Last year when my granddaughter died, the very saddest part to me was watching how her mom ( my daughter) and her husband who had to my knowledge told everyone this child would live, struggled to live with what was a very unexpected outcome for them.

I just do not see how mormon's continue to believe in all that they do when they feel strongly that God has told them a certain thing, and so priesthood blessings are given to that affect, in this case that this baby would live, and then the outcome is not what they were so very sure they were told would happen by the power of the HG.

When my daughter first asked me if I thought her baby would ever come home, she was angry with me when I told her "No, I do not think so". When I told her I thought it might be God's greatest miracle and gift to their entire family, as they have 5 other children, to take this little girl home, again she was very upset.

One day she came to my home and asked me how I addressed God, if I called him by the name Heavenly Father, and was upset when I said "no, I just referred to him as God"

Then she asked if I prayed for her daughter to live, and when I said "No, only that God's will will be done", again she was very upset. Even the mormon church teaches that ,correct?

It is SO strange, because now she even denies these conversation, at least most of them, ever took place. What is that about? I honestly think she does not remember them somehow. Anyway, soon, thereafter, the baby died.

She mentioned a couple of times what a hard time they were having trying to reconcile things in their minds, and with me being no longer mormon, she really did not want to discuss it further with me, which I completely respected.

How do they justify this to themselves and keep on believing? Can they not see the "priesthood" has no power to save terminally ill individuals? 1 or 2 "miracles" out of a hundred is just coincidence or modern medicine. It is so very obvious.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2011 10:16PM by think4u.

One way they do it is by being timid in giving blessings and always saying "thy will be done" instead. A priesthood leader would probably say he presumed too much instead of being guided by the spirit of the Lord.

I was not invited to most of the blessings, but I would bet money on the fact that her father "commanded" her to live.

If you look at the "gifts of the Spirit" lessons one gift of the Spirit is the power to heal. Another gift is the power to be healed.

It may not have been "god's will" or it sometimes is implied that the person didn't have the "gift to be healed."

Usually people don't say that out loud when it comes to children. But they do sometimes with adults.

Sin, unworthiness, not god's will, no gift to be healed. There are so many reasons why blessings don't work, that as soon as you stop believing it seems ridiculous that you'd twist your brain so much before to make excuses or whatever.

Another thing about Mormonism is the amazing power of denial and forgetfulness they have.

It never ceases to amaze me how conveniently everyone denies or forgets what was said during a blessing when it doesn't work.

Basically, they have an answer for everything.

As was touched upon, a Priesthood holder may say, "I presumed too much by commanding my daughter to live. I forgot to say, "But thy will be done, Father.""

If an adult isn't healed, then perhaps they didn't have enough faith, or they weren't righteous enough, or it was simply God's will. Maybe the Priesthood member who blessed them didn't really listen to the Spirit. Maybe they were deceived by Satan giving false promises.

Maybe the person who wasn't healed is fulfilling what was promised them in the Spirit World. They had a mission there that we just didn't know about, and Heavenly Father needed them more.

It's a test. It's a trial. "I will have a tried and a tested people." Someday they'll receive seven-fold what they lost.

And yes, the 1 miracle in a 100 gets a huge, "It's a miracle! I know that God lives!" The 99 who weren't healed are quickly forgotten and put on a shelf.

However it gets worked and twisted to make Mormonism true, that's the right answer.

So it is set up then, so that mormons and their mormon God can never lose, or be wrong. Ever. The church is always proven true, no matter what happens.

think4u - I know exactly what you mean.

My brother passed away a year ago. He had received numerous blessings saying he would live. When he passed away everyone was so shocked and beyond belief that the blessings had not been answered.

I got so tired of hearing, "but he was suppose to live because..." that finally I looked at my family and said, "Do you remember the Spirit is a still small voice? Did you ever think, that maybe, through all your grief, hopes, and desires, that maybe, your own desires overpowered the Spirit's still small voice? Because if what you taught me growing up is true, God does not make mistakes, and he would not take him before his time was up. Unless I misunderstood something growing up."

Everyone looked at me, was quiet for a long time, then my mom said, "I never thought about it that way."

Grief is very overpowering, and it tore all of us apart.

And no, no one ever answered as to why their prayers and blessings were not answered as they thought they were supposed to be.

nickerickson,
Your words make me sad. I am so sorry that your brother died. I do remember at my granddaughter's funeral my daughter's DH spoke about how he had gone to his father, an active priesthood holder, trying to make sense of things.

What I remember is that what his father told him was very, very close to what you told your family, that maybe their own desires had gotten in the way of hearing that still small voice. Those words seemed to help him. I hope so, and that they helped my daughter as well. She does not speak to me anymore.

Do you mind me asking of what did your brother die and at what age? Are you still active in the church, or were you when your brother died? Again, I am so very sorry for your loss.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2011 10:19PM by think4u.

I did a post about it before, but I mentioned once that I put off having a hysterectomy for 14 years, after a diagnosis of pre-uterine cancer, for the sole reason that I kept being given blessings that I would be healed.

They came from several different Priesthood holders, so that to me was proof that they were all getting their information from the same source.

I was told that I would bear children. Not adopt them, but bear them.

After 14 years, the doctors finally said, "This is it, kiddo. The tests are all abnormal. You're having surgery in less than 2 weeks."

I put myself through so much. Three D&Cs (not the scriptural kind) in as many years. One major surgery. Lots of hormones, which made me gain weight, all to hold off the inevitable.

I could have put my life in danger because of their promises. We were taught to have faith, and I tried to. I hadn't left the Church yet, so you bet that was really confusing to me.

The answer which came at that time from friends was, "They must mean during the Millenium," and on it goes. Anything to protect your precious testimony.

I had the opposite thing happen. The father of the family who fellowshipped me (mission pres., temple pres. ect...you get the idea). Gave his mother a blessing when she fell very ill. She was very old. In his blessing he sealed her up unto death, as they put it. Only thing is she kept on going...and going...and going. She lived for another 10 years after that! His wife would say that if only her daughters would stop praying for her to stay, they won't let her go even though it is her time.

The excuse I usually hear though is that the blessing giver or the blessing receiver wasn't righteous enough, therefore neither HF or TSCC can be blamed.