Revan

Just wondering if anyone has experience with software or a website that improves the usability of Familysearch. I want to do more family history work, but I'm always put off by the fact that each generation of my family tree takes forever to load. Anyone know of a better/faster way to to use the information in Familysearch Family Tree?

Thank you all for your kind and inspiring words, it has been a lot of help.

Thank you. I'm certainly not saying that I'm frustrated and so I'm thinking of going back to my old ways.....my recovery is actually going very well. I finally feel like I'm on a path to freedom, which is something I haven't felt in a long time. My main concern was rather that I feel as though I'm having a crisis of faith...the feeling of, if God is really there, why isn't he with me now when I need him most? Although I suppose even the Savior felt alone in his time of greatest need. I guess I just think I should feel something if He's really there. Well, I feel I would probably recognize it if I felt it. However, I admit that it's entirely possible that I might not.

I am an active LDS member. About a month ago, I revealed to my wife that I was struggling with an addiction and needed help. She was very supportive and has been working through it with me. I am meeting with my bishop, have starting seeing a counselor, and am attending the 12-step addiction recovery program. I have been clean/sober for about a month now (ever since I revealed it to my wife). While I was addicted I had trouble feeling the Spirit (for obvious reasons). In fact, I really never felt the Spirit at all. I expected that by now (a month of being clean, taking the right steps to get this out of my life forever) I would feel some sort of change. I understand that since I probably haven't fully repented, I am likely not entitled to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I just expected to feel the Spirit in some capacity, even if it was just occasional encouragement or even simply a confirmation that the steps I'm taking are correct and good. However, I feel nothing. Absolutely nothing. I can't remember the last time I felt the Spirit. To be honest, it's kind of hurting my testimony. I have trouble feeling like God is there when I can't feel him at all. I feel like the Church has been the least helpful part of my recovery so far, and that I can't even honestly say that I feel like I've been receiving Heavenly Father's help. What is wrong with me? Why do I feel nothing? Has anyone else ever experienced this before? Thank you for your help.

Thanks for all the responses - I learned a lot!

If I were not LDS I would almost certainly be atheist, or possibly agnostic. The LDS church is what has helped me find faith in God in the first place.

So I looked through all the WoW links in this forum, and didn't find the answer to this question. However, it is of course possible I missed something, so if this is a repeat I apologize. I've often heard that herbal tea is okay under the word of wisdom. However, I've never been able to actually find an official source saying that - on lds.org and in every talk I've ever heard, it just simply says "tea", which to me suggests any and all tea is against the word of wisdom. Anyway, just wondering if anyone had a source for why it is that herbal tea is considered okay - was it mentioned in a conference talk or something?

I feel like this concept is degrading to both men and women. Its degrading to women because its like saying that a victim of rape is at fault for the rape because she dressed provocatively. Sure, it probably didn't help things, and it may have made her a target, but she certainly isn't at fault. Likewise, women who don't dress modestly may make themselves the target for inappropriate thoughts, but it certainly doesn't automatically make them responsible or at fault for those thoughts. Its degrading to men because it teaches them that they have no control over or responsibility for their own thoughts. That is as laughable as it is false. The only one who can control your thoughts is you, meaning that the only one responsible for the things you think is you.

Agreed. I remember that when I was a missionary, I had the idea in my head that my the choices my investigators made somehow reflected how well I was doing as a missionary. If I was doing my best and being as obedient as I could to mission rules, then of course people were making the right choices. When people didn't make the right choices, this lead to me searching for what I was doing wrong. The reality is that people have agency. Obviously Heavenly Father is doing a good job, but look how many of his children choose to do wrong. I firmly believe that we will never really know the impact of our missions in this lifetime. All of my converts are now either less active or have left the church, and it's only been 4 and a half years. Its discouraging at times. But the truth is, I have no idea when those people might come back. Maybe they'll eventually be strong members. Maybe their unbaptized children will grow up, have families, and remember the missionaries that used to come over when they were kids. Maybe that will lead them to let the missionaries into their own homes. We just never know what impact we might have had. I would say that no well-served mission can be considered a waste.

This should be good :) How?

The Lego Movie. Everything is awesome!

Hello everyone! I just joined mostly to find a community of like minded people to discuss life, the universe, and everything with. I'm from Utah, but sometimes even in the midst of many LDS people, it is hard to find people to have a decent gospel/church related discussion with. I'm excited to participate in the LDS.net community. See you around!