CNN reported yesterday that 83 out of 99 counties in Iowa have been declared disaster areas — the scale of the flooding is tough to grasp. Those flood waters are now spilling into the Mississippi and moving south. Another service opportunity for the MIY (missionaries in yellow), who are out filling sandbags in Quincy, Illinois. Our sympathy and support to all of those struggling against the waters. Read More

“The Church is happier with doubters who go on missions and accept ward callings than with the vocally orthodox who find ways to shirk.” Discuss. Read More

A good thing now comes to an end. We thank Wendy Ulrich for her fantastic guest posts, and wish her the very best. I’ve just begun reading her book, Forgiving Ourselves, and I can already tell that it will be a life-changing experience. Here are some of the chapter titles: The Spiritual Basis for Self-Forgiveness Defining Self-Forgiveness Receiving the Gift Repentance Shame and Pride Depression Anxious Perfectionism Self-Destructive Unselfishness Trauma and Abuse Though Your Sins Be As Scarlet Forgiving Ourselves as Parents Believing God Dr. Ulrich, thank you again. We hope you’ll come back and visit us soon. Read More

Comments are now open Is a Mormon universalism possible? Or in other words, is it possible for Mormons to envision their faith as one of many efficacious paths to God? I have my doubts, but maybe there is an argument to be made Read More

I had an interesting conversation the other night with a man in my ward. He is a wonderful human being with a wonderful wife raising a wonderful family… one of those people you are delighted to see called as the Gospel Doctrine teacher because you know things are going to get interesting and real, while staying firmly grounded in the scriptures. He is one of my favorite people. Read More

I am at a stage in life when I think a lot about place. After a decade or so of moving every 1 to 3 years, our family has arrived on the banks of the James and there is a very good chance that this is where my children will grow up. My interest in place is heightened of course that I live a mile from the site of Jamestown — first English settlement in America — and work in Williamsburg — colonial capital of Virginia and, as one acquaintance put it to me “Disney Land for history major.” We… Read More

In Fuchuu, Japan, I taught a young woman who had attended a Christian school and church for some years, but had become a bit turned off. She asked us why we were out trying to teach the gospel. Read More

A song that is synonymous for me with Father’s day is Dan Fogelberg’s Leader of the Band. Read More

I wrote this–the only sustained essay I’ve ever produced about my mission–about seven or eight months after I came home, while I was a student at BYU. Read More

At the end of my junior year of high school, I caught a glimpse of my graduating student body president one last time Read More

More grist for the mill here. Please read, return, and report. P.S.–I never wash my floors either. Read More

I basically pay my mortgage by thinking about contracts and promises. It is a tough job, but someone has to do. Of late, I’ve gotten to thinking about God’s promising. Consider these two quotes: Read More

There are advantages to attending a ward too small for fixed wooden benches in the chapel Read More

Missionaries spend from two weeks to three months in an MTC learning how to be a missionary. Many have also taken missionary preparation classes, or served mini-missions to help them prepare for their new life in the field. Returning missionaries preparing for their new life at home receive a half-sheet of counsel that says, in essence, “be good and good luck.” Read More

If you have been too busy with real life to do more than your required online reading here at T&S, here are a few posts you might have missed. Read More

I didn’t. But if you read “The Skeleton in Grandpa’s Barn” and Other Stories of Growing Up in Utah (Signature, 2008) you’ll get an informative glimpse of what it was like. Read More

Score one for FAIR. Last week, in Utah Lighthouse Ministry v. Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected an appeal by Sandra and Gerald Tanner’s anti-Mormon ministry over its claims of trademark infringement, cyber-squatting, and unfair competition that arose out of a parody website created by the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR). Read More

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Heads up for those in the D.C. area. Greg Prince, co-author of David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, hosts a great series of events at his house in Potomac, Maryland, the next of which is coming up on Sunday, June 8th. Read More

A while ago I was having one of those oft repeated conversations about faith, doubt, and intellectual reconciliation. My thoughtful interlocutor asked, “Is there anything that you could learn that would cause you to abandon your beliefs?” The clear assumption of his question was that there was something distinctly fishy about a set of beliefs that cannot be falsified. It is an assumption worth thinking about. Read More

Last week Adam cited a widely-shared “conservative case for gay marriage.” Read More

Today’s Gospel Doctrine lesson: the conversion of Alma the Younger. Read More

UPDATE (8/12/13):  When I wrote this post, I had no idea what was going on “behind the scenes.”  Please be sure to read this–it concerns accusations of fraud against DeMille and his ouster from GWC.   For the uninitiated, Thomas Jefferson Education (hereafter TJE) is a method of homeschooling–a method very popular among Mormons. Read More

Should be of particular interest to our SSM hounds. Read More

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