I am LDS: Same Sex Attraction

I follow and worship Jesus Christ. His living prophet whom he speaks to (as in times of old), guides the church I belong to. Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father watch over us, want to be intimately involved in our lives, and want to make our lives as meaningful and joyful as possible. They can do this if we keep our hearts open and teachble to the spirit of Christ we all have within us.

This is what Christ teaches about immorality, including same sex attraction:

Exodus 20:14:  "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Adultery is having sexual relations with anyone you are not married to. This would include with a man or woman.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20: "Flee fornication." "But he that committeth fornication sin etch against his own body..." "Know he not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you...?" Fornication is having any unmarked person having sexual relations with another person.

1 Thessalonians 4:3: "This is the will of God...that ye should abstain from fornication." Another witness that not committing sexual sin is the will of God.

Matthew 5:27-28: "thou shalt not commit adultery...but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on [anyone] to lust after [them] hath committed adultery with [them] already in [their] heart. And if the right eye offend thee, pluck it out..." Christ is very clear and strict. Don't commit adultery or even think about it!

What the living prophet and apostles teach:

Where the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints stands: "The experience of same-sex attraction is a complex reality for many people. The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is. Even though individuals do not choose to have such attractions, they do choose how to respond to them. With love and understanding, the Church reaches out to all God’s children, including our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters."

Having same sex attraction is not a sin, acting on it is. Just like any and all temptations/tendencies and acting on them. 

Elder Dallin H. Oaks: "Have we forgotten to follow the Savior who taught that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments? (see John 14:15). If so, our priorities have been turned upside down by the spiritual apathy and undisciplined appetites so common in our day."

"We look on marriage and the bearing and nurturing of children as part of God’s plan and a sacred duty of those given the opportunity to do so. We believe that the ultimate treasures on earth and in heaven are our children and our posterity. ...Outside the bonds of marriage between a man and a woman, all uses of our procreative powers are to one degree or another sinful and contrary to God’s plan for the exaltation of His children."

"We know that through the God-given power of choice, many will hold beliefs contrary to ours, but we are hopeful that others will be equally respectful of our religious beliefs and understand that our beliefs compel us to some different choices and behaviors than theirs. For example, we believe that, as an essential part of His plan of salvation, God has established an eternal standard that sexual relations should occur only between a man and a woman who are married." (2013 October General Conference, No Other Gods, Sun. Morning Session - By  Dallin H. Oaks)

Elder Jeffery R. Holland: "Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds. 

Talk about man creating God in his own image! Sometimes—and this seems the greatest irony of all—these folks invoke the name of Jesus as one who was this kind of “comfortable” God. Really? He who said not only should we not break commandments, but we should not even think about breaking them. And if we do think about breaking them, we have already broken them in our heart. Does that sound like “comfortable” doctrine, easy on the ear and popular down at the village love-in? ...It is obvious that the bumper sticker question “What would Jesus do?” will not always bring a popular response."

"Christlike love is the greatest need we have on this planet in part because righteousness was always supposed to accompany it. So if love is to be our watchword, as it must be, then by the word of Him who is love personified, we must forsake transgression and any hint of advocacy for it in others. Jesus clearly understood what many in our modern culture seem to forget: that there is a crucial difference between the commandment to forgive sin (which He had an infinite capacity to do) and the warning against condoning it (which He never ever did even once)."

"...Pure Christlike love flowing from true righteousness can change the world. I testify that the true and living gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth and you are members of His true and living Church, trying to share it." (2014 April General Conference, The Cost—and Blessings—of Discipleship, Sat. Morning Session - By  Jeffrey R. Holland)

My testimony:

I believe that Jesus Christ is the savior and Redeemer of the World. I believe He loves me and wants the very best I life for me. I believe He won't lead me wrong. 

I believe He gave us all commandments and expects those that love and know Him to keep them. I believe I can't just ignore the commandments and disregard them and say I follow Christ. I believe that one commandment is to not commit adultery and another commandment is it love one another. I believe it doesn't matter how many of humandkind choose to not obey the commandments, God's commandments can't be changed by humans/His children.

I believe we need to love, encourage, and strengthen each other. We all commit sin, we all need love, and we all need the Savoir. I believe we can't accept sin as the way to live life even though it's easier. I believe we all need to be Christlike as we can and follow His commandments and then use the atonement as we slip up daily.

I believe we must change and humble our hearts daily to His will. I believe part of life is learning to overcome all ungodly/natural man trait. (Like laziness, overeating, being prideful and mean.) I believe Christ wants us to be happy, hopeful, and full of purpose and that is what His commandments and atonement help us to accomplish.

I am LDS: Joseph Smith and the Bible

"[In the grove of trees, Joseph Smith] learned that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are two separate, distinct beings."

"The Bible confirms Joseph Smith’s discovery. It tells us that the Son submitted His will to the Father (see Matthew 26:42). We are moved by the Savior’s submission and find strength in His example to do likewise, but what would have been the depth and passion of Christ’s submission or the motivational power of that example if the Father and the Son were the same being and in reality the Son was merely following His own will under a different name?"

"The scriptures give further evidence of this great truth: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16). A father offering up his only son is the supreme demonstration of love that the human mind and heart can conceive and feel. It is symbolized by the touching story of Abraham and Isaac (see Genesis 22). But if the Father is the same being as the Son, then this sacrifice of all sacrifices is lost, and Abraham is no longer offering up Isaac—Abraham is now offering up Abraham." (2009 October General Conference, Joseph Smith—Prophet of the Restoration, Sat. Afternoon Session - Tad R. Callister)

Scriptures to know and understand:

Christ submits His will to the Father, not himself. (Matthew 26:42)

The Father sacrifices his Son, not himself. (John 3:16)

"[Another] great truth Joseph Smith discovered was that the Father and the Son have glorified bodies of flesh and bones."

"Following the Savior’s Resurrection, He appeared to His disciples and said, “Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:39). Some have suggested this was a temporary physical manifestation and that when He ascended to heaven He shed His body and returned to His spirit form. But the scriptures tell us this was not possible. Paul taught, “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him” (Romans 6:9). In other words, once Christ was resurrected, His body could never again be separated from His spirit; otherwise He would suffer death, the very consequence Paul said was no longer possible after His Resurrection." (2009 October General Conference, Joseph Smith—Prophet of the Restoration, Sat. Afternoon Session - Tad R. Callister)

Scriptures to know and understand:

The ressurected Christ told disciples that He was of flesh and bone, which would never be separated (death) again. (Luke 24:39 and Romans 6:9)

"[Still another] truth that Joseph Smith learned was that God still speaks to man today—that the heavens are not closed."

"One need but ask three questions, once proposed by President Hugh B. Brown, to arrive at that conclusion (see “The Profile of a Prophet,” Liahona, June 2006, 13; Ensign, June 2006, 37). First, does God love us as much today as He loved the people to whom He spoke in New Testament times? Second, does God have the same power today as He did then? And third, do we need Him as much today as they needed Him anciently? If the answers to those questions are yes and if God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, as the scriptures so declare (see Mormon 9:9), then there is little doubt: God does speak to man today exactly as Joseph Smith testified." (2009 October General Conference, Joseph Smith—Prophet of the Restoration, Sat. Afternoon Session - Tad R. Callister)

Scripture to know and understand:

God loves us just as much as the people of biblical times, God is still powerful, and we have need of direction just like in times of old. (Mormon 9:9)

"[At lastly], Joseph Smith learned was that the full and complete Church of Jesus Christ was not then upon the earth."

"Of course there were good people and some components of the truth, but the Apostle Paul had anciently prophesied that the Second Coming of Christ would not come “except there come a falling away first” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)." (2009 October General Conference, Joseph Smith—Prophet of the Restoration, Sat. Afternoon Session - Tad R. Callister)

Scripture to know and understand:

Christ apostles who had the proper authority of the preisthhood given to them by Christ himself were all killed. Therefore all the preisthhood possessed by humans was no longer on the earth. In order for the proper preisthhood authority to be on the earth again, it would have given to a human from one of these ressurected apostles. Which began on May 15, 1829 recorded in Joseph Smith-History 1:68-72.

"Yet sorrowfully, on occasion, some are willing to set aside the precious gospel truths restored by Joseph Smith because they get diverted on some historical issue or some scientific hypothesis not central to their exaltation, and in so doing they trade their spiritual birthright for a mess of pottage. They exchange the absolute certainty of the Restoration for a doubt, and in that process they fall into the trap of losing faith in the many things they do know because of a few things they do not know. There will always be some seemingly intellectual crisis looming on the horizon as long as faith is required and our minds are finite, but likewise there will always be the sure and solid doctrines of the Restoration to cling to, which will provide the rock foundation upon which our testimonies may be built. 

When many of Christ’s followers turned from Him, He asked His Apostles, “Will ye also go away?” 

Peter then responded with an answer that should be engraved on every heart: “To whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:66–68). (2009 October General Conference, Joseph Smith—Prophet of the Restoration, Sat. Afternoon Session - Tad R. Callister)