Saguaro

You don't have to go to a meeting house to see the broadcast, it also will be live streamed on lds.org, the Mormon Channel app, and on Mormon Radio. The details are in the document linked by MOE.

Some of you need to do a little more research on the topic of plural marriage. RipplecutBuddha said “Yes Joseph practiced polygamy, but it wasn't in secret at all. Most, if not all, of the saints then knew about it. Also important to remember is that Joseph was told to practice it for more than ten years before he began to.” Not true, very few people, mostly church leaders, practiced and knew about polygamy in its early days, Joseph actually preached against it publicly while practicing it in private. Regarding the time line, read the introduction to D&C 132, it states that the principles therein were known to the prophet as early as 1831, yet conserative estimates put his relationship with Fannie Alger at 1836, that's only five years (others claim his relationship with Fannie started as early as 1832). Traveler said “There are claims that Joseph married various numbers of individuals but there is a lack of evidence.” Lack of evidence? Many well documented books have been written on the subject, the latest is 3 volumes long and was written by a faithful member of the church. Amazon.com: Joseph Smith's Polygamy, Volume 1 History (9781589581890): Brian C. Hales, Don Bradley: Books

For years my employer has penalized smokers by making them pay significanly higher health insurance premiums, so the concept of what CVS is doing is nothing new. With the constantly increasing costs of health care you can't blame companies for trying to make their employees take more responsibility for their health and in turn reduce the costs for both empoloyees and employers.

As a bishop's counselor I understand there are certain meetings we have every week that I am to participate in, and I don't have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is how ineffective and time wasting those meetings are. Between Bishopric, PEC, and Ward Council it seems we we talk about the same things, and the same people, every week, and nothing ever changes. We spend an hour and a half doing what should ony take 15 minutes. Part of the problem is that the Bishop does not "lead" the meeting, he barely follows the agenda and lets everyone go off on tangents that can lead to discussions about things that are not important or relevant. Sometimes I want to pull my hair out. Our sunday school president never comes to ward council because it drives him bonkers to sit there and watch his time be wasted while nothing gets accomplished. Regarding the first post and the comment being out 3 nights a week and seeing your family in the millennium, I would have raised my hand and called him on it. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard and contrary to anything I've ever heard in leadership meetings.

The personal information that is made available in LDS Tools and on LDS.org is no different than information that has always been available, just in paper form. I remember growing up in the 70s and 80s our stake produced a directory in book form every couple of years and distributed it to every members house. Today, the data you can see when you log in to LDS Tools or LDS.org is only for your ward and stake, and the stake information doesn't include children, only adults. The type of data you have access to depends on your calling. For example, I am a counselor in the bishopric, on my LDS Tools app I can see things that the average ward member cannot, such as people's full birthdays, membershiop record number, temple recommend status, etc. This information is very helpful at times when fulfilling my calling, but the average member has no need for it. The same information is available to me on the computer in the clerk's office, but it's a huge convenience to be able to have it on my phone. My Bishop carries nothing on Sunday but his iPad, anything he needs to do or any information he needs is at his fingertips.

Don't know about that, I didn't have any notes in my Gospel Library scriptures.

I removed all the scriptures then downloaded them again and then I had the updated versions. There is no update function in Gospel Library that I know of.

I think it's great the church produced this side by side comparison. When I first heard about the new scriptures this morning the first thing I thought of was all the bloggers, church critics, etc. who would be making their own comparisons of previous to new, but the fact that the church produced it on their own shows that they don't have anything to hide and want to be 100% transparent about the changes. I particularly like the added introductions to the official declarations.

My daughter recently asked to have a single blue streak in her hair. She has a friend who regularly colors her hair all kinds of colors and I'm sure she was an influence. But my daugher understands that we are rather conservative, given no boundaries she would probably color all her hair, but she just asked for one small streak on the inside on the side of her head so it wouldn't be as obvious, I think she referred to it as "peek-a-boo" streak. Though I had reservations I let her do it, her request seemed reasonable considering other more radical alternatives, I think it's good to give kids a little lattitude on things like this as it gives them a chance to be individuals but without going to the extreme. She was still worried what the other young women and YW leaders would say, none of the other girls in our ward have different colored hari, but nobody has said anything, but I'm sure they noticed.

From the handbook: Ties and white shirts are recommended because they add to the dignity of the ordinance. However, they should not be required as a mandatory prerequisite for a priesthood holder to participate. How do we reconcile these two statements? If priesthood holders are not asked to pass the sacrament just becuase they are not wearing white shirts, isn't that contrary to the handbook's instructions? By only asking those wearing white shirts, don't white shirts become a requirement?

Good point, and sometimes that's true, but the problem is that the "rules" aren't always clear and are often driven by the culture. For example, wearing white shirts to pass the sacrament. When did this become the norm? Is it a rule that a young man must wear a white shirt to pass the sacrament no matter where in world he is? No. The church handbook recommends that white shirts be worn but they are not required and that a priesthood holder should not be denied the opportunity to pass the sacrament just because he is not wearing a white shirt.

Perhaps the lack of any authoratative statement from church leaders on what is acceptable or not within the confines of marriage speaks volumes itself. I don't think the church wants to dictate to consenting adults what they should or should not do. What do we want, a list? I think a couple should talk things out and determine what they are or are not comfortable with, pray about it if needed, and decide where to draw the line. If a couple were to go to their bishop and ask, "Is it OK if we do this or that?" the bishop would probably plug his hears and say he doesn't want to hear any details and doesn't want to get involved in their sex life.

I understand that most people in the church feel the same way you do. However, I would like to see a statement from the Church that specifically prohibits masturbation between married couples.

I once heard of a couple that has Skype sex when they are apart. Exactly what you do or how far you go while video chatting with each other is up to you and what you are both comfortable with. The church has made no statement about what is appropriate or not appropriate between married couples, that is between you and God.

There's no new rule that I know of, in fact Handbook 2 allows it and even refers to the hymn book. "As appropriate, a priesthood leader may ask a congregation to stand for an intermediate hymn or a national anthem (see “Hymns for Congregations,” Hymns, 380–81)." Music