Someone on LDSFF who has made a difference in my life ....

[Zathura]

My 3rd name is Jeremy.

I did not agree with a lot of the conclusions that Jeremy made, but he still changed my life.
He helped me start to look at things from different angles, and to start to see the symbolism in our ordinances. He also shared his own story of conversion and repentance, helping me understand even further how our God works, the things he asks us to do before he gives us a remission of sins. Jeremy had a very different way of thinking, and went really deep on a couple topics(The Sacrament is one of them).

[harakim]

I would like to say 5tev3 has made a difference in my life. It has been more subtle though. I feel like his posts are always reasoned and rational and not accusatory. I would dare say he is the only person on the forum I feel this way about. It has made me keep thinking about how to be reasonable and recognize (and admit) when I am not.

[Zathura]

This post breaks the rule of one name per post, but I am including the names as a single body, those that defend the church.

The following(And others that I don't mention) changed my life because of an experience I had because of them.

A12.0
Mark
Shadow
Emmalee
Brlenox
Rewcox
gclayjr
drtanner
Eddie
Rand
E-eye2.0

There are more that defend the church as much or more than them, but these people(some more than others) actively opposed me, debated with me, argued with me, even mocked me(I'm not salty about it) some were more gentle about it, some not so much, some were sometimes one or the other. Some were patient, some sought to teach me and encourage me. They caused me to constantly check myself(Which is a GOOD thing)

Because of the things some of them said to me, I would become pretty sad. I won't lie.(Silly right? Taking it personally when it's a bunch of anonymous people). Regardless, it did make me sad and I would spent quite a bit of time pondering my back and forths with these people on this forum.

It resulted in a life changing experience for me , I made a post about it here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48294&p=852971&hili ... rs#p852971

My heart was touched, it burned within me as I pondered these conversations, and after following a prompting to create the thread I just posted, the Lord poured his Spirit upon me even more. I learned some great lessons that day.

[Alaris]

Lots of cool stuff

Someone on LDSFF who has made a difference in my life ....Emmalee

No Emma Lee didn't say the above but I sense I should both get her attention and post this.

Emmalee is a (probably distant) cousin of mine. I have benefited greatly from her posts, her testimony, her strength, and her sense of humor (she is related to me after all.) She and I don't always agree or see eye to eye but she is a wonderful example of the very best that LDSFF has to offer. Thanks for making a difference in my life Emmalee!

[abijah]

I love EmmaLee’s posts.

Also ashleyyyy from the dark side of the forum. Pretty sure she’ll end up one of my wives in the next life.

I learn lots of interesting things from Fiannan’s posts that I probably wouldn’t anywhere else.

Alaris for his insights and christlike persona.

ElizaSkouzzen for her spiritual intuition and Ldsanarchy for the drama.

[Zathura]

Finrock.

Nobody I've ever met describes the Doctrine of Christ in a near identical way as I had come to understand it.(John Tavner and Caburnha recently showed up and they are very similar) It's like I'm looking at my own words when I read his posts on the topic, it's uncanny . I frequently found him quoting the same scriptures in the same way. His conversion story is a wonderful one. He truly loves his Savior and glories in him. He has from time to time encouraged me when I was feeling down , I have always appreciated his testimony .

[Craig Johnson]

Another one I really like who pretty much hits the mark every time with his comments is Mark. Tells it like it is, knows the gospel, does not take any prisoners, good style. Does not play games with the you-know-whos and I love that. Like his avatar also (Richard Karn).

[Libertas]

I really enjoyed Bob Henstra's posts and miss his stories. Also, Marc's posts are spirit filled and edifying to me.

[nvr]

Whatever happened to CHH (Chris Hansen) from 10+ years ago? I learned a lot from his posts - he was a little out there but his way of challenging conventional thinking on monetary, tax and pointless licensing systems was refreshing.

[harakim]

Darren has made a difference in my life. He explained some things to me I've never heard and sent me some material I didn't understand at the time. However, it has led me to accept a bunch of things that I would not have otherwise accepted. And his ability to do the research has led me to believe I also can do the research. I forgot all about him until recently.

[NewEliza]

Thanks abijah :’)

I really appreciated mgridle

[Alaris]

Thanks abijah :’)

I really appreciated mgridle

Is this ElizaRSkousen??? Are you back!?

I can't believe I haven't mentioned Abijah myself yet ...

Someone on LDSFF who has made a difference in my life .... Abijah!!

It's very rare to meet someone who reminds me of me haha (INFJ) - but that's certainly Abijah (you know love thy neighbor as thyself means love thyself. And when you're neighbor reminds thee of thyself ... well! Easy!)

Did I just say I love Abijah? *blush*

In a time of spiritual struggle, Abijah was an answer to my prayers and helped me accept something truly important and sacred to me (now) - something with which I was struggling for two years. I will always remember this and be truly, deeply grateful.

That and his posts have extremely deep thought and intelligence behind them + humor. Wait, did I say he reminds me of me? Now this is sounding self serving!

I have learned much from Abijah - thank you sir!

[Alaris]

Thanks abijah :’)

I really appreciated mgridle

Someone on LDSFF who has made a difference in my life ....ElizaRSkousen

This is probably tough to follow up from my last post haha, but ... ElizaRSkousen's participation made a difference in my life for when she showed up, her thoughtful posts, her humility, and her faith were all evident and all very timely for me as well to benefit therefrom. Thank you ElizaRSkousen for the time you've dedicated here and it has left an impact on my soul!

[Silver Pie]

HeirofNumenor

We used to be more enemies than friends, iirc (I even had him blocked at one point), but then he started interacting in more friendly ways, so I unblocked him. Then we hijacked this thread, in which he convinced me to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy (I found all of them online and stayed up all night watching them). Up until that point, I not only had not watched the movies, I had been bored by the books. We drove Jules to distraction with our hijack.

Edit to add link to the thread: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=23262&hilit=trilog ... 40#p353953

[Silver Pie]

Daryl

I first met him on AVOW, then we were both on here, then we met in person. Had a lot of great conversations.

[Silver Pie]

FreedomForAll, formerly known as FreedomFighter. We became buddies somewhere in time - and had a great time on the Man Disappears in Florida Sinkhole thread. We are not on the same page in much of our religious thinking, but are still good friends. He has shown me that one can disagree on some core things and still show friendship and respect for each other.

[Silver Pie]

SempiternalHarbinger because of his amazing Electric Universe thread (we also became online friends, sharing pms and emails).

[Silver Pie]

DrJones - He has a keen mind, and posted a lot of stuff that makes sense. In my book, he's one of the best scientists and BYU lost out when they got rid of him.

[Silver Pie]

You know, I could go on and on and on, naming poster after poster until I've posted 50 or 100 times, so I think I'll stop. And I'll say this: if you think you've made a difference in my life, you probably have (whether or not we agree on religious ideas) - and if you don't think you have, or don't know me at all, you have probably still made a difference.

And, for those who may be confused by some of the posts in the links, my username was A Random Phrase until I decided to give up LDSFF (yeah, that didn't last, did it-even though I sometimes go many months without logging in/reading).

[ori]

I really like Justme. He’s teaching me how to be positive and disagree respectively.

[LDS Physician]

I've had so many influence me.

Alaris -- has opened my mind to many truths I had no idea existed. I'm certain the Spirit connected me to him in order to teach me truths I was ready and prepared to learn.

BeNotDeceived -- has such a reverence for the Lord. I've always been impressed with his knowledge of scripture and Jewish history.

Finrock -- I like the way he thinks and he's made me look at things differently than I ever have before.

Fianann -- Wonderful insights have opened my mind!

BrianM -- even-keeled and fair

RM Kirtland -- posts snippets from church history that I have never seen before, some of which are very valuable to my understanding.

IAM -- I don't always agree with his posts, but I simply love him. His focus on following the Savior is inspiring.

The list goes on!

Thanks for this post, Alaris!

[Original_Intent]

B., lundbaek, marc, Amonhi. There are certainly many, many others, but these four come first and foremost to mind.

BrianM for many reasons, some of which are providing this forum, for his gentle persuasions to encourage me to become a kinder, gentler poster (aka temp banning me) and for the many other things he does outside of this forum to try to build Zion.

lundbaek for his tireless defense of the Constitution as interpreted by the original intent of the authors.

marc for many reasons also, but I think the main one is I have seen the most growth in him in my time on the forum. Not to say others haven't grown as much or more, but I've noticed it in marc. He's truly someone that I feel should be emulated.

Amonhi if for no other reason the OP that began what I still consider to be the most helpful thread on this forum. The Fastest Way to Make Your Calling and Election Sure It was a quite life changing and eye-opening post and there was much of value posted by him and others in subsequent posts to the thread.

[Jeremy]

Someone on LDSFF who has made a difference in my life ....

Amonhi
Origianl_Intent said it well...Amonhi's OP was life changing.

Amonhi if for no other reason the OP that began what I still consider to be the most helpful thread on this forum. The Fastest Way to Make Your Calling and Election Sure It was a quite life changing and eye-opening post and there was much of value posted by him and others in subsequent posts to the thread.

FWIW - I had plenty of disagreements with Amonhi. They were all very civil...and dare I say friendly.
Source of example below

Amonhi, thank you for your kind and patient replies. I think you do a very good job expressing and explaining yourself. I also appreciate that you are not discrediting my experience and the knowledge that I have through those experiences.

It would be vain and foolish of me to try and persuade you in a direction contrary to what you are expressing. You have expressed this doctrine clearly and have testified that it was taught to you by Christ himself. On top of that, clearly you have a greater familiarity with the scriptures than do I. The testimony that Christ himself taught you and your wife this doctrine is a testimony I can not, nor will I try to refute. I believe He can/will give more when He comes.

Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

However, unlike the fruit I have tasted that is delicious and filling to my soul, this doctrine is disgusting and repulsive. I politely spit it out. Granted, it may be out of season or inherently poison. Either way, it is not fruit I should partake of. It would cause me much harm. Though I use that language to express my sense of that doctrine, it is not a reflection of my sense of you personally.

[Jeremy]

Someone on LDSFF who has made a difference in my life ....

Jules
When the world started flipping over and turning in on itself she was there...a comforting reminder that I wasn't the only one being pruned in that way.

[Jeremy]

Someone on LDSFF who has made a difference in my life ....

Honor
I reached out to her once about a dream she shared here. Doing so changed my life.