Calm

I get it for embarrassment and anxiety. Emotions I find difficult to control in myself.

Depends on what “blame” means here. There can be additional connotations, often of shaming, than just the definition of “holding responsible/accountable”, including some toxic implications.

I see the feelings side of empathy as more as being able to relate to them in some fashion, perhaps by remembering a situation where your feelings were likely similar to the other’s or at least you believe so. Doesn’t mean you need to reexperience those feelings, but remembering what the consequences of the situation were for you, especially the consequences of those feelings, can help you process the why and how someone is reacting as they are, the more cognitive side and this awareness can allow you to more effectively support them and may even allow you to help nudge them away from harmful responses you personally had experience with. Of course it’s very important not to assume they will react identically to how you did, that is not empathy, but projection and can be harmful at times.

[I will be watching the interview later to better format it, who is saying what, etc] Well, thank you so much for taking this time today. We appreciate it so much. President Oaks, at President Nelson's funeral, you described him as your best friend and most effective teacher. I'm curious if you could help us understand your first feelings uh when you realized that your friend and teacher had passed and that the responsibility of leading the church as the new prophet would fall to you. Well, I had the two reactions implied in your question. I felt that I had lost a friend. I sat by him for 41 years in the highest councils of the church and I knew what it would mean to be in the chair he had occupied so capably. So I felt sorrowand burden. And how do you view your role as a modern-dayprophet? with great humility, a sense of of incredible responsibility and with a need to try to keep up with all that leadership requires in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I view it with the assurance that the Lord will bless me as I am his worthy active pleading servant. President Iring at the announcement of this new first presidency, you said that you have seen the power of God come upon President Oaks. Could you speak more about that? And in your initial conversations, what has it been like to counsel with this new prophet? I watched him and suddenly it was a different kind of it was a different man. Suddenly it was clear that he was receiving a revelation of exactly what to do in a very extremely quick short time. And uh I really had the feeling this is not the same man I was with a day or two ago. It's another man. He had a there was a kind of quiet clear knowing exactly what to do and it was uh to me a a spiritual experience. President Kristofferson um you said that this is not what you expected when you woke up the morning you were called. Um, can you describe your feelings in your first interactions with President Oaks? It's profited me tremendously just to listen and respond to his example and his counsel and I look forward very much to a closer association and to learning a great deal more. Um I don't know quite what the dynamic is president but I feel and I think everyone else does that um in your presence with with the gifts and and intellect and so on that you have a person for whatever reason doesn't feel diminished but rather you inspire confidence self-confidence in the in anyone you're with and I appreciate that. I think that's a tremendous gift. President Oaks, as the new president of the church, you said, "Our ministry is a ministry of all the children of God. We pray for all. We seek to serve all. For those who are watching right now who may be struggling with questions of faith or worth, they feel on the margins or they don't always see themselves in the body of the church. As the new president of the church, what do you want them to know about how the savior feels about them and how you feel about them? I think it begins with realizing that we are all children of God and that God loves them and he has a plan for them wherever they are on the pathway toward that divine destiny. President Iring, would you respond to the same question? Yes, I would. I'm always touched in the scriptures when the the Lord himself speaks and says, "My arms are always outstretched to you." And he does he says it at times when people are having difficulty or feeling estranged. And so I think my my suggestion is that when a person feels anyone feels that they're on the margin, uh they can't get far enough away from the savior that he would ever not be reaching to them. So I'm my encouragement to them is just pray and you'll have a feeling of being back from the margin and included and trust in the Lord. Trust he's your heavenly father and he loves you. Yeah. Yeah. So everyone ought to feel like they belong that they have a role. And I would simply say put your hand to the plow. Take take part. Uh join in service. uh don't wait always to be invited off the sideline, but come forward and contribute what you can to the body of Christ. Everyone is valuable. Every contribution is valuable. I recognize that these rising generations, as we call them, the the millennials, the Gen Z, and so forth, live in a world that's very different than the world has ever been. um they they deal with issues and challenges and opportunities that I don't think we've ever seen at least not to this degree and they if they turn to the Lord as president said Jesus Christ is always the answer he's been the answer from the beginning and they will find in him the source or resource and resolution of their unique issues just as every other generationhas. I'd also like to ask you about women in the church. Um, some in the media have suggested that the church presents impossibly high standards for women and that the church does not give space for women to lead. What do you want people to understand about the role of women in the church today? I say remember you have a heavenly father who loves you, who has created you to return to live with heavenly parents, to enjoy the choicest blessings that God has for his daughters. But it doesn't always come at once. We have work left to do. But we are a lot better off than we were even uh a decade ago. I think we should also say that we have not always been wise in using the the great qualifications and powers of the daughters of God. I think I'm I need to be personal again. Uh my wife died two years ago yesterday and uh I thought I miss her a lot of for a lot of reasons but mostly I wish she were here when I come into the this position that I'm in now because she had a she had a sense of what mattered. Uh that was just remarkable. There's a line in our handbook that says speaking about ward councils and counseling together that women and men sometimes have different perspectives on things. And I thought to myself, do we need a handbook to tell us that? I think that's obvious. But what that says is we bring both perspectives together, we get a better perspective. We get a closer to the divine perspective. What advice do you have for families today as the new prophet? The first thing that comes to mind with that good question is what I tried to teach in my talk in the general conference just concluded that tried to persuade that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints outlines the destiny of the children of God and that destiny culminates in an eternal family, a father in heaven and also a mother in heaven. Though we haven't been given very much information about her for reasons that God understands and we don't. But the point is the whole purpose of mortal life is to prepare us for a heavenly destiny in a family organization. And we are blessed when we take those as a given as we said in the the family proclamation. Not when we try to rewrite God's plan, but when we try to f find where we fit within it and how we can magnify it. Just a a line in the proclamation titled the family that you mentioned, President um says something like happiness in family life um is most likely when founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ, faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect and love and so on. And that that is true of family life, but it's true of any life. I think it's true for every individual. Whatever circumstance they're in, whether they're a family of one or a dozen, it doesn't matter. Those principles can be applied by anyone in any moment. And uh it is the path to happiness. I'd like to ask you about the global church. Um I have seen demographic trends that show a growing number of people identifying as religiously unaffiliated. a general weakening of religious identity. And yet the growth statistics in the church are at historically high levels. In the first six months of this year, the church has seen a 17% increase in conversions in North America, even higher globally. There have been 900,000 new converts in the last three years. What is driving this? the difference between the performance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members and the world trends you describe is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ because it's a gospel of happiness and growth and information about the purpose of life and people who subscribe to its doctrine. find that it makes their life more happy, more significant, more resistant to the difficulties we all experience in mortal life and more able to serve their fellow men and to raise their children. I see the Lord moving across the earth and his spirit influencing people in their lives. President Nelson used to speak often about the gathering of Israel, the gathering of a covenant people. And I believe that's what we're seeing. Um the Lord is is bringing things to pass. We're able to help maybe on the fringes, but but he is moving in his power. And I notice wherever I go that u there's an increasing diversity it seems like in the church that that there's movement of people. I I'll venture a prophecy the the growth of the church will accelerate when they re find the gospel of Jesus Christ presented by missionaries. They see hope. President Oaks, what is your message to the rising generation, to the young single adults that are watching right now um in the church and outside? What is your message to them? You have a heavenly father who loves you. He's provided a plan for you and it's best in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where we have an explanation for the purpose of life, challenges and activities that lead you along what we call the covenant path to a heavenly destiny. Trust in the Lord. Come and enjoy his blessings with us. Be true to your savior Jesus Christ and he will lead you back to our heavenly father whose children you are who love you and have a heavenly destiny for you every one of you. This is such a special generation, isn't it? The rising generation. There's something different and unique about them. Yes. I I see them more firmly grounded and stronger than the generation in which I was raised. President Irene, what is your message to the rising generation? Congratulations. The Lord saved you for the most exciting time in the history of his work in this world. and they can be optimistic if they'll trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and be his servants as much as they can be. I promise them a glorious future and I think that it's already emerging. Well, you do live in a unique time. uh technology is part of that uniqueness and I'm so gratified to see so many taking advantage of whatever they have in the way of technology sometimes quite limited um to improve themselves to progress to grow to uh reach out and and bless others but remember you have to be the master it doesn't master you or you shouldn't let it master you are the master and you use this tool that no other generation has had to be able to march forward more rapidly to make more progress to accomplish more of the Lord's work in uh in greater speed and velocity if you can say it that way and I I believe it is a very unique and exciting time. I would say simply remember this. There is no substitute for the Holy Ghost. No technology, no other recourse or source can replace the spirit. If there was one phrase or one scripture or one image that you would want members of the church to carry with them right now as you begin this prophetic ministry, what would it be? Jesus Christ is the way. That is taught in five, at least five different important scriptures in the Book of Mormon. And I'll read you one from the sermon of King Benjamin, a prophet King, whose sermon to his people included this teaching. And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given, nor any other way, nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord omnipotent. That's Messiah chapter 3 verse 17. Jesus Christ is the way. He is the way. My feeling is exactly as what's been said. Um Jesus is the Christ and he lives and he watches over and loves us. And I I know that is true. I know that is the way to peace and happiness in all lives is to come into the gospel of Jesus Christ into his church. And so my invitation is not just come and see, come and be and find the peace that you're finding such difficulty in discovering in the world around you. As President Oaks mentioned a moment ago, the message really is Jesus Christ is the way. And I bear witness that that is true. He is the savior. He is the son of God and he is resurrected. And for me, the fact of his resurrection is the proof of his power to fulfill all of his promises. It's the proof of who he is. And just remember that he volunteered to be our redeemer from a time before the earth even existed and has always been our redeemer and will ever be. I'm glad for this opportunity to testify that I know the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness is in the restored church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here are found the answers to life's greatest questions. What is my relationship to God? Why am I here on earth? What is the purpose of this sometimes troublesome mortal life? Where are we headed? How do we get there? What is my relationship to Jesus Christ? And how can that relationship be improved? and I can live better and more securely with those I love and look forward to a life with them in the next life which is assured as a resurrected embodied spirit child of God because of the mission of his only begotten son Jesus Christ in whose name I testify of these things the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Thank you.

It does seem like standard procedure any beginner, even a middle school kid doing a report would know had value, so odd.

What about grok? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grok

Not devil’s advocate, but it would be quite amusing if it was the correct term. https://study.com/learn/lesson/devils-advocate.html I am leaning towards “empathy” as well. It’s definitely a Christlike attribute imo, understanding, comprehending people where they are at.

It’s happened before in my experience. I think he does very good work, but his bias does lead him to favor naturalistic and critical views and sometimes that apparently leads him to ignore important sources. I am not claiming he engages in deception in case anyone interprets my meaning that way, just that he likely doesn’t see much value in somethings that are actually valuable information like going to the most direct source here, like someone not recognizing an extraordinarily valuable red diamond because in their mind diamonds are clear or maybe slightly tinted pink or blue. (I didn’t know there even were red diamonds till I googled ‘what was the most valuable color of diamond’).

You keep saying that, you may believe that is the case even no matter how often Saints disagree, but we are not forced to agree simply because you are persistent. They are eternally Gods. It may not make sense to you, but it is our doctrine. Here are quite a few scriptural references demonstrating this. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/triple-index/god-eternal-nature-of?lang=eng You no doubt accept things that you can’t comprehend in your own beliefs since you are Christian, you accept there are mysteries that surround God. It would likely be best if you just accepted this is an LDS mystery if you can’t understand it, it doesn’t seem logical to you, how God can progress and still be eternally God. Otherwise it will come across as you are intentionally lying about our doctrine for some reason.

“Becoming like God” is the most accurate because of nuances and inferences people tend to make with “becoming a God”. And here I think it very important to pay attention to capitalization as people infer more incorrectly in my experience with a capital “G” than with a lower case “g”. In fact, I am wondering why you continue to do so when it’s been pointed out there is a difference in how it’s typically used. God is a title and office for Heavenly Father while “god” is a type of being. It is like using “President” or “King” for all humans instead of using “human”. The confusion arises because we don’t have different words for God’s title as we do for description of his state of being. So “becoming a God” is not an accurate representation of how the Church presents our future***. They tend to be careful now to write it as “becoming gods” or “becoming a god” from what I have seen to better communicate what we see as our eternal relationship with the Father and Son. It makes a difference. If it doesn’t in your view, then perhaps you can demonstrate this by always writing “god” with a lowercase g when not on this forum when referring to the Father in the future with others. I suspect even if you don’t feel it is disrespectful, there will be others who are confused and ask why you are doing this. ***https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-47-exaltation?lang=eng

Out of curiosity what do you believe “reign[ing]” entails? added: I see teddy asked pretty much the same question.

Utah and same as Rain. Weather never did this to me before…though got to say one of those storms last week was over the top in the water it dumped on us and the wind before the rain had the helicopter seeds hitting our second floor window like little hammers, a first (they have to fly upward a bit).

I have heard one person, a tough critic of critics :), who went to the screening say it was a good movie and overall portrayed the Church well (not saying the movie was made by critics, just that this person tends to pay close attention to such things).

Serious question…who do you believe these people below were then? Or do you think they were framed with false documentation, planted guns, or something? Guy Reffitt, Christopher Alberts, Lonnie Coffman, Mark Mazza, Mario Mares, Jerod Thomas Bargar, and John Banuelo. I can post links to articles documenting they were carrying if you need them. While AI found the names when I asked if “any protestor was armed on Jan 6”, I checked each one to be sure it was a solid claim. Almost all were convicted of carrying firearms, one was charged with something else, but was carrying iirc. I am sincerely interested in hearing the possibilities as I would like to understand the reasoning on why we should doubt the documentation and convictions in some way. To me this isn’t a political issue, it’s about how educated and informed people end up believing different things, sometimes very different. Sometimes it’s very understandable to me, I can follow what I see as reasonable thought processes on all sides as a lot of times it’s about what one judges as most important to pay attention to (often personal experience vs statistical analysis, sometimes I fall on the side of experience, mostly I weight stats as heavier). Sometimes not so understandable and it helps when people explain how they came to a conclusion. I assume you speak up about these details because you want to inform people given how your writing style over the years or I wouldn’t be asking.

What were his attributes that caused him to rebel that weren’t created by God? (Again, trying to understand reasoning)

Definitely not in the US. There were one or two isolated by war branches that added more ceremony to our basic ritual such as dressing up the sacrament table. It was removed as soon as contact was reestablished. I have not heard of wearing red clothing as part of the additions, but it’s in the realm of possibilities. Added: I vaguely remember hearing eons ago as a teen that leaders in one of these isolated cases wore vestment type clothing, but that could be a false memory. I don’t think if it is a true memory details were provided. I remember candlesticks and rich clothes on the sacrament table and an extended ritual. I will see if I can find any details later if someone with more knowledge doesn’t speak up first. I haven’t heard of this in relation to Helmuth’s branch, but not something I have dug into as this story and pretty much any detailed history from that time period makes me cry every time. I read up on the Third Reich as a young teen because we had the book the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which was a massive paperback back in the day they were still typically able to fit in a back or coat pocket. If there was a book in the house I read it. We had Exodus by Uris and a couple of other books on Israel’s beginnings as well. My admiration for Helmuth is massive, but I also obsess about those who were put in danger by his actions without having been given a choice by him, such as the children of his branch and other LDS. Looking at recently explored Nazi archives, it does look likely that it was only a matter of time before LDS were targeted anyway. They didn’t like our doctrine. Jasmin has a summary of this: https://www.facebook.com/reel/756056827478834 More detail here: You got me curious, so took a screenshot.

I don’t think of myself as the least bit old as long as I avoid the mirror, but have to laugh at myself when I see at times others my age as getting there. People do seem to expect more of themselves and life from this angle than just biding time like it appeared a lot to me in my youth.

Things are going much better, but it did appear to stall when saving just now for the first time in quite a few hours. Most of the time when this happens, it actually saves. Added: It did not save it this time, so it makes me think it is more an old glitch where it flashes the no longer can edit this post sign (which it did). It doesn’t happen often enough to care. It was very fast the second time I tried.

That is what I get for skimming wiki rather than reading it. So a familiar face when called. (not complaining here, I think it very, very wise when it comes to a calling one gets released from only by death or excommunication, it’s best to know this is someone you can work with from experience as well as inspiration)

He was President of BYU, so he did work for the Church for a time. There aren’t any callings listed prior to being called as an apostle, so it is certainly possible, but I suspect one needs to be highly visible in some fashion and to have working relationships of some sort with upper church leaders, meaning mostly apostles and the First Presidency. Reliability, trustworthiness, etc need to have been demonstrated.

Thank you, @Nemesis!

Even as a kid I knew confronting someone publicly was more likely to get them to dig in their heels, so I can see kids thinking they wouldn’t confront the teacher, but go talk to someone who could find out what the heck was going on and then produce an actual change. No teacher I ever had would have backed down in front of kids in terms of discipline. That would be shooting themselves in the foot, for one thing. The amount of effort they would then have to put into convincing kids to obey them wouldn’t be worth it.

Savvy being the key word here. How many have been educated in doing so, including how to be self aware of one’s own biases to avoid going for the echo chambers and then thinking one is informed? There are also those who can’t afford the time to search the freebie stuff and can’t afford quality services that compile news for them.

Healthy living, including staying active and have a deep meaningful purpose, knowing you are needed goes a long way to extending one’s life according to many studies. They probably have very good healthcare as well.

Nonmembers can be confused when it turns out there are more than 12 apostles though in my experience.