I learned in church today

[The_Tick]

We had the FOS push again this week.

Mutual this Wednesday starts at 5 PM with the Bishopric cold calling the entire ward to get donation commitments.

Us young men leaders will be driving YM around between 7:00 and 8:30 PM to pick up said donations.

Full Court Press

[smokymountainrain]

I haven't heard even a peep about FOS. Perhaps another of the many perks of serving the Primary?

[pellegrino]

Sounds like FOS is really FOS.

[jay santos]

I haven't heard even a peep about FOS. Perhaps another of the many perks of serving the Primary?

Same. My primary calling saves me from a lot of crap.

[Pheidippides]

I haven't heard even a peep about FOS. Perhaps another of the many perks of serving the Primary?

Me either. Never knew FOS existed outside of this board.

[Sullyute]

I learned that god killed off 70, 000 plus people in the tampora volcano eruption so that the smith's crops would fail and they would have to move to palmyra

Today is the 200th anniversary of the eruption of Tampora. Here is a good article on it.

It is time to recognize Tambora as the Napoleon of eruptions. The implications—for historians—of a revised, volcanic 19th century are immense. As with the global cholera epidemic, and the growth of a Chinese opium empire, Victorian-era polar exploration might not have happened at all, or would have evolved in an entirely different direction, had it not been for Tambora’s climate-wrecking detonation in 1815

So the eruption also led to a global cholera epidemic that killed millions, and help start the opium trade. I guess when it came to getting Joseph to Palmyra, God was definitely into the "go big or go home" theology.

[Uncle Ted]

Today is the 200th anniversary of the eruption of Tampora. Here is a good article on it.



So the eruption also led to a global cholera epidemic that killed millions, and help start the opium trade. I guess when it came to getting Joseph to Palmyra, God was definitely into the "go big or go home" theology.

Interesting stuff...

The eruption caused global climate anomalies that included the phenomenon known as "volcanic winter": 1816 became known as the "Year Without a Summer" because of the effect on North American and European weather. Crops failed and livestock died in much of the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in the worst famine of the 19th century.
[…]
The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora was one of the most powerful in recorded history and classified as a VEI-7 event. Mount Tambora is on the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia. The eruption that began on 10 April 1815[21] was preceded by between six months and three years of increased steaming and small phreatic eruptions. The eruption column lowered global temperatures, and some experts believe this led to global cooling and worldwide harvest failures, sometimes known as the Year Without a Summer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora

In 1814 the Smiths moved back across the Connecticut River to Norwich, Vermont, where they suffered three seasons of crop failures, the last the result of the Year Without a Summer.[4] The extended Smith clan had already moved west to New York, and in 1817, Joseph Smith, Sr. traveled alone to Palmyra, New York, followed shortly by the rest of his family—although not before Lucy Smith was forced to settle with some last-minute creditors.[5] In Palmyra village, Smith, Sr. and his oldest sons hired themselves out as common laborers, ran a "cake and beer shop," and peddled refreshments from a cart; Lucy painted cloth coverings for tables and stands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_life_of_Joseph_Smith

I wonder what a year without a summer would be like in Texas.

[Omaha 680]

I learned the streaming addresses for the stake conference feeds being broadcast from the Lincoln Center building. Unfortunately, my calling requires me to be at my building to set up the equipment and monitor the feeds, so I cant take advantage and watch from home.

[SandYFan]

My ward does a meet and mingle thing for Mother's Day every year. Setup the cultural hall with fruit, crackers, cheese, etc. and cover the Primary/Sunday School/Nursery classes, let the women chat and have fun for the last hour of the block.

Today I learned that certain women have complained about non-mother women being included in this in the past.

:surprise:

There was some discussion about including Laurels in this year's version, but once these complaints were mentioned, that got squashed.

Some people...

[FMCoug]

My ward does a meet and mingle thing for Mother's Day every year. Setup the cultural hall with fruit, crackers, cheese, etc. and cover the Primary/Sunday School/Nursery classes, let the women chat and have fun for the last hour of the block.

Today I learned that certain women have complained about non-mother women being included in this in the past.

:surprise:

There was some discussion about including Laurels in this year's version, but once these complaints were mentioned, that got squashed.

Some people...

How very Christian of them. I'm sure the childless women with fertility issues aren't affected by that at all.

[Jacob]

I had a difficult time sitting through the Sunday School lesson a week or so ago. The topic was the Exodus, and the instructor couldn't help himself from taking the most literal interpretation possible, mixed in with some wild speculation. The major problems I had with the instruction were as follows:

Speculation:
Israel could not grow to the size it needed due to too many warring factions in Canaan. Therefore, to fulfill his promise to Abraham, God sent a famine to drive his people to Egypt. (He very thoughtfully had Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery as a preparatory step.)
Once in Egypt, Israel became much too comfortable and didn't want to leave. But, again, to fulfill his promise to Abraham (inherit Canaan), God needed to make them just uncomfortable enough to want to leave Egypt. To accomplish this, he had them enslaved. (But wait, while enslavement will doubtless lead to Isreal's desire to leave Egypt, won't it also make it impossible for them to leave?)

My only comment during this portion of the lesson: "If God's purpose was for them to desire to leave Egypt, generations of enslavement sure is a nasty way of going about it." Response from instructor: Well, we don't really know how long they were slaves. Maybe not generations.

Why would someone want to believe in such a God? The text certainly doesn't require the reader to believe that God forces his chosen people to relocate by enslaving them and killing many of them off with famines. Even for the most faithful, this seems like an absurd speculation.

Literal Interpretation:

The instructor and a few class-members concluded that there were more than 2 million Hebrews who left Egypt. I believe this view is actually supported by the text, but quite ridiculous when considering history and context. Also, that they had an army of 600,000 men. He then asked what could they do with an army of that size? My response: Well, they certainly wouldn't have had any trouble conquering any foe in Canaan, or the rest of the world, for that matter. (including Egypt)

[SoonerCoug]

I had a difficult time sitting through the Sunday School lesson a week or so ago. The topic was the Exodus, and the instructor couldn't help himself from taking the most literal interpretation possible, mixed in with some wild speculation.

You should have just said: There is no evidence whatsoever that Hebrews were in ancient Egypt, even with an extensive archaeological record. BOOM. Discussion over.

Then you should have said: Let's discuss the Book of Mormon instead, since it is the most true book in the history of the Universe. We all know that America was previously inhabitated by Jews. There is tons of evidence, like that big round rock out in front of the joseph smith building. Then you could talk about chiasmus and all kinds of other awesome evidence that the BOM is exactly what it claims to be.

StoneBall.jpg

[Moliere]

My ward does a meet and mingle thing for Mother's Day every year. Setup the cultural hall with fruit, crackers, cheese, etc. and cover the Primary/Sunday School/Nursery classes, let the women chat and have fun for the last hour of the block.

Today I learned that certain women have complained about non-mother women being included in this in the past.

:surprise:

There was some discussion about including Laurels in this year's version, but once these complaints were mentioned, that got squashed.

Some people...

Mother's day being on Sunday and church being on Sunday is a horrible, horrible curse. Church should just be cancelled and everyone would be better because of it.

[CardiacCoug]

I had a difficult time sitting through the Sunday School lesson a week or so ago. The topic was the Exodus, and the instructor couldn't help himself from taking the most literal interpretation possible, mixed in with some wild speculation. The major problems I had with the instruction were as follows:

Speculation:
Israel could not grow to the size it needed due to too many warring factions in Canaan. Therefore, to fulfill his promise to Abraham, God sent a famine to drive his people to Egypt. (He very thoughtfully had Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery as a preparatory step.)
Once in Egypt, Israel became much too comfortable and didn't want to leave. But, again, to fulfill his promise to Abraham (inherit Canaan), God needed to make them just uncomfortable enough to want to leave Egypt. To accomplish this, he had them enslaved. (But wait, while enslavement will doubtless lead to Isreal's desire to leave Egypt, won't it also make it impossible for them to leave?)

My only comment during this portion of the lesson: "If God's purpose was for them to desire to leave Egypt, generations of enslavement sure is a nasty way of going about it." Response from instructor: Well, we don't really know how long they were slaves. Maybe not generations.

Why would someone want to believe in such a God? The text certainly doesn't require the reader to believe that God forces his chosen people to relocate by enslaving them and killing many of them off with famines. Even for the most faithful, this seems like an absurd speculation.

Literal Interpretation:

The instructor and a few class-members concluded that there were more than 2 million Hebrews who left Egypt. I believe this view is actually supported by the text, but quite ridiculous when considering history and context. Also, that they had an army of 600,000 men. He then asked what could they do with an army of that size? My response: Well, they certainly wouldn't have had any trouble conquering any foe in Canaan, or the rest of the world, for that matter. (including Egypt)

Yeah somebody said today in our class that Moses was leading several million Hebrews around in the wilderness.

Not sure why God causing the enslavement of the Israelites would bother you more than fire raining down to kill murmuring Israelites, God afflicting Miriam with leprosy, killing Israelites with the snakes, etc.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

When they release the bishop, they don't release the executive secretary. Boo!