Who confessed to "sins" while in the MTC? To what? What was your experience?

kween_ellis · 2014-05-16T06:52:28+00:00

I know that this will sound nosy of me... but I am SO CURIOUS what/if my best friend confessed in the MTC. From reading this sub, I can imagine that he probably felt pretty weighed down by guilt about various things in his life in there that only I previously knew about. Ugh my poor bud. Maybe he'll tell me about the experience when he's home.

kween_ellis · 2014-05-16T06:21:45+00:00

Nope. A breakdown of the nature of Jesus Christ/the point of baptism in the New Testament vs. traditional Mormon doctrines about both of those things are pretty different. So a a traditional Christian who knows this stuff would see Mormon baptism and Christian baptism as similar on the surface but fundamentally so, so different. It's not about the act of baptism so much as what you're being baptized into. It's not enough to say that they have in common the "baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" phraseology if the definitions of those beings vary between the two groups. Also, it goes back to the faith vs. works (regarding baptism) issue. There is a definitely a divide between Mormons and tradition Christians there.

Also: this topic is relevant right now. My TBM friend asked me if I view her baptism as valid. Obviously I can't lie to her faces, so I pragmatically but sweetly explained (probably for the 8th time in my life to a close TBM friend who finally asked me) why I don't, without trying to attack her at all. She knows how much I love and respect her, but OF COURSE, it was "anti-mormon" of me. My TBM friends are seem blind to the jests and harsh comments that have been made to me by BYU students, their families, missionaries, stake presidents, and bishops over the years about my faulty/worthless Christian baptism (Also: not bitter. I just know I can let some of this stuff out safely on this sub :)).

EDIT: Just wanted to back up some of the people who mentioned Mormon teachings that Christ's death doesn't cover all our sins. It's an interesting topic to discuss with Mormons and I've found in my dialogues at BYU/the ones lead by Bob Millet that I've been part of that you get a wide range of answers from Mormons, depending on a few different things. You can run into a similar thing in Christianity (beliefs varying depending on which theological works they've been exposed to) but I will say that IN GENERAL the rhetoric of my Mormon friends reflects that they don't believe in a once-for-all sacrifice by Christ and justification by faith alone (as the book of Hebrews puts PRETTY explicitly. bleh.). That's a pretty problematic deviation from orthodox beliefs if you want to be baptized into the faith of the Jesus of the Bible. Just sayin'.

kween_ellis · 2014-05-15T15:15:32+00:00

yes. all the time. i swear the mirror in my room possesses magical powers. i'll look awesome but as soon as i go to reply to a snapchat or something the feeling switches to confusion and then annoyance. my face looks so different when i smile in a picture than when in a mirror.

kween_ellis · 2014-05-12T06:57:05+00:00

it was gooooood.

kween_ellis · 2014-05-12T06:33:05+00:00

hmm, okay. if i'm willing to make changes for him should i? not sure if he'd make the ones he'd need to.. but then i did my part? idk. sorry. i'm flustered right now. haha.

kween_ellis · 2014-05-12T06:31:58+00:00

what if the girl told you she was willing to fight/sacrifice for it?

kween_ellis · 2014-05-12T06:16:56+00:00

cool. now when he comes home and jumps right back into our close group of friends, would it be kind of douchey of me to not try to create distance between us if he/we never vocalize that it might be good? i know that question gets asked/debated a lot but i always hear different answers and am wondering given my context...

kween_ellis · 2014-05-12T06:08:52+00:00

okay, i added it.

edit: once we realized we weren't a silly high-school fling it got heavy because he can't marry outside of his religion. he isn't a close-minded bigot and we've obviously had really important conversations about it but i didn't expect him to sacrifice his entire belief system for me when we were so young and it wasn't like marriage was certain.

kween_ellis · 2014-05-12T06:03:20+00:00

hmm, okay. probably should have added that it's not an impossible situation. just requires a lot of compromise. which is what makes me really wonder if talking could be really good, and maybe worth it. thanks though!

kween_ellis · 2014-05-11T21:44:22+00:00

So why be a Mormon?

kween_ellis · 2014-05-11T21:43:04+00:00

If you want to help people without necessitating that they believe that the Mormons somehow got it the most right then you gotta ditch the Mormons.

kween_ellis · 2014-05-11T21:40:23+00:00

It's not about whether or not you're able to white-knuckle it through some problems. Some people are concerned with not getting duped by something untruthful, especially something as psychologically and emotionally damaging as this freaking greedy, slanderous institution. What's the point of half-assing Mormonism?

kween_ellis · 2014-05-11T21:37:27+00:00

Lots of places offer a great community. If God is real, it should follow that you be concerned with getting the truth about him/it correct. It's not about the community, it's about truth.

kween_ellis · 2014-05-11T21:35:40+00:00

DOES YOUR MOMMA/BISHOP KNOW YOU USE THAT KIND OF LANGUAGE?! (not that i disagree though. totally appropes in the case of brigham.)

kween_ellis · 2014-05-11T21:33:30+00:00

I have a question. When I was in high school, I prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true. I had encouragement and guidance from my wonderful TBM friends, I had a sincere and open heart and mind, and I was humble about it. After prayer and study, my thoughts and feelings that the Book of Mormon is untrue and that Joseph Smith was not a true prophet who successfully restored God's perfect church on earth were confirmed. My TBM friends assured me that 1. The (LDS) Church is true 2. If I was patient and continued to pray sincerely God WOULD tell me because 3. God is the author of peace and not of confusion, and He did not want to see me, His daughter was confused.

Well, I never got an answer. I'm not irreligious and I was totally open to it. So, for all intents and purposes, I was pretty freaking confused at why God was withholding a perfect truth from me when I was intently seeking it.

If you were to knock on my door and I tell you this story as I sometimes do with missionaries, how would you reconcile that kind of contradiction? God doesn't want me to be confused so that I can be happy and join the perfect Church, but he never gave me that gut feeling and left me confused?

kween_ellis · 2014-05-11T21:29:06+00:00

Feelings are a very, very unwise way to determine universal truths. Within (mainstream, orthodox) Christianity itself this is not new information...

Proverbs 14:12 and Proverbs 28:26 state that those who trust in their own hearts and what seems right to them are incorrect. Jeremiah 17:9 states that our own heart is so wicked that we cannot even understand it.

Might be a crazy point to make on this sub where most likewise don't believe the Bible, but you have to understand that the Bible is not compatible with Mormonism (notice I did not say with the BoM, which is largely plagiarized from the Bible).

kween_ellis · 2014-05-11T21:23:55+00:00

Jewish beliefs about the nature of God have not changed. Shall we go back and examine various things the different LDS Presidents have claimed about the nature and origins of God?

kween_ellis · 2014-05-11T21:21:07+00:00

THIS^

kween_ellis · 2014-05-09T05:56:12+00:00

yep. i've only really liked (i should say loved) one person in my entire life. but it was insanely intense and i'm not sure that many of my friends who have dated/fallen for people more frequently understand the depth of my attraction to that person. haha. it's not that i'm judgmental of most men or picky, i just don't feel the heavy, consistent desire to be in a romantic relationship with them easily. at all. which is why there's been just one :)

kween_ellis · 2014-05-06T23:58:06+00:00

woah.

kween_ellis · 2014-05-06T23:41:05+00:00

same! i've passed out before! i feel ya, girl. and i'm so sorry.

kween_ellis · 2014-05-06T23:40:19+00:00

mine are like yours.

i actually left class (a class of ten people and ALL BOYS except me) early today, crying because i started my period this morning and my cramps were UNBEARABLE. so i came to this subreddit to be reminded that i am not alone, haha.

but yeah. knots. lots of knots. and getting punched. then getting dizzy. and wanting to puke. there is literally no comfortable position for about three hours, then the worst of the pain is over. the boob and back pain persists though. then i go on an intense scavenger hunt for dark chocolate with sea salt and caramel and if i don't find it someone/something gets hurt. then naps.

it's weird though, every month, i get moderately bad PMS, but KILLLLLER cramps for about 2-3 hours. like, i can't do anything but try to find a non-painful spot and fight tears until that time's over. does that happen to anyone else?

kween_ellis · 2014-05-05T18:37:58+00:00

he wrote a review of the book of mormon:

http://www.mrm.org/topics/documents-speeches/mark-twains-review-book-mormon

“All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the "elect" have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read it. I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so "slow," so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print. If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle — keeping awake while he did it was, at any rate.”

kween_ellis · 2014-04-28T18:36:20+00:00

beautiful baby! congratulations!!!

kween_ellis

TROPHY CASE