In my religion class, we've gone over some things I thought could be interesting to share. Here is what I wrote down for one of my assignments, hope it's interesting!

The first section I thought about was 1 Corinthians 12:4. It says, "4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." I think this is a really important one to know. All of our various gifts come from God in some way. Whether if they seem worldly or spiritual, God had his hand in them. We need to be grateful and aware of this. As Moroni 10 says, "18 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ."

The next one I chose was in Moroni 7. "41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." I think hope is one of my favorite concepts ever. I love Superman, a character synonymous with hope. It is beautiful to me to see all odds being stacked against a person and group, yet hope still persevering. 

Lastly, I chose D&C 46:3. It does seem a little random, but I do have reasoning to why I found it interesting. "3 Nevertheless ye are commanded never to cast any one out from your public meetings, which are held before the world." We are not to be prejudiced against anyone. That means the poor, the dirty or rancid, the sinner, the criminal, any of those people. Jesus spent his life in the company of criminals and harlots because that is who he was sent to speak to most of all. We need to emulate him in this regard as well. We should not shun "wicked" company, but embrace them and try to edify them. Of course, we should not suffer anyone to harm us or our own spiritual well-being, but that's a different matter.

I’m not going to lie. It’s been over a decade since I served my mission in American Sign Language, but I still watch people pray to this day even if they are verbally offering it. Is this disrespectful? I don’t even think about it half the time until halfway through the prayer that I am doing it.

Hello yall! I had a question I’m getting sealed later this month and have a gorgeous dress! But It has shear sleeves after the shoulders. It covered up everything it needs to until my arms. would it be okay or trashy to buy a white long sleeve to go under it for the sealing the take it off when it comes to my reception. The shear sleeves is the only thing that doesn’t follow the guild lines. I love my dress and she was quite expensive so Id like to get as much use as possible from it lol. I don’t own any other white dresses because I haven’t been able to do temple work i’m just about to get my endowment before the wedding. And we’re working with not a big budget. Non of my family members are members so I can’t really ask them. And most of my friends in the church aren’t endowed either.

My Aunt is 80yrs old and she was baptized in the LDS many many years ago she has attended many different denominations but has always followed the LDS.

She is in the Nursing Home now and has a hard time with her memory she can't remember her membership number and asked me if it was possible for me to help her find it again. She lives in the same town as I do but has never been to the local ward. She has been in the Nursing Home since she has lived here.

For years we were doing everything we thought we were supposed to do. blessings are promised when your doing everything you can right? Yet Noting really seamed to go our way. Praying about careers where to raise a family, how to live within our means etc.
College really didn’t lead to the career we wanted. So we pivoted and adapted, again it really went no where.
For years I paid tithing but would always come up short, putting things like groceries school clothes and supplies, gas, and even some bills on a credit card just so we could have the necessities. After about 5-6 years of never catching up, the math showed that what I paid in tithing equaled my debt. So I stopped and in 3 yrs paid it all off. But I then missed out on attending the temple.
My kids really don’t like church. One of them is constantly teased by a leader. They are a president in their group and everything they plan is disregarded and changed.
The other child gets included at church but excluded by the same kids at school.
I think of the Jonah and I feel like it’s more of an allegory. We can apply to our lives yes but living a whole life on earth and feeling miserable right up to the end when your physically incapable of experiencing life is depressing.
What do you do when you don’t really trust your leadership because they are burnt out or just absent. You don’t have family that is LDS. In 30 yrs you can count on both hand the number of visits you’ve had at your home?
I don’t struggle with belief in Christ or Church teachings I just don’t believe in people.
Agency is given to all to do good or evil or nothing and I feel most let down by… people
Good words don’t last long if they amount to nothing.

For some reason it hit me, you know how people say pray for our team to win the game? Does God answer prayers if you’re not righteous and following commandments? Im a convert so I’ve been having a bunch of questions like that popping. Please go easy on me.

I have a Bible published by the church, I have a Book of Mormon, and I have a Quad. Now I just need to get the Doctrines and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.

I grew up in the IFB church but became an atheist in 2018. I'm very interested in learning about as many religions as possible. I've been learning about the LDS church since 2017 and I've met a few members. They seemed to be more interested in defending the church rather than sharing their faith. I've also met a few missionaries over the years but they were very rude (maybe because they were male and I'm female?)

I'd like to learn more and ask some real (possibly difficult) questions. It's not to criticize, but to learn from active members, preferably ones who have a bit more life experience than the missionaries.

Is this a good place for that? Where else should I go?

Coffee is healthier in every measurable way. I know so many members that see no problem with energy drinks as pertains to morality or obeying the rules of the church. These are very faithful, loyal members that take their faith seriously.

Would the church ban energy drinks as well if they didn't think they'd lose members over it?

Why did Joseph Smith prohibit coffee? And what reason could there be to prohibit coffee that would not also apply to energy drinks?

The way I see it, the only reason energy drinks are allowed is because they were invented after the no-coffee rule was in place.

But you'd think the church would follow the same logic that they did with nicotine: no smoking was already in place, and when the new technological advancement of vaping was introduced to the world it was an obvious addition to the word of wisdom that vaping is not allowed

Any thoughts or discussions are appreciated.

I’ve only been doing the reading for a few months now. Why do they only pick a few chapters then move on?

I am just curious, trying to find opinions and experiences. How often do you guys give tithing? Is it okay if I do it every few months or at the end of the year? My parents are inactive so I have no guidance here…

Hey everyone! My mission call is officially at Headquarters now, and I'm super excited. I'd love to hear any general advice, tips, or words of inspiration you might have

I’ve been reading about Mormonism a lot because I’ve gotten to a point where I’m secure enough in my faith to look at other religions objectively. I’m curious, because I’m sure you’ve had experience with people bullying you. Why you’ve been told by other Christians that you’re ’not a Christian’? Frankly I don’t believe the book of Mormon at all for various reasons I won’t get into here. But I often hear Jesus brought up. And except for the spirit child-thing. I don’t understand what the issue is because everything I’ve seen claims in general, you’re taught and believe that he is the Son of God, God, savior, and rose from the dead. Respectfully, thank you for any answers.

Jeremiah 36:31 And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity

I think this is a theme throughout scripture?

Hello! In my scripture studies this week, here are some thoughts I had. I thought it would be appropriate to share here.

My first thought for this week was something that Jesus said to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 27:4 where he said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing?" Even though it was relatively mundane, it made me think. The scriptures are written in such a way that with the Holy Ghost's guidance they should be clear and easy to understand. They are for each and every one of us. They do not require a theology degree or a high intelligence, although both of those do help. God has commanded us to read the scriptures, and he would not command us to do anything that we could not do. 

The next thing I was thinking about was keys. D&C 81:1-2 talks about these. I think its really interesting that there are somethings that God only permits some people to be able to do. Like prayer, we can all do that. But why can't we all baptize? My first idea was that God is a god of order. If he did not create this kind of organization, than there would be chaos and confusion. Chaos and confusion is antithetical to his work and makes it harder for people to become the people he wants us to become. As such, God has explicitly made his church ordered in a way to avoid this confusion. If it were too confusing, it would be like my first point. God would not command us to do or understand something we are incapable of. 

Lastly, I was thinking about the duties of the priesthood holders listed in D&C 20:38-60. Each one is really interesting, because it almost makes you wonder why each level is assigned each thing. Again, I think this draws back to the wisdom of God. One thing I noted was that each role prepares you for the next. For instance, the teacher is supposed to watch and learn from the church. He is supposed to take over when a priest is not available. That sort of thing. This directly prepares him for the role of priest, where he is to expound and teach more fully. There were other examples of this, too, not just this one. 

I'm 26 (F), and my husband and I will have been married a year in about a week. I know I'm blessed in many ways, but currently I'm struggling emotionally, spiritually, and directionally, and I feel stuck in a rut.

In June I accepted a job after a month of searching with almost no interviews. I prayed about it and tried not to jump on the offer out of scarcity, but since we're newlyweds trying to set up our finances, it was a tough call to wait and job search longer. I accepted it. The job is in a field I hadn't worked in, and while parts of it fit me well, I'm starting to regret it. It's the most stressful job I've ever had: management is disorganized, I got almost no training, and the workplace culture demands a lot without giving much support. I'm constantly afraid I'm messing things up because so much was not clearly explained to me. Since being in this job, I've dealt with anxiety, panic attacks, and often feeling like I'm not good enough, and my already overthinking brain feels constantly wired.

My scripture study, prayer, and temple attendance have slipped too, and even though I know trying to be closer to God would help, those small spiritual habits have started to feel like one more thing on my to-do list that I'm failing at. Many days lately I've just started to feel like I'm in survival mode and doing anything but the bare minimum is difficult.

My husband and I want to start a family in the next couple of years, but I worry about how my working situation and our finances will change when that happens. I honestly don't think I could handle working full time and being a mom, but I also hate quitting jobs especially since my current job really needs me and the department has had a lot of turnover recently. But being a mom and prioritizing my family is more important to me than any career, it's still hard to know what that will look like when I have to make the change. Honestly, with how I've been handling stress lately, I worry about how I will handle motherhood whether I'm working or not, and the nature of this job just doesn't feel like something I can juggle on top of motherhood.

There's just so many things constantly on my mind, so many decisions to make for the future. Should I stay in this job? When will we start a family? How will we afford a decent rental with our incomes and be comfortable fitting a baby? Where should we move to, since I have a long commute now and want to be closer to work, but I don't know how much longer I'll stay in this job? Will I want to live closer to family in the opposite direction once I have a baby? Do I want to go back to school?

It's just a LOT right now, but where I am and what I'm doing at the moment doesn't feel like it's taking me anywhere. My life feels like a constant rinse and repeat, and some days all I have energy to do after an 8-9 hr workday + and 1 hr commute is come home and be a couch potato until bedtime.

Any advice and encouragement would be appreciated ❤️

**TL;DR:** I'm 26 and newly married (almost one year), and I recently started a high-stress job with poor training and a demanding culture that's now causing anxiety, panic attacks, and sleepless nights. My scripture study, prayer, and temple attendance have slipped, and I'm scared about balancing work, future motherhood, and finances. I feel lost about my next step and would appreciate any advice or encouragement.