u/CupOfExmo

Eat as much as possible. Go crazy.

What are some things did as a Mormon either in your ordinary life or on a mission that were not in-line with Church rules?

What are some things did as a Mormon either in your ordinary life or on a mission that were not in-line with Church rules?

In the endowment ceremony, we see names such as Elohim, Jehovah, and Lucifer.

Elohim is the Only Name in the endowment that isn't Anglicized or Latinized. Lucifer comes from Latin, Jehovah comes from the Tetragrammaton and the vowels from the Title of ADONAI. The vowels from the Title of ADONAI were thrown next to the Divine Name to remind readers to not use the Divine Name and to use the Title instead.

It's strange how Joseph Smith really incorporated a Latin term as he made up the pre-mortal existence. I highly doubt they were speaking Latin before it was a thing. Same with the Anglicized Divine Name.

I nerded out and have some friends that are scholars and find myself in Jewish spaces. Elohim is a type, not a Personal Name.

Does shredded paper tend to do well in a tumbler? I, like many, tend to get junk mail or have old papers I need to get rid of. I want to do something sustainable. I know paper is a good brown. Just wanted to make sure before I did anything brash. Thank you!

I have been wondering what exactly to do with old copies. What are your suggestions? I have several copies and I don't love the idea of just chucking them in the trash because I want to do something more environmentally friendly.

One idea I have heard about is that people tear up and/or shred the pages to use for a home compost bin, especially the tumbling ones. Thoughts on this?

Others use them for crafts or for other artistic uses.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

The Pandemic shutdowns in the USA where churches not having people meet in buildings helped a lot of people leave. Not as many opportunities for events that take your time, callings, ministering, etc. A lot of people finally had free time to think, research, and unwind.

When buildings opened up again, they had limited seating and a lot of people could say they weren't going physically since they were taking safety precautions.

Navigating the pandemic was rough, but it definitely contributed to a decline in activity and belief in general.

Having the "date to possibly marry" and constantly seeing your peers as potential spouses at that age isn't a great thing. It certainly hindered my dating experiences. You're far too young to really grasp that. While some people get lucky and marry their middle/high school sweetheart, the majority of people these days don't. I wish I'd looked at dating in a better way.

There was one girl who got away. She wasn't Mormon and not the type to be conversion material. That and as a nerd who was very self-conscious, you're not taking shots. But since then, most of her friends and our mutual friends said we would've been great together. They also pointed out she was into me. 🙃.

Screw the cult.

If I'd known the world would shut down just a few months after I left, Nov 2019, I would've faked it till I made it and gotten a temple recommend renewal. That and my departure wouldn't have been as noticeable. I would've been able to secure more temple clothes to wear to the BoM musical. Too bad mine are gone.

The pandemic helped a lot of people leave. They weren't as wrapped up in callings, ministering, events, etc. People finally had a chance to breathe, think, and do some research.

I had several friends who left around that time. Some of them were already leaning towards leaving. Some of them were completely out of left field and I was pleasantly surprised.

In the endowment ceremony, we see names such as Elohim, Jehovah, and Lucifer.

Elohim is the Only Name in the endowment that isn't Anglicized or Latinized. Lucifer comes from Latin, Jehovah comes from the Tetragrammaton and the vowels from the Title of ADONAI. The vowels from the Title of ADONAI were thrown next to the Divine Name to remind readers to not use the Divine Name and to use the Title instead.

It's strange how Joseph Smith really incorporated a Latin term as he made up the pre-mortal existence. I highly doubt they were speaking Latin before it was a thing. Same with the Anglicized Divine Name.

I nerded out and have some friends that are scholars and find myself in Jewish spaces. Elohim is a type, not a Personal Name.

Did you know Isaiah 14 isn't referring to Satan? It's a judgment against the King of Babylon.

Isaiah 14:12 is about the King of Babylon. The chapter explicitly says it's a taunt against the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4), and the "morning star" (translated as "Lucifer" in the KJV) is poetic imagery describing the rise and fall of an arrogant human ruler.

This is from the ESV Global study Bible:

"Using rich poetic imagery, the king of Babylon is addressed with sarcastic irony."

(Packer, J. I., Wayne Grudem, and Ajith Fernando, eds. 2012. ESV Global Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.)

This is from the NET Bible study note on Isaiah 14:12:

"What is the background for the imagery in vv. 12-15? This whole section (vv. 4b-21) is directed to the king of Babylon, who is clearly depicted as a human ruler. Other kings of the earth address him in vv. 9ff., he is called “the man” in v. 16, and, according to vv. 19-20, he possesses a physical body. Nevertheless the language of vv. 12-15 has led some to see a dual referent in the taunt song. These verses, which appear to be spoken by other pagan kings to a pagan king (cf. vv. 9-11), contain several titles and motifs that resemble those of Canaanite mythology, including references to Helel son of Shachar, the stars of El, the mountain of assembly, the recesses of Zaphon, and the divine title Most High. Apparently these verses allude to a mythological story about a minor god (Helel son of Shachar) who tried to take over Zaphon, the mountain of the gods. His attempted coup failed, and he was hurled down to the underworld. The king of Babylon is taunted for having similar unrealized delusions of grandeur. Some Christians have seen an allusion to the fall of Satan here, but this seems contextually unwarranted (see J. Martin, “Isaiah,” BKCOT, 1061)."

I was Mormon at one point. Now I'm an ExMormon. They shoved the term 'Lucifer' into their pre-mortal backstory and all that. They say Lucifer became Satan.

But did you know Isaiah 14 isn't referring to Satan? It's a judgment against the King of Babylon.

Isaiah 14:12 is about the King of Babylon. The chapter explicitly says it's a taunt against the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4), and the "morning star" (translated as "Lucifer" in the KJV) is poetic imagery describing the rise and fall of an arrogant human ruler.

This is from the ESV Global study Bible:

"Using rich poetic imagery, the king of Babylon is addressed with sarcastic irony."

(Packer, J. I., Wayne Grudem, and Ajith Fernando, eds. 2012. ESV Global Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.)

This is from the NET Bible study note on Isaiah 14:12:

"What is the background for the imagery in vv. 12-15? This whole section (vv. 4b-21) is directed to the king of Babylon, who is clearly depicted as a human ruler. Other kings of the earth address him in vv. 9ff., he is called “the man” in v. 16, and, according to vv. 19-20, he possesses a physical body. Nevertheless the language of vv. 12-15 has led some to see a dual referent in the taunt song. These verses, which appear to be spoken by other pagan kings to a pagan king (cf. vv. 9-11), contain several titles and motifs that resemble those of Canaanite mythology, including references to Helel son of Shachar, the stars of El, the mountain of assembly, the recesses of Zaphon, and the divine title Most High. Apparently these verses allude to a mythological story about a minor god (Helel son of Shachar) who tried to take over Zaphon, the mountain of the gods. His attempted coup failed, and he was hurled down to the underworld. The king of Babylon is taunted for having similar unrealized delusions of grandeur. Some Christians have seen an allusion to the fall of Satan here, but this seems contextually unwarranted (see J. Martin, “Isaiah,” BKCOT, 1061)."

I snagged this from a group I'm in on Facebook. This was hilarious.

Enjoy!

"This is the BEST BOM review I've ever read...From Amazon... :)

Book of Mormon Review

Description: 3.0 out of 5 stars

Things I learned from The Book of Mormon, April 13, 2004

By A Customer

The Book of Mormon has many great lessons. Here are some of the important lessons found in this book:

If you own brass plates, don't show them off. Keep it low key, especially around the local prophet guy. If the local prophet guy asks you about your brass plates, lie for your own protection. Say, "Brass Plates? What brass plates? I don't own brass plates."

If someone orders you to hand over your brass plates, especially the sons of the local prophet guy, and you don't want to give them to them, just say no. You own them. If they insist you give them your brass plates, call the cops.

If after calling the cops, the perpetrators get away, hire bodyguards to watch over you and your plates. Don't get drunk until they are captured.

If you are responsible for guarding your boss's brass plates, and someone shows up claiming to be your boss and asks you to give him the brass plates, check his ID first.

If you are responsible for guarding your boss's brass plates, and someone shows up covered in blood, wearing your boss's clothes, claiming to be your boss, but he doesn't look anything like your boss, and he asks you to hand over the brass plates you should say, "Sure boss, I'll be right back." Then pretend to go into the back room to get the plates, but instead call the cops.

If you are investigating the murder/robbery of a guy who was killed for his brass plates, the first suspects you should interview should be the sons of the local prophet guy who were last seen ordering the dead guy to give them his brass plates.

If you are investigating the murder/robbery of a guy who was killed for his brass plates, and the prime suspects are the sons of the local prophet guy, don't waste time looking for them in town. Most likely they packed up everything and headed for the sea. Check the nearby beaches.

If you are writing on gold plates, keep in mind it is really hard and Gold plates are rare. Therefore, to get the most bang for the buck from the limited gold plates you should use a secret language called `Reformed Egyptian' which is more compact than regular Egyptian, and avoid repetitive phrases like `And it came to pass' unless those phrases are absolutely necessary to get the point across.

If you wake up one morning and realize someone turned you into an Indian, it just means you are one of the bad guys. Don't get upset, it doesn't necessarily mean you are a bad person, just that you happen to be part of the bad `nation'.

If you want to fix the problem of looking like an Indian, find someone who didn't get turned into an Indian, who is still white and start going to church with him. Meet with the missionaries of his church, take the discussions, and get baptized. If you follow the teachings of the white guy's church, you will turn white again.

If you are an atheist who asks the local prophet guy for a sign, and the prophet curses you, and you are deaf and dumb, going from door to door begging for food, and you see a group of people marching down the street, do not walk out into the middle of them, unless you want to get trampled to death.

If Jesus comes to visit you, keep in mind that one of the things you can wish for is immortality. So don't waste your wish on anything less than immortality. You might be able to wish for more wishes, but I wouldn't test Jesus' patience. Stick with the immortality wish. We know that one works.

If someone is lying unconscious for 2 days and 2 nights and you aren't sure if he is dead or not, try smelling him. If he doesn't stink, he might still be alive.

One way to impress a guy is to cut off the arms of his enemies and bring him the severed arms.

If you need to escape from a town because everyone's language got mixed up, the best way to escape is by the sea, with a barge.

If you need to build a barge to travel across the sea after escaping from a town where the languages got mixed up, the best way to build it is to put a hole on the top and a hole on the bottom. That way you can get air by opening the top hole and if it tips over, you can still get air by opening the bottom hole which is now on top. If you accidentally open the wrong hole and notice water rushing in, just stop up the hole real quick and open the other hole.

If you are building a barge to travel across the sea do not put windows in your barge. It is unrealistic to expect the windows to survive the crashing waves of the sea. If you want light, use glowing rocks instead.

If you are building a barge to travel across the ocean, be sure to bring lots and lots of food and fresh water because the trip will take 344 days. If you need to go to the bathroom, do it over the side of the barge because the holding tank can only hold a few days worth of human waste.

If you find yourself on the battlefield fighting your arch nemesis, and you chop off his head and he falls to the ground, do not be alarmed when he lifts himself up and gasps for air. This is a common reaction to getting your head chopped off.

If you find yourself on the battlefield fighting your arch nemesis and he chops your head off, don't waste your time and energy lifting yourself up and gasping for air. Give it up. You're dead. There is no medical procedure to reattach a head."

I was taught in church that Laban "stole" the brass plates. But rereading 1 Nephi 3 through 4, that is not what the text says. They are Laban's property. There's no implication they were stolen. Lehi claimed he had a vision that his descendants needed them. Lehi then sent his sons back to Jerusalem to get them. The text frames this as somehow justified by a so-called divine command (1 Nephi 4:10 through 13). But the moral tension is right there on the page: God commands Nephi to kill a man and take his property. That is a much harder pill to swallow than "Laban was a thief who got what he deserved."

If anything, there was coveting was on Lehi's side. He wanted what Laban had.