@EikonicShadow@RestoredTruth8 No! Dude! Oh man, I love his channel! I don't even know what to say. I can't believe it. My heart goes out to his family!
@WallStreetApes I understand what you're getting at, but quick reminder-Race is based on ancestry, not appearance. Despite your appearance selection should be based off that. Example: Mexicans can choose any race despite what they look like. Those with mixed parenting can choose any parents race
People, we all have disagreements with church leaders, local and in SLC, with church decisions, with the PR department, with things that have been said, with other members, with the way some things are handled, with past and present practices, whatever.... Your disagreements are not unique or special. Sorry to break it to you.
The church is true! Your disagreements don't make it less true, and fighting for change won't make it more true. Spending all this time highlighting your disagreements, your doubts, your questions(many of which have already been answered but you don't like the answer) isn't extraordinary. It is actually quite boring and ordinary. It isn't brave or special at all, yet you are putting so much emphasis on these things like they are, and you are. Why is that?
You know what IS brave and special? Standing up to the advisory and the world, not conforming to them. Annoying and pissing off satan and his minions, not helping them. They are the enemy, not your imperfect church and leaders.
Stand up for the Church! The Restoration! Priesthood Authority! Stop minimizing them! Proclaim your faith in Christ, the True Nature of God & of Man! Don't shying away from them! Point out your differences with the world not your differences with the brethren. Quit mislabeling your allies as enemies while ignoring the real enemy and aiding them!
I don't think you need to be silent on issues of disagreement, but I absolutely think you should be second guessing the amount of time, energy and importance you put into those disagreements, doubts & questions that could be spent building your faith in Christ, the Restored Gospel and the faith of others. Recognize your differences, then get to work on what actually matters.
You were not sent to earth to change the church! Nor would changing the church help you be a better person. We were giving the church to help change US! Get changing! Now THAT is extraordinary!
As I’ve said before, if the Church took my tithing and immediately threw it into a burn pit before my very eyes, I would still pay it. Why? Because tithing is an agreement between me and the Lord, not me and the Church.
Everything I have in this world belongs to my Father in Heaven, and all He asks is that I give a portion back to Him. I am glad to do so! If the Church disappeared and I was left alone, I would keep my tenth until He showed me where to pay it or how to use it in His service. I agreed, and I believe in tithing.
If the Church wastes it, that’s on them. They know they’re accountable before God for what they do with His tenth. And that is why you will not find a more intensively, intentionally prudent giving organization anywhere on earth.
So to any who would say “the Church owes the membership an explanation of where their money goes,” I say, no they don’t. (But they graciously provide a public accounting anyway!) It is not my money, it is not their money, it is God’s money. They answer to the Lord for their part, and I answer to Him for mine. Nevertheless, I enthusiastically endorse everything they have done with the tithing with which God has entrusted them.
P.S. This video, though. 🏆 Things are happening! The Lord’s work is on the move. Are you paying attention?
GROK 3 ON IF THE BOOK OF MORMON IS AN ANCIENT DOCUMENT:
I’ve taken a good look at The Book of Mormon and some of the analysis surrounding it, particularly regarding its claims as an ancient document. While I haven’t done a full, exhaustive deep dive myself (I’m not a scholar with a quill and parchment), I can draw from what’s been studied and discussed by those who have, and offer some thoughts based on that.
One of the standout points often raised is the complexity of the text’s narrative voices. The book doesn’t present as a single, monolithic story but weaves together multiple authors—Nephi, Mormon, Moroni, and others—each with distinct styles and perspectives. Nephi’s writings, for instance, feel personal and reflective, while Mormon’s sections lean into a historian’s tone, compiling and abridging records. This multiplicity isn’t something you’d expect from a hastily thrown-together 19th-century fabrication. It suggests a deliberate structure, which some argue aligns with how ancient records like the Hebrew Bible were compiled by different hands over time.
Then there’s the matter of Hebraisms—linguistic patterns that echo ancient Semitic writing. Things like chiasmus, a poetic structure where ideas are mirrored around a central point, pop up repeatedly. Alma 36 is a famous example, where the chapter pivots around a conversion story in a way that mirrors Hebrew poetry. This isn’t a common feature in English literature of the 1830s, when the book was published, but it’s all over ancient Near Eastern texts. Other quirks, like the frequent use of “and it came to pass” (a phrase tied to Hebrew narrative transitions), or the way names and genealogies are handled, feel less like modern invention and more like something rooted in an older tradition.
The teachings also have parallels with ancient extra-biblical texts that Joseph Smith, the translator, wouldn’t have had access to in 1820s America. For example, concepts like the tree of life vision in 1 Nephi resonate with imagery found in texts like the Apocalypse of Abraham or certain Dead Sea Scrolls—documents unearthed long after The Book of Mormon was published. The idea of a divine council or the emphasis on covenant-making also aligns with ancient Near Eastern religious frameworks more than with the Protestant Christianity of Smith’s day. That’s a tough coincidence to explain away if you’re skeptical.
As for authenticity, what’s most convincing depends on what you’re looking for. The chiasmus stands out because it’s a measurable, structural feature—not just a vague similarity. Studies like those from John Welch, who first flagged Alma 36’s chiastic pattern in the 1960s, show it’s not random; it’s intricate and consistent. The historical and cultural details—like descriptions of warfare, metallurgy, or cement use in the Americas—also raise eyebrows. They’ve been debated fiercely, but some (like cement in Mesoamerica) have gained traction as archaeology has caught up, pointing to pre-Columbian practices that weren’t widely known in Smith’s time.
Imagine your child just died without baptism.
Everyone at the time is teaching that a child without baptism, doesn’t go to heaven.
Then you read this:
“For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy…”
I cried.