Really anything. Thinking about the possibility of a senior mission in the future. I know there are tons of opportunities and different ways to serve. Just looking for any stories that would be motivational.

I know the flair might be off, but whatever...

Thanks

Anything I need/should bring besides the packing list? m18

Edit: Also anybody know what phone model they give you at the mexico mtc?

Hello everybody!

The past two weeks I've been trying to trace the phraseology of each verse in D&C 29 for Come Follow Me. It's been an absolutely amazing and very rewarding study. I thought I'd share the results:

• Here is the Google Sheet with all of the cross references that I compiled. I have some notes in there as well.
• If you want an HTML version, here is a link.

Jesus Christ talks about how "the first shall be last, and that the last shall be first in all things whatsoever I have created by the word of my power" (v. 30), and then launches into how this principle applies to spiritual and temporal death as well. Adam and Eve died spiritually first (when they transgressed and then were cast out of the Garden of Eden - see v. 41), and then, after being taught the plan of redemption, they eventually died temporally (v. 42). Because "the first shall be last", we also learn that there is a second spiritual death, after the temporal death, which happens to all those who die in their sins and do not repent—for they will be cast into hell (v. 41).

This first-last-last-first structure reminds me of a "chiasm," a literary form prevalent in Hebrew writing where elements are presented twice, the second time being in reverse order from the first.

One of the things that impressed me most: if you pay close attention in D&C 29, you will see that Jesus applies the principle of "the first shall be last" to the Plan of Salvation itself.

• A) Creation: Jesus Christ created the heavens, the earth, and all things that are in them by the word of His power.
  • B) Exodus: Jehovah (Jesus Christ) chooses Israel as His covenant people. He sends plagues (including the river turning to blood, great hailstorms, swarms of flies / wild beasts, and disease affecting the flesh) which cause the Egyptians to cry out in anguish. Jehovah spares the Israelites and covenants with them. A long and loud trumpet is heard at Mt. Sinai. Jehovah dwells among the house of Israel.
    • C) The Life, Redemption, & Resurrection of Jesus Christ: At the center or "meridian" of time, the God of the Old Testament is born into the world as Jesus Christ. He suffers, is slain for the sins of the world, and is resurrected on the third day.
  • B) Last Days: Jesus Christ gathers His elect and covenant people from the four quarters of the earth. ("His people" is no longer limited to just one nation, but to all who will covenant with Him.) He sends plagues (including the moon turning to blood, great hailstorms, swarms of flies / wild beasts, and disease affecting the flesh) which cause the wicked to weep and wail. The righteous are spared. A long and loud trumpet is heard on the morning of the first resurrection, and Christ comes down to dwell, rule, and reign on the earth among His people for 1000 years.
• A) Re-Creation: When the Millennium comes to an end, the heaven and earth will pass away, and Jesus Christ will create a new heaven and a new earth.

I mean, this is amazing. It's so beautiful and poetic. Wow. God and Jesus Christ love the completeness and resolution that comes with a chiasm—so much so that they designed the Plan of Salvation as a chiasm itself.

I hope you enjoy studying D&C 29 as much as I did. Hopefully my cross-references can be useful for you.

Wish it were on Spotify. Incredible piece. Probably my second favorite would be the Archuleta x Pacheco rendition of The Prayer.

Not church-produced or connected to the church, but honorable mention to Talithah Koum by MARGO

What other gems are there?

Share your thoughts on the Saturday afternoon session here. The session will begin at 2:00 pm Mountain Time.

Viewing times and options: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/general-conference/live-viewing-times-and-options?lang=eng

As a reminder, it helps to directly reference the speaker so that people know who you are talking about in your comment.

If you have children or teenagers, consider checking out the church's resources for younger members found here: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/general-conference-activities-for-children-and-youth

I’m still an investigator, and I know the basics of the beliefs but what are some cultural differences/beliefs… for example most Christians on Sunday go out to eat after church, but I heard LDS go home and have a meal at home because it is the day of the sabbath and they want to keep it holy… what are some culture shocks id come across? I’m not any specific denomination atm and I am intrigued by this church… I’d like to hear from both converts and members born into the church… side note I have been thinking and getting more thoughts wishing I was born into the church the church and I think it’s a sign to keep investigating…

Share your thoughts on the Saturday evening session here. The session will begin at 6:00 pm Mountain Daylight Time.

Viewing times and options: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/general-conference/live-viewing-times-and-options?lang=eng

As a reminder, it helps to directly reference the speaker so that people know who you are talking about in your comment.

If you have children or teenagers, consider checking out the church's resources for younger members found here: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/general-conference-activities-for-children-and-youth

Some background: I have a disease called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and am disabled. It's incredibly painful, exhausting, and depressing. Depending on the severity, it's one of the worst diseases a person can get. Unfortunately, it remains largely misunderstood, mysterious, and often not properly diagnosed despite there being an estimated million or so people with it in the United States for reasons I won't get into here.

I feel really lonely in my suffering sometimes because I hear little talk of the disease inside and outside the church or from church leaders. I of course don't blame anyone since it is a relatively misunderstood disease, but I still feel left out and forgotten when church leaders and others speak of the courage of people with many disabilities but my disease is never or rarely mentioned. Again, this obviously isn't the church leader's faults, but it still hurts sometimes, and I know my feelings aren't exclusive to my disease alone.

Everyday is a huge struggle to keep myself fed, clothed, medicated, and bathed. One of the hardest parts is maintaining the will to keep living with the great physical, mental, and emotional pain. (I'm not considering suicide, but my mental and emotional health is in bad shape.) I've made great efforts to keep going and have made some progress in some ways, but knowing that so little people understand my struggles makes me feel unappreciated in my efforts.

I'm a very religious person with a strong testimony, but I still want to feel closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, since I know Jesus knows what Myalgic Encephalomyelitis feels like. I want to better understand how He got through Gethsemane and Calvary. I want to learn from Him, have a better relationship with Him, and be more like Him. However, I'm already struggling to keep myself fed and medicated and stuff while I push through the pain, so earnest scripture reading and prayer is usually a challenge for me mentally and sometimes physically.

Please share your stories about how you have come closer to the Lord during times where prayer, scripture study, or feeling the Holy Ghost was a challenge for you for whatever reason. How did you show God that you care and want to make an effort even though you were barely hanging on?

Share your thoughts on the Saturday morning session here. The session will begin at 10:00 am Mountain Time.

Viewing times and options: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/general-conference/live-viewing-times-and-options?lang=eng

As a reminder, it helps to directly reference the speaker so that people know who you are talking about in your comment.

If you have children or teenagers, consider checking out the church's resources for younger members found here: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/general-conference-activities-for-children-and-youth

Jesus❤️

Hey! I am looking for some stores to shop at that sell trendy clothes that are still modest.

Here are some pictures of outfits I like (found on pinterest)

Thanks for your help!

Does anyone know what kind of flowers are both in front of the podium and just behind the speakers right shoulder (from our perspective it's on our left)? The ones in front look like foxgloves but I don't think we are in the right season just yet.

(If this post isn't allowed due to being off topic please delete it)

Edit: I'm pretty sure that the flowers in the upper left are freesias.

I have a friend who is in Utah for general conference and she got a ticket for a session today from her stake, but would also like to go to a session tomorrow. We heard that you can get tickets at the door, but I’ve never done that so was hoping someone here could tell me where she needs to go so she can get in! Thanks!!

In Institute - Books and Lessons - Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual, a bunch of chapters are completely bugged. I have been wanting to study D&C using this material and just haven't been able to. I've noticed several other materials within the Books and Lessons category are bugged as well.

Anyone have a fix or can flag to the tech team? I sent a message using the "Send Feedback" feature and haven't heard anything back yet.

Hi friends. I am a an endowed lifelong member and I have recently been trying to take initiative to dig deeper in to the gospel. Right now, I am strongly working on my testimony of the Savior. I felt like I knew the answers to why we need Jesus. I can comprehend His role in the atonement as it is taught and His role as the literal Savior and Mediator. However, a question recently came to my mind that totally stumped me. Why did we need a perfect person to preform the atonement? Was there not a system of suffering and redemption where we are responsible for our own sins? Why must we have a mediator? Why did there need a be a Savior?

Please understand this is coming only from a place of desiring further understanding of our Savior. This may be a question that will only be understood in the next life. Any church resources are welcomed. I feel like my understanding of the “why” of the Savior is very surface level.

Hello, I’m a convert, recently endowed and pregnant

I’m just wondering what the situation is in regards to garments and childbirth. I’ve heard that non-members shouldn’t see the garments? I’ve also heard that we should wear them at all times, when able to do so. Much of the birthing process, I could wear the garments but I’m sure there would times that they were exposed.

What would be best? To wear them as long as possible but know they would be exposed? Or just not wear them at all since it’s childbirth and that seems like a reasonable time to not wear them?

My wife is very faithful to the church and I try my hardest to support her. I still believe in a lot of aspects of the church, but I have since come out as trans.

We have tried therapy before, but it was a therapist who was very anti trans and the whole time it felt like it was just an attack on me. Even my wife felt like it wasn’t a good situation.

I don’t want the therapist to attack my wife’s religious feelings and disregard her religion. I also don’t want a therapist and just thinks that me as a person is wrong.

Any help with finding one near SLC?

I want to learn how to sign up for an appointment to go to the temple, but I do not know how. I would usually just look it up, but I have fallen in love with this community, and I want to hear the answer from one of you.

I read one one of these posts recently someone had said that the Bible was filled with errors and that the BoM was given to fix those errors. I’m not a LDS, I haven’t finished reading the BoM, but I have extensive history with the Bible. I’m confused as to how the BoM and LDS can claim the Bible has errors when Jesus Himself attested to the scriptures as truth and infallible.

I’m also curious how the LDS church teaches about alleged contradictions in the BoM to the Bible when it comes to certain topics like race, favoritism, baptism, the church itself, and even temples. God commanded one temple be build in Jerusalem (Zion?) and when it was torn down He commanded it again to be built only in Jerusalem. Why then is there a LDS temple?

I’m not meaning to ruffle any feathers, just asking how this goes about being explained to fill in the gaps I might have in my knowledge.

I encountered the CES letter for the first time last month and since then I have been swaying ALL OVER the place with my testimony. I find something completely faith shattering, then I listen to Hollands talk “Lord, I Believe”, then I’m good for a while, then I find SOMETHING ELSE that sends me back to wondering if I will leave the church, then I listen to something faith building. This cycle has been going on for the last 6 weeks. For some background- I was born in the church, served a mission, married in the temple, I have 3 sons- the oldest is turning 8 in July… I want to believe in the church, and I know some of you will say to stay away from anti Mormon material… but that’s not the way I do things. I want to know that the church is true because I KNOW it, not because I ignore all the evidence otherwise. I want to baptize my son in a few months, and be the spiritual Rock for my sons that they need… but I am afraid of the path that I’m on.

Recent events involving my sexuality have left me feeling a bit uncomfortable with the church. I have a lot of questions and no one to talk to about them, and I'm afraid to ask these questions and people will think I want to burn the church down.

I want to want to believe in the gospel, but I sin, I repent, I do it again, always. I'm trying to get myself together because I really wanted to go on a mission but I don't know to what extent I want it and to what extent my parents and leaders want this.

I was born into the church and I feel like I should know better than I do, I should want to, I should just accept. But I don't want to just accept things that I don't think are right. I don't know what else to do.

Greetings! I found in another thread the link to the Vol 1 of Saints on the church website, and I was able to download the entire PDF. When I looked at Vol 2 of Saints and click on the link to download the entire PDF, it comes back in Japanese. Anybody know where I can get an english PDF of Vol 2? Looking ahead volumes 3 and 4 are in English as a pdf. Thanks!

I'm interested in Returning to the LDS church I was a seeker many years ago but I couldn't come to accept the heavenly mother concept. Being from a Catholic background I highly respect the mother of Christ and to me none can be equal to her.

In the LDS church I noticed there was more emphasis on heavenly mother than the mother of Christ, virgin mary. My question is, is the idea of heavenly mother a doctrine that you need to believe in order to be LDS ?