Comments by "" (@gwengold8154) on "Inside Largest Mormon Community - First Impressions 🇺🇸" video.

  1. What a kind heart you have. Thank you ❤️
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  2. Loved your comments! So well said.
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  3. Thanks, Peter! I've been watching your channel for quite a while now, and I thought sometime you'd wind up exploring the church that I belong to and today's the day! 😀 It was delightful. My favorite vlogs are still the ones you did on the people of Iran. That was amazingly beautiful! I just wanted to comment on the "hard sell" comment. It would be a hard sell if any of the members of the church had to "sell" the doctrine. Luckily for us, absolutely none of us converts anyone. Not a single person. Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. His role in the world is to speak (reveal) truth, and He does just that. When you have heard the Holy Spirit, you don't forget it. When you witness first hand miracles and irrefutable answers to prayers, then your faith is fortified. I think that is what people misunderstand about us most. When the Holy Spirit is the agent of conversion, nothing is a "hard sell." And we would never want to live a life without the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
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  4. What a lovely comment, Janice. Thank you. ❤️ Every Monday night is meant to be set aside to do things together as a family and build strong bonds. It is called Family Home Evening or FHE. Wherever humanly possible, families are encouraged to carve out this family time together. We also believe in keeping the Sabbath day holy. This means that to the extent possible, we should not work or shop or recreate or cause others to work on this holy and sacred day. It should be a day set apart from the other 6 days and offered to the Lord.
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  5. I'm LDS, and I would love to see that too. I hope Peter takes your suggestion 😀
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  6. Thank you so much for your kind words ❤️ I especially appreciate your feelings about strengthening the legitimacy of the church. We have felt that before. I mean, if there were a true church of Jesus Christ on the earth. And I know a lot of people don't believe that there is, but just IF there were a true church of Jesus Christ on the earth...wouldn't you absolutely expect it to be the most hated and vilified of any church? I know that I would. Even if I didn't belong to this church, I would look at that as an arrow pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord said that the world would hate His disciples. If the world suddenly loved us, I'd be pretty worried, TBH.
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  7. Thank you so much for your comment. You sound like a wonderfully fair-minded person. The world could use more like you. <3 I have to remember to extend a lot of grace to people. I remember seeing orthodox Jewish men wearing phylactories on their foreheads for the first time and laughing at them. I'm not proud of my younger self. It was something very, very foreign and different, and I reacted out of legitimate ignorance. It takes maturity and understanding to see spiritual things through the prism they ought to be seen through. Sometimes, we need to extend grace. I'm sure glad that I matured enough to see the incredible beauty of a phylactory on a forehead. Among other things. <3
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  8.  @purpleyeti7440  I am truly saddened by anyone who has experienced pain or trauma. My heart goes out to you. The only thing is, the haters come off feeling like people who came home and made their wife cry because their boss made them cry. If you know what I mean. All I know is that you can find people who have bad things to say about every single religious denomination on earth. Hate is never the answer. Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are called to do good to all.
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  9. Thank you for your comment. It was beautifully said, and it really touched my heart. ❤️ I have never understood the hate. I genuinely love people of all different faiths. There are amazing, kind, wonderful people in every nation and every religion.
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  10. Thank you for sharing your experiences and your kind comments, Robert. ❤️
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  11. Why be so cruel, Molly? If you don't like latter-day saints, it's fine. But Brock is a human being with feelings. He's a kind man who shouldn't be mocked. IMHO. Yes, we know that the world thinks that we are weird. Weird is actually the KINDEST thing they say about us generally. We are unusual. I get it. I do have friends who are outside of the religion. I have siblings who have married Catholics also. I genuinely love and value people of many faith groups. Even have a friend who is a devout atheist.
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  12. My dad always paid 10% of his gross. Not his net. He felt like it was cheating the Lord to only go by his take-home pay. I think that many latter-day saints feel similarly. It's not for you or I to say that the church has enough money. They have millions of members to take care of if something catastrophic occurs. When Joseph (who was sold into Egypt) was stockpiling tons and tons of grain over 7 years, do you imagine that there were scoffers and finger pointers? He had prophetic vision to know that 7 years of plenty would be followed by 7 years of famine. He saved his own life, his family's life, and the Egyptians by being prudent and prophetic. Don't be so hasty to judge lest you judge unrighteously.
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  13. I think Brock simply meant the most recent counsel on it. It tends to be really emphasized at times and then go on the back burner for a while. At least in terms of conference talks and the like.
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  14. Do you mind me asking--what is the UPC? And, if your church left the UPC to become nondenominational, why would you like for Peter to explore the UPC?
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  15. Thanks so much for your kind words ❤️. It is my understanding also that most other religions have tithing in some form. I don't understand why people go absolutely ballistic about our church, tithing its members.
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  16. Jesus Christ Himself has walked in the latter-day saints temples. Every single one we build is a house for Jesus Christ.
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  17. @Andrea-ek9cp  great point! Jesus Christ was definitely hated and despised for being different. Makes His statement all the more poignant -"by this shall men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
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  18. I wonder if people jumped down Joseph's (who was sold into Egypt) throat when he was hoarding and stock piling tons and tons of grain during the 7 years of plenty? My guess is that there were plenty of scoffers! But he had prophetic vision to know that it had to last them through the 7 years of famine that would follow.
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  19. @HonestyIntegrity  fair enough. We do say that these are the latter days--as in, getting close to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. But honestly, no member of the church that I know of is sitting around believing that the 2nd coming is happening tomorrow. We aren't living life in that doomsday mentality. There are many prophesied things that need to happen, and no one knows the timing of the Lord's return. No one. Wise latter-day saints live both as if they will live forever and as if the world may end today. Because if you happen to die today, for you, it IS the end of the world. Yet, current church prophets have told us to get on with life. To get an education, get married and raise a family, get a satisfying career, and serve the community. They in no way preach a doomsday gospel!
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  20. You are correct that the need to be prepared with food storage has been taught almost from the inception of the church. I think that Brock was referring to the latest emphasis on it. There seems to be an emphasis on this at certain times, and then it isn't specifically preached for a while.
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  21. The prophet Joseph Smith was born in Sharon, Vermont. The family had terrible financial hardships and moved to New York.
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  22. I'm not sure what you mean exactly about do women have bodily autonomy. The church is very vocally against abortion if that is what you mean. But they do support exceptions for rape or incest. We believe that children are a great blessing, so women are encouraged to have large families, but it is left up to the couple to pray and council with God about their own situations. Latter-day saint women can use birth control if they choose. We marry who we want when we want, and I would say that we have bodily autonomy.
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  23. I can try to answer some of your questions. All of the top leaders are men. They are what we call the first presidency and the quorum of 12 apostles. They are men because only men are ordained to the priesthood or given the authority to hold the priesthood. We do have what is called auxiliary leaders who are women. They are in charge of the global relief organization called the Relief Society and the Young Women organization and the Primary organization within the church. In every local congregation, there is a bishop who is always male, and a woman always serves as the president over the women. Most of the church leaders are Republicans. One former member of the first presidency was a Democrat. I believe that one member of the 12 apostles was also a Democrat. But it's rare. Most of the members in Utah are Republicans. You are very, very lonely as a latter-day saint Democrat in Utah. Latter-day saints exist all over America and the world, so outside of Utah, you have a wide range of political views. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada was a latter-day saint and a top Democrat in the United States Senate. We are encouraged to vote and vote our conscience. We feel about the poor that there should be no poor. We are trying to build a true zion people in anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ. In order for this to truly happen, we would need to eradicate poverty completely. It can be done. We know that the city of Enoch had no poor among them. There is a parable in the Book of Mormon about how a good father will never stand for half his sons to be in rags while half are not. Our God is a loving Father who wants all of His children provided for. The Book of Mormon also says that if a beggar begs bread of us and we say that he has brought it upon himself and we judge him, that it is a sin. It reminds us, "Are we not ALL beggars?" There are people who say bad things about every single religion in existence. You will have very many people willing to offer their opinions on what the dark side of this religion is. I guess that is up to you to decide. I would say that it is probably that we have not yet become truly one. And the Lord Jesus Christ says, "If ye are not one, ye are not mine."
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  24. There is nothing anywhere in our doctrine that says only 144k will go to heaven. Maybe you have us confused with some other church. 😮
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  25. I really enjoyed reading your comments. Peter should do a series on Catholics next. There's a lot that I don't know, even though I'm fairly familiar with some Catholic beliefs. I really liked what you had to say about the Eucharist. We call it the sacrament. We do allow strangers to take it, which I've never really understood tbh. Sometimes, the members of the church are forbidden from taking it during the repentance process. Some people think this is too harsh, but it really is meant as a protection. We promise God solemnly to keep His commandments and take His name upon us and always remember Him. If someone were deep in sin and just took the sacrament anyway, they bring damnation upon themselves. It's not like they go straight to hades, but it sure isn't good. You have to mean the solemn promises that you make to God. I would say that our bishops are more like Catholic bishops than pastors in the protestant world. We have the preparatory priesthood, which is the Aaronic priesthood. Then, the Melchizedek priesthood. Generally, a boy, age twelve, is ordained and becomes a deacon. At about fourteen, he would be ordained a teacher. At about sixteen, he would be ordained a priest. At about eighteen, he would be ordained an elder. Later on in life, he would be ordained a high priest. These are some of the offices of the holy priesthood of God. Bishops are, therefore, priests, but they are elders and high priests also. :-) Patriarch is another priesthood office, but only a select few are Patriarchs. Bishops oversee a ward, and the stake president is sort of equivalent to a Catholic bishop.
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  26. Thank you
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  27.  @paintwithpastels  you are welcome 😊 our hearts are with the beautiful people of Ukraine 💙 💛
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  28. God bless Ukraine 🇺🇦 May God bring peace and autonomy to that great nation soon!
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  29. Thanks for the lovely words. You sound like a kind person yourself. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints is not everyone's cup of tea 😉 but maybe you could be a modern day Alexander Doniphan or something ❤
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  30. @user-fc7pr5yc8c  It's rather impossible to express my feelings in full in a format like this, but let me just boil it down to this, the guests have something wrong and/or something hard happen. Or they hear things that they hadn't heard before. Instead of asking for wisdom and guidance from the Lord directly, they use their own judgment and their own wisdom to storm out of the church. To me, it feels a little bit immature. Akin to tantrum throwing you'd see in a small child. I remember once in my own life being SO angry at a bishop. It make me actually shake how angry I felt. I went home and immediately went on my knees to cry to my heavenly father about it. I was like, this is YOUR bishop, and how is it OKAY with you that he is behaving like this, etc. Well, my anger calmed, and a peace came over me. I felt like the judgment of this man would be handled by the Lord. To leave the church is to leave the Lord. When people have an issue with a mortal bishop and in response leave their God over it....well, it really is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It is completely unwise and detrimental. We have to be spiritually mature enough to see the long game. Don't remove yourself from the field before the game is won. Even if you get tackled and bruised along the way.
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  31. I don't know who told you that, but it is not true.
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  32. Latter-day saints are not supposed to drink coffee or tea. You can get it in restaurants and there are some coffee shops. I live in Utah, and we have a coffee shop in town.
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  33. Community of Christ?
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  34. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father who is in heaven is perfect.
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  35. Thank you for pointing that out, Stella.
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  36. It's exciting to hear from someone who is in Denmark 🇩🇰 😀 I love Denmark!
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  37. Men of any color could be the prophet. Currently in the quorum of 12 apostles there is an elder of Chinese descent, an elder of Brazilian descent, and an elder of Czech/German descent. Men of African descent are in the quorum of the seventy. Any of them could become the prophet. There may be some polygamy in heaven as some men are sealed to two women. (First wife dies, they marry again.) But it is not required and will not be the norm. In the temple, we covenant to give our all to building up the kingdom of God. How could you possibly keep that covenant if you balk at donating 10 percent of your income in the form of tithing? Every single thing we have is from God. Not just our material wealth, but our bodies, our health, our time, the air we breathe. It is not an imposition to return to Him a pittance to the building up of His kingdom.
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  38. Thanks for your kind comments 🙂
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  39. I agree, Simon. I wanted to hear from that missionary who was from England also! He seemed pretty shy, though, or maybe he just couldn't get a word in edge wise with all the alpha males. Lol
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  40. Oh, and congrats on having the newest apostle come from England 🇬🇧! That's awesome.
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  41. The latter-day saints probably will drink wine with the Lord when He comes again. In the early days of the restoration, the saints used wine for the sacrament ( or what Catholics call communion) They had to buy it from their enemies and this worried them. They asked the Lord about it, and He told them to use water. We use bread and water to this day.
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  42.  @jeffs4483  This is a misunderstanding that some latter-day saints have. We are promised that if we obey the commandments of God that we will prosper. Some think this equates to a promise of wealth. That is just not true. To prosper means to have God with you.
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  43. @fernemcallister6774 All latter-day saints are definitely not rich in terms of material things. We have members all over the world, and financial situations vary widely. There are many latter-day saints who are well off. Education is stressed in the culture, and that generally translates into higher paying jobs. Our president was a world-renowned heart surgeon. His counselors were a judge and a university president. The acting president of the quorum of 12 apostles was a university president. We are trying to build a zion community, and that means eradicating poverty. The hallmark of any true zion is that there are no poor among them.
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  44.  @jeffs4483  I sort of agree. :-) My point was that prosperity is having the Lord with you. It's not about money.
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  45. Yes. Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God, and He is most definitely divine. There is no other name under heaven whereby anyone can be saved. Only through the Lord Jesus Christ. He truly is the way, the truth, and the life. Our current prophet spent his entire working life as a medical doctor. A world-renowned heart surgeon, in fact. As a medical professional, he advised people to get the covid vaccine. But everyone has their free agency. Some people got the vaccine, and many others didn't. It was an individual choice.
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  46. I think that's incredibly unkind.
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  47. This statement is just blatantly untrue.
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  48. I love your point about Peter missing the point. "The truth shall set you free." Jesus Christ is the truth, and yoking yourself to Him is where true freedom lies. I think that non-religious people have a hard time seeing that.
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  49. Have you heard of the great commission?
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  50. How does that fit? It doesn't. IMHO, noncommittal makeout sessions are a way some young latter-day saints feel that they can build zion while keeping a foot in Babylon. It is folly.
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  51. ​@jeffs4483 Matthew 22:21 render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.
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  52. Yes, we do. Jesus Christ is God the Son. The only begotten of the Father and the only way that leads to salvation.
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  53. Of the church? No. That was the acting president of the quorum of 12 apostles who recently passed. The president of the church is in his 100th year and going strong.
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  54. You do know that we are a global church, right? Which means that we have members all over the world. Including Africa. Yes, we have many, many black members. In the United States and elsewhere.
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  55.  @WendyFilice-p9i  You are very welcome ❤️
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  56. It's not really very confusing. You know that scripture in the Bible that says God will do nothing save He reveals it to His servant the prophet? We believe that. The prophet has the right, or authority, or whatever you want to call it to receive revelation for the entire church. Your neighbor down the street doesn't have that authority to receive revelation for the whole church, but he or she can and does receive revelation from God for their own lives and anything that they have charge over. We all do receive revelation for our own lives. We are also grateful for a prophet.
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  57. That is 100 percent true. There are many good people who aren't religious. Our aim is not just to be good people. Our aim is to return to live with our heavenly parents again.
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  58. What do you make of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Solomon, and King David? All polygamists. We have no idea the ages of the wives. King David even had to steal another man's wife. Should we throw out the Bible?
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  59. Why would you ever watch Mormon stories podcast to find out about us? It's like asking Judas about Jesus Christ or Nero about the Christians.
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  60. @wendyfilice7274  Yes, I understand that Joseph Smith was not in the Bible. My point is simply that prophets or kings in other times have practiced polygamy. So the idea of Joseph Smith practicing polygamy is not that shocking to me.
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  61. @wendyfilice7274  I watched Mormon stories for a while. I actually had sympathy for John Dehlin and why he got kicked out of the church and everything. My friends were dismayed that I was watching it, but I told them that it actually strengthened my testimony! It did, truly. I can't watch it anymore though. I developed such a poor opinion of John Dehlin and the program.
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  62.  @wendyfilice7274  do you mind if I ask what Christian beliefs you grew up with and what made you need to deconstruct them?
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  63. @wendyfilice7274  No, I don't agree with the information that they share there. John Dehlin has an agenda. The people who go on there seem a bit childish to me. I don't mean to be insulting. It's just kind of like Paul said. They see through a glass darkly. They seem as children who can't quite comprehend the big picture yet.
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  64.  @MarmotCanales  I can't help you there. I didn't even know that we had an Orthodox church in Utah. I know the Catholic church in Utah quite well, but it's not exactly the same thing. Best of luck with your musings. :-)
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  65. @user-fc7pr5yc8c  I just wanted to add another story. My sister gave her tithing (in cash) to her bishop. Apparently, there wasn't a record of it, and she became certain that the Bishop had stolen her tithing for his personal use. The anger and disillusionment seemed to literally consume her. She told everyone around her. It affected her testimony of tithing and of the church. It didn't help that our brother refused to believe her. He is naive enough to believe that church leaders never do anything wrong. Anyway, I just never really understood her reaction. I get that it made her angry and disillusioned. I would be too! But I didn't understand the part where she let it eat at her until it destroyed her. I kept assuring her that the Lord KNOWS she paid her tithing. It has nothing to do with her anymore. If that bishop stole her tithing, it's on him. I'd hate to be him on the day of judgment. I can't recall the exact scripture verses now, but there are many verses in the Bible about how anyone in leadership roles over others will be accountable to God for how they discharged their leadership. And God is pretty clear about the consequences if they exercise unrighteous dominion. I take the Lord at his word. I don't understand why my sister can't take the Lord at his word. God sees everything. Even the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. Plus, all of our actions. We don't have to leave Him because someone did evil. Yoke yourself to God and stay there. That is ultimate wisdom. ❤️
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  66. @wendyfilice7274  I don't know what you have heard, but we believe exactly what you were talking about from the podcast that you listened to. In the Book of Mormon, there is a strong condemnation by God of people who were practicing polygamy just because they wanted to. God says marriage should be between one man and one woman unless He commands certain men otherwise. That's a doctrine in the Book of Mormon, and it's absolutely what we believe. We aren't certain of the reasons why the Lord commanded certain people to practice polygamy in the early days of the restoration. ( the church as a whole never practiced polygamy) David Alexander speculated on his channel that it was in fulfillment of a passage in the Bible that he had wondered about all his life. (He's a new convert to the church. He spent 47 years in the protestant world.) His theory seems plausible, but it's only a theory. We don't know. It is a myth about having to practice polygamy to go to the highest heaven. Wonderful, godly men like my own father, had only one wife, and wanted ONLY one wife, and I fully expect to see them in the celestial kingdom.
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  67. @wendyfilice7274  If you're interested, you can just search David Alexander polygamy, and it should pull up the one where he talks about it. If not, that's okay too. 😀
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  68.  @WendyFilice-p9i  Yes, many men have thought that they were called to practice polygamy. If it makes you feel any better, I don't know of a single person currently in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints who wants to practice polygamy. We hope that the reasons for it have been accomplished and there will be no more polygamy.
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  69. @user-fc7pr5yc8c  The thing is, we don't have to worry about things of the past. It is the Holy Spirit who converts people. When you gain a testimony of truth through the Holy Spirit, then you just know the truth. David Alexander harps on this quite often! Lol. He worked in orchards a lot, and he said that if you have a tree that is glorious and producing the best fruit you ever tasted, who in the world would say that we have to dig up the roots of that tree and inspect if they were rotten. He said that if you suggested that people would seriously think you were mental! 😆
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  70. See the JST in reference to this verse
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  71. Have you heard of the great commission?
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  72. You are wise to give the truth some thought.
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  73. Most members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints are of the tribe of Ephraim. This is to be expected since Ephraim holds the birthright and is charged with gathering the 12 tribes of Israel from their long disbursement.
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  74. Are you any relation to Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of 12 apostles?
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  75. Yes. Both males and females wear the temple clothing.
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  76. We don't believe that there are latter-day saints on the moon. We do believe that the garden of Eden was in Missouri. We believe that a temple will be there during the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  77. You are correct. I believe that Brock meant that the church leaders stressed it again around 2000. In general conference talks and the like, it seems to be a big focus at times and then on the back burner, so to speak at other times.
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  78. Made me laugh. Even though I am a latter-day saint 😆
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  79. @jeffs4483  Thete is no rampant abuse of women and children in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints. Unfortunately, we have bad apples just like any other religion, but if you care to back up your accusations with statistics, you will find that the statistics are much lower than the average. Of course, the number should be zero. Jesus Christ has warned about the judgment that will come to those who would hurt the vulnerable. As for the fruits, if you can't see the abundant fruits of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, then you are stone blind and I pity you.
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  80. They are clothing that you wear under your street clothing after you have gone to the temple. You wear them for the rest of your life. They have sacred and symbolic meaning to us.
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  81. Not surprising since we believe that we are of the house of Israel.
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  82. I don't mean to be offensive, but we cringe at ya'lls understanding of scripture and who Jesus Christ is.
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  83. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints does not preach Sola scriptura. We are the most blessed people in the world to have continuing revelation and companion scripture to the Holy Bible.
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  84. ​@Bombay1618 I think that Brock is saying that it doesn't make sense to a lot of people to have a ban on coffee because coffee doesn't seem harmful to anyone. There have even been some studies suggesting that it can be beneficial in moderation. He's saying that we still abstain because we have been told to abstain.
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  85. I watched the clip you referred to again, and it is no wonder why you are confused. The tithing analogy makes absolutely no sense. We do pay tithing. We don't drink coffee. Tithing is a principle of the gospel that goes back to ancient times. As far as I know, abstaining from coffee is not. I bet that Brock would like to have a do-over on explaining things.
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  86. That is simply not true. Membership numbers only refer to living members of the church.
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  87. What about Solomon and his thousands of wives? King David had thousands of wives. We don't know what age any of them were. Even then, he had to steal another man's wife. In his youth, the Lord said that David was a man after His own heart. What do you make of that? Should we throw out the Bible?
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  88. We want to be called latter-day saints. It's part of the official name of the church, which is "the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints." We don't care for the term "Mormons."
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  89. Latter-day saints just is a way of distinguishing us from the former day saints since we believe that we are the restored church that the Lord Jesus Christ established on the earth during His mortal ministry.
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  90. You have such a kind heart. God bless you.
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  91. Yes, only men can be prophets. Anyone who has a testimony of Jesus Christ is said to have the spirit of prophecy. That is different than being a prophet, though.
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  92. Zero. The membership of the church is counted by living members only.
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  93. Yes. But not exactly like Old Testament times. 😀
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  94. How do you get that it's a doomsday church from the name? Latter-day saints is simply an indication that we are not former-day saints. The name of the church testifies of an apostasy and a restoration.
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  95. Do you believe in the words of Abraham? Jacob? Moses? All practiced polygamy.
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  96. Doesn't your Bible also have the Lord promising to restore the 12 tribes of Israel? God promised that they wouldn't be scattered and forsaken forever. We proclaim that God has indeed set His hand to gather together scattered Israel once again! Judah is one tribe of 12.
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  97. I am a bit of a religious "nut" and yet I totally understand what you are saying here 😂 I have felt the same way on occasion.
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  98. @AVoiceCryingInTheWildern-vt6ed This is not true. We believe that we are called by the great commission commandment to preach the gospel to all the world and offer baptism. Regardless of what path people choose, we still serve. We are the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. To symbolically die with the Lord in baptism and to symbolically rise with Him means that we are dead to the old natural man, and we we are committed to living FOR Jesus Christ. Would our Lord Jesus Christ serve and help people regardless of their denomination? Yes, He would. So we try to do likewise.
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  99. Thank you so much for your kind words ❤️
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  100. That title is already taken. Steven Pynakker says that he is the "Switzerland of Mormonism." 😆
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  101. It's not disrespectful to have honest opinions ❤️ more than a few people have found the origins of the restoration strange. Lol. Luckily, we have the Holy Spirit who can and does speak truth to our hearts and minds.
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  102. Thanks for pointing this out because I only learned that last year! I always thought that the cross was a symbol of the dead Lord to Protestants, but I guess that isn't so.
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  103. We believe in a spirit world (or a world where people in their spirit form exist). When people die, we believe that they go to this spirit world to await resurrection and the judgment. We do not believe that people are instantly judged and sent to hell or heaven upon their mortal death. That is what Brock meant. We believe that life in the spirit world is similar to life on earth, except spirits do not have bodies. We believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is still being preached in the spirit world, and people can hear it and accept it if they choose.
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  104. We do not believe in reincarnation.
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  105. This is something that seems to bother a lot of people. We have more than enough money right now. That is true. But we don't know what things will be like the closer we get to the second coming. We truly believe that the 1st presidency and quorum of 12 apostles are prophetic. Maybe they see things we do not know. There are 17 million members of the church thereabouts, and if something catastrophic happened, the money might not go as far as people think towards caring for the church. Our church does donate millions of dollars and goods each year to help all over the world.
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  106. Just a couple of queries that come to mind from your great comments... Jesus Christ taught, "If you love me, keep my commandments." So, do we actually love Him if we don't do as He commands? That's where I see organized religion becoming important. For instance, if you are commanded to be baptized, to whom should you go to obey that command? Also wanted to ask (concerning the "original" teaching of God) what do you make of the Lord Jesus Christ instructing the apostle Peter to eat with and convert gentiles after first forbidding such a thing? Sacrifice used to be the sacrifices of animals, and the Lord Jesus Christ changed it to the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. In the Holy Bible it talks about the Lord's church being built on a foundation of prophets and apostles. We believe that to be necessary, because revelations do come that are sometimes so hard to understand that you need direction from living prophets and apostles. Just as the early church desperately needed the revelation based direction of Peter, James, and John.
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  107. No, in fact, if you practice polygamy, you would be excommunicated. You can not be a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints and practice polygamy.
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  108. It's just because he doesn't get it yet. The truth shall set you free is another way of saying that the Lord Jesus Christ will set you free. There is no real freedom outside of Him. Just as there is no real life outside of Him. Peter just hasn't had that lightbulb go on yet. Someday, maybe he will.
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  109. Thank you for your kind words, Ashley. ❤️
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  110. I get it. But the great commission is a commandment from our King. So we have to obey it.
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  111. Yes, we do. We strongly believe in keeping the Sabbath day holy.
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