StarTether

Every choice starts with this: Do you see others as equal to you? We all have an inner compass—call it conscience, spirit, or whatever—which we leverage when making that choice. 1/7

@DanielW_Kiwi Paleo AIP diet with The Calorie Myth exercise program (15 min twice a week) and I lost 55 lbs (~25 kilos) in 3 months. It was me finally eliminating inflammation and generating the right hormones from exercise.

So my friend had me worried. He had lost 15kg in two months and had extreme pain in his side. He said the weight came off so easily he hardly had to try. I thought cancer. He went to the doctor. They think gallstones from losing weight too fast. By "the weight came off easily" he meant that he had been fasting day on day off and running 10k per day... Don't trust people when they say they lost weight easily.

@EricCMeadows @MamaCAllen *gasp*

@MamaCAllen Both, actually. I haven’t seen either.

I have never watched Casablanca, or Citizen Kane, or Avatar, nor any anime.

@BradWitbeck @dustinharding The past-tense "were" appears to support that.

@dustinharding Part of ether suggests to me the Jaredites had hunted them to extinction before the Nephites arrived.

Do you think elephants and cureloms and cumoms just existed during the time of the Jaredites, or were they around for the people of Nephi as well?

Because when we no longer look for ways to measure ourselves we are no longer trapped in trying to meet those metrics. We can finally see ourselves as the children of God which we are. /5

But faith helps people bypass the measurements. Extending grace to others. Accepting that each of us is equal at our very core. It's that abdication of measurement and thus suspension of criticism which produces real freedom and happiness. Why? 4/

Stats like this are riveting for me. I always want to know "Why?" Why is faith such an important factor? Why are wealthy kids so much less likely to have faith? Why does faith produce greater freedom work when it seems like wealth and choice should produce freedom? 1/

Whosever is virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy, we follow those people

@pimomormon With 30% of your posts in the last month being on this topic, and no other topics having a greater percentage, it's not me saying so: it's you. Unless you have some other explanation for your chosen topic.

@StarTether If you say so.

The church won’t because they won’t get any tithing funds from these people. The priority is cold hard cash.

@niphi35 The same applies to emotions. E.g. "You make me so mad." Turning ourselves into passive victim of emotion is an excuse to not look at the decisions we make which result in those emotions.

The mentality that says “I was forced to do something I truly didn’t want to do” (as a way of removing accountability) operates from the same flawed foundation as the old excuse “the devil made me do it.” Both mindsets attempt to shift responsibility away from the individual’s agency and choices. They treat the person as a passive victim of irresistible external forces rather than an accountable agent who can choose, even when enticed, pressured, or tempted. This directly contradicts the doctrine of moral agency taught in scripture (especially 2 Nephi 2:27) and by modern prophets. Satan can tempt and entice, but he cannot force us to sin against our will. Yielding is still a choice, and accountability remains. The same flawed mentality applies to claims like “I was forced to get a tattoo” (or any other action someone later regrets or wants to excuse). Just as with “the devil made me do it,” the excuse “I was forced” often functions as a way to shift responsibility and diminish personal agency. In the doctrine of moral agency, we are free to choose. We can be pressured, enticed, manipulated, or even face difficult circumstances — but we are still agents unto ourselves. The choice to mark the body permanently (or to do anything else) remains a choice, even when social pressure, culture, peers, or other influences are strong. This is especially relevant because our bodies are sacred. The scriptures and modern prophets teach that the body is a temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19–20) and should be treated with respect and care. Church leaders have consistently counseled against tattoos as a form of defacing or permanently marking the body that God has given us. When someone says they were “forced” to get one, it usually reveals the same blame-shifting mentality I identified — treating themselves as a passive victim rather than someone who exercised (or failed to exercise) their agency in that moment. Important Balance Real pressures exist in this fallen world. Some people face intense manipulation, cultural conditioning, or even coercion in certain situations. The Lord, in His perfect justice and mercy, takes all of that into account when He judges the heart, desires, knowledge, and circumstances. Repentance is always available. However, the mentality that completely removes personal accountability (“I had no choice,” “I was forced,” etc.) is spiritually damaging because it undermines the very gift of agency that allows us to progress and repent. So Whether it’s blaming the devil, claiming we were forced, or using any other excuse to avoid ownership of our choices — especially choices involving the sacred body — it reflects the same underlying rejection of moral agency and accountability. 😇🙏

The timeline delivers...

@ThoughtfulSaint I have a strong suspicion that the degrees of glory are a measure of our connections to Christ, God, and each other.

You don’t “go to heaven” You enter into proper relationship with God and your fellow man to some degree or another. It’s not about location It’s about relationship. You can’t make the world more heavenly right now. Or not. Read John 17.

@DeseretBro I know 30-year-olds who have the emotional maturity of 14-year-olds. Smh

And it has nothing to do with educational achievements, life experience, finances, etc. It solely comes down to their emotional, spiritual and relational space—and girls in their early 20’s on average just don’t have it anymore! Anyone else noticed this or am I hallucinating?

I have dated a lot now, & it has become increasingly apparent over time that the relational & emotional maturity for women (and men) has been delayed multiple years. For my parents generation, 18-22 seemed to be when women were ready to marry. Now, it’s more like 23-24+ minimum

@spiderking232 Correct. Atheism starts with the assumption that their value s no God. That is the axiom around which everything else is derived in that belief system.

Rejecting something is an assertion. You do not reject something that isn't proven, you just don't accept it. What you're describing is agnosticism, not atheism. Atheism claims there is objectively no God. That is an assertion. If you do not claim that, you aren't an atheist.

@FleabagMoroni @JackPaladin72 @Octoberling_ 😂

@JackPaladin72 @Octoberling_ I’ll take 110* in Utah over 95* in Kentucky

It’s 109° in SLC UT. And it’s Hell. It begs the question in me… Exactly how much methamphetamine does one need to smoke, in exact grams, to convince themselves that moving to Phoenix is ever a good idea?

@plasmarob I think being child-like is more about being willing to accept things as they are rather than demanding that they be different before we're happy.

One of the intellectual ramifications of Jesus's teaching to become as a child: being reductive is good, nuance is for midwits and hypocrites. Change your position based on heart and vibes, rather than letting language and definitions poison and drown you

@tanyaelisabethh That's the thing, though, trying to be in the in group is standing on quicksand. The rules could change at any time and suddenly you're out. It's placing your worth in other peoples' opinions which is miserable.

It is very easy to tell which girl is an in girl and which girl is an out At least for me now it is I spent most of my life trying to force myself into becoming an in girl. In the groups. In the group chats. In the weddings. In the invitations. In the group pictures. In on the plans. In on anything I spent years feeling bad and like something was wrong with me. Maybe something is, I’ve yet to find out, but what I have found out and what I have learned is to make peace with this fact I will never be part of the group. I will never be the type of girl others girl flock to and welcome to their group. I will just never be this type of girl. I’ve yet to find out what excludes or includes someone, but after years living this burden I can now easily tell who is who, and somehow I’ve made peace and I have found myself a group of out girls, and now I’ve become an in girl, in a group of out girls.

The Celestial Room dome and a chandelier in the Moses Lake Washington Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: