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This was my friend asking a member of the 70 a couple questions after he and his brother had a conversation. I’ve taken out where my friend works and the name of the 70 to keep this confidential.

Basically the question is how come there are questions in the temple interview that are not required for salvation and yet if you answer contrary, to how they are intended to be answered, you are deemed unworthy.

Enjoy and please let me know your answer to the questions as well.

“Elder ……, I was extremely touched by our conversation at ……. last month. It resonated with me in a big way and I have dove deep into to several points and thoughts.

I had an amazing talk with my brother as well about faith and the commandments. He brought up two great points that I wanted to gain further insight into.

The first is the Word of Wisdom. My brothers main point was why is certain parts of the Word of Wisdom taught by commandment and not wisdom? His thought was for a baptized member; is perfect obedience to not ever having a glass of wine after your endowed, really an absolute worthiness issue for exaltation?

Our early prophets like Brigham Young, Joseph Smith drank and of course the argument about Jesus making and partaking of wine. They are exalted so how can it be a worthiness issue if it didn’t stop all the exalted beings that have gone before us.

His main point is…why is a law that is not directly tied with exaltation included in the Temple Interview questions and thereby…tied with exaltation and celestial worthiness? It appears like we are using temple worthiness to incentivize members to follow only a few parts of the WofW, when it’s not even required for exaltation and was revealed to Joseph Smith for wisdom not by way of commandment? My brother is really wanting the church to grow and feels this is a big deal how we incentivize temple worthiness. He totally agrees with the teachings of the Word of Wisdom BTW just is interested in how it’s being taught.

The ultimate thought is that there are so many incredible Christians and believers out there that will occasionally drink wine or coffee but still live in an exalted way. Are they not worthy of our beliefs and to join the Lords work in the temples because they drink wine?

We see so many unhealthy members that feel they are well if they can just check off strict obedience to the 5 main things of the Word of Wisdom. The five things you can’t do or your not worthy of a temple recommend. All things equal who’s more worthy to do the work in temple a healthy brother or sister that has an occasional glass of wine or unhealthy obese brother or sister who doesn’t drink wine or coffee? Have we missed the mark in the Word of Wisdom as a whole because of the way we use the temple to incentivize only a few parts to be followed with absoluteness?

Would we not be a more healthy and influential people if we taught the word of wisdom completely through wisdom and moderation like it was originally taught for so many years? How can we elevate the conversation and incentivize temple worthiness more effectively to accomplish the Lords work and incentivize exaltation.

I know the conversation has to be elevated beyond just the 5 key things but I am just curious on your thoughts behind the commandment and reason for it being in the temple questions even though the Temple itself has no teaching tied in with it.

Second question is around garments and really a simple one: In the temple we are taught to wear garments through out our lives but in the recommend it ask us if we wear them day and night. So when you receive the garments inside the temple it’s one way then when you are instructed outside of the temple it’s another way.

His main point is why are we more strict in our interview questions as oppose to the actual ordinance in the temple. Some additional questions he ponders are: Can this really not be left to the endowed member to wear throughout their lives? Are we not creating a false sense of fear and guilt by having members feel disobedient and in danger for not having them on during yard work or other activities they honestly feel inappropriate wearing the garments in? Do we really have to be told exactly what to do in this area?

I am sorry this is long but these are two issues I hear a lot in the church and would love further insight. Thank you so much for your time Elder ……..!”

Personally I like keeping the conversation and history alive about garments. The question is how can we perverse and elevate their sacredness?

I love the Gospel how I love it. You love the Gospel how you love it. I might not love the Gospel how you love it. I can love the Gospel how I want to love it and you can do the same. Matter fact I hope you do just that. You’ll know you got something to love when it has all your heart, might, mind and strength; then you’ve got something to enjoy. How you continue to love and grow with it is extremely personal and so it must be for it to sustain

This will change how you have true success. It’s a must listen

My friend posted something on Facebook with missionaries getting bible bashed then said he was tired of people being fooled by these side religions thinking they are worshipping the same God of true Christians. This was a good friend from high school so this is how I approached him below. Listen to how much progress was made between his first response to me and his second just by understanding what he was asking and being real with him. He has integrity and sincerity no doubt but check out how I kept it relatable and see if it helps you explain “why the Book of Mormon” to yourself or somebody else. ME: “I saw that video you posted of those missionaries and what you said about those side religions… here’s two links to what they truly teach as missionaries instead of some edited video. http://jesuschrist. lds. org/SonOfGod?lang=eng

Here’s it written on one piece of paper that anybody can read. https://www. lds. org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/34591/34591_000_APP_04-livingChrist. pdf

Love you dude”

FRIEND: “You know you a brother of mine for life , and for offending you with what I said in my post i do apologize. I did not agree with the way the conversation was handled. But this is a question that so many asks when You see these missionaries on the street. Pflicht bie v vorlesung betriebswirtschaftslehre mittelstandsmanagement Ich fand es gut 1? Why the Book of Mormon and not just the bible. I looked at the links you sent ,it’s scriptures from the bible so why not just read it? I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ needs to be delivered to all the world ,and I can say it is these missionaries that travel door to door city to city making people think about Christ that probably never would have give God a thought. The only part for me as a believer of the gospel that makes this method confusing, why bring up mr smith? Why “Book of Mormon” ? I believe in God the father son and the Holy Spirit. It’s not just Mormon doing this , why are there so many different teachings that all claim to be representing the Same God. If this is true then the Bible is the only book you need. yes there are amplified bibles out there that take you further in depth but even they are still the Holy Bible with someone’s commentary. I hope as my friend you understand I mean no harm in my words , I’m simply saying explain to me what it is that makes this better then just reading the Holy Bible. And if it’s a case of this being an amplified of the holy bible , then that’s my mistake, I’ve never read the Book of Mormon due to the fact they have always lost me at Joseph smith instead of telling more then I know about Jesus Christ. Please help me understand the truth of it. ”

ME: “Love you dude I totally get it and I’ve felt the same way before. For me it’s like I barely have time to read Matthew Mark Luke John let alone the rest of the Bible and then now your adding the Book of Mormon. What’s the point? Trust me I get it. The way I came to the conclusion is if it’s available then it’s available and that’s cool. I’m going to let the scriptures speak to me when I read them no matter what. See the reason I read the Book of Mormon sometimes is because it’s cool and validates a lot of history and doctrines that I could easily spin or misinterpret in the Bible. The Book of Mormon is not trying to be the Bible it’s an incredible family story that a guy named Mormon discovered and compiled together. The story started about 600 years before Christ came during the time where Jerusalem was being destroyed. This guy named Lehi and his family started the record because he was teaching the people in Jerusalem that they were about to be destroyed. He tells this story about how they were called out of Jerusalem and lead to a different part of the world. Once they got there their family split up and basically tried to kill each other. It was basically believers vs non believers at first and then everyone pretty much fell away but a few key players; Mormon and his son Moroni being the last ones to survive. Pretty cool story. The entire book though is about these peoples spiritual lives and their spiritual lives where all centered around Christ. It’s really cool, they preach of Christ they prophesy of Christ they worship Christ and eventually are destroyed because of their belief in Christ. The only reason Joseph Smith even has a name today is because he was like King James. He was the one who discovered it and translated it to English. He was more than a King James though he was like a prophet comparable to Martin Luther King Jr. or Gandhi or Buddha. I believe all prophets have a special calling weather your Moses or weather you are MLK. Joseph calling was to simplify the Gospel that at that time was being taught in so many different ways that it was impossible for anybody to understand who was right or who was wrong. He did what he was called to do and was killed for it just like MLK was. At the end of the day Joseph Smith has helped me with a couple key questions that I couldn’t understand from just reading the Bible. The hard part is that Christ is coming back and we spend so much time trying to get people to join our church that we forget to unite believers that go to different churches. Joseph Smith died along time ago and a lot has come from him but a lot is different now. My thing is how can we simplify the gospel so that it actually gets into our souls and into our lives. I don’t want to be one of the ten virgins that has no oil in their lamp. The Bible is enough and it’s incredible the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and it’s all good as long as we don’t put to much stock in things that can’t save us. The only thing that can save us is Jesus. No book or preacher can save us. Love you dude lets worship together and get ready for the return. ”

FRIEND: “Amen,love you to bro. Thank you for taking the time to give me this information, sounds interesting now. I’ll definitely give it a read or 2.