Let’s leave that up to the Lord to decide. We aren’t the judges on why a person should or should not be baptised. I have 6 siblings, only one besides myself is active. The rest were baptised when they were 8 years old as were we. Do you think it was a waste of time for them to be born, raised and baptised, in the church? I don’t. Choices were made by then, they may turn back. Same with convert baptisms. Stop being judge and jury and just do the job you were asked to do.

I repeat my comments from another post. You appear to neither read the scriptures nor understand the workings of the Lord.

What you want to believe is entirely your business, but when you start equating blessings with money in any degree, you are treading in unchartered waters.

For every Abraham I will give you a Joseph Smith.

For every prosperous period in Nephite history, I will give you the consequences.

The poor and impoverished in this world have a part to play, and to judge them based on how much money they make, or have, is IMHO a great travesty. This is the Lord’s plan. Let Him decide who should be rich and who should be poor. He has reasons for all of it.

If you knew what the story of the talents was really about I think you would be surprised.

Did you read the article by Boyd K. Packer that I recommended?

Mary – It is a good thing SLC pays the bill to heat the water for the wards that get a lower budget allowance due to % of attendance. I do agree with you on saving souls. But then, why baptise if they are not going to be active? Are you really helping or hurting them in the hereafter?

Larry wrote “Money is your god, and clearly you worship it above all else. Why don’t you go and start a Church for the wealthy only”

I don’t recall reading about Abraham being poor. I recall about how the Lord blesses the righteous. I recall the story about the talents. I don’t recall where being poor is the prefered lifestyle. Humble yes, poor no. With all your wisdom, please explain how being poor is what God wants us to be.

Why would I want to start my own church? Is that what you did?

Just to set the record straight. I do not worship money, nor do I seek after it. I just do not believe you should live in poverty. I also do not believe God wants you to live in poverty.

But then who are you to decide? Baptims are not for the benefit of the ward, but for the benefit of the individual. We aren’t in the business of creating numbers to look good, we are in the business of saving souls.

Maybe you should decide. Clearly the Saviour had things all screwed up when He worked among the poor. Where are the Rothchilds when we need them?

They obviously have the highest rewards hereafter since money is the determinant of all that is good.

If you don’t believe in the ordinances and the power that is in them, then stop your whining about the burden that the poor place on the resources of the Church. You have learned nothing in all the discussions we have had.

Money is your god, and clearly you worship it above all else.

Why don’t you go and start a Church for the wealthy only… Oops, sorry, someone beat you to it, but he is always looking for converts.

Historically, neoconservatives supported a militant anticommunism, tolerated more social welfare spending than was sometimes acceptable to libertarians and mainstream conservatives, supported civil equality for blacks and other minorities, and sympathized with a non-traditional foreign policy agenda that was less deferential to traditional conceptions of diplomacy and international law and less inclined to compromise principles even if that meant unilateral action. “Wikipedia”

Regarding Activity Levels – Percentages are interesting but there is a problem in some wards where high numbers of poor or illegal aliens reside and the strain they place on the limited resources of the members may not be that good for the individual ward. Missionaries find success with the poor and humble, baptise them and then leave. Baptism numbers look good but % of church attendance goes down. % of HT goes down, $ to the ward goes down, etc unless the poor continue to attend church and be active they become a drain on their ward. A baptism that does not result in a liflong member creates problems for a ward for many years after the missionary has left his successful mission. Combine this time and time again and the numbers and %’s can get bad.

I have lived in wards with high % of activity and zero convert baptisms and wards that have a convert baptism every week. The wards with high baptisms tended to have low ht’ing %. Low recommend %, low tith paying %.

Are people important – YES – Is baptism important YES – Is wealth important – You decide.

The highest number of baptism is indeed among the poor but so is the highest number of inactive members.

Where they converted?