What is anti-Mormon?

Recently on topix this question was posed by an ex-mormon. You will find that the definition of this term changes according to whom you are talking to.
When I think of the term Anti I usually think of the word hate. I think maybe that is to strong of a word. Many people assume Anti to be hate. It can also mean not in agreement with. So at what point does it cross the line from disagreement to hate?
I think that line has been crossed when you begin stating false information as absolute truth,knowingly. You have some, such as Keith Walker, who I believe truly think they are doing the work of the Lord when they try to lead people away from mormonism. I can understand that type of person. They are acting out of what they believe to be love.Then you have those who knowingly take qoutes out of context, or take their information from very unreliable sources and publish this as truth.
So what is your opinion?

Are you ignorant or just plain mean?

Okay I confess. Here goes...........

I am a topix junkie!!
I have been spending time on the topix forum lately and have spent quite some time on the post about the FLDS polygamist group in texas.
I have made other LDS friends there who like me are trying to educate people about our faith. Okay I say educate but its probably more like defending.
When someone is ignorant about something thats okay. Aren't we all ignorant about something? I'll be the first to say yes I am.
However some of these people are just plain MEAN. Like this one chick who repeatedly compares Warren Jeffs to Joseph Smith. It seems as though she is doing it on purpose.
okay well like the first three times I gave her the benefit of doubt but after that it was apparent that she is not there to learn but only to bash or misinform others.
The sad part is I feel kinda bad for her. Why is she so mean?
She isn't the only one either.
Some though are apparently trying to learn more and are happy to admit that they are ignorant about the faith.
Its nothing to be ashamed of.
By the way my name on topix is not ashamed. Get it?
There are many anti-mormons on that site who really believe they are trying to save our souls.Thats why I try my very best to respond to them with love. But I think it really irritates them because it makes it harder for them to be mean to me.
Its all gravy though they think they are witnessing to me but I know the truth.

What does it mean to be forgiven?

This BLog is for my new friend Keith. Now Keith and I have very differing views on things but, I think we are both trying to see where the other is coming from. So at his suggestion, this blog has been created to let others know what I believe it means to be forgiven.

We can look at forgivness from many angles. One would be from a biblical stand point.
In the bible we are told to forgive others their trespassess as the Lord has forgiven ours.
You have to look at the sacrifices made by our savior to atone for our sins. Not just at his crucifiction but also at his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In the book of Mathew 26:36-39

Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples sit ye here while I go and pray yonder.
And he took with him peter and the two sons of zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceddingly sorrowful, even unto death tarry ye here and watch with me.
and he went a little further, and fell on his face ,and prayed saying, O my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou Wilt.

We also know that as the Lord prayed and took upon the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane that he bled from every pore in his body. He felt every pain that we would ever experience both physically and emotionally.What a great sacrifice to make.

Now back to the subject of forgiveness. The savior took upon himself the sins of all mankind. Not just the rich or poor, The old or young nor did he discriminate in any other way.
So if Jesus Christ gives forgiveness to all who ask it of him who am I to deny forgiveness to anyone? By denying forgiveness to someone that is placing yourself above Jesus.

Is it okay to say I forgive you but i'll never forget what you've done?
As far as I am concerned absolutly not!
Our heavenly Father has promised us that as we seek repentance for our sins they will be blotted out in heaven. To me that means they will no longer be remembered by our heavenly father.So we too must give forgiveness in the same manner.

While talking about the repentance process I would also like to reference scripture from the Book Of Mormon.
3 nephi 30:2

Turn all ye gentiles from your wicked ways and repent of your evil doings of your lying and decievings and of your whoredoms and of your secret abominations and your idoltries and of your murders and your priestcrafts and your envings and your strifes and from all your wickedness and abomonations and come unto me and be baptized in my name that ye may recieve a remission of your sins and be filled with the holy ghost. that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of isreal,

With all this said you may be asking yourself , what does it mean to ask for and receive forgiveness from our heavenly father.

To me it means that as I sin (because all of us do) We go to our heavenly father and with a sincere heart and with true sorrow for the sin we have commited we ask for forgiveness. Then we try as hard as we can not to commit that sin again. Does that mean we never will? unfortunatly no not neccessarily however, we can go back and again ask for forgiveness. What I mean by that is Heavenly father and only heavenly father knows the true intent of our heart. He knows if we feel real sorrow for what we have done. Real sorrow is true repentance. Then each week we are lucky enough to partake of the sacrament. This is when we drink of the water and eat the bread that represents the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ.
When you partake of the sacrament the only thing that you should be thinking about is the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us. And his love for us and your love for him. Partaking of the sacrament also gives us the opportunity to renew the baptismal covenents we have made.


So let me end this by saying that we all must ask forgiveness but salvation is a gift that is offered to ALL. Only we can control our relationship with our Heavenly Father but please know that as we show true repentance for our sins, ask forgiveness and forsake our sins we are forgiven.Then it is up to us to keep our hearts close to God and to do all we can to follow the commandments and make ourselves better people each day.

chocolate should be illigal

With all the hype over what should and should not be illegal, lets take a long hard look at chocolate. Man i'll tell you it's some good stuff. When your heart is broken, when you feel good, when you feel bad, mad,sad,happy it's always good.

You can eat it with anything too. You can eat it on oatmeal, bananas, apples, oranges. Or you can be really bad and eat it on ice cream, candy, or even more chocolate.

I think i'll start my own experiment. To see how much chocolate it would take to make you pass out. It could happen you know. Chocolate is intoxicating.

So the next time congress starts passing new laws, maybe some of us should start lobbying for some laws on chocolate.

what does my heavenly father expect from me

What do I believe my heavenly father expects from me?

I believe that he expects me to love my neighbor as myself. Now you can interperet this in many different ways. I interperet it exactly as it is written.

He expects me to be honest in all I do. That includes not lying by ommision.

He expects me to raise my children in the gospel. To learn of him. And to give my children an example to live by.

He expects me to pray daily. To seek his guidance in all I do. To thank him for my many blessing that come only through him.

To forgive others tresspasses as he has forgiven mine. Now please do not take this to mean I will forgive but not forget. True forgiveness comes with forgeting the tresspasses against you also.

There are many other things the lord expects from me. These however are some of the ones I feel most strongly about.

What is happening in public schools?

When I was in school we knew very little about our teachers private lives. In fact it was almost as if the only life they had was at school. Now in some ways that may have been a bad thing. you can certainly relate more and learn more from a person who seems real however some of the teachers now a days are going way to far. Last year when my oldest daughter was in fourth grade she came home telling me about her teachers divorce. excuse me? This is adult conversation under the best of terms. Unless you are the child of the person who is divorcing. Now get this ,her gym teacher also thought it was appropriote to tell the girls about how she likes to go clubbing and "break it down". Okay, so chances are girls will look up to you as a teacher, some would say even as a role model. How about we just allow a local prostitute to be their mentor, I am beggining to think it would not be much worse.Now please don't get me wrong there are plenty of awesome teachers out there who are wonderful examples to our children. It's just to bad theres a few bad apples are making them all pay.

Yes I am mormon

Okay so I 've recently told my husband and children that I would stop letting other people annoy me by trying to tell me what my beliefs are. According to other people, I dont believe in Jesus Christ, my husband has way more wives than me, I am affiliated with a cult and last but certainly not least I need you or someone like you to talk me out of my crazy ways and save my soul. I would like to assure you that none of this is true .However it won't do much good considering you already know everything there is to know about me. Even though I know people by name they only seem to know me by my faith. That I don't mind except that the only thing you know are what you have been told by others, read in the paper, heard on the television or learned from some other unreliable source. I make it a point to not critisize other religions. Why? Because I do not practice them. Nor do I study them. It is impossible to truly know everything about any religion that you are not a part of. Believe it or not you really don't know everything about a religion you practice. It is a learning process. So please all you people out there don't make me have to daily defend my beliefs , or hear another ignorant comment about what you think you know. I promise to allow you to believe in what you want. Please grant me that same respect.