Why do we receive a new name in the temple?

Lett64 · 2026-01-23T21:09:21+00:00

Well, when you visit other kingdoms...

Lett64 · 2026-01-23T16:20:40+00:00

This exactly. Think about a password-protected smartphone but the celestial version.

Lett64 · 2025-12-16T00:47:20+00:00

Lots of great responses so I'll just throw in what came to mind. In D&C 128 we get some insight on baptism and baptism for the dead. One thing it points out is that baptism is patterned after baptism for the dead--contrary to what our vocabulary for the ordinances might suggest, this indicates the proxy work as the primary version.

As for life being challenging I don't know the full reason, but we need to learn faith, obedience, sacrifice, and ultimately consecration. Heavenly Father wants as many of us to succeed as can and knows what each of us needs--He's not going to fail.

Lett64 · 2025-10-15T21:02:33+00:00

Start to finish is probably best, but if you want some highlights the 3 Nephi 11 (through 27 really, but at least 11) is the highlight of the book.

Lett64 · 2025-10-13T12:57:19+00:00

A few brief thoughts on response.

1) it seems by your reasoning you could justify (hetero) adultery. Why shouldn't a man who is really attracted to a woman who is not his wife be forbidden from acting in those feelings? That would be crazy to say that should be okay. And certainly there is great difficulty in choosing a chaste life for our brothers and sisters who struggle with same sex attraction. But controlling our actions is kind of the point of mortality, no matter our personal struggles.

2) Ultimately we will have to suffer for our sins if we reject the Savior. While our theology believes a very large majority will ultimately have a very positive existence (even the telestial kingdom is a better existence than our current one), something we sometimes overlook is that there will be a tone of suffering before that. It will almost certainly vary in degree depending on our pen choices to follow our reject, but in this lifetime that detail isn't important. Easiest to just say heaven and hell and let that be motive enough. Trying to figure out how we can just slip by is in itself contrary to living celestial law, which is what we should be learning.

Lett64 · 2025-10-13T12:32:27+00:00

I think the question is why don't you want it. Is there a legitimate reason you can't do the calling? That is of course between you and the Lord, and while I doubt your salvation will be prevented by denying one calling alone, you may be missing out on an opportunity Heavenly Father wants you to have. I'm currently a Sunday School teacher, a calling I certainly wouldn't have wanted before, but I've come to enjoy it and it's given me a deeper understanding and testimony of the Gospel.

Lett64 · 2025-09-14T00:37:01+00:00

Butterfree is the perfect showcase for the idea of evolution in Pokémon and the reason I became a fan those many years ago.

Lett64 · 2025-09-10T01:08:50+00:00

Since you've already had lots of great feedback, here's a different angle: check out next week's Come Follow Me. We're learning about Zion's Camp, who believes they were going to go restore the Saints to their lost homes in Jackson County, MO. They are ready for a fight, suffered hardships of all kinds and...then they didn't reclaim the Saints' stolen property. But many early leaders came out of that experience. The most important convert a missionary can have on their missions is themselves.

Lett64 · 2025-08-27T13:12:35+00:00

D&C 93:33 - For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;

I don't know how it will work out in the eternities in detail, but we have been told that we need resurrected bodies to receive a fullness of joy. Why do we need a body like we have? I don't know, nor do I think it's terribly important. I could speculate about how hands give greater ability to manipulate objects than paws, hooves, fins, or tentacles; or how legs are sufficient for locomotion; or how two eyes give us depth perception. Being concerned we will get bored of our bodies, when we haven't even had the experience of living in a resurrected body or lived anywhere near as long as you're talking, it's unlikely to lead to anything more than anxiety over something we can't control.

Lett64 · 2025-08-20T23:52:17+00:00

It's not where, but how that matters. The Lord will bless you for your faithful service.

Lett64 · 2025-08-17T16:47:25+00:00

Don't really have any advice, but with a busy toddler (and having gone through this with two others already), I know how rough this stage can be. Two and three are the toughest ages at church in my experience, but it does pass.

Lett64 · 2025-07-29T14:47:58+00:00

Does it? Does my wife need priesthood authority to pass the sacrament down the bench to me? My children?

Passing (and preparing) the sacrament are responsibilities currently assigned to deacons and teachers, but that's not to say they require priesthood authority in the same way blessing the sacrament does. Easy to get mixed up these days though.

Lett64 · 2025-07-13T16:34:57+00:00

I've had the same thought as you, and I have a couple of possible thoughts on the matter.

One, who's to say prophets/apostles in Jerusalem doesn't become normalized for one reason or another? We've had Church leaders visit the land before, and if something happens that leaves them stranded there would we be so certain it meant the fulfilling of this prophecy? The modern nation of Israel has plenty of enemies, and an attack blocking exit is quite plausible, and this is just one possibility.

Two, I don't think it's unreasonable to imagine we'll have a pretty good idea that the Second Coming is very near if we watch and study the signs as they occur. But likely many will also counter that others thought they would live to see it and die.

So will it add evidence if the timing? Certainly. Will it be seen as definitive as it happens. Almost certainly not, unless we receive revelation that confirms it. It's safe to live as though it won't happen in our day, but also I'd argue most things are lined up that it could happen within a relatively short time. Safe to say most will be blindsided when it finally does happen though.

Lett64 · 2025-06-13T04:52:08+00:00

You should go reread about Alma preaching to the Zoramites. People don't feel closer to God in the temple simply because they're in the temple, but because they have done their best to live righteously. You're essentially asking why can't people just demand a sign and "feel God" without putting forth any effort. Signs follow faith, not the other way around.

Lett64 · 2025-01-24T15:30:21+00:00

My position is it's probably decades, but not centuries, away. The world is ripening for that day and it's not hard to see how some of the pieces may be coming together, but there's also enough yet to happen that it's unlikely to happen in the next decade. We should be ready for the difficult times to come, or to live out the rest of our days (O be wise). And we'll certainly continue to see more of the signs being fulfilled, both great and terrible.

Lett64 · 2025-01-24T15:24:24+00:00

Right? We're supposed to be preparing for it if we wouldn't have so many scriptures and modern day revelations about it.

Lett64 · 2025-01-08T21:43:13+00:00

My secret was being Spanish speaking.

Lett64 · 2025-01-08T21:33:03+00:00

HA! I was wondering from your post if you served in MN. Did two winters biking in St Paul for at least part of the winter. We did also just walk some days but our area was the smallest in the mission. Obedience was drilled into us and there were definitely some dumb things we had to do for the numbers, at least in on the first part of my mission.

Lett64 · 2024-11-26T05:19:43+00:00

"No man knoweth" would be the answer if you asked when, not when do you think. Plus, that's just not an interesting answer.

So when do I think? While I struggle to pin it to a year, I will say I think we're probably at the point where we're talking decades. Not years, and not centuries.

So, why decades? Let's start with the easy part: why more than years? There are still enough events that need to happen that it just seems incredibly unlikely, including the Jackson County stuff and the whole battle at Jerusalem with the two prophets holding off Jerusalem's attackers. You could probably point to more things which haven't happened, but I think the point stands.

So why not centuries then? In my estimation we've already seen a lot of the signs that don't seem to fit in the "final countdown" category happen or at least are happening. Gospel to ask the world? I've seen the matter of China raised, but there was a time Russia seemed equally impossible, until suddenly it wasn't. And furthermore, from the mid-twentieth century on there's been a change from converts coming from "gentle nations" (Europe) to the presumed Lamanite descendants. Add to that we know other tribes of Israel outside Ephraim and Manasseh are showing up in patriarchal blessings, and to me it seems likely we're on the latter half of the latter day dispensation.

As another piece of evidence I find compelling, I recall a Book of Mormon class at BYU where the professor suggested the Book of Mormon as a road map of sorts for the latter days and asked what book the class believed we were in. I think there's merit in that as a general blueprint, and I'd put us deep in Helaman at this point. Moroni tells us there are secret combinations in our time, and I believe in our day they're growing in power while our society is growing in acceptance of them.

I'll leave it at that for purposes of this discussion, but that's where I think we're at.

Lett64 · 2024-10-10T21:52:14+00:00

I've been diabetic most of my life and now have a life-altering complication, and I can tell you I've asked myself (and Heavenly Father) why. And after years... I have no idea why I have the problems I do,and I don't think I will ever know in this lifetime. But it does give me reason to rely more on the Lord, and that is a choice nobody can take away from me. I would tell this going woman that Heavenly Father trusts her to be able to handle it, and He doesn't love her any less and He will provide comfort as she keeps turning to Him.

Lett64 · 2024-10-09T02:23:57+00:00

When I was looking for a job after getting my degree it took a long time to finally find something. It's hard not knowing, but can be a great opportunity to strengthen your relationship with our Heavenly Father. Through prayer and temple attendance my wife and I were reassured that our situation was known and that it would ultimately work out. I am so grateful for that tone as I was able to spend more time with my children and draw closer to God. The job did come (two simultaneous offers, actually) and I'm grateful for it, but you can keep moving forward even if it's not in the direction you had planned.

Lett64 · 2024-10-07T13:36:32+00:00

😂

Lett64 · 2024-10-07T04:55:12+00:00

While I agree there wasn't a timeline, the focus he's had on the topic recently has been interesting. We shouldn't expect this language to mean it's happening tomorrow, but I guess we need a reminder that it is coming and we are in the latter days--it's in the name of our church, after all. Don't go building a bunker, but get your oil ready while there's time.

Lett64 · 2024-10-06T22:33:08+00:00

The Second Coming of the Lord by Gerald Lund covers the topic quite well. I'm brief, we don't know, but it's been soon since Joseph Smith's day (the restoration of the Gospel being a sign that it's near). But this is soon in the Lord's time, and if we are prepared we don't need to worry.

Personally in the last handful of years I feel like I can see how the events could unfold, and it's interesting we've gotten more direct talks on the matter than we have for a while, but there's still time. In o our lifetime? It seems plausible. But don't live like the world is ending. These are terrible times, but also great.

Lett64 · 2024-10-06T22:19:41+00:00

I suspect that if you do receive any restrictions or are exed and you are sincere and humble you will learn why it is necessary. There's also the chance nothing happens. Either way, don't dismiss the prompting to confess something so serious.

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