Parable of the Bike Trip

Heaven is a bike trip. You have to learn how to ride a bike to go on the trip . You have to learn to ride a bike before the trip. Some people learn how to ride early on. Others have a more difficult time and fall a lot and get many contusions and abrasions in the process. But as long as they learn how by the time of the trip they get to go on the trip. Christ example teaches us how to ride the bike and assures us that we have a period of time to try and try again until we get the hang of it.

By the way, there are different levels of bike riding skill.
Outer Darkness- concluded that bike riding isn 't their thing
Telestial- bike ride in neighborhood
Terrestrial- bike ride at the park
Celestial- long-distance cycling and mountain biking

Blood Atonement

Idolatrous nations believe in Blood Atonement.  To appease their gods representing peace and prosperity, safety and fertility, they must shed blood.  These nations offer their children, slaves, animals, or go to war.  These people don't care about the stone statue or golden idol.  What they want is safety and peace.

The True God teaches that only by accepting the blood of His Son's infinite sacrifice and keeping his commandments can a nation acheive true and lasting prosperity and peace.  Only a return to virtue can save us.

"Keep the commandments, keep the commandmemts in this there is safety, in this there is peace. He will send blessings, He will send blessings, words of a prophet, keep the commamdmemts. In this there is safety and peace"

Polygamy Perspective

My wife and children wouldn't exist without polygamy. Her ancestor was a rescuer of the Martin and Willie Handcart Company and they took in a survivor, nursed her back to health, and later were called to be sealed. A second home was built and a second family was raised up.

Sometimes we can unjustly judge the merits of polygamy based on how one or two individuals practiced it. With regard to early church polygamy, it is more important to look at the big picture of what was God's overall purpose and less how BY, JS or HCK did it. JS is criticized for too hesitantly accepting this commandment. BY and HCK are criticized for probably being too ambitious. But overall it served its overall purpose for the time.

We all know it is not true there was an excess of men. But frontier did have to manage the fatherless and widow. Polygamy served as a frontier welfare system.  It is probably not true that the overall purpose was not quantity of children but probably quality. That is why polygamy was a calling and not an unmanaged "free-for-all". A married couple receiving this calling would have to have means to support a second household. This is far different to how many FLDS practice it where additional wives collect welfare. Polygamy was about managing poverty and not creating it.

If you don't like to equate marriage with welfare or responsibility/stewardship; consider these verses:

If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. (Old Testament, Exodus, Exodus 21:10)

Here things are flipped on its head. Women say they want children but can support themselves (welfare). 

And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. (Old Testament, Isaiah, Isaiah 4:1)

I will therefore that the younger women (widows) marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. ... If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed. (New Testament, 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy 5:14-16)