Returned Missionaries

The other day we ran into an old friend who was talking about her daughter. The daughter had stopped going to church at one point. The friend explained to us how she came around, started coming back to church and was married in the temple. At the apex of her excitement at her daughter's renewed faith, she mentioned that not only did she marry in the temple, but she married a returned missionary.

Have returned missionaries been reduced to nothing more than prizes for young women who stay faithful? Is marrying a returned missionary a sign of a woman's righteousness? Was I completely oblivious to all that?

I know teenage member girls always fawned over my companions and I, but I dealt with that before my mission from member and non-member girls alike. I assumed it was simply an extension of that.

All I know is the last thing I wanted to do was marry a returned missionary.

Superhero

Apparently, if I were a superhero, I would be Terse Subject Line Man. I'm just happy to have a superhero name.

Types

While reading my scriptures last night, I came across something interesting that Jacob said (imagine that; Jacob saying something interesting):

Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him. (2 Ne. 11:4)

Here, he's saying that everything we have ever received from God is a type of Christ. I can see how things like the sun or the priesthood or mountains are types of Christ, but trees and animals and mosquitoes? I wish Jacob had been a little more detailed in this declaration.

Reconcile

There is a belief among some Mormons that we are responsible for our salvation. That is we do the best that we can, then Jesus picks up the slack. To support this idea, it is common to use the following scriptures (among others):

And now, my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should work out your salvation with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ... (Alma 34:37)

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. (2 Ne 25:23)

While reading in the Book of Mormon (which incidentally I started in the spring) last night, I came across another verse that made me ponder this idea.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved. (2 Ne 10:24)

The key here (and to which Nephi briefly pointed in the twenty-fifth chapter) is that we need to be reconciled to God. I have to admit that I am not an expert on the usage of the term 'reconcile' in the early nineteenth century, but today it has the meaning of "reestablishing a close relationship between", "settling", "resolving", "bringing oneself to accept" and "making compatible or consistent".

If the usage of the term is similar today as to what it was around 1830, perhaps the meaning of the first two verses I mentioned is not what many make them out to be. Perhaps "working out our salvation" has more to do with our heart than our actions. Perhaps "all we can do" isn't actually a reference to physical doings after all.

Good Baby

I've had enough people ask me if Aisling is a good baby, that I thought I'd post my answer once and for all in hopes of nipping the repetition of the question in the bud.

She's not lying, stealing or killing, so, yeah, I guess she is a good baby.

I also added it to her FAQ page.

Capitalism

In chapter 19 of Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay, President McKay said, in part, the following:

The law of pure nature, survival of the fittest, is self-preservation at the sacrifice of all else; but in contrast to this the law of true spiritual life is, deny self for the good of others.

If they are in such contrast, why would the gospel be restored in a capitalist society, the epitome of "pure nature"?

He also said

The greatest spiritual blessing comes from helping another.

What is "the greatest spiritual blessing"?

Dove and Real Women

This past year or so Dove has been promoting their "get real for women" campaign where they are trying to get across to women and more importantly to young girls that the real woman image is not one of a skinny minny walking down a runway but a healthy female with a healthy self esteem. Their commercials are showing women of all ages, all sizes and all races.

Today I was watching a tv news program where men were up in arms trying to get other men to sign petitions to have these ads removed off the media because this is not what real women look like. Unbeknownst to some of these men the camera men showed their wives, their mothers, their sisters and daughters and how funny it was to see their faces when the news show showed them that the female members of their families were indeed "real" and not anything like the women they felt they wanted to see portrayed. There was some crow pie being swallowed at that point.

I had to wonder how many men met their womenfolk that night with a chagrined and apologetic look on their faces. I had to also wonder how many of these women met their men with the proverbial rolling pin in their hands.

The other day I asked my husband why it was when we first met and I was toothpick thin he said he loved me that way then years later when I had gained a substantial amount of weight he still said he loved me that way...now I am in between and he still says the same thing.. I asked which time was it that he had lied to me.. at the beginning, in the middle or at the end (now) and he said don't you get it yet? It's you I love not the size you are.

Guess he won't be facing a rolling pin anytime soon. Do any of you think Dove is being untrue to their portrayal of what a real woman looks like?