Any minute now, it will begin: first one car, then another, then another will drive into our cul-de-sac and park in front of the house across the street. As they do on every holiday, the Bishop’s children are coming home. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
LDS Newsroom
- New Bishops' Central Storehouse Ready to Serve the Needy January 27, 2012
- Actors Share Nativity Experiences With Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos December 8, 2011
- First Standardized International Church Newsroom Website Launched August 30, 2011
- Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell Compliments Church’s Welfare Program August 15, 2011
- Apostles Visit Church Members in India, Hong Kong and Mongolia May 27, 2011
- Church President Thomas S. Monson Rededicates Atlanta Georgia Temple After Renovation May 1, 2011
- Seven Anchors to Religiousness of Youth April 28, 2011
- Latter-day Saints Across the Globe Watch, Listen to General Conference April 3, 2011
- Mormons in Africa: A Bright Land of Hope February 22, 2011
- New Conference Encourages Innovation in Genealogy Technology February 10, 2011
Posts Tagged ‘ Social and Personal ’
The Gospel and Immigration
A High Priest I know is in crisis. He is an immigrant who, like many other Church members, came to the US without a visa, according to what I understand of the situation. After arriving here he joined the Church, and eventually fell in love and married a U.S. Citizen, a wonderful, faithful Church member. This situation would normally put him on track for a green card and U.S. citizenship. But this brother is facing deportation, and his ward and stake are praying for a miracle that will keep him here in the United States. Be the first to... Read more »
What Should Mormons Do?
The Associated Press reported yesterday that Mormon employees at the University of Phoenix benefited from discrimination based on religion, according to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The University settled the suit, paying $1.9 million to 52 employees (an average of more than $36,000 each!) and agreeing to a “zero-tolerance” policy to religious discrimination, but did not admit wrongdoing. What’s up with that? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Just Say No (to members)
A few months ago, a sister in our ward asked my daughter to babysit. On a Monday evening. That’s right. Monday Evening. We try to be diligent with family home evening on Monday night, so the answer needed to be “no,†but I was a bit confused about how to convey that message. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormon Halloween: Its Origin and Destiny
I’m not sure whether or not Halloween is actually “Mormon” to any significant degree. Mormons generally participate in the holiday here in the U.S., of course. And we even have a few requirements of the holiday in a Church setting — for example, we don’t allow masks at Church-sponsored Halloween events. But I don’t think that these facts quite give us a Mormon Halloween. Perhaps what we need is a good, Mormon-specific monster! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Great Unity
Last weekend I went to the penultimate game in Yankee Stadium, and the next night watched the last game on television, complete with its post-game wake. Over nearly 20 years I’ve attended meetings there, letting a place and a culture become an almost religious part of my life. Its a Temple of baseball. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Moderation in all Salt
Like in many Mormon families, my siblings and I helped fix dinner. On Sunday’s I loved to fix the mashed potatoes. It was in making mashed potatoes that I learned early that though a little is good, a lot is not necessarily better. Early on, I served a large bowl (there were 8 of us) of mashed potatoes after thinking that if a little salt was good, . . . Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What is an Association Worth?
This past week I received a card in the mail from the BYU Alumni Association, asking for my help in “editing” my biographical information in an “Alumni Directory” in preparation. While I’ve certainly given the Alumni Association biographical information in the past, for some reason this time I started asking myself “is this worth my time?” and, in the Mormon context, “is this worth anyone’s time?” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Called to leave
My grandmother, mother, and I all served missions, so I was delighted when my firstborn announced her intention to serve, submitted her papers, received her call. Little did I know. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
“We lived after the manner of happinessâ€
The other day somebody sent me a YouTube link for a comedian I’ll call Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Jones was a chubby gramdma with hot flashes – not the kind of person you usually see doing stand-up. Most of the “funny†email forwarded to me makes me sigh and hit the delete button. Mrs. Jones made me laugh out loud. It felt sort of weird. Which made me realize that I don’t laugh nearly enough Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Coming of Age
Once upon a time, there really was a moment when a girl left behind an actual, old-fashioned childhood and embarked on a well-defined period of preparation for motherhood and marriage. Now, childhood ends earlier than ever, while adulthood in the traditional sense—of settling down and starting a family—begins much later, if at all. In the middle is a stretch of adolescence so extended—and so various, from teenage parenthood to perpetual studenthood—one hardly knows when coming of age should be celebrated, or why. –from a Slate review of a book on Quinceaneras. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
How Much Should We Advantage Our Kids Over Others?
When asked why they aren’t more generous with their time or money, many people answer that if they gave more, it would be at the expense of their own children. Sure, the argument goes, it would be great if I could pay an extra $100 to provide immunizations for kids in Africa, but my first duty is to my family, and giving that $100 for immunizations would prevent me from taking my kids to the water park. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Why Haven’t You Adopted an Orphan Child?
For years I’ve been torn by the knowledge that there are thousands of orphaned or abandoned children desperate to be welcomed into a family like mine and our reasons for “passing by on the other side” when we see the “least of these.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Quality
Warning: To write this post, I’ve had to get personal. I apologize in advance for that, but some points I make require grounding in my observations about personal experiences, many of which are highly charged. The stories and observations I report here in no way represent everything I think about these matters. More importantly, they don’t represent everything I will think; I’m not through turning over these events and ideas to see what else is there. If you’ve come to this post already feeling overwhelmed or bothered about something, you might want to skip reading this, because it might... Read more »
Appropriate Requests
Yesterday we met our new home teachers. After they shared their message, and before they asked to leave us with a prayer, they asked the common question, “Is there anything you need that we can help you with?” We answered “No.” We then said a prayer together and they left. When they asked that question my mind began to list all the things that we need or want- a grown up bed for our kid, someone to watch our kid this Thursday while I’m at the dentist, to figure out what is going on with my husband’s ear, help... Read more »
Jews and Mormons
In some way, Jews and Mormons seem to be kin culturally, whatever the doctrine about our kinship. 3 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
I am now officially not young
It happened not long ago. I started getting emails from something called the Cambridge Stake MSA. As is my habit with all mass mailings, I deleted the first few without reading them, but after a while I noticed them and realized that I didn’t know what MSA stood for. Turns out MSA is the “Middle Singles,” which is everyone 30-50 years old who isn’t married. In the eyes of the church, I am no longer a “Young Single Adult.” I’m just a “Single Adult.” I am now officially old. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Worthless dating advice
The October 2004 New Era was a special issue dedicated to marriage and dating. As a member of a singles ward, I was encouraged to read the issue, so I did. Frankly, it was to me more a source of hilarity than inspiration– probably at least in part because I was almost twice the age of their target audience. One of my roommates and I amused ourselves for a couple of hours reading our favorite passages aloud and laughing our heads off. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
What If President Hinckley Says This Next Month…
“…brothers and sisters, there is another matter of which I’d like to mention before we close this glorious conference. We live in a new age. A time where information surrounds us. The internet has grown to be a regular part of many people’s lives. Email makes it easier to communicate… but I’m not going to give you my email address (crowd erupts with laughter). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Mormon Bankrupt
Utah has a very high rate of bankruptcy. In 2000 it hovered at around 7 filings per thousand people– twice the national average. This lonely fact has launched a thousand explanations for why Mormons have such a problem with defaulting on their creditors. Clearly, the thinking seems to be, this shows some of the rot in the Kingdom. Just as clearly, this view has very little support in the data. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The End-Stopped Line
Sixteen years ago today, May 2, 1989, was a Tuesday. I got up and went to school that morning, along with my three other school-age siblings; I was fourteen, in ninth grade, an everting adolescent just starting to worry about my weight, thinking about my first AP exam in a few weeks. My mother probably stayed in most of that day, occupied with our new two-month-old, Abraham, and the three other home-age children. My dad went to work, and then to a school board meeting that evening. My grandma was in town, too, visiting for a few weeks. Be... Read more »
“Sir, I have come to ask for your daughter’s hand. Nice pajamas.”
Julie’s post on courting brings up an interesting question that I have, thankfully, only struggled with once: Should you ask a father’s “permission” prior to proposing marriage to his daughter? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
God spared my life and future three miles north of Parowan
God spared my future a few miles north of Parowan. Read more »
Eccentrics
There is a student on the Georgetown campus that makes me uneasy. He has glasses, a bushy beard, heavy features, long brown hair knotted in dreadlocks. I see him often, and he always seems to be wearing the same thing: a camouflage jacket, brown trousers, and a heavy backpack full, I’m convinced, of books on anarchy. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
“He is a dreamer; let us leave him”: Observing the Ides
“Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music.” (Julius Caesar, I.ii) The imagined exchanges between Julius Caesar and the soothsayer about March 15, 44 B.C. have made me think about superstition, the irrational, and the place of portents, genuine or spurious. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Am I a Productive Adult?
Actually, I know I’m not. I eat too much sugar, I don’t rise at the crack of dawn, I own no Tupperware, I take three hours to leave the house in the mornings, I’ve never bought a car, I earn about $12,000 a year, I have a library book overdue, I had zero taxable income in FY 2003, I don’t have dental insurance, I’m several thousand dollars in debt to whomever Sallie Mae sold my student loan, I’ve never had a full-time job longer than nine months, and my father pays my cell phone bill Be the first to... Read more »
For JV on January 17
JV is the kind of person one notices right away in an LDS chapel, the kind of person one remembers. I’d seen her at various stake activities after I moved with my new husband into our micro-studio apartment in a transient-urban ward; when we moved into student housing in the neighboring transient-student ward the next year, hers was one of the few familiar faces that greeted us that first Sunday. It was impossible not to like her instantly: JV is outgoing, exuberant, affectionate, interested, and an intent listener. She also happens to be African-American. Be the first to like.... Read more »
Say No to Santa
It’s time to get rid of the old fat guy in the red suit. I have five good reasons why Santa has to go. One: Santa is a big fat lie. Let’s face it. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Family Businesses: In the World but not of It
What is the well-dressed office worker reading on the evening train this season? The Economist. The Economist? Yes. An article on family businesses. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Can a Good Mormon be a Meritocrat?
I’m not a big fan of much of David Brooks’s writings, as he is often too Manichean to be useful (here’s a good parody). But in the opening pages of Bobos in Paradise, Brooks does a nice job of describing the shift in American culture from a class structure based on lineage or money to one based on education and achievement. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Conferences and Events
- Exploring Mormon Conceptions of Apostasy
- Daniel C. Peterson: "Contemporary Connections between Middle Eastern Countries and the Church"
- Tammi J. Schneider: "Women in the Bible: The Past, Present and Future of Biblical Scholarship"
- LDS Tech Conference
- Newell Bringhurst and Craig Foster: "The Mormon Quest for the Presidency"
- Sunstone West
- Sunstone Kirtland
- Mormon Media Studies Symposium
- Untold Nauvoo Stories Symposium
- The Mormon Quest for the Presidency Before Romney and Huntsman
Calls for Papers
- Mormon Media Studies Symposium
- Sunstone Kirtland
- Sunstone West
- Sunstone Symposium: MORMONS AND MORMONISM AS A POLITICAL FORCE
- BYU Religious Education Student Symposium
- RESTORATION STUDIES SYMPOSIUM
- Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association
- Mormon History Association
- Church History Symposium
- Conference on the History of Mormonism in Latin America and the US-Mexico Borderlands