Don't expect Moroni's Promise to be literally fulfilled

[_Polygamy-Porter]

It is best to have a bias you wish to confirm before seeking confirmation bias.

[_MCB]

Or it may be that if you had been lonely and are welcomed into a community, that confirms that what the community beweves in is true. Positive reinforcement is mistaken for confirmation from powers that are greater than oneself.

My tongue has nearly drilled a hole in my cheek.

[_krose]

From the article:

All told, there was little in my life that wasn’t drastically better now than it had been just 12 months earlier. “That’s so cool!” I said out loud, slipping to my knees.

Bowing my head, I couldn’t even ask the question. “I get it,” I said to the Lord. “I get it. The truth of this book isn’t always manifest in burning bosoms and visions of angels; it’s manifest in the lives of the people who read it and put it to use. I don’t need to ask anymore if this book is true. I experience its truth every day I live its teachings.”

My challenge to Sister Carolyn would be to show me the specific "teachings" in the BoMo that she was living to make her better at getting along with her parents and siblings, do better in school, find jobs, and exercise, as she says here:

I thought about friendships I had formed with wonderful peers who strengthened my faith. I thought about how my family relationships had taken a dramatic turn for the better. I hadn’t fought with my siblings in months, and my parents and I seemed to communicate with amazing ease. What’s more, schoolwork seemed less stressful, odd jobs had been available to provide extra income, and even my physical fitness had improved.

[_Always Thinking]

I remember trying to get Moroni's promise to work for me. When nothing happened, I finally decided that I didn't need it because I already knew it was true.

[_zzyzx]

This promise appears to be the equivalent of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick.
All the faith in the world does not change reality.

[_beastie]

Oh, I remember hearing/reading this teaching when I was a member. The church emphasizes personal revelation, but then also teaches that it doesn’t really matter if you can’t get a clear answer to a prayer. As long as you feel good about it, that’s the answer. So if God doesn’t tell you that the church is true, you still know it’s true because you feel good at church. I knew many members whose testimonies were based on just that.

So why even bother teaching members to pray for revelation, if it doesn’t even matter if you get it or not? The church is still true!

Of course, if one is going to measure the truthfulness of the church based on how one feels about church, then if one is a very unhappy Mormon one can justifiably believe the church is not true.

But we all know the church would never allow that type of thinking to poison the church. Just trust them, it’s true.

[_Jonah]

Heh heh heh....I had fun with the missionaries about this the last time they stopped by.

I had mentioned to them that in my entire lifetime in the church I had never experienced a "burning in the bosom", a "still small voice", or any other type spiritual confirmation/experience. Even at my church worthiness peak, when I should have been most "in tune"....nothing.

They said "What about Moroni's promise?" I said again "Nothing".

They challenged me to read the Book of Mormon again and bore testimony that if I prayed according to Moroni's promise that THIS TIME I would receive a sign from God that it was true. Perhaps not a burning in the bosom, but a sign none the less.

I got a screwed up look on my face and they asked what the problem was. I said, "Well, perhaps that is where the problem lies. In the temple I was taught that it was a "Wicked and adulterous generation that seeks after a sign." They froze, mumbled something, then said that they couldn't discuss things from the temple. That threw us into a secret vs. sacred discussion that ended with me advising them that if something was sacred it could be spoken of in reverence. If secret, it couldn't be spoken of at all. They could decide.

They left asking if they could leave a Book of Mormon (No), and if they could offer a prayer (No). They had screwed up looks on their faces. I was reminded of how as a member I enjoyed "planting a seed". Now I enjoy planting different seeds.

[_Yoda]

Why are they printing this stuff? It is way different from what I have heard from the pulpit since the early 1960's. Way different.

I highly doubt that. You just have a selective memory. For example, here is an intellectual conversion from 1979....

Robert J. Bazyk, “Inquiry beyond Reason,” Ensign, Jul 1979, 23

Even in the article you just quoted, a spiritual confirmation was ultimately important:

It was some time after my baptism that I desired a stronger spiritual confirmation. My prayers were sincere and of real intent. I desired the witness spoken of by Moroni, that I might know with firmer witness that the Book of Mormon was the truth, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the Church was led by a living prophet. The answer to these prayers did not come with lights and thunder; it came quietly, one evening when I was sitting with friends. A warm feeling came over me, and my mind was enlightened with the pure knowledge that the teachings of the Church were true. The Holy Ghost had fulfilled Moroni’s promise and revealed this in a beautiful manifestation, in an unexpected place and time. I wanted to leave the room, to be by myself, but etiquette allowed only a silent prayer of thanks. My spiritual conversion enabled me to gain not only a stronger doctrinal conversion but also a conversion to other Church members.

(Bold emphasis mine)

[_Yoda]

BC, are you really going to imply that those of us who have grown up in the Church have "selective memories" when it comes to Moroni's Promise? Come on, you're my age. Give me a break. Moroni's Promise is the foundation of the conversion process. It is still the final challenge by the missionaries. You went to seminary the same time I did. Don't you remember the "Like Unto Us" music? The "Moroni's Promise" song? I don't know how many times I sang that piece for Sacrament Meeting and different functions.

[_Mercury]

Why are they printing this stuff? It is way different from what I have heard from the pulpit since the early 1960's. Way different.

I highly doubt that. You just have a selective memory. For example, here is an intellectual conversion from 1979....

You are blind.