Impatience is something I fight constantly. I’m the sort of person that once I know what I want, I expect to be able to obtain it as soon as possible, usually by doing some small task and then being done with it. I find it difficult to wait. (more…)

Copyright 2010, Inner Vessel Productions.

In a Sunday School lesson I attended, the question was asked, “How do we overcome the influence of Satan in our lives?” Though I didn’t specifically hear any wrong answers, I was frustrated that they all had the same basic tone: just decide you are going to not do what he wants you to. (more…)

Copyright 2010, Inner Vessel Productions.

Over the years I’ve operated LDSR.org, I’ve seen a lot of people come to our support forums and often go as quickly as they came. Some post, get what they feel they need, and disappear. Some leave, thinking they had finally reached a point of no longer needing the support we offer, only to return later having dug deeper into their addictive behavior than before. I hope that some truly were helped enough to no longer need us. (more…)

Copyright 2010, Inner Vessel Productions.

Kevin thought he was addicted to pornography. “I must be. I’ve tried so hard to stop. I’ve worked for the last five years at it, and yet I still can’t kick the habit completely.” When I talked to him about his approach, it sounded like he was doing almost everything right. He had opened up to his family about the problem and would talk to them about lapses. He had sought the help of his bishop and met with him regularly. He was participating in the Church’s addiction recovery program and regularly attended their 12-step group meetings. He maintained a habit of regular prayer and scripture study. (more…)

Copyright 2010, Inner Vessel Productions.

Sometimes, when people ask your advice, they already know what they think they should do about it. When you hear what they are planning, and it isn’t a good idea, the euphemistic thing to say about it is, “That’s the last thing you should do.” What you really mean to say is, “Don’t do that.”

(more…)

Copyright 2010, Inner Vessel Productions.

I have deleted the article that was here about masturbation. I originally allowed it because I’m all in favor of discussions about the issues that we face. I believe that we should be able to talk about things of concern to us.

No one here at this site speaks for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This means that any discussion of doctrine is purely the opinion of those who write on the blogs.

I am willing to allow posts and comments that speculate about what the doctrine may be. I’m willing to allow for people who are struggling to accept the doctrine of the Church. I’m not willing to give the impression that this site condones the idea that the leaders of the Church are not inspired or are wrong about the doctrine.

I apologize to anyone who spent time on discussing the article. Your comments have necessarily been deleted along with the post itsel.f

Rex

Copyright 2010, Inner Vessel Productions.

We’ve had a number of discussions on the Support Forums about sobriety and sobriety dates, especially to the point that there is more to sobriety, particularly in the world of SA, than merely abstaining from acting out.

This is from The gospel in words: ‘Sober’ from Mormon Times by Joseph A. Cannon:

Generally when we think of the word “sober,” we simply think not drunk. It turns out that is an important definition of sober, but the word has a much deeper meaning as it is used in the scriptures. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, soberness is characterized by the absence of excess or indulgence.

A sober person is grave, serious, solemn, having or implying a serious mind or purpose. A sober person is also quiet or sedate in demeanor, dignified or discreet in deportment and of a serious character. A sober person shows no trace of haste or impatience and is free from harshness and violence and is of a moderate disposition, not readily excited or carried away. A sober person is one who has calm and dispassionate judgment and is not desirous of great things or high estate but is free from extravagance or excess. Such a person is guided by sound reason and is sane and rational. Interestingly, sober is also connected to fasting.

The rest of the article is interesting in discussing the word “sober” from a scriptural perspective. This is part of a series where Joseph A Cannon has done some deep study of the meanings of words found in scripture that we might think we understand better than we actually do.

With this article as a starting place, what is the best definition of “sobriety” you can come up with for use in your program of recovery?

Copyright 2010, Inner Vessel Productions.

There is strong evidence that certain personalities are more prone to sexual addiction than others. One kind of personality that seems more likely to be dealing with it is the go-getter corporate superstar and those who want to be like them. I am not entirely sure why this is so and the articles I read that suggested it are out of my memory. I have a few ideas, though, based purely on my own personal biases. (more…)

Copyright 2010, Inner Vessel Productions.

It feels like I’ve always known, at some level, that the gospel of Jesus Christ and all of its requirements are true. Even during times when my life was not in the Church and far away from behavior a believer should practice, I felt deep in my heart that I was doing what was contrary to the will of God.

That makes much of what I might say about disbelief more a matter of speculation than of experience. Yet, I still know that I have a great capacity for not believing. Even more than that, I think sometimes what an inconvenience testimony is. (more…)

Copyright 2010, Inner Vessel Productions.

I’m happy to announce the implementation of our support forums in a format more friendly to mobile devices such as smart phones. Some of the features of our support forums are now implemented on a smaller window so that people with mobile devices can post, read, and reply.

You can get to the mobile version of the support forums at http://m.ldsr.org/. After you log in with your usual username and password, you’ll be taken to a list of all messages you haven’t read yet. You can read and reply

At the bottom of the list of unread messages, you can choose to look at all recent threads in all boards. You can restore any thread in that list to fully “unread” status in case you want to go back and review the messages in it.

If you haven’t joined our support forums yet, please consider it. It is a different username and log in than what you use to participate in the blog. Go to http://www.ldsr.org/newforums/forums.phtml to register.

Copyright 2010, Inner Vessel Productions.