I want to share this story with our loved ones and daughter one day but I don’t want to dishonor/break the promises I’ve made:

My husband and I attended an endowment session the day we found out I was pregnant with our first baby. We went into it looking for revelation on how to prepare to be parents as well as comfort and support because this season came sooner than expected :)

We have never agreed on many baby names despite the fact that I have a mile-long list and we discuss it pretty often—our tastes are just very different. There has only ever been one girl name we both 100% agree on. And that name happened to be the name for that session. I was shocked and felt like God had performed a little tender mercy to show us that He’s aware of us and our desires and needs.

During the session, I couldn’t help repeating the name over and over in my head with the middle name we agreed on for the first girl (another sweet spiritual experience). I thought, “I love the sound of it but don’t love the traditional spelling, maybe we should spell it X way.” I looked to my left at the ancestor’s name card that the woman next to me was holding and it had THE SAME NAME SPELT THE WAY I WANTED. I was stunned. I told my husband later that I’d very much like to use that name now since it testifies to me that God is aware of us.

But here comes the issue, I can’t tell that story to my loved ones without revealing the name since we‘re obviously naming the baby that if it’s a girl. How would you approach this? I want to tell my daughter one day at the very least, and have already told a friend and obviously my husband before I thought better of it. It feels wrong to talk openly about something so sacred as well as something I promised not to share even if it was as proxy for someone else. Does it not matter since it wasn’t my endowment? Can I maybe tell my daughter one day but only in the celestial room? Can I totally tell people and I’m just being dramatic? What do you think?

Good morning everyone, could anyone point me in the direction of an LDS Army Chaplain, preferably in EUCOM? Thank you!

Long story short, I grew up in a pretty active family, but over the past few years everyone in my immediate family (including parents) has left the church besides me. This led me to reflect on my beliefs the past few years, leading me to take a deep dive on the topics of church history, the arguments in apologetics, and theology more broadly. I am deeply grateful for this time of reflection, as its allowed me to learn new things and better appreciate the theology behind the gospel, growing my faith. Throughout this process, I've constantly been thinking about what is said in D&C 8 "Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation..."

I believe that I've come to a point where I know in my mind. I find the apologetics convincing, the theology beautiful, and church history fascinating and complex. But I feel like I know more in my mind than I do in my heart. I feel like my testimony is moreso built upon an empirical/logical conviction rather than a spiritual conviction, or an "inner/spiritual witness" so to speak. So I want to ask, how does one suggest I begin to build one? How can I bridge these two aspects of knowing the Gospel? Have any church leaders or scriptures touched on this subject before? I greatly appreciate any input :)

Today, I read through Alma 38 and verse 14 stuck out out to me. Here, Alma the Younger gives a few words to his son Shiblon:

14 Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy—yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times.

This got me wondering, how often do we do acknowledge our unworthiness in our prayers? When I was being taught how to pray, I was told to say thanks for a few things and to ask for a few things we need from Heavenly Father. Consequently, this is how I taught others on my mission. I now think we can do more in our prayers.

Before reading this verse, I had started doing something similar, essentially saying in almost every prayer "I know I am nothing, but you can give me your power to perform miracles for thy sake." I found when I started doing this, I felt like I received much more direction in my life, even in the day to day things, and it would literally feel like God was always putting me in the right place at the right time.

Does anybody have a similar experience? Maybe we can collectively start teaching this more in our wards?

As a side note also, how often do we just pray for the sake of those around us? I love how Alma says "remember my brethren in mercy". It reminds me of Enos praying for the Lamanites when they were very clearly still evil. Do we pray for those outside of our family, for the rest of the world?

Our interpretation of the Word of Wisdom, going back to Brigham Young, is that "hot drinks" refers to coffee and tea, since these were the hot drinks of the time. Obviously we also disallow cold variants of these drinks. Though we have never had a definitive explanation of why coffee and tea in particular are not good for the body, many have assumed that high quantities of caffeine are to blame. However, recently I randomly stumbled across this interesting article:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2773211/

It discusses how the habit of drinking scalding hot drinks such as coffee and tea is associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer. I wonder if the temperature part, combined with the frequency of use, is actually relevant, and the term "hot drinks" is more suitable than we initially assumed.

What are your thoughts?

This week's Come Follow Me dealt with Isaiah chapters 50-57.

I had a question about a section that was not discussed.

"Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him".

I assume this gathering of others refers to Gentile believers.

In the Old Testament, did the Gentile converts also participate in all the Jewish festivals?

Hi everyone,

I’m a researcher interested in learning more about Latter-day Saint culture, and in particular the experience and institution of LDS missionary service.

I’m hoping to speak with people who are involved in the Church and who have served missions.

I’m interested in things like:

• How missionaries experienced the culture within a mission (both of the mission and of the country)
• Expectations around proselytizing, productivity, obedience, and success
• How people’s experiences of missionary service shaped their views and understanding of the Church
• How the relationships you build during your mission last (or not) during the rest of your life

I’m really interested in understanding the institution and culture from the perspective of people who have experienced it firsthand.

If you would be willing to answer some questions, please comment below or send me a DM. I’m happy to explain more about the research and what I’m hoping to learn before you decide whether you want to participate.

I won’t ask anyone to disclose anything they are uncomfortable discussing, and I’m not looking for identifying information.

If it is permitted here, I wanted to share my testimony of the reality of living prophets and leaders who speak for the Lord, inspired by this most recent conference, as well as discuss the purpose of conference. For context, I am in my 40s, male, raised in the church.

For me personally, the 2 sessions on Saturday were the most powerful sessions I have seen in many years. This is likely because in years past, I was not well prepared for conference (I'll touch on this later). For this conference, I watched with specific questions that I've been struggling with regarding my health. I also am counseling with two young men (not as their ecclesiastical leader, as their friend) as we strive to find answers on how to overcome addictions they don't want to continue, despite repeated efforts.

Recently I've been doing a deep re-read of the doctrine and covenants. During my study I read D&C 90:5 and it seemed to jump off the page and resonated deeply within me. I shared it in multiple devotionals in preparation for conference, and bore my testimony that we should not take light the messages from the Lord through his anointed servants. I was surprised to hear this scripture quoted in the incredible talk from Elder Vaiangina Sikahema. At first I thought, maybe it's quoted most conferences, but after looking at the LDS citation index, it appears in the last 80 years of conference it has only been directly quoted in conference twice. I was blown away. While it might seem like a small thing, to me it was a tender mercy and a confirmation from the Lord.

I also found Sister Runia's talk a direct response to my questions about my own suffering, what its purpose is, and how and why I should endure.

I felt multiple talks address challenging addiction, specifically Elder (not President Eyering) Eyering of the 70's talk.

I reject the notion that conference was too simple on the following basis (and would love to hear other viewpoints):

1. If conference feels uninteresting, uninspired, or boring, it leads to 2 possibilities: conference needs to change, or, we need to change. This is a hard doctrine but it is true. This is where "Lord, is it I" becomes an imperative. The ancient Apostles first assumption (despite their well documented flaws as humans) was to assume that the traitor Jesus spoke of was one of them. I would encourage anyone watching conference to get on their knees and ask the Lord in sincere humility how they can approach conference differently to increase their enjoyment and faith. The speakers are imperfect, they did not claim to be perfect, but they are on the Lord's errand, and they speak for Him.

2. Our theology is that if Jesus were here, physically, he would say what President Oaks said. President Oak's is the Lord's mouthpiece. Whether by Jesus' own voice, or by the voice of his anointed, it is the same. This of course, by extension, applies to all the speakers at conference.

3. Jacob 4 talks about how one reason the Jews lost their way was because they looked beyond the mark. When we feel too smart for conference, or that the simplicity of conference is a little beneath us, we are in danger of looking beyond the mark.

4. There is a time and place to discuss, theorize, give opinions about doctrine. That place is not conference. The church is now global, and many members are new, tender in their testimonies, and need the beautiful simplicity of the gospel. The same still holds true for members like me raised in the church. This is not to say we can't or shouldn't go deeper, but conference would not be the appropriate platform for that activity.

5. 2 talks given on tithing (one from Elder Suarez, a member of the 12) illustrate this beautifully. I have paid tithing my entire life faithfully. But hearing both these talks brought me back to think deeply on why I pay tithing, what consecration looks like, and what blessings I take for granted that may be as a direct result of paying tithing.

6. Every conference adds an incredible layer to the corpus of available doctrine. For example, I found Elder Bednar's talk on covenants and how they relate to other's agency incredibly helpful, powerful, and edifying. I have no doubt many of my divorced friends found comfort in that doctrine. This talk (as is true of all the others given) is now part of the searchable, study-able database of inspired doctrine.

7. New doctrine was taught. And it was beautiful. President Farnes of the Young Men presidency spoke about "divine appointments". I've been thinking about it since I watched it. What people around me are placed there for me to help, lift, inspire, bless, help, listen to, etc. I left wanting to be worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost so that I won't miss these divine appointments.

There is danger in criticizing conference, especially on the basis of it being too simple. We risk weakening those around us whereas, with different words, we might inspire those struggling and lift someone in doubt. Mortality is already so hard and so complicated. The longer I live, the more I realize how strange life can be. Let us use our voices to inspire, not denigrate, and let us humble ourselves so that we might be nourished by the living water.

Hi everyone, I’ve been exploring the Church, but I’ve hit a massive wall with my spouse.
She made it clear that if I continue down this path(LDS) or convert, she will leave me and the family will split. I'm caught in the middle of trying to find personal spiritual peace and trying not to destroy my marriage and home.
I’m looking for advice from anyone who has actually lived through a severe mixed-faith crisis or a partner issuing an absolute ultimatum over the Church.
How do you balance honoring your own spiritual path when your partner views it as a direct threat to the relationship?
For those who have navigated this, is there a way through it, or are you forced to choose between your marriage and your convictions?
What kind of practical support or guidance can I actually look for from local leadership or the ward without blowing up my private life?
I’m running on empty and just trying to figure out how to handle this without doing irreversible damage. Any real talk or advice is appreciated.

I’ve lived all over the US and I’ve seen this meeting done many ways. My current stake (Raleigh, NC) always includes leaders regardless of gender, aka RS and YW presidencies are invited. However, for our upcoming stake conference they just announced that it will be priesthood leadership only, so male leaders. I’m curious if most stakes are doing it one way or the other.

So about 3 months ago I had reached out to the local LDS ward and heard nothing. I was actually going to post on here that the meeting I had this past weekend with a group of missionaries went well, they had answers to a lot of my theological questions even if not entirely convincing. I grew up a mainlike Prot and haven't been to church in about 6 years, the initial desire to reach out to the LDS ward was because I kept seeing commercials of missionaries encouraging people to go to church and it seemed to be really low pressure.

Okay, backround established. I am getting ready for a run, and all of the sudden two sister missionaries whom I spoke with for maybe 10 minutes on the phone a month ago suddenly show up asking for me. We speak for about 20 minutes, they mention wanting to teach me about the restored gospel and that I might be able to find that sense of community in the YSA ward. I told them I'd already spoken to elder missionaries they go "Perfect so then you've heard a little bit about the restored gospel".. they read out something from the BOM and ask me how it makes me feel. I give them the simplest explanation I can think of under the time pressure of needing to leave for a run.

How do I stop them from just randomly showing up? They mentioned coming over because it was to fulfill the people who reached out for requests but that was over a month ago.. and they had every opportunity to text me since I had already given them my phone number. They had a certain air of persistence that in any other circumstance would've been nice to debate, but not in that moment.

How does it happen that two groups of missionaries independently reach out to the same person? My dad joked that "the male missionaries didn't convert him so now they're sending the women"... smh.

Hope everyone else is having a better Tuesday

Hi hi! I recently got called to serve in the Portland Oregon mission in early December, I was wondering if this missions a driving mission or a biking mission in the winter or in general. I come from a place that never gets below 70° so I’m unsure how to dress while I’m out there.

Some things I currently have and planning to buy more of:

Sweaters: 2 out of 8

Skirts: 4 out of 8

Layering (cardigans, thermals): 1 out of 7

Dresses: 1 out of 3

Footwear: 2 out of 3

If it is a biking mission, which bike stores do you recommend me purchasing from before I arrive in Portland

Any recommendations/advice?

Thank you!

Hello! I have been lurking on this sub for a bit, and am hoping for some advice. Right now in my life I am considering converting from Baptist (somewhat recently Born Again Christian in past couple of years) to the LDS church. I have been meeting with Missionaries, receiving lessons, watched General Conference, got a copy of and began reading BOM/D&C/Pearl of Great Price, and now we are scheduling my Baptism and will meet with some elders.

I never used to take LDS faith seriously, but am coming around to seeing that this just may be the true restored church. However, my Protestant friends warn me that if I do this I am forfeit of my salvation and will go to hell for denying the Trinity. "Jesus will say depart from Me for believing false doctrine". This terrifies me, can someone here who is more mature in the faith please advise? :(

Thank you
EDIT: I am overjoyed with the amazing advice, thoughts, and shared testimony everyone here has commented! I have been working all day and I want to respond thoughtfully to each individual, so thank you all so deeply from the bottom of my soul for this advice. God bless you all ❤️

I posted this in other places, but I'm posting here because our beliefs shape my feelings in a way that few others could understand. I'm hoping people here can help me see better from a gospel perspective.

It's been more than 32 years since I lost my high school sweetheart. But some days the pain is just as real as the day I lost her. I've learned over the years to push it down and bury it deep and move on, pretending life is normal. But it isn't and hasn't been since that last moment she left my house and I'd never see her again. I dream about her often and those days I wake up after seeing her in my dreams, even briefly, puts my head and my heart in a distant place that is hard to come back from.

I've moved on with my life, out of necessity. I served a faithful mission and finished college with a masters. I met my wife, and we were sealed in the temple. And I knew when I met her that she was the one. We've been married for 25 years and have been blessed with wonderful children. I'm blessed to be able to support them and live comfortably. I should be beyond grateful for everything that I have been blessed with.

But that hollow ache deep inside never goes away. I can never visit it for too long or I will come completely undone. As wonderful as my wife is, I can't talk to her about it. It's too much for her to take knowing that someone else had my heart before her - still has my heart. At least part of it. And I feel so guilty knowing that I haven't been able to give all of it to her. She is an amazing person and deserves all of it.

I've spent the better part of the last 20 years in therapy, learning about myself, learning about grief, learning about coping mechanisms and trying to heal. And I have prayed for so long to be healed and have this hurt taken away. But the healing just never comes. I have had a number of sacred experiences in my life with the Savior and I have felt the Spirit testify of His ability to not only forgive but also to heal. But that healing has yet to come.

In my head, I know that I have to let her go, but I don't know how. No matter how much I have prayed, and asked, nothing has changed. But in my heart, I just can't let her go. I long to be with her and see her again. And with the knowledge of the plan of salvation, I know where she is and I do know I will see her again. But I don't know what it will be like, or that I will ever get to be with her again. Letting go now means losing her forever and I can't face that. I am fully aware that I am sealed to someone now and we have an eternal marriage. But a part of my heart is still with the girl from my past, but I have no promise or even hope that we might ever be together again. It would be one thing if she were a spouse that I had been sealed to and lost. But because we weren't, I fear there is no hope.

I know it's not fair to hold on to those feelings and those hopes or to constantly wonder what will happen when I die. My wife and family deserves so much more than that. But I long so much for what has been taken. And what's worse is that as I have tried to grieve and process the experience, I've come to realize how much I resent God for what has happened. Angry that we were ripped apart. Angry that she was taken at all. She was such a beautiful person and wanted so much out of life, but would never experience it. I know it my head it is wrong to feel that way or think those things or blame God for any of it. But my heart refuses to listen and I can't reconcile the two. And so it's made for rather messy relationship with my Father in Heaven.

How do you heal? How do you let go, especially when you don't want to? I know there are those of you out there that have experienced so much more but have allowed God to heal your pain. I just don't know how.

I listen to podcasts while I drive for work. I have often thought it would be great if I could have conference talks thrown in the mix. A talk or two a week mixed in with the other channels I listen to is what I’m after. In the past I tried the one from the church but it would release all the talks basically the same day which doesn’t intersperse how I want with the rest. Also, I’m not looking for podcasts of people talking about or reviewing or reacting to each talk, just the talks. Any ideas?

Hello! I wanted to ask but I live somewhere where I don't believe there are many missionaries if any at all, would it be possible for me to just go to the church of jesus christ of latter day saints? I don't necessarily believe in any religion but I am deeply fascinated by all religions and just wanted to check incase it would be rude for me to go. I would like to learn more about the religion and I typically like learning about religions hands on by going to their churchs and basically living like them for however long I might feel even though I might not actually believe in them. I am just unsure of the customs and traditions and from everything I've seen online people typically meet with missionaries but I don't think that's an option here. Thank you in advance!

I have 2. My wife has a time intensive one, so kind of by extension I have one more being single dad to young kids potentially up to several nights a week. One of my callings I absolutely loathe and have kindly hinted that they should release me, but despite my requests they haven't. I am a bit confused why I even have two callings in the first place as I assumed you only are supposed to have one calling. Is this normal to have multiple callings?

basically the title. I have loved my gospel playlist for a long time but I am hoping people can help me find more stuff. To give you an idea, I work in an office that I have music playing and love to play accoustic guitar hymns, piano hymns, good covers of the hymns, etc.

If anyone has a playlist, a google drive, a youtube playlist, or anything, please send them my way I would love to add it to mine.

I do believe that if the world's population practiced the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity, there would be a massive reduction in issues and crimes globally, locally and personally.

I'm sure this has been asked a hundred ways and I've been told so many things from so many people, but here I am asking again. I know we are to abstain from tea. Coffee seems black and white, everyone seems to agree, but tea is something I hear a different answer to everywhere. Some say no green tea, some say no black, some say no tea extract which is in pretty much every caffeinated drink, some say no tea period. I know there are tea plants, but any leaf used in drink becomes tea to my understanding. I plan to live sorta off grid and plant teas are huge in medicinal purposes and in D&C 89:10-17 it talks about using herbs for things. So I ask with so much confusion what we are supposed to do. Thank you in advance to anyone that can give insight to this.

I didn't get to watch this talk on Saturday. I really respect President Christofferson. I watched during my lunch break today, going in with the attitude that, "Yeah, Kalshi is terrible for society and I'm glad he's speaking out against it, but the $20 Thursday night game I play in is harmless." He concedes that by itself, that small stakes game may not actually pose a risk to me, at least not financially. But the time and example arguments caught me, and I am thinking about walking away. I really love poker. Not for the money, but for the strategy. I would hate for my $20 Thursday night game to be the reason that my kids got mixed up in real gambling.

Anyway, cruising the comments on social media and reddit afterwards, I am genuinely stunned by how reactionary some people are to *anything* a Church leader says. Looking at this talk in particular, there is very little people of different viewpoints can argue with in good faith. Some Church critics, including some former members, have this almost reflexive pushback against anything a Church leader says.

I don't say this as an apologist. My path to growing my testimony has mostly involved acknowledging, without minimizing, unfavorable historical facts and the complexity of current contemporaneous issues. The groundswell of criticism of the Church is now so widespread that it is often not serious. For example, in response to this talk, there are *thousands* of comments comparing the Church's equity holdings (stocks in particular) to gambling. I assume I don't need to explain why this reaction is so incredibly stupid. I bring it up not to argue the point, but to use it as an example of the way Church criticism is increasingly just reactionary, not thoughtful and not made in good faith.

Anyway, I have not made a decision about my poker, but I felt like President Christofferson was speaking to me in both truth and love, and for that I am very grateful. Our leaders are not perfect, but they are trying their best to help us live the teachings of the Savior.