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Vanguard

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About Vanguard

  • Birthday 11/28/1965

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  1. I'm reminded of my good friend and his wife's exit from the church ~8-9 yrs ago. He was a convert but his wife had been a 'lifer' and was instrumental in bringing him into the church (we attended their sealing with their 3 daughters in the LA temple many years ago). My friend and I discussed the exit a few years later where he described his wife's experience as being very different than his. His departure was much easier. His wife on other hand went through quite the massive transformation where she was found drinking regularly, publicly harboring ill will against anything having to do with the church, and meeting up for special parties together with others who were also newly disaffected from the church. My friend likened her experience in the church to someone who for her entire life had had large bands wrapped around her. Once she started having problems (i.e., pushing against those bands) it was simply a matter of time before the bands broke and she went surging forward without any further constraint. He said it was as if she burst through several walls all at once and 'over corrected' in the opposite direction. Regards to the WoW, I have commented with my wife about this issue many times. I don't really understand - though I know ultimately none of my business - how a life-time member would decide drinking was something to be desired. It's certainly not an innate desire to consume alcoholic beverages and is certainly an acquired taste. I once told my wife I could more readily understand the breaking of our sexual mores over drinking. At least the sexual mores in the church are in place as a guardrail for what is considered an innate desire.
  2. It's this kind of comment that usually catches my attention. It seems so often described as 'shame' inflicted by the Church when the Church seeks to enforce it's rules about chastity and such. It doesn't matter when it does so, the reaction seems too often described in this way. Dan's description could be inserted at any point in his development/progress within the Church. To wit - Dan: I had been enrolled at BYU for 6 months before I had had sex with my girlfriend. A week before the next semester, I was kicked out. Totally shamed me before my whole community. or Dan: I was ready to graduate from BYU when I told my bishop I had had sex with my girlfriend. A week before I was supposed to graduate, I was kicked out. Totally shamed me before my whole community. or Dan: Just before I was to enter the temple for the first time, I told my bishop I had had sex with my girlfriend and soon-to-be wife. A week before the sealing, I was told I couldn't go. Totally shamed be before my whole community. There is never an easy time to enforce the basic tenets of the gospel. We need to get our heads wrapped around the concept that should we decide to remain in the faith, we will be expected to maintain some standard of behavior that will be enforced should we decide to avail ourselves of the blessing/privileges of church membership. I wish Dan the best though his thoughts on this issue betray this understanding almost totally.
  3. Fair enough. I actually cannot conceptualize what it means to 'take on all of that' though I know this is what we are taught. It's also hard to conceptualize considering the fact that He was a 'God' while he took this on. I think this element changes the equation quite a bit. Was it horrific? I can only imagine how so. Would it have been worse if visited upon a mere mortal such one of us? Eternally so... To Add: I still think it worse for an innocent child to suffer something comparable to his crucifixion. The fact that the child probably has no perspective/context/determination for going through such pain makes me shutter more than a God who takes on everyone's shortcoming all at once with purpose in his mind.
  4. At least He went into it knowingly. I consider it far worse the things that happen to innocents (especially children) who had no say in the matter of their death - deaths that were even worse than Christ's crucifixion.
  5. I wouldn't be surprised if the mission contributed though my daughter was very much like this in high school too. To her credit, she has accomplished quite a bit for a young lady of 21. I very much admire her burgeoning accomplishments. The issue for me, however, is what the individual concludes about themself regards to their relations with others and their God as a result of these successful efforts and outcomes.
  6. I see these early signs of 'perfection quest' in my high-powered/functioning RM daughter (she completed in Jan). She has admitted to me that she becomes very uncomfortable if she doesn't have something constructive planned at virtually every moment of the day. I have told her frequently it is important to feel 'comfortable in her own skin' when she has nothing to do. I then remind her that I have been no example of this balance until more recently. She understands this notion conceptually but her emotional world still drives her too much toward this perfectionism. I hope she is able to more successfully navigate this as she moves forward in life. Vocation, marriage, children, callings, and the like will likely beat any mental/emotional health right out of her if she doesn't...
  7. Not bad for out of Utah, right?! ; ) I remember thinking the Redlands temple was only about an hour away from the Coachella Valley and that we were now in the lap of luxury! Moving up to the SL valley ~6 years ago, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple was ~25 mins walking distance! Truth is though that I still don't go any more than I used to in Cali... ; )
  8. "...rural areas across America..."?! Lone Mountain?! From Google Maps Lone Mountain looks about as ugly a packed suburban greater Las Vegas community as one can get. Urban center? - no. But rural? Good grief... ;o
  9. No doubt this is a problem. Attached is the general landscape for California - https://www.kcra.com/article/california-lottery-jackpot-money-schools-get/44591582 Regardless, the difference to make the difference as to whether or not I should be playing the state/national lotteries cannot be based on how much of the monies actually go to the schools can it? Simply put, we do not endorse games of chance regardless of what happens with the money. Period. In my mind, that would include school raffles would it not?
  10. That's some good research there. : ) I love the raffle ticket poster! I too had no idea they got so big! But are you suggesting the difference to make the difference in whether or not it is appropriate to play the lottery is whether they appeal to my base desire to become a millionaire? After all, don't the state lotteries route a percentage of the monies to schools?
  11. Ha! Absolutely, and don't forget the 'lightening strike' risk too! I would imagine there are myriad 'more likely' risks I run by simply traveling to Evanston but then again, none of the risks if they were to happen would fetch me millions... ; )
  12. Well, this is probably a digression from the current exchange but I've been thinking about it for several days. What is the difference that makes the difference between playing the state/national lottery with ponying up money at a high school football game raffle for the chance of winning the drawing prize? Full Disclosure: I LOVE the lottery. I've traveled from the SL valley up to Evanston just to get a few tickets (I know, I know, I get it...). I have behind my eye balls the most elaborate plans for what I would do with '$300 million' - plans that substantially include much community improvement though admittedly would involve my own material benefit... ; )
  13. Though you didn't ask this, I think the whole program is doomed to continue being lackluster. Sure, there are those stories where some ward somewhere was able to manage 100% over numerous months though these in my experience are few and far between. I have never been in a ward (and I've been in numerous) where 'the numbers' approached anything close to 50% without dumbing down what is considered 'a visit'. I understand the concept behind the command, I just recognize the reality falls so woefully short of the mark. The fact of the matter IMO is that people generally will not associate in such a personal way with whom they don't feel comfortable/familiar. And if you assigned the ministering based on that comfort/familiarity level alone, almost everyone would count the football game they watched with their ministering assignment as the visit.
  14. You might want to include the option "I was a TBM and still am". The option "...and believe still more than ever" suggests I would be even more TBM than when I came to the boards and that's simply not the case. I am pretty much TBM and always have been.
  15. That's good information and certainly much more nuance to the issue than I knew. Regardless, I'm sure there are many who do appreciate the opportunity. What do you think should happen re: technno-advances with implants?
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