All things Becky15 Higgins/beggy Higgins

Oh, I was referencing specifically Joseph Smith's revelations about the wooden submarines that were built in 2500BC by the Jaredites (the Mormon scripture is filled with all kinds of peoples we've never heard of and have no existence of ever existing, nicolep , just roll with it  ). They travelled in these great submarines but of course, they needed air! So, how did they get air in these alleged submarines from over 4500 years ago? Corks! A hole with a cork on top and a hole with a cork on the bottom so that whenever the vessel would float up, it could take in some oxygen... I kid you not! This is how the Jaredites travelled for 344 days (yes, 344, as in almost a full year). This is how they went from the Middle East (Babel) to the Americas, AKA the Promised Land according to Joseph Smith (forget Israel, it's all about USA! USA!). 

Of course, it's pretty easy to understand Smith's submarine obsession when you look at the submarine history: in the early 19th century when he was born, it was all the rage and becoming an actual reality. In 1800, the Nautilus, a submarine vessel with sails, was first tested by the French navy. Its inventor was American and it was considered a big feat in the US. It led to many other inventors trying their hand at another form of submarine and many designs, plans, attempts. Smith's imagination fed on this as well as the Egyptology that was so fashionable at the time for content of his writing (Egyptomania was Europe's big obsession in the 18th and 19th centuries and frequently reported on in newspapers in America, too). 

But yes, wooden submarines with a cork on the top and a cork on the bottom. Physics be damned! 

Omg sleepingbooty you are a riot!! Thank you for that wealth of hilarious information! 😂

You have to fund your own mission? I don't know why I didn't realize that was the case... can't imagine the Church wants to spend money, only receive

Many Mormons save during their teenage years to fund their mission. Parents and family usually pay the rest. I also recently found out that it's common in LDS families to instill the tithing principle from a very young age by making children pay tithing out of their allowance. 

And if you have any money left from paying tithing + saving for your mission, you can always buy Becky's Sister (or Elder, I'm not discriminating based on gender here) PL core kit, don't forget! #goodoldays
 

or maybe use it as the Sister {wives} PL kit, depending on your flavor of Mormonism?        

I read some interesting articles about missions and their purpose a couple of years back (maybe links from Booty). In some ways converting others was just a byproduct, but having young people isolated and drilled in all the ins and outs of trying to justify their religion to non-believers is hugely beneficial, some would call education, some brain washing. Basically if you can survive endless weeks of "selling" your faith to heathens and come out the other side you are going to be thoroughly indoctrinated!


I'm not sure if this article was the main one that I read, might be getting a couple mixed up in my head, but this is about how they are trying online proselytizing, despite the great dangers in letting horny teenagers loose, away from home for the first time, on that great hub of pornography and distraction, the internet...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/the-facebook-of-mormon/283467/

Wow, is it really called the book of Ether? Really?

it's called faith, silly!! Don't question, just BELIEVE!!! (or else!)

Drebbel’s sub was largely wood in 1620? Or at least the 3rd one was, more like a submersible rowboat. He built 3, they worked but didn’t go far. The largest fit 16 people most of whom needed to row. The final is famous for a 3 hour trip in the Thames in front of most of London. ( I did always think of that when I’d hear the song for the minnow’s 3 hour tour on Gilligan’s island ) but he had a giant snorkel, although no one can be sure he didn’t chemically produce oxygen at that time since He did later find a way to get oxygen chemically from sulfur &/or potassium. ( It’s been a long time since that history class. )

It’s maybe not as totally impossible as you think, but surviving the ocean would be a miracle for sure. So the idea was there if only they had made their scripture a little bit more accurate with a bit of research maybe it’d be slightly more believable.

I was not raised Mormon, but it was expected of me to pay 10% of my allowance to my church as a tithe when I was growing up. My parents were very big on the idea of tithing. They didn't check that I was actually doing it, but it was very much expected.

When my kids were young and my mom would send them money for a birthday or special occasion, she definitely expected them to give 10% to church. She would write it in their birthday card. I would explain to them that she wanted them to do it, but it was up to them whether they wanted to or not because I was of the school of thought that gift money belongs to the person who receives it. If you give someone a gift and then dictate how it is to be used, is it really a gift? Or is it an obligation? I was totally fine if they decided to spend the money on Legos or video games instead.

I was just pointing out that had he done any research at all he could have made his scripture just a slight bit more ‘believable’ as opposed to WTF are you talking about a corked sub?

No. Not really. Jared prayed and the sealed up, windowless, submersive wooden barges were the answer. He prayed again to ask for help and from what I remember his God's finger touched some stones and made them shine. And that was the sign. So they embarked and braved the sea and the storms for 344 days before landing in the promised land that is America.