[greenapples]

Thanks for the info and your thoughts BLC!!

I liked the example of the wooden desk.

I heard of the Earth being created from other materials possibly other worlds.

I guess I never really thought that it meant that some of those old fossils, rocks and petrified materials could be so incredibly old because those materials were older than the Earth to begin with.

I have always enjoyed the idea of life outside of our own.

to be honest with you I have always been a little bit of a skeptic when it came to Aliens visiting us from other planets. I am not saying that it couldn’t happen. However I tend to lean more towards the belief that most of the sightings were sensitive and classified equipment being tested by the U.S. Military or a Military of a different country.

Although I will most defiantly check out Clifford E. Stone. I enjoy hearing multiple sides of the story. Who knows I may even change my mind about those sightings after I check out some of his info.

💡

[greenapples]

Another Green Apple Update

:angel:

I am still attending church.

I allowed the Missionaries in my ward to visit me. They did some Lessons on Jesus Christ.

I feel that I have faith in Jesus Christ.

I don’t “KNOW” :sick:

Perhaps My issue in the past was that I felt the need to Know.

The fact of the matter is all those people who get up on Fast Sunday and say ” I KNOW….” Really does not know.

They really just have strong amounts of faith. OR!! Perhaps they are saying they Know to fit it. After all Everyone else says “I KNOW” so shouldn’t we all say that we KNOW??

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think if people start saying they have Faith instead of claiming to have Knowledge less people would FREAK OUT!! when they realize they DON’T REALLY KNOW!!

Question : I have FAITH but I don’t KNOW!!??? What should I DO!!?

Answer: Good you have Faith. That is all you need!! Stop trying to KNOW!!

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Thank You Thank You :wave:

:yawn:

[greenapples]

I had two sister missionaries teach me before I was baptized. I fully understood that once I turned 8 I was fully accountable for myself. I also understood that after Baptism I could continually repent for the sins and mistakes I make through the Atonement of Christ and the Sacrament.

The misunderstanding comes into play when people apply the 4th Article of Faith to children under the age of 8.

It is unfortunate that there is a disconnect between baptism at 8 or above and the reasons for Sacrament.

[greenapples]

SamBee wrote:

Got an interesting insight into possible hidden meanings in the Bible the other day…

In the story of the Gaderene Swine, when Jesus tries to exorcize the man, the demons say their name is “legion”. Well, legions are just what happened to be occupying Judaea at the time, Roman legions. Is there possibly a hidden political meaning here?

I never thought of it that way.

I always felt they called themselves legion because they were many. The man had an Army of Demons within him.

Though perhaps it was a political statement stating that the Roman empire was no better than evil swine. Smelly and sloppy animals.

[greenapples]

Well I guess I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels a little creeped by Brigham young.

Though I am just wondering if anyone else remembers the fun little spooky films. and if not if they bothered to check it out on the youtube.

I’m just wondering if anyone else can see any kind of parallel between Mr. Boogedy and Brigham Young. Or at least a similar look when it comes to the statue in the 2nd movie.

I know it will take time to watch the little shorts but honestly it will take about as much time to listen to an average Mormon Stories pod cast.

Like I said maybe part of my dislike is just rooted to the statue. When I was a kid I was afraid the Brigham young Statue in Temple square was going to come to life and start shooting green lighting bolts.

[greenapples]

I was always taught that an evil spirit can only possess a person if they call upon dark powers of fallen angels, which invites them to possess you.

😈 👿

I do know the Exorcist movie was based on a true story. A young boy was possessed by evil spirits after an Aunt died and he tried to contact her using a ouija board.

Apparently this Aunt was actually sexually abusive to this boy. The boy had a love/hate relationship. Some have said that this boy really had issues with Dissociative Identity Disorder. All the demons were really different personalities, which expressed the pain he felt through shrieking screams, violent acts to himself and others around him.

I feel in most cases a person who seems possessed is actually psychologically disturbed.

[greenapples]

I voted for:

The Church was true but has fallen away partially or completely

Sure some of the things I find out about Joseph Smith Jr. is a little bit shocking, however I am for some reason able to look past it.

When I read and hear about Brigham Young I feel sick and angry.

I felt so displeased with Brigham Young that I have been looking into the other Mormon churches who had claimed to be the successor of Joseph Smith Jr.

I will say that part of the reason that I choose to stick around is my favorite Apostle is now the Prophet.

However I have participated in the online church chat room of the Community of Christ.

I am aware of the fact that there is a Community of Christ church house near my house. Maybe one day I will visit them.

[greenapples]

Brian Johnston wrote:

greenapples wrote:

When Someone needs to vent they will only do it for a small time and then lose interest as they move on. ➡ :wave:

Which is healthy. It’s OK to feel anger and go through that gambit of emotions. At some point though, it’s time to let go. Otherwise, anger just consumes our soul. I don’t mean in a heaven/hell metaphysical way, just that it is unhealthy to harbor negative emotions for too long.

So that is why I acknowledge the need for “rant” and “venting” sites. They serve a vital need. Many people need to let all that frustration and anger, the dismay and hurt, just let it all out.

I agree that there is a time and place for the ranting and venting.

I am just saying that there were already some more well established ranting sites.

[greenapples]

I’ve heard of this site referenced in some of the earliest Mormon Stories podcast. As well as the Church is not True Podcast (which is a dead inactive podcast….)

This just looked like a site for people to poke fun at the church and vent to some extent.

The thing of it is there are already some more well established forum sites that already served those purposes.

When Someone only needs to vent they will only do it for a small time and then lose interest as they move on. ➡ :wave:

[greenapples]

So after listening to some more Mormon Stories Podcasts as well as listening to and reading other LDS related material I have come to the conclusion that I no longer care….

My Testimony has struggled when it came to God, Jesus, The Holy Ghost, The Prophets of yesterday and of today, everything in the Bible, Book of Mormon and everything else.

I no longer care to look upon Archaeology in hopes of proving or disproving any belief system. I feel there are Archaeological claims to both support and deny the existence of any and every religious figure ever believed by anyone.

Basically I feel at this point that there is no more reason for me to prove or disprove any religious figure in both the unseen world and what I can see.

For now I shall go to church.

I can see a large temptation to fall into an unwanted paths if I do not remain in church.

Unless I can ensure avoidance of the unwanted paths I feel it is better to remain in church.

Even if I don’t fully believe everything when I attend church I naturally try to fit the standards.

In the past when I have not attended church I allow myself to go outside of those standards and it is not very pretty.

[greenapples]

Yeah I know Halloween is over

However I thought I would put in my two cents and get a head start for next year… or something like that…

I recall when I was in the first grade I loved Ninja Turtles. I tried on the Ninja Turtles Halloween mask and they smelled like clown makeup and rubber… So I didn’t want to wear it.

Next to the Halloween Masks were Hockey Masks. I wanted to wear it and be Casey Jones!!! Who was one of my favorite Ninja Turtle Characters.

Of course little did I know the Hockey Mask was actually a Jason mask from Friday the 13th “Ki Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma Ma.” 😮

How was I supposed to know I was a 6 year old Mormon boy?

Anyway at the time money was a little tight and this plastic glow in the dark hokey mask was cheap. My parents bought three Hokey masks for me and my two older brothers.

The Church party said something like ” Your costume is your ticket at the door. Please no masks” So my brothers and I went to the church without our masks. Since Casey Jones / Jason would wear every day street clothes that’s what we wore.

At the door if you were wearing a costume then you got a special little treat or toy. Since my brothers and I weren’t wearing costumes we didn’t get that treat or toy.

They had a costume judging contest. Since we didn’t have a costume we didn’t participate.

It seemed like more than half the activity required a costume – LAME!! So my brothers and I sat in the hallway.

I just wanted to vent an old annoyance

[greenapples]

Some of you have mentioned that it is meant for the TBMs… mmmm Maybe. I think certain key issues without a good solid answer will cause a TBM to put many things into question. If someone is on these sites in the first place then maybe they aren’t a TBM anymore.

Maybe some might consider myself a TBM.

I still attend church. I accept the beliefs of the afterlife. I try to live by church standards. There are a few things I’m still a little so so about. I don’t feel it’s enough to drop it all. Nor do I consider everything a fairytale.

regardless I don’t feel that they have totally helped me on certain key issues. Some issues don’t really have an answer. There isn’t enough evidence to defend anything. Instead they come up with theories. The theories they come up with at times sound so ridiculous that someone going through a faith crises might want to run the other way.

I think FAIR and FAMRS acted as a helpful tool for a short moment. However it quickly turned did more harm than good.

Honestly If it wasn’t for stumbling on the Mormon Stories Podcast I probably would have left the church completely. Certain podcasts really helped me feel comfortable enough with certain issues I had with the church and its history.

[greenapples]

This is what I was taught:

If you are representing the priesthood or using priesthood you should wear a white shirt and tie. If you are preparing, blessing or passing the sacrament then a white shirt and tie would be required. There were so few of us in the Aaronic Priesthood that everyone needed to wear the proper attire so that they could pass the sacrament.

If you are going home teaching it’s a good idea to have the white shirt. If you are giving a blessing it’s good to have a white shirt as well.

Really though if you look at the scriptures you don’t really see anything about a white shirt and tie. D&C 20 doesn’t say anything about the Priest or Elder being in a white shirt and tie when blessing the sacrament.

If the sacrament had been blessed by a priest and an Elder one dressed in yellow and the other in green the sacrament would still be valid.

If Elders bless a sick child wearing yellow and green shirts instead of white that blessing is also valid.

If the home teachers show up in Jeans and T shirt the lesson is still valid.

The White shirt and tie has just become part of the religious culture. The White shirt and tie encourages a plain underacting reverence.

A professional looking button down shirt that has some color added to it isn’t going to be too terribly distracting either.

[greenapples]

I didn’t go on a mission.

I will say that I had the desire to go. emotionally and psychologically I wasn’t totally sure if I could go. I debated whether or not to be on a medication to treat some of the issues I had been struggling with. I was told there may be an issue with the me being able to remain on a certain medication while out in the mission field.

There was some thought on doing a service mission, which would allow me to deal with my emotional/psychological issues while still being able to serve in some way.

Another opportunity came my way though and my Bishop encouraged me to go ahead and take that opportunity. I went ahead and took that job opportunity at that time.

The question has been thrown around about non RM guys being able to date LDS girls. Well yes of course they can date.

From what I have seen the younger girls in the late teens and maybe early 20s seem to have the desire for an RM.

However from what I have seen when a girl is a little bit older they no longer have this expectation. They only care if the guy is truly Worthy.

I have had girls tell me about how RMs fresh off the mission have this unfortunate arrogance. Just because they served the mission that they now expect a girl of their choice to suddenly fall in love with them, be married and be the boss of the relationship.

After experiencing this some LDS girls would rather date a guy who is not an RM and sometimes even a non LDS guy and hope they can flirt to convert

[greenapples]

I got up and bore my testimony last Sunday. I didn’t mention anything about the Book of Mormon. I simply told a short little experience I had. I said that I was thankful for Jesus Christ and the comforting peaceful feelings I can receive through the Holy Ghost.

I noticed that through out the Fast and Testimony meeting only a small few actually said ” I KNOW” when it came to speaking about the church, The Prophet, The Book of Mormon.

Even one of the members of the Bishopric got up and he didn’t use the term. Instead he said that he had a Testimony of….

I appreciated that.

[Author]

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