There have been a few more questions in the comments regarding the LDS faith and a few of its doctrines or teachings. I am not at all offended by the questions. They seem to be asked in a spirit of curiosity. Because they have been asked in such a neutral way, I plan on doing my best to answer these questions for you.
I would not answer if I felt they were asked to elicit debate on the subjects. In answering, I am not trying to "convince" or "convert" anyone to my view. My intent is only to help those whose faith is different from mine to see the issues from my eyes so that they can understand how I see them even if they don't agree with me.
I write this preface because I want those not of my faith to know that I respect other faiths. I encourage all of you, whatever your faith may be, to be active in your faith and seek out a relationship with God. I don't care what name you give Him or what form you think He has, I hope all of us will strive to grow closer to Him. All good comes from God. There are lots of churches doing lots of good in this world. I believe all the good any church does is inspired of God.
For those of you seeking further light and knowledge that you are not finding in your current faith, I would offer the invitation to learn more about the LDS faith. Meet with your local missionaries. They will teach you the basics of our beliefs and invite you to pray about what they have taught. It is the Lord who tells us which faith is right for us. Missionaries give you information and invite you to find out for yourself if it is true or not.
I will try to answer or rather explain how I view some of these more "misunderstood" or "challenging" subjects in my faith. However, as one of the commenters said, "I really am just curious... nobody has been able to explain it in a way that I feel satisfied with the answer, you know?" The real TRUTH is that on any subject that you find challenging, only the Lord speaking directly to your spirit can give you answers to satisfy. And even then, in my experience, He does not give you answers about algebra until you know and believe all your basic math facts. Does that make sense?
We must first understand the priesthood and believe that the prophet really does receive revelation for the church from Christ before we can believe any specific doctrine taught. That is especially true for doctrines taught in different time periods under different circumstances.
I do hope though that after I post my answers you will at least be able to see my reasoning. And because I do believe each prophet since Joseph Smith to Thomas Monson and all those prophets in the scriptures too are and always have been inspired of God, I hope my understanding will make sense to you even if you don't agree with it.
