It Happened - No Church!

[Calm]

Quote

If I got this right it means that Asian smokers are more susceptible to the disease compared to Asian non-smokers compared to almost no difference between White smokers and non-smokers which suggests there is some difference but not clear what. Could be genetic, could be environmental, could be anything. Sadly this information and my smoking comment are not actually useful. Someone who decides to stop smoking right now based on this would be very unlikely to recover enough to matter if they get infected.

I am reading it that way as well, just wondering what the mechanics/biochemistry being described are.  Been either too long since my biology classes or they didn't go into the detail.  What does "expression" mean?  I am assuming receptor means viral receptor and am now wondering about those.  Guessing that viral receptors are receptors for other necessary things that viruses hijack for their own purposes. 

The way things are written it sounds like there are cell receptors just waiting for a particular virus to come along, but that doesn't make sense.

I probably just need to refresh myself on how viruses work.  I remember the basics (virus sneaks into cell and cons it into reproducing the virus, cell is destroyed when virus gets released, rinse, repeat), need more details.

This reminds me of reading an electronics manual without knowing what the part names refer to.  Not a pleasant memory.  It is a curse wanting to know how things actually work rather than being happy with 'this goes in there, that comes out there'.  

Edited March 13, 2020 by Calm

[Bernard Gui]

9 hours ago, bsjkki said:

Come Follow Me at home. We are all amazingly prepared for this.

Wow! I never would have thought of doing church at home five or ten years ago. What could I possibly have used? 

Edited March 13, 2020 by Bernard Gui

[Bernard Gui]

21 hours ago, Raingirl said:

I’ll be curious if anyone reaches out to single sisters. I’ve never been offered the sacrament at home when health issues keep me housebound. 

Sometimes we need to request it, and then someone will come.

Edited March 13, 2020 by Bernard Gui

[Bernard Gui]

6 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Even in their concentration camps, the Jews held their Passover services each Spring.  They substituted water for wine.  They ended it with the plaintive cry of "next year in Jerusalem."  The LDS Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is a Passover ordinance, as altered and repurposed by Jesus Christ himself.

And we could say, “Next year in Zion.”

[Calm]

9 hours ago, Calm said:

From church news release...

So do we think we will get blanket permission to temporarily do Sacrament on our own given as far as I know it is policy that limits that...?

A friend in Italy has shared that because government has requested everyone stay at home that instruction is if there is a Priesthood holder, he may offer the Sacrament.  In homes without, reading the sacramental prayers and having the same attitude as when taking the Sacrament is encouraged.

[MorningStar]

When this is all over, are we going to go back to 3 hour church? No. Please no. 

[Scott Lloyd]

11 hours ago, Calm said:

From church news release...

So do we think we will get blanket permission to temporarily do Sacrament on our own given as far as I know it is policy that limits that...?

It is policy driven by principle. 
 

Some priesthood ordinances do not require the exercise of keys for a priesthood holder to carry them out. Blessing of the sick or afflicted and a father’s blessing of comfort are examples. I think dedication of a grave might be in that category as well, though I’m not sure about that. 
 

Other ordinances, such as baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordination, setting apart to a calling and the ordinances of the temple do require the exercise of keys. 
 

The sacrament is one such ordinance. It must not be performed without the express approval and delegation from the key holder, who, in most cases, is the bishop with local jurisdiction. 
 

I asked my bishop specifically yesterday about the possibility of in-home administration of the sacrament by priesthood-holding members of the household. He was rather vague in his response. To his credit, he is waiting for direction from the stake presidency. He said they and bishops in the stake will be having a teleconference to iron out this and other procedural questions. 

Edited March 13, 2020 by Scott Lloyd

[Nofear]

Yes, bishop's authorization is needed. Though, there is this curious paragraph from the 1999 Handbook I

Quote

Occasionally members may be unable to attend sacrament meeting because of distance to the meeting house. Under unusual circumstances, the bishop may give authorization for a sacrament service to be held away from the meetinghouse. The priesthood holder whom the bishop authorizes to conduct the service must be a priest in the Aaronic Priesthood or hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. He also must be worthy to bless and pass the sacrament. The bishop's authorization is also required if the service will be attended by members of more than one family. The priesthood holder who directs the service reports to the bishop when the service has been held.

However one may have interpreted the bolded part in the past, the policy today is clear.

[Tacenda]

I wonder why temples are still open? I hear several still are.

[bluebell]

29 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

I wonder why temples are still open? I hear several still are.

Probably because there's never that many people together in one place inside the temple.  But still, it's a hotbed of the elderly and frail, and there is some close contact happening , breathing in each other' space, etc.  I wouldn't be surprised if they close soon.

[Calm]

30 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

I wonder why temples are still open? I hear several still are.

Weddings I was told and personal endowments that have been planned  I can see the importance of continuing life  necessities and for many those would be  

 

[JAHS]

Someone may have mentioned this already but the BYU channel has a regular sacrament service that they show each week just before the Music and the Spoken Word program.
I think they were made back in the 80's so  the programs are rather old and they don't show the sacrament  ordinance part, but perhaps it is better than nothing. 

[longview]

16 hours ago, Ahab said:

What to do with our time now, after we  read our lessons, I wonder.  It's like a vacation from the Church!

... but not from living the gospel as well as we can. 

Role play the HECK out of every question and ponder points from the current weeks Come Follow Me lesson.  Make it last for 3 hours.  Get as many of your neighbors and close acquaintances to participate.  Get a large whiteboard and write on it all the thoughts and impressions and explore it more deeply.  Set up a gallery of Gospel thematic pictures, paintings and MormonAds.  That way it will feel like church!

Edited March 13, 2020 by longview

[Ahab]

6 hours ago, MorningStar said:

When this is all over, are we going to go back to 3 hour church? No. Please no. 

Actually the end goal is to gear us toward all day worship on Sundays, and then to every other day of the week too.  But don't tell anybody I told you.  It's supposed to be considered secret sacred.  The code name for all day Sunday worship is: Sabbath

[Ahab]

5 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

It is policy driven by principle. 
 

Some priesthood ordinances do not require the exercise of keys for a priesthood holder to carry them out. Blessing of the sick or afflicted and a father’s blessing of comfort are examples. I think dedication of a grave might be in that category as well, though I’m not sure about that. 
 

Other ordinances, such as baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordination, setting apart to a calling and the ordinances of the temple do require the exercise of keys. 
 

The sacrament is one such ordinance. It must not be performed without the express approval and delegation from the key holder, who, in most cases, is the bishop with local jurisdiction. 
 

I asked my bishop specifically yesterday about the possibility of in-home administration of the sacrament by priesthood-holding members of the household. He was rather vague in his response. To his credit, he is waiting for direction from the stake presidency. He said they and bishops in the stake will be having a teleconference to iron out this and other procedural questions. 

I expect the General Church leaders will weigh in on this too, since they may need to create some new policy on what to do in this situation.  I don't think it's just a matter of picking another place where everyone in a ward or branch can meet together, instead of our chapels.  There will be multiple places in each ward or branch where the sacrament will be blessed and offered, and the point is to reduce the number of people who meet together to a minimum number to try to prevent anyone from getting a virus.  In the case of my wife, who would not fare well at all if she were to get this virus, she and I will be staying home and we will not be permitting anyone to visit us unless we know they do not have the virus.  And I'm sure we're not going to be the only ones to take this kind of precaution.  So much for group effort on this.  The smaller the number of people who meet together the safer everyone will likely be.

[Ahab]

30 minutes ago, longview said:

Role play the HECK out of every question and ponder points from the current weeks Come Follow Me lesson.  Make it last for 3 hours.  Get as many of your neighbors and close acquaintances to participate.  Get a large whiteboard and write on it all the thoughts and impressions and explore it more deeply.  Set up a gallery of Gospel thematic pictures, paintings and MormonAds.  That way it will feel like church!

No I think you're missing the point here.  We don't want to meet together with large numbers of people, and the fewer people we meet with, the better.  So this will be a me and  my wife activity, whatever we do.  I am sure we will think of something we can do together.

[Jeanne]

It will be interesting to see how many of you might get used to Sundays at home!😉

[Ahab]

1 minute ago, Jeanne said:

It will be interesting to see how many of you might get used to Sundays at home!😉

My favorite person to be with, other than God, is my wife, and then our children are next in order of importance for us. Can you guess who comes next in order of importance for me and my wife? 

We will miss not having fellowship with other saints, but at least we will still have our favorite people to be with.

[bluebell]

10 minutes ago, Jeanne said:

It will be interesting to see how many of you might get used to Sundays at home!😉

My husband and I were just talking about this last night, how this could impact activity rates for the worst.  Being home on Sundays can easily become a habit, especially for those that aren't fully converted yet.

[CV75]

Just now, bluebell said:

My husband and I were just talking about this last night, how this could impact activity rates for the worst.  Being home on Sundays can easily become a habit, especially for those that aren't fully converted yet.

I think the Church is conducting a global exercise to unify all saints by creating this universal, practical application of home-based gospel living.

[Ahab]

12 minutes ago, bluebell said:

My husband and I were just talking about this last night, how this could impact activity rates for the worst.  Being home on Sundays can easily become a habit, especially for those that aren't fully converted yet.

Interesting.  My wife and I were talking about this too, and we were reminded of the thoughts shared by President Nelson about how important it is to have a testimony.  And how he said that if we don't have a testimony we will likely not endure as faithful members of the Church.

This is definitely going to tell us something about how important the gospel and the Church is to us.  We could just sit around and watch TV all day long, or get caught up in gardening, or other home projects, or going shopping.  With Sunday just a day like any other day when we do not have to go to a job.  And soon some of us won't even have a job to go to, hopefully being able to work from home or something so that we can still earn some money to live on.  So what are we going to do then?  What kind of life will we be choosing to live?

It's almost the same as before since we've always had a say in what we choose to do, but with no Church building to go to, and maybe no job building to go to, it will likely make a big difference in how we are spending our time.

Edited March 13, 2020 by Ahab

[Duncan]

6 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

It is policy driven by principle. 
 

Some priesthood ordinances do not require the exercise of keys for a priesthood holder to carry them out. Blessing of the sick or afflicted and a father’s blessing of comfort are examples. I think dedication of a grave might be in that category as well, though I’m not sure about that. 
 

Other ordinances, such as baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordination, setting apart to a calling and the ordinances of the temple do require the exercise of keys. 
 

The sacrament is one such ordinance. It must not be performed without the express approval and delegation from the key holder, who, in most cases, is the bishop with local jurisdiction. 
 

I asked my bishop specifically yesterday about the possibility of in-home administration of the sacrament by priesthood-holding members of the household. He was rather vague in his response. To his credit, he is waiting for direction from the stake presidency. He said they and bishops in the stake will be having a teleconference to iron out this and other procedural questions. 

I did the same thing and got a yes/no answer but another Bishop is doing in home sacrament in the Stake, maybe he thinks that he decides these things and not the Stake?

[Amulek]

16 hours ago, Raingirl said:

I’ll be curious if anyone reaches out to single sisters.

That will be done in our ward. Our stake president has already outlined our tentative plan on  how to handle things:

• Bishops will grant permission to priesthood holders to administer the Sacrament in their homes to their family members
• Ministering brothers will reach out to their assigned families (especially single sisters, widows, part members with no priesthood holder) and offer to administer the Sacrament to them
• All priesthood holders will 'return and report' to a member of the EQ presidency when they have administered the sacrament so that a record can be kept, each Sunday, of who received and did not receive the Sacrament - that way we can ensure everyone gets an opportunity to take it at least once each month.

There's a bit more to it, but those are the main bullet points. We've got a pretty great EQ presidency at the moment, and this sort of thing will be right in their wheelhouse. 

 

Quote

I’ve never been offered the sacrament at home when health issues keep me housebound. 

That seems so...foreign to me. Growing up, as a priest, it was always our responsibility - under the direction of the bishop, of course - to go and take the sacrament to members who were physically unable to attend sacrament meetings. It was one of the more meaningful acts of priesthood service I had the opportunity to participate in as a youth, and it had a significant positive impact on my personal testimony. 

 

[bluebell]

4 minutes ago, Amulek said:

That will be done in our ward. Our stake president has already outlined our tentative plan on  how to handle things:

• Bishops will grant permission to priesthood holders to administer the Sacrament in their homes to their family members
• Ministering brothers will reach out to their assigned families (especially single sisters, widows, part members with no priesthood holder) and offer to administer the Sacrament to them
• All priesthood holders will 'return and report' to a member of the EQ presidency when they have administered the sacrament so that a record can be kept, each Sunday, of who received and did not receive the Sacrament - that way we can ensure everyone gets an opportunity to take it at least once each month.

There's a bit more to it, but those are the main bullet points. We've got a pretty great EQ presidency at the moment, and this sort of thing will be right in their wheelhouse. 

 

That seems so...foreign to me. Growing up, as a priest, it was always our responsibility - under the direction of the bishop, of course - to go and take the sacrament to members who were physically unable to attend sacrament meetings. It was one of the more meaningful acts of priesthood service I had the opportunity to participate in as a youth, and it had a significant positive impact on my personal testimony. 

 

That sounds like a very sensible way to handle it.

[Maestrophil]

4 minutes ago, Amulek said:

That will be done in our ward. Our stake president has already outlined our tentative plan on  how to handle things:

• Bishops will grant permission to priesthood holders to administer the Sacrament in their homes to their family members
• Ministering brothers will reach out to their assigned families (especially single sisters, widows, part members with no priesthood holder) and offer to administer the Sacrament to them
• All priesthood holders will 'return and report' to a member of the EQ presidency when they have administered the sacrament so that a record can be kept, each Sunday, of who received and did not receive the Sacrament - that way we can ensure everyone gets an opportunity to take it at least once each month.

There's a bit more to it, but those are the main bullet points. We've got a pretty great EQ presidency at the moment, and this sort of thing will be right in their wheelhouse. 

 

That seems so...foreign to me. Growing up, as a priest, it was always our responsibility - under the direction of the bishop, of course - to go and take the sacrament to members who were physically unable to attend sacrament meetings. It was one of the more meaningful acts of priesthood service I had the opportunity to participate in as a youth, and it had a significant positive impact on my personal testimony. 

 

Same in my ward.  I was YM president for years and we held this as a principal part of our callings.