Ok, so I found a card stuck to my front door that has a 1-888 # telling me that if I call it, I can get a free copy of "The Book of Mormon."

I would like to have a copy, for reference sake (no, I am not converting), but has anyone ever called this number before? I dont want to get on a mailing list, or start having someone call my house all the time about converting.

Just curious if they really hand these out if you just call in.

Anyone?

(And yes, I want a free copy of their book, but I dont want them to bother me about it afterwards. And NO, I have intentions of converting.)

http://scriptures.lds.org/

Aggie99, you can call them and they will hand deliver it to you. If you tell them you want to discuss nothing with them, they wwon't really pursue it. We don't hound people into the Church.

If you are worried just make a trip to half price books and pick you up a copy for about $5-10 bucks. That's certainly worth not being bothered.

If you want I have a copy you can have. No strings attached. Also, obviously if you call the number missionaries will come over and deliver the book, but they are trained to be respectful, so if you tell them what you want nothing to do with them except the book, they should. I would have as a missionary.

[This message has been edited by bizag (edited 3/29/2006 10:30p).]

I was in the Goodwill store the other day and there were several copies of the Book of Mormon among the books. You could probably pick one up for less than $1 if you were concerned about getting hasseled. I doubt you would, though. I've found Mormon missionaries to be very enthusiastic in wanting to talk about their beliefs, but always respectful, as has been written in other posts.

If you travel and stay at any hotel in the Marriott chain you can take the copy in the room. That's what they are there for.

I would have never thought I could say. Thanks for the plug Rab91

My family stays almost exclusively at Marriotts.

Reward points add up.

I used to travel a bunch in a previous job, and I always stayed at Marriotts for the points. Besides, the bom makes a great coaster

I wish I travelled more. I just leech points (and trips) off my parents.

Guitarsoup,

You have to know that if the Marriotts make money on you staying at a Marriott and they then tithe to the LDS church, well you get the picture Is this enough smileys to let you know it was good natured?

I'd rather the Mormons have the money than Paris Hilton.

But when I travel for work, I seem to always get stuck at the Gaylord hotels. Not a bad place either.

Rab91,

I probably shouldn't have laughed, but I am, that was funny picture you painted

Guitarsoup wrote:

quote:

---

I'd rather the Mormons have the money than Paris Hilton.

---

The way I understand it, they'll only get 10-cents on the dollar anyway.

I do know of the Marriott chain's ties to the LDS church, but I guess I have never noticed which book is in the drawer. Do they really have the Book of Mormon? I'm just so used to seeing a Gideon's Bible that I guess I never took notice. And before you call me out for not reading the Bible while in a hotel, I always have my own...so there!

bizag-

This is another one of those tradition questions and not of theological nature. But, as I was driving yesterday, it was pouring down rain. I was on my way to work (church) and I usually cut through a neighborhood on the way there. I saw two LDS missionaries riding their bikes in the neighborhood. It was seriously raining incredibly hard and I have been known to stop and offer help to "strangers." I will always help push a stalled car into a parking lot or jump a car when I see somebody in need. So, I felt really bad for these guys because they were having to ride their bikes in the rain. I slowed down by them, and rolled my window down. I asked if they were allowed/wanted to accept a ride. I drive a truck, so I could have put the bikes in the back. They very politely declined and kept on riding through the downpour. So, its a stupid question, but are they not allowed to accept a ride? I know I would be very wary of a stranger offering me a ride so that could have been the case as well. It could have also been that they didn't want to "put me out" by going out of their way. And I guess a natural follow up to this question would be...why bikes? I know cheap are cheap and handy, but could they drive a car if they had one?

PS- I honestly had no intention of trying to "convert" them when I offered a ride. I would do it for anybody. But, I'm pretty sure it would have come up in the car and that would always have been an added bonus.

Three and Out

I know you addressed the question to bizag, so I hope you don't mind if I answer. I doubt the missionaries have rules prohibiting them from accepting rides, but you never know in this day and age. Each mission may have a variation of a basic set of rules, so specific rules about rides may vary from mission to mission. They were probably just being polite as were you.

Your second question was "why bikes?" And you andswered it. They are inexpensive. The cars that some missionaries drive are provided by the church, and that can be quite an expense. The size of area that the missionaries serve will determine if they drive or ride. I served a mission in Salt Lake City and our areas were rather small geographically, so we did fine on bikes (except in the snow). In the Texas Panhandle, the areas are rather large so a car is a must. Hope this helps.

^^
^^
::

OK, confession time... I found a book of Mormon in the desk drawer of a Mariott brand hotel along with a Gideons Bible. I took out the BOM and tore it up and left it in the trash can.

This was in my younger more rash days... this after 2 "Elders" had been to my house earlier that year. They came twice got sound doctrine back at them twice, they got split up sent to another city, and the "uber-Elders" came over as a follow on and it is the first time I've ever pushed some one out the door of my house. Which was exactly what they wanted.

Some anger management may be in order for you, my friend.

Was it actually a Gideon's Bible? Correct me if I'm wrong, bizag or others, but is not The Bible that Mormon's read the one with what Joseph Smith determined was the accurate interpretation, and thus varies a little bit from most other Bibles? This could be one of those things I am ignorant to, but I think this is the case. If this is the case, I would find it odd that a Gideon's Bible would be placed there.

quote:

---

Some anger management may be in order for you, my friend

---

Once, I considering ripping up the Qur'an, but I thought it through and figured it would be a grave mistake.

Sorry, that was a lame joke and probably in poor taste. But, if you cannot tell, I am one that thinks we need laughter every once in awhile to lighten the mood. I, as well as most of you, am very passionate about theology. But laughter is part of life, and God does not desire to keep us from living a full life because we are so concerned with theology. I think this is sort of the way the Pharisees acted. Also, I just now realized that the last two words of my above joke should probably include the words, "no pun intended."

Wikipedia article about Gideons International, the evangelical Christian organization dedicated to distributing copies of the Bible:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideons_International

AgGermany -you are right in lock step with a few upperclassmen in one of our returned missionarie's outfit three years ago. This young man left after his first semester to serve a mission in Hong Kong. He came back, rejoined his outfit, returned from class and found his Chinese scriptures torn up and the people who did this evidently felt this was a good time to relieve themselves which they did over the shredded pages and his floor. The Commandant came down on them like the proverbial "ton of bricks"! By their fruits ye shall know them. Somehow, the Saviour doing this just does not fit in to my picture.

The Bible the Church uses in the King James Version used for many, many decades if not a couple of centuries. The inspired version of the scriptures are always plainly marked in another location, so that the reader can compare and come to his own conclusions.

Its amazing that Moroni also wrote the BOM in King James English.

Not when you remember that is what Joseph learned to read from and was his only "text book".

ibm-

This is from Wikipedia and I know that they are not really an ultimate source on anything since it seems almost anybody could write an entry on there. It also comes with the caveat that many of the things on the results page for "Book of Mormon" come from dissenting opinions. I wanted to note that to be fair. I just wanted to see if you thought this was a fair assessment?

quote:

---

A substantial segment of the Book of Mormon, namely 2 Nephi chapters 7, 8, and 12-24, matches nearly word-for-word the chapters 50, 51-52:1-2, and 2-14 (respectively) of the King James Translation (1611) of the Book of Isaiah. While a point of argument for those who do not believe the text, latter-day saints accept these passages as obvious quotations from Isaiah by Nephi, the ancient author of that portion of the Book of Mormon. The footnotes and chapter headings acknowledge this and encourage comparisons between Isaiah and 2 Nephi. There are differences in more than half of the 433 verses of Isaiah that are quoted in the Book of Mormon; most are very minor, but some are significant, which may show that Joseph Smith did not copy the KJV word-for-word. Some think he referred to it during the translation, and a few errors in the King James text also exist in the Book of Mormon. It should be noted that this translation from the plates was made into the 1611 KJV literary and linguistic style, which was no longer commonly used when the translation occurred.

---

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_mormon#Passages_from_the_King_James_Version_of_the_Bible

quote:

---

Not when you remember that is what Joseph learned to read from and was his only "text book".

---

Sorry, I may be confusing different posts but I thought someone made the claim that Joseph Smith was either "uneducated" or "illiterate" on a thread about a week back. I didn't really do a search through old posts so if I am mistaken, disregard this post.

His education was considered less than a 2nd or 3rd grade education s he was "home schooled". He was taught reading from the Bible only which I thought was impossible until I learned of others who were taught that way.

Three and Out,

We use the King James Bible.

I have seen Marriott's with both the Book of Mormon and the Gideon Bible, just the Gideon Bible, and just the Book of Mormon. Most Marriotts are franchises. I think the way the Book of Mormon gets into the Marriotts it does is by the request of the family.

Have you every been to In-&-Out Burger in California. Their wrappers and drink cups have scripture quotations on them. So on top of getting a good burger you get a scripture with your lunch.

ibagg, I didn't tear up scripture...

Why is it that every rental company has a sign out front quoting scripture? Is there some religion that has a monopoly on rental companies?

AgGermany -what you tore up is considered sacred scripture co-equal with the Bible by over 12 million. I wonder how you would react if everyone of another faith, who didn't think the Bible was "scripture, tore it up when they found it in a hotel room.

3&out -Excellent judgement on the Qur'an!

If someone tore up a Bible, which by the way has a VAST historical standing, I would think they were ignorant.

The book of Mormon has no historical standing and much like the Koran is a fraud. The book of Mormon has help deceive 12 million, the Koran perhaps a billion. The printed lie of "another gospel" is the book of Mormon.

It is no scripture.