active in the church, but did you want to have a family someday and overcome these challenges? Do you want to eventually be free of those feelings, or are you okay with them? That makes a difference. There are some out there that feel that they can remain gay and still live the gospel. They hope that the church will someday come around. What you want out of life after your mission will greatly effect how you handle this now.

From an evangelical perspective, this statement hits the nail on the head. We are all sinners, and we should all support one another in striving to overcome our weaknesses. If you are coming to your community of support, whoever that may be, and openly saying that this is something I am struggling with and need your help it is completely different than saying this is who I am and the scriptures should bend to me rather than the other way around.

[dcharles]

Thank you for being willing to give me a chance. Maybe apologetics was not the best phrase. I guess more of what I am looking for is how have you approached your issues with the LDS church/teachings, and overcome them in a manner that satisfies you and enables you to accept discrepancies and still remain faithful? I’m looking for some people that are middle of the road to discuss this with. The majority of what is out there is either fervent anti-Mormon hate, or scripted answers from the church. I’m hoping to find people who are LDS, have their faith, yet have doubts about certain things but have overcome them.

I’ll give a brief example, please correct me if I assume anything or am incorrect. The LDS church restricts certain substances as a result of a revelation to Joseph Smith, yet in Matthew Christ states, “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

When LDS teachings and the words of Jesus contradict one another, which takes precedence?

[Author]

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