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"Lucifer has a very cunning way of convincing unsuspecting souls that the General Authorities of the Church are as likely to be wrong as they are to be right. This sort of game is Satan’s favorite pastime, and he has practiced on believing souls since Adam. He wins a great victory when he can get members of the Church to speak against their leaders and to “do their own thinking.”" - Improvement Era, Ward Teachers' Message June 1945 | wasmormon.org
"Lucifer has a very cunning way of convincing unsuspecting souls that the General Authorities of the Church are as likely to be wrong as they are to be right. This sort of game is Satan’s favorite pastime, and he has practiced on believing souls since Adam. He wins a great victory when he can get members of the Church to speak against their leaders and to “do their own thinking.”" - Improvement Era, Ward Teachers' Message June 1945
"When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. When they propose a plan — it is God's plan. When they point the way, there is no other which is safe. When they give direction, it should mark the end of controversy. God works in no other way. To think otherwise, without immediate repentance, may cost one his faith, may destroy his testimony, and leave him a stranger to the kingdom of God." – Improvement Era, Ward Teachers' Message June 1945 | wasmormon.org
"When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. When they propose a plan — it is God's plan. When they point the way, there is no other which is safe. When they give direction, it should mark the end of controversy. God works in no other way. To think otherwise, without immediate repentance, may cost one his faith, may destroy his testimony, and leave him a stranger to the kingdom of God." – Improvement Era, Ward Teachers' Message June 1945
"The most telling piece of evidence, however, is that fact that the two passages are built on slightly different metaphors. Isaiah used a vineyard to represent Israel (Isaiah 5:7), while Paul used an olive tree. In the light of this, it is significant that the prophet Zenos appears to display some confusion about his metaphor. The parable of the vineyard begins with Israel as an olive tree located in a vineyard (Jacob 5:3). However, halfway through the narrative, the metaphor suddenly switches to the vineyard itself, significantly, just at the point that the Book of Mormon quotes Isaiah (Jacob 5:41). From this point on, the author repeatedly refers to 'the trees of the vineyard', apparently forgetting that the parable started out with olive trees as the primary metaphor, not grapevines." Sources of Zenos's Allegory of the Olive Tree in Jacob 5 | wasmormon.org
"The most telling piece of evidence, however, is that fact that the two passages are built on slightly different metaphors. Isaiah used a vineyard to represent Israel (Isaiah 5:7), while Paul used an olive tree. In the light of this, it is significant that the prophet Zenos appears to display some confusion about his metaphor. The parable of the vineyard begins with Israel as an olive tree located in a vineyard (Jacob 5:3). However, halfway through the narrative, the metaphor suddenly switches to the vineyard itself, significantly, just at the point that the Book of Mormon quotes Isaiah (Jacob 5:41). From this point on, the author repeatedly refers to 'the trees of the vineyard', apparently forgetting that the parable started out with olive trees as the primary metaphor, not grapevines." Sources of Zenos's Allegory of the Olive Tree in Jacob 5
"There are two major Biblical passages that provided structural material for this parable, and a number of shorter passages that supplied secondary ideas. The primary passages are Isaiah's parable of the vineyard, contained in Isaiah 5:1-7 and Paul's discussion of the relationship of Israel to the Gentiles (Romans 11:16-24), in which he used the metaphor of an olive tree..." Sources of Zenos's Allegory of the Olive Tree in Jacob 5 | wasmormon.org
"There are two major Biblical passages that provided structural material for this parable, and a number of shorter passages that supplied secondary ideas. The primary passages are Isaiah's parable of the vineyard, contained in Isaiah 5:1-7 and Paul's discussion of the relationship of Israel to the Gentiles (Romans 11:16-24), in which he used the metaphor of an olive tree..." Sources of Zenos's Allegory of the Olive Tree in Jacob 5
"Hey fellow #ponderizers!" wrote Emmett O. Rabs. "This week make sure you take the time to #ponderize how a General Authority's family felt it would be super neat to cash in on a captive audience at General Conference." - Emmett Rabs' comment on the Ponderize.us Facebook page | wasmormon.org
"Hey fellow #ponderizers!" wrote Emmett O. Rabs. "This week make sure you take the time to #ponderize how a General Authority's family felt it would be super neat to cash in on a captive audience at General Conference." - Emmett Rabs' comment on the Ponderize.us Facebook page
A new website - ponderize.us - selling t-shirts and wristbands with the words "Ponderize" and "What's Your Verse?" printed on them. The creators of the website were identified as Durrant's son and daughter-in-law, Ryan and Valerie Durrant. The website was registered just one week earlier. | wasmormon.org
A new website - ponderize.us - selling t-shirts and wristbands with the words "Ponderize" and "What's Your Verse?" printed on them. The creators of the website were identified as Durrant's son and daughter-in-law, Ryan and Valerie Durrant. The website was registered just one week earlier.
I invite you to “ponderize” one verse of scripture each week. The word ponderize is not found in the dictionary, but it has found a place in my heart. So what does it mean to ponderize? I like to say it’s a combination of 80 percent extended pondering and 20 percent memorization. - Devin G Durrant, first counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency of The Church | wasmormon.org
I invite you to “ponderize” one verse of scripture each week. The word ponderize is not found in the dictionary, but it has found a place in my heart. So what does it mean to ponderize? I like to say it’s a combination of 80 percent extended pondering and 20 percent memorization. - Devin G Durrant, first counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency of The Church
"The Respect for Marriage Act included valuable provisions to assure that no federal or state laws could be used to harm the religious or conscience rights of faith-based institutions or their members. In the end, the total law ensures that religious organizations, religious schools and their staff do not have to perform or host same-sex marriages or celebrations. It protects the tax-exempt status of religious organizations. It protects the grants, licenses, contracts and accreditation of religious schools." - Elder Dallin H Oaks, LDS First Presidency | wasmormon.org
"The Respect for Marriage Act included valuable provisions to assure that no federal or state laws could be used to harm the religious or conscience rights of faith-based institutions or their members. In the end, the total law ensures that religious organizations, religious schools and their staff do not have to perform or host same-sex marriages or celebrations. It protects the tax-exempt status of religious organizations. It protects the grants, licenses, contracts and accreditation of religious schools." - Elder Dallin H Oaks, LDS First Presidency
"After a series of events, I was disciplined by the church and then excommunicated from the church for speaking out against church policy and leaders, which made me an apostate. The disciplinary council often mentioned protecting the good name of the church, but I was more concerned with protecting children." – Sam Young, Ex-Communicated Mormon Bishop | wasmormon.org
"After a series of events, I was disciplined by the church and then excommunicated from the church for speaking out against church policy and leaders, which made me an apostate. The disciplinary council often mentioned protecting the good name of the church, but I was more concerned with protecting children." – Sam Young, Ex-Communicated Mormon Bishop
In September of 1993 six members of the LDS church were excommunicated for speaking out or publishing scholarly works that conflicted with the correlated history or threatened the church leadership in some way. They collectively came to be known as the “September Six”. These individuals were Lynne Whitesides, Avraham Gileadi, Paul Toscano, Maxine Hanks, Lavina Anderson, and D. Michael Quinn. Dubbed the “September Six,” the group were mostly left-leaning writers and scholars who had published articles or given talks about the role of women in Mormonism and the way the church’s leaders handle dissent. | wasmormon.org
In September of 1993 six members of the LDS church were excommunicated for speaking out or publishing scholarly works that conflicted with the correlated history or threatened the church leadership in some way. They collectively came to be known as the “September Six”. These individuals were Lynne Whitesides, Avraham Gileadi, Paul Toscano, Maxine Hanks, Lavina Anderson, and D. Michael Quinn. Dubbed the “September Six,” the group were mostly left-leaning writers and scholars who had published articles or given talks about the role of women in Mormonism and the way the church’s leaders handle dissent.
"If we accept that Joseph Smith dictated the Book of Mormon using a dark occultic seer stone he presumably found from an alleged career in treasure digging, scrying, and magic, this means the Book of Mormon was revealed through an occultic instrument and not by revelation and instruments provided by God." – Seer Stone v. Urim & Thummim: Book of Mormon Translation on Trial by L Hanna Stoddard & The Joseph Smith Foundation | wasmormon.org
"If we accept that Joseph Smith dictated the Book of Mormon using a dark occultic seer stone he presumably found from an alleged career in treasure digging, scrying, and magic, this means the Book of Mormon was revealed through an occultic instrument and not by revelation and instruments provided by God." – Seer Stone v. Urim & Thummim: Book of Mormon Translation on Trial by L Hanna Stoddard & The Joseph Smith Foundation
"For nearly 200 years, our official Church history never promoted the seer stone hypothesis... However, over the past decade a major shift has prompted many Latter-day Saints to abandon the “traditional narrative,” as many progressive intellectuals call for a “new narrative.”" – Seer Stone v. Urim & Thummim: Book of Mormon Translation on Trial by L Hanna Stoddard & The Joseph Smith Foundation | wasmormon.org
"For nearly 200 years, our official Church history never promoted the seer stone hypothesis... However, over the past decade a major shift has prompted many Latter-day Saints to abandon the “traditional narrative,” as many progressive intellectuals call for a “new narrative.”" – Seer Stone v. Urim & Thummim: Book of Mormon Translation on Trial by L Hanna Stoddard & The Joseph Smith Foundation
"We saw vibrant faith at work among each of those islanders—faith sufficient to stop the rain and faith to persevere when the rain did not stop." President Russell Nelson | wasmormon.org
"We saw vibrant faith at work among each of those islanders—faith sufficient to stop the rain and faith to persevere when the rain did not stop." President Russell
60 Minutes: We're talking to church members, and what they're saying to us is that they're blown away by this hundreds of millions of dollars under management and it's sitting there and it should be used. "I'm sure there are some members of the church that are saying that. There are many members of the church who aren't saying that." – Bishop Waddell, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding Ensign Peak Hundred Billion Dollar Investments | wasmormon.org
60 Minutes: We're talking to church members, and what they're saying to us is that they're blown away by this hundreds of millions of dollars under management and it's sitting there and it should be used. "I'm sure there are some members of the church that are saying that. There are many members of the church who aren't saying that." – Bishop Waddell, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding Ensign Peak Hundred Billion Dollar Investments
"In order to hide 100 billion dollars, you can't do it with just one lie. It's a lot to keep that going. When you build a company on so much secrecy and a need to conceal, it creates a leadership tone, from the top, that we can do whatever we want, as long as it's to stay hidden." – David Nielsen, former senior portfolio manager at Ensign Peak Advisors turned Whistleblower | wasmormon.org
"In order to hide 100 billion dollars, you can't do it with just one lie. It's a lot to keep that going. When you build a company on so much secrecy and a need to conceal, it creates a leadership tone, from the top, that we can do whatever we want, as long as it's to stay hidden." – David Nielsen, former senior portfolio manager at Ensign Peak Advisors turned Whistleblower
"His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which canceled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it..." - 1984 by George Orwell | wasmormon.org
"His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which canceled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it..." - 1984 by George Orwell
"Oceania was at war with Eurasia: therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia... The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia." – 1984 by George Orwell | wasmormon.org
"Oceania was at war with Eurasia: therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia... The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia." – 1984 by George Orwell
Furthermore, “the cut and tear marks, as well as the inscriptions in the gutters of the three excised leaves, match those of the remaining leaf stubs, confirming their original location” in the Joseph Smith letterbook. By 1965 these three leaves of the 1832 account were again “archived together with the letterbook.” Thus, the period when these three leaves were separated was approximately 1930 to 1965—or allowing a five-year period for the cellophane tape to come into common usage in America, the three decades from 1935 to 1965. - Another Look at Joseph Smith’s First Vision, Stan Larson, Dialogue, Vol 47
Furthermore, “the cut and tear marks, as well as the inscriptions in the gutters of the three excised leaves, match those of the remaining leaf stubs, confirming their original location” in the Joseph Smith letterbook. By 1965 these three leaves of the 1832 account were again “archived together with the letterbook.” Thus, the period when these three leaves were separated was approximately 1930 to 1965—or allowing a five-year period for the cellophane tape to come into common usage in America, the three decades from 1935 to 1965. - Another Look at Joseph Smith’s First Vision, Stan Larson, Dialogue, Vol 47
This six-page history was at some point excised from the letterbook. Fortuitously, one can actually date the time period when these leaves were removed, because the tearing of the last of the three leaves was done with such little care that a small triangular fragment (containing four words of the text) was initially left in the gutter of the letterbook and then removed and taped back onto the last leaf. The clear cellophane tape that was used for this repair was not invented until 1930 - Another Look at Joseph Smith’s First Vision, Stan Larson, Dialogue, Vol 47.
This six-page history was at some point excised from the letterbook. Fortuitously, one can actually date the time period when these leaves were removed, because the tearing of the last of the three leaves was done with such little care that a small triangular fragment (containing four words of the text) was initially left in the gutter of the letterbook and then removed and taped back onto the last leaf. The clear cellophane tape that was used for this repair was not invented until 1930 - Another Look at Joseph Smith’s First Vision, Stan Larson, Dialogue, Vol 47.
"In 2020, when in-person church services came to a halt, I started to examine my feelings about the church. My children were getting older and starting to experience things that every normal, healthy teenager experiences. Things started unraveling for me when my oldest daughter discussed with me having her annual bishops interview and discussing masturbation. The thought of my minor daughter discussing her private sexual habits with a grown man (untrained to discuss such topics) was utterly appalling." Debra | wasmormon.org
"In 2020, when in-person church services came to a halt, I started to examine my feelings about the church. My children were getting older and starting to experience things that every normal, healthy teenager experiences. Things started unraveling for me when my oldest daughter discussed with me having her annual bishops interview and discussing masturbation. The thought of my minor daughter discussing her private sexual habits with a grown man (untrained to discuss such topics) was utterly appalling." Debra | wasmormon.org
"I had an acquaintance from my ward that was posting on social media about their feelings on the church which made it clear they were no longer an active member. I was surprised, intrigued, and bothered, all at the same time. I wondered how someone who seemed so "faithful" could have left the church." Debra | wasmormon.org
"I had an acquaintance from my ward that was posting on social media about their feelings on the church which made it clear they were no longer an active member. I was surprised, intrigued, and bothered, all at the same time. I wondered how someone who seemed so "faithful" could have left the church." Debra | wasmormon.org
"I was a Mormon. I am the middle child of 11 children and was raised in a strict mormon home from childhood. I was to follow all the rules set by the mormon church and never deviate therefrom. I never made my own choices. We went on to have a total of 5 children. My husband and I served in many callings, from nursery leaders to ward choir director to primary teachers to ward clerks and my final calling was in the Relief Society presidency." Debra | wasmormon.org
"I was a Mormon. I am the middle child of 11 children and was raised in a strict mormon home from childhood. I was to follow all the rules set by the mormon church and never deviate therefrom. I never made my own choices. We went on to have a total of 5 children. My husband and I served in many callings, from nursery leaders to ward choir director to primary teachers to ward clerks and my final calling was in the Relief Society presidency." Debra | wasmormon.org
"I was setting a terrible example for my children - claiming to believe in the church, but only bits and pieces. I knew I had to be true to myself and live the life I knew was right for me, my husband, and my children. The CES letter was the nail in the coffin and confirmed to me that my decision to leave was the right one." Debra | wasmormon.org
"I was setting a terrible example for my children - claiming to believe in the church, but only bits and pieces. I knew I had to be true to myself and live the life I knew was right for me, my husband, and my children. The CES letter was the nail in the coffin and confirmed to me that my decision to leave was the right one." Debra | wasmormon.org
"The more I talk about my experience and what I've learned, the more I become content with who I now am and at peace with where I am at in my life. There's no way, at this time, I could "leave the church alone" because it was all I was for my entire life. It is possible that some day I won't feel the need to discuss mormonism or its effects on me, and I hope that day does come." Debra | wasmormon.org
"The more I talk about my experience and what I've learned, the more I become content with who I now am and at peace with where I am at in my life. There's no way, at this time, I could "leave the church alone" because it was all I was for my entire life. It is possible that some day I won't feel the need to discuss mormonism or its effects on me, and I hope that day does come." Debra | wasmormon.org
"Being a mormon was everything to me for 38 years. I was my entire identity. I had no identity outside of being a mormon. Everything I did was because of my religion. After deconstructing and learning the truth and lies about the church, I was devastated. Everything I thought I new and held as truth was in question. It has been immensely helpful for me to research and discuss and share about my experience with the church." Debra | wasmormon.org
"Being a mormon was everything to me for 38 years. I was my entire identity. I had no identity outside of being a mormon. Everything I did was because of my religion. After deconstructing and learning the truth and lies about the church, I was devastated. Everything I thought I new and held as truth was in question. It has been immensely helpful for me to research and discuss and share about my experience with the church." Debra | wasmormon.org
"I went on to learn about the church finances and how they hoard money, property, etc. all while bleeding their membership dry financially. As a very young married couple with a brand new baby, my husband and I struggled to make ends meet. We went to our bishop for financial assistance. He agreed to help us pay rent as long as we went to the church building for multiple weekends and pull weeds - with our only months old baby in tow. It was demeaning, humiliating, and we were still expected to pay our tithing, even while struggling to put food on the table." Debra | wasmormon.org
"I went on to learn about the church finances and how they hoard money, property, etc. all while bleeding their membership dry financially. As a very young married couple with a brand new baby, my husband and I struggled to make ends meet. We went to our bishop for financial assistance. He agreed to help us pay rent as long as we went to the church building for multiple weekends and pull weeds - with our only months old baby in tow. It was demeaning, humiliating, and we were still expected to pay our tithing, even while struggling to put food on the table." Debra | wasmormon.org
"As an active member of the church, we are taught that if you leave the church, you will never be happy. I was shocked to find out that this is, in fact, not true. I am happier now in my life than I have ever been as an active member of the church. I am free to make my own decision and live the kind of life that feels true and genuine to me. I am a better wife, a better mother, and a more well-rounded individual since leaving the church." Debra | wasmormon.org
"As an active member of the church, we are taught that if you leave the church, you will never be happy. I was shocked to find out that this is, in fact, not true. I am happier now in my life than I have ever been as an active member of the church. I am free to make my own decision and live the kind of life that feels true and genuine to me. I am a better wife, a better mother, and a more well-rounded individual since leaving the church." Debra
This is no ad, it's a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find Debra's full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/debrac28/. There are over a hundred more stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!
This is no ad, it's a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find Debra's full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/debrac28/. There are over a hundred more stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!