Category: Life in the Church

  • Parenting Tips from the Life of Warren Buffett

    Frank McIntyre

    “The deal that Buffett made with [son] Howie concerning the rent for Howie’s farm was … linked with weight; the amount rose and fell with Howie’s poundage. Warren thought his son should weigh 182.5 pounds. When Howie was over the limit, he had to pay twenty-six percent of the farm’s gross receipts to his father.…

  • Family Home Evening Ideas

    Julie M. Smith

    After almost three years, we’ve just about made it all the way through the Bible in felt. These have been great FHEs for us. Now I need something new.

  • The Great Unity

    Kent Larsen

    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.

  • When Being Right is Wrong

    Craig H.

    If you’re a teacher of any sort, you know how disruptive a couple of talkative or rude students can be, especially when you’re trying to get a discussion going. In an effort to regain control, you flash a forced smile in the direction of the goof-offs. You pause and wait until they’re finished before you…

  • BYU in the Memory of the AAUP

    Nate Oman

    Among the other academic spam that I get are regular emails from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), which is always eager to remind me of their fights for academic freedom, higher salaries for professors, and various trendy and hip progressive causes. Today, the AAUP sent out an email commemorating the ten year anniversary…

  • Stewardship and Politics

    Brigham Daniels

    With elections coming up and my time as a guest blogger running out, I like to take up the topic of Mormonism and voting. First, what should we make of the many Mormons who seem completely disengaged in politics?

  • The Epitome of Not Forgetting

    Marc Bohn

    I linked to an article earlier that I have since decided is to good to leave just to the newsfeed. It’s from a Chicago Tribune religion reporter who is Jewish with Mormon relatives. In it, the reporter describes a rift that formed in her family after her great-uncle Al married a Mormon and then later…

  • First Things Articles

    Julie M. Smith

    First Things has published two articles about the Church; one by Bruce D. Porter and the other by Gerald R. McDermott.

  • Are we not funny?

    Kylie Turley

    I freely admit that I’m not the funniest person in the world, but I do think I have a sense of humor. I like a good laugh as much as anyone. Or perhaps I should say, “I like a good laugh as much as anyone who is LDS.”

  • Missions and the Art of Togetherness

    Ben Huff

    One unique aspect of the missionary experience is the opportunity to focus everything you do, day and night, directly on the goal of serving God. It can be kind of scary to set that as your project, because it is a tall order. Serving God for one day is hard enough; you run out of…

  • Missions, art, and surveillance

    Jonathan Green

    One unique aspect of the missionary experience, quite distinct from life before and after, is the feeling that someone is always watching you. It’s probably the one aspect of my mission that I could have done without, although I wouldn’t say that it was entirely unproductive.

  • Kindness and Technology

    Kylie Turley

    “I seriously doubt whether there will be anyone in the celestial kingdom who is not kind.” “An important measure of our efforts for the celestial kingdom is how we treat others.” (Elder Jensen, Regional Conference meeting, September 7, 2008).

  • Doctrines of Localization

    Kent Larsen

    In April, 1998, President Hinckley visited New York City to speak at a special fireside held in Madison Square Garden, and our stake provided a 100+ voice choir for the event. I remember thinking at the time that with all of the talented Church members in New York City, the choir should be permanent.

  • New Mormon Studies Clearinghouse: MormonConferences.org

    Ben Huff

    Have you been wondering where to go to find out what all is going on in Mormon Studies? Now you know: MormonConferences.org, just launched today, keeps track of all the major public events in Mormon Studies and lists them all on one calendar

  • Only a Clerk

    Kent Larsen

    Soon after I was made a ward clerk 20 years ago this month, I walked into the clerk’s office to find a xerox copy of an article posted there. The article was the text of a letter, sent by one of my predecessors, to the Church’s membership department, and had somehow found its way to…

  • Special Feelings (more on Mormon Language)

    Kylie Turley

    This morning I heard a member of Utah’s delegation to the Republican National Convention tell a radio talk show host that “there is a really special feeling among the Republican delegation.” Could you run that by me again?

  • Moderation in all Salt

    Kent Larsen

    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)…

  • Three Million Strong (and Growing)…

    Marc Bohn

    A little more than a year ago, Russell wrote a post commemorating Times and Seasons 2 millionth hit. A feat he said wasn’t bad “for a blog that doesn’t feature kittens or porn.” Looking back, he also noted that while “We’ve weathered storms and squalls, and some people have gone overboard… Still, old Times and…

  • Mormon Language

    Kent Larsen

    I can’t resist telling this one again. Last May in priesthood meeting the photographers collecting photos for the ward directory suggested that the photos might end up on the “Blogosphere.” After they mentioned the word “Blogosphere” three times, I replied: “In the Church, we call it the “Bloggernacle.” To my surprise, this drew gaffaws from…

  • What of the BYU?

    Kent Larsen

    Several years ago a returned missionary acquaintance was told, on applying to BYU, that he needed ‘academic repenting’ before he could be admitted.

  • New Nursery Manual

    Julie M. Smith

    The new nursery manual is available.

  • What to do about Deseret Book?

    Kent Larsen

    For the past decade, I’ve suggested that Deseret Book is one of the significant impediments to the growth of Mormon culture outside those elements involving worship. LDS books, music, film, art and other cultural products, especially innovative ones, are hampered by Deseret Book’s size, focus and control of the market for LDS materials. What can…

  • Sunday School Redux

    Frank McIntyre

    Three excellent quotes from this week’s Sunday School lesson: Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.

  • What is an Association Worth?

    Kent Larsen

    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…

  • Evil Speaking

    Nate Oman

    In the Old Testament God likens his relationship to the House of Israel as that of a bridegroom to his wife. In the New Testament, the Church is described as the bride of Christ. The choice of the image of marriage, it seems to me, is hardly accidental. It provides, I think, the background for…

  • Mourning with Those Who Mourn

    Julie M. Smith

    So I’m at the pool last week with someone I really like but don’t know all that well and we’re kvetching about grocery prices, etc., when out of nowhere she says, “So I know you lost a baby daughter last winter. How are you doing with that?”

  • Garden Fights

    Kylie Turley

    Between loving fresh vegetables and an assumption about gardens being “doctrine,” I find myself planting every spring and harvesting what the bugs didn’t nibble in the summer and fall. Except for a few condo-living years when dirt was a scarce commodity, I have planted religiously. But

  • Hot Mormon Gossip

    Marc Bohn

    Has the Church really made an unsolicited offer to buy Facebook (see here which spun off to here)?

  • What Model for Spreading Mormon Culture?

    Kent Larsen

    Ever been in one of the few LDS stores outside the United States? or in countries that don’t speak English? The selection can be quite discouraging.

  • My Williamsburg Discrimination Story

    Nate Oman

    Adam’s post about the California Supreme Court’s recent decision, and the resulting brawl in the comments got me thinking about the basis of discrimination. In 1998, while I was a senior at BYU I spent a semester in Williamsburg, Virginia doing research in the archives at the College of William and Mary. The week before…