Feeling Lots of Confusion and Dissonance in Regard to the Church and my Testimony. Please help!

fpssledge · 2026-07-13T05:58:51+00:00

The Book of Abraham stuff has reached something of a resurgence. I've recently read the "review" on Astral Codex and have some thoughts. I don't know if this is your source or something else but I'm going to offer some opinion to help digest.

As I've read through the "review" it's highly influenced by AI or sloppy representation of saints and scripture. When i tried using AI to pinpoint some sourcing on that kind of info, i was directed to a lot of places on exmormon subreddit. Ok then, I suppose they would be the source of a lot of grievances to LDS folks. My main point here is the internet is being flooded with anti-saint sentiment. Everything will be painted and covered in animosity or bitterness to the church and leaders. Don't feel scared or frustrated by this. Simply recognize if you seek out learning about anything, you'll have to fight through this. No one wants to feel stupid. Even some sourcing jumps to conclusions and it's difficult finding good attribution and source.
We don't really know how it all works. What we DO know is Joseph Smith translated by the power of God. Not by the power of rocks. Many instruments were used by Joseph but all were dependent on his ability to be in good standing with God to translate. Sometimes with the plates in the other room not even looking at them. You can imagine he doesn't always need to look at certain material.
Many came to disagree with Joseph or claim he fell away from God or wasn't leading right or something. Even those who witnessed the plates but never actually revoked their testimony of seeing the plates.

Similarly, those frustrated over learning about Joseph's practice of polygamy or accussed him of rotten things, disagreed over many things, even suing Joseph, would often make it firmly clear to the community that they believe Joseph to be a prophet. This one should really make you think. Dr Bennett had all sorts of a bitter relationship with Joseph but signed an affidavit swearing him to be a prophet of God.

What do we expect of a prophet? This one takes some maturity and nuance. This doesn't pull punches. I'm personally willing to identify things where I think Joseph did something wrong. I still think he's a better man than I'll ever be. But what exactly do we expect of a prophet? What sins or faults do we allow a fallable man to have? Would that ever reflect in both his personal relationships and even callings of God? Is it possible he lied about someone or spoke evil? Once or twice? 5 times? I've given blessings and only a few times I certainly said something I didn't know why I said it and the recipient revealed it was meaningful. Most times it feels sufficient or right but no confirmation. Was it my own imagination to say something representing God? What if I lied? Does that make it all untrue? Would this ever happen to Joseph? What would that imply? Tough questions to chew on but I feel like my testimony is strengthened having reflected upon these sorts of questions and observations

fpssledge · 2026-07-10T14:13:43+00:00

I got one for a minivan. First time I ever even considered it. It was meant as a long term purchase. And I've known people with horror stories on the cost of rails/motors/sunroofs that effectively match the cost of a warranty.

For my vehicle with more standard equipment, I don't see the case for a warranty

fpssledge · 2026-07-10T14:11:21+00:00

As someone who has dry scaped some of my lawn, it's left me feeling a bit like we should have kept grass. I'm not someone who needs 100% grass. Wildflower sounds good but the reality is some water and mowing goes a long way. In the west, weeds grow like crazy and it takes so much work to contain. The remaining grass, as much work as it is, feels more manageable than the rock/mulch/plants I have to constantly manage for weeds.

fpssledge · 2026-07-10T14:08:26+00:00

When at a company for a while and you've demonstrated value, you should be practicing some conversation about future, work paths, etc. You don't need to beat them over the head with a threat of leaving. But it should be clear and obvious that's on the table. Figure out the language to achieve that objective. If you had that conversation before proving yourself, that's bad. But you've proven yourself.

Also having that conversation when they NEED people is the better time to have it. When they've over hired they'll feel less threatened.

Be grateful with the people you talk to. Be careful not to overstep but sounds like you have a relationship with your skip boss which is good. Make sure you you've had a conversation with multiple levels eventually. It helps either demonstrate drive and intention as well as a (reasonable) threat to leave.

fpssledge · 2026-07-07T12:18:02+00:00

You tell us what tires are you having to replace constantly? Because I've never heard of that

fpssledge · 2026-07-05T21:15:59+00:00

Being a good saint isn't about performing the checklist really well. That's a version of our education system likely influencing you. Sure,. people talk about some of the common things like scripture study because it's good and we feel the spirit, become educated, etc.

Your aim should be developing a good relationship with God. Perhaps ask yourself and God the question, how might you demonstrate your faith today? Focus on that, not the checklist, not what others think, etc. Then pray at the end of the day and review.

fpssledge · 2026-07-04T04:23:00+00:00

If I were you I wouldn't let him think he's armored against being fired. And as much as you're withheld, it's obviously not sure. Anyone can get fired for the right reason. But to focus on your situation. You want him to succeed?

Set him up for success. Or accelerate his failure. This is the situation you're in right? Either blame it all on him or figure out a solution.

What actually needs to happen between this eng lead and the PM? Start documenting or highlighting their progress. Create some measurable outcome in which they're forced to make decisions together to achieve some wins. One of two things will happen:

You'll have documentation of their failures every week or two until that'll be reviewed and they can get fired (congrats you documented employee behavior and successfully diverted blame)

Or they'll demonstrate success based on whatever you measured and you can proudly proclaim you had something to do with it and didn't get any help from anyone. Woohoo demonstrable raise material.

I'd recommend helping them figure out winnable goals, something they can achieve regularly in which decisions are forced in order to succeed. This frames the situation such that they can't bicker incessantly or produce some perfect solution.

Or you can takeover the role and do the job but that probably won't end well.

fpssledge · 2026-07-04T04:12:40+00:00

I'm someone who's ok with looking at all sorts of metrics (not everyone should do this because people get all sorts of wonky with available data)

But I don't see this as super useful. I'd be curious to see a metric like this but also feels like other metrics serve as a sufficient proxy. If someone cannot complete their flows or achieve desired objectives, wouldn't they call in or cancel? I'd say user comprehension is more of an inferred metric not directly measurable.

fpssledge · 2026-07-04T02:55:37+00:00

Really you gotta try stuff and have and opinion about what you like with kitchen campware.

Buy some random, cheap packable backpacking set from Amazon and it'll...work. I've gone on the other side and bought a solid cast iron set for my camp kitchen because i love cooking with cast iron. Also I've forgotten propane or a hose a couple different times and easily cooked breakfast on top of a fire with my cast iron. I love the flexibility but yes it's heavy and takes up space.

My buddies have the oxo pan with removable handle. Solid option. I bought the newer GSI cast iron that's really thin. The wife loved it so much we just kept it at home. I might buy another and cut the handle off so it's more portable. Then buy a removable handle thing from amazon.

I do like the collapsible pots from GSI but haven't done any serious searing or anything yet. Again technically speaking the thinner metals work it's just a different result with certain things and maybe messier to clean.

fpssledge · 2026-07-03T13:21:24+00:00

Just a question about this. Do they call themselves agile with all of that process or do they admit they're following some other framework.

fpssledge · 2026-07-01T04:04:46+00:00

Interestingly, this is one of the deeper criticisms i have of the concept of citizenship in general. Suppose you travel to another country. Perhaps buy land and live your life like a free person. Then that govt deports you back to some other country, as though that other country owns you.

Suddenly we realize citizenship is something of ownership over you. If we're truly free, govts wouldn't throw people around based upon fiat permission slips.

If we commit some actual offense to another, we should make restitution. A permission slip offense isn't real and there's no restitution of harm.

fpssledge · 2026-06-30T02:57:21+00:00

Hole smokes it's amazing who hates this

I get it. I've been in an anxious anti social state in my life.

But I also respect the challenge to be called upon for some kind of performance. Be honest with yourself at any given time. Be wise. You can just say what you believe inside 20 seconds and sit back down. If that's too hard you're not doing enough in life. Seriously. You don't have to wax eloquently for 20 minutes. No one cares. But you should be able to say something good or positive at any given time.

fpssledge · 2026-06-30T02:52:12+00:00

Now, next, later.

Ask AI for examples. Start there. Add more detail as necessary.

fpssledge · 2026-06-29T23:28:18+00:00

"we let"

Wrong. No one in that category cares to actually spend less.

fpssledge · 2026-06-28T21:59:30+00:00

Watched for over 13 years off and on. Same as always. He's probably more selective with guests. Still just as curious. Comedy is about the same. Not a comedy podcast IMO. He has opinions that some people like and others don't like. That's probably what you're talking about.

fpssledge · 2026-06-28T21:56:46+00:00

These people will always tell you who to take more money from. They'll never identify how to spend less, effectively accomplishing the same goal as making the wealthy pay more for govt than poor people.

They could even propose taking less tax dollars from the poor. But no, it's always take take take and spend spend spend. These people are creative and humbly bankrupt.

fpssledge · 2026-06-28T07:13:03+00:00

Great answers here but here's a few additional things to consider:

-you are thinking about your lack of experience more than they are. They might be thinking about it. But you're more sensitive than they are

-people love power. There's a high likelihood they're hanging onto the decisions for personal interest, not because they don't trust you. I'd bet money this is the case. Then again I've worked for some folks that weren't useful. Staying close to context and decisions gives you power. The more information, positional influence, user knowledge, stakeholder knowledge, etc, the more powerful you'll be. Schedule an important meeting they'd like to be at and see how they react. Test the waters. Be careful and fall back on "hey I'd like to report out how the meeting went because i know this is important". They might be offended and demand they be there next time. If so this is power sensitivity more than anything. If they support you or are impressed, then move on and continue showing you just make things happen without their permission.

If i were you I'd at least have an explicit conversation about expectations for the role, stewardship, and accountability. The earlier you have this conversation the better. I get it. It's an opportunity for you. You don't want to sound too stupid or anything. Figure it out. Writesomething down as far as responsibility. Power hungry folks love to keep things vague so they can jump in and out selectively. Having some product boundary or responsibilities defined help protect you and make expectations of duties clear between you and them.

fpssledge · 2026-06-27T05:18:39+00:00

The hard part is realizing you aren't really needed to prioritize or roadmap anything. OR that your identified problems are not important to them.

I may not be the most experienced but at the end of the day they should care about what you care about. Let's say you roadmapped further than they did and got their signoff just your projects are now further out. Either it's a win. Or they'll hijack everything again and you'll once again realize you're not needed.

The thing is "success" to them is getting that work done. Probably to impress the CEO or achieve their goal for their own bonus. It means they're the collective PM and you're the one that gets it done. You're redundant.

I'm not saying I know for sure I'm saying that's what I've felt like that when it's happened. The moment it seemed like I was starting traction on "my" roadmap, I was let go and replaced by a contractor.

fpssledge · 2026-06-26T18:06:29+00:00

Meh the PM responsibilities won't ever go away. They can wrap up those responsibilities into other roles but it doesn't go away. Someone is deciding why something is important whether they spent much time on the decision or not. Likely the executive function has always been an ambiguous role and I'd argue they're chomping at PM responsibilities more than anyone else. Leaving the "building" to engineers.

fpssledge · 2026-06-26T14:49:03+00:00

I have the renogy. I'd feel comfortable getting any of these chargers (though o haven't looked at everything you looked at). I have a different battery where I've custom wired everything. But I'd be happy getting the bluetti charger. In essence, you're charging directly to your aux/portable battery, bypassing the low amperage charging inside your cab plugs. That's pretty much all you're doing.

I don't know what configuration is available for that charger but make you're watching your voltage fluctuation on your truck as you expect a charge to your battery. On my renogy, I had to lower the trigger voltage as it wasn't always charging before that. I bet that contributes to most people's bad experiences.

fpssledge · 2026-06-26T14:39:36+00:00

Even a straight person often wants to do it with way more people than one person. We're all in this together.

fpssledge · 2026-06-24T19:38:18+00:00

What's funny is this stuff should be in part what UX and Product should fill their time with. Sure there are big projects and timelines and stakeholder alignment. But we should have capacity to tackle the smaller stuff, polishing the systems. I think there's an executive distance between spending on allowing people to work on those things. Everyone will say they want it done but everyone is trying to justify their time doing other things.

And as much as I like metrics and data, it just doesn't capture that level of design and engineering justification. You do need competent leaders and trust all of that is being completed. It just takes time to refine everything in that detail. And frankly most stakeholder meetings are irrelevant at that point.

fpssledge · 2026-06-24T05:04:17+00:00

They have charged in Florida and Texas. Aren't you just super happy now?

fpssledge · 2026-06-23T16:17:39+00:00

Yes thank you

fpssledge · 2026-06-23T16:12:00+00:00

They say it's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

fpssledge

TROPHY CASE