JAMES - Why don't Mormons say The Lord’s prayer in their services? Do they ever say it? Jesus commandmed the people in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon to say it.

JOEL - Jesus said:

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. (Matt. 6: 9)

He did not command them to say His prayer word for word the way He did, He only used it as an example of how to pray. The phrase "After this manner", means to do it in the same way.
In Matthew Jesus introduces the prayer by first cautioning his listeners to avoid "vain repetitions".

"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking" (Matt 6:7)

To me repeating the Lord's prayer over and over would qualify as vain repetition.
Also the versions of the prayer in Matthew and in Luke are different, so how would we know for sure which one to use?
Latter-day Saints seek to have true communion with God by saying prayers from the heart. This is hard to do when one only repeats a memorized prayer.
Actually we do occaisionally sing "The Lord's Prayer" song in our services. Does that count?

JAMES - Is it true that Latter-day Saints believe that the Atonement was limited only to the Garden of `Gethsemane? if so, what about Col. 2:14?

JOEL - No, this is not true. We only believe that a great part of the suffering Jesus did for our sins happened in the Garden:

"And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22: 44)

Being in agony and sweating blood like that sounds like a lot of suffering to me. But His suffering continued on the cross. In fact we believe the entire atonement includes the Garden, the cross, His death, and His resurrection from the grave which paid for our sins and made eternal life possible for all of us.

JAMES - Doesn't Alma 41:8 go against D&C 56: 4,5

"Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved." (Alma 41:8)

"Wherefore I, the Lord, command and revoke, as it seemeth me good; and all this to be answered upon the heads of the brebellious, saith the Lord.
Wherefore, I revoke the commandment which was given unto my servants Thomas B. Marsh and Ezra Thayre, and give a new commandment unto my servant Thomas, that he shall take up his journey speedily to the land of Missouri, and my servant Selah J. Griffin shall also go with him."(D&C 56: 4-5)

If you read the entire chapter in Alma you will find that the "decrees" talked about are the doctrines that God sets forth pertaining to our salvation. That we must repent of our sins and turn to righteousness and obey His word. That if we want to be happy we cannot be wicked. These are eternal truths that do not change.
The commands talked about in the D&C scripture are simply instructions that God might want a particular person or group of people to do, but are subject to outside influences, such as the free agency and fallibility of man that might change the conditions.
God must make allowances for free agency of man otherwise we would be mere puppets, only doing what He makes us do.

JAMES - Many say that Alma 11 is about weights and measurements (e.g. http://www.jefflindsay.com/BMEvidences.shtml).
However, in 1828 “piece” meant a ‘coin’ - (see Webster's Dictionary - http://65.66.134.201/cgi-bin/webster/webster.exe?search_for_texts_web1828=piece)

JOEL - In 1828 the word "piece" could mean a coin or it could also mean a part of something, like a quantity of gold or silver. I am certain in the 1800s they used both definitions depending on what they were talking about.
The question is, what was the Nephite definition of "piece" as it was used in the Book of Mormon? The weights and measures definition fits better considering the probable influence of an Egyptian monetary system.

JAMES - If LDS Patriarchal blessings repersent a restoration of the process, why were they done by fathers on death-beds (e.g. Esau’s blessing) as oposed to when one was a few weeks of age and done by priesthood holders?

JOEL - We don't know they were only done by fathers on death beds. The few instances of this we find in the Bible may have happened this way, but there were no doubt many other such blessings that were not recorded in the Bible.
Patriarchal blessings are not given when one is a few weeks of age in our church. They are performed when one is closer to adult age by an ordained Patriarch in our Church. Fathers do give their children a name and blessing shortly after they are born, but this is not a saving ordinance and it is not called a Patriarchal blessing.

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