Mother’s Day Sacrament Meetings are always filled with many interesting experiences for me.
The "Mother’s Day Massacre" was one of the most memorable for me. The term was coined by our Bishop at the time - a 50 something engineering professor who was big on getting things done, but not so warm and cuddly - his wife was a stay at home wife and a wonderful warm woman who could pick up the pieces from his can do, "damn the torpedoes" attitude. The two counselors in the Bishopric had wives who were fairly liberal - one kept her maiden name and worked as a professor at a University (she was also the Relief Society President at the time). I was HP GL and observed a lot of this from the peanut gallery (also the counselors were both my great friends).

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There was a recent Wall Street Journal article discussing the number of friends one can have in one’s circle. Robin Dunbar, an Oxford anthropologist whose 1993 research gave rise to the magical count of 150, which was generated by observing social groups in nonhuman primates, then giving humans a multiplier for our larger cortex (brain).

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On Saturday, I had to go to a managment retreat for my work. While there, my wife talked me into getting a massage (paid for by my work). When asked if I preferred either a male or female therapist, I asked for a female, but there were none available, so I had a male therapist give me a massage.

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On Saturday, my wife and I went to a Chocolate Buffet at a restaurant in Boston. The entire buffet was chocolate based - a mix of white, milk and dark. There were tables heaped with different chocolate desserts, toppings, etc. It was amazing. There were at least 100 different items to taste including: freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, different chocolate fruit tarts, a chocolate fountain with fruit for dipping to ice cream, chocolate crepes, chocolate cotton candy and assorted other tasty desserts. It was pure indulgence and worth the $30 each my wife and I paid - a splurge we rarely make.

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As a native of Utah who has lived on the East Coast for the last 13 years, I love to play “find that Utahn” based on the accent. While most Utahns think they don’t have an accent, there is a very discernible Utah twang - very different from the rural Idaho drawl. While not all Utahns or Idahoans have it, it is present in many. If the twang is present, it is easy to pinpoint someone from Utah (even without hearing the “oh my heck”). Of course, I am amazed at how much your environment can alter your language. I know that my language is much faster and similar to a New Englander speech pattern (without the hideous accent - I hope) than a Utah accent after 13 years. I have a brother who moved to Idaho ten years ago and now has a definite Idaho drawl.

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Polygamy has been discussed numerous times in various blog settings - here, here, here, for example. I have read a few books about the subject and have an ok understanding of the history of polygamy in the Church (the good - if there is any, the bad and the ugly, primarily from reading Richard Van Wagoner’s book). Last week my sister-in-law (recently sealed) asked me a question for which I could not give a “good” answer. Her question was “We know that historically in the Church, a man could be married/sealed to more than one living woman at the same time, but that now you will be excommunicated if you are married to more than one living woman at the same time. However, a living man can be sealed to more than one woman today (as long as only one of the women is living). This seems contradictory - either we believe in polygamy or we do not.”

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I don’t know how many of you have been following the financial markets recently. The mortgage mess has been hanging over many banks for awhile. On Friday, Bear Stearns noted it was having the equivalent of a bank run (which essentially means people pull their money out and the company cannot pay bills/loans due, etc). Over the weekend, Bear was purchased by JP Morgan for $2 a share - the stock had been over $170/share in 2007.

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I just finished reading “Last Flag Down” which is a book about the last Confederate ship to surrender during the Civil War. These poor guys were out at sea sinking New Bedford Mass whaling ships in the Bering Sea into June/July 1865 despite the fact that the war was over several months earlier. Once they found out the war was over, they sailed to Liverpool to surrender which took them until November. The most interesting aspect of the book to me was a profile of the different sailors. The officers had served in the US Navy before the war and most had been to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Yet, despite the fact that most of these officers were anti-slavery, they all chose to serve in the Confederate Navy because their loyalties were to their states (many from Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia).

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I fly too much for work - sadly I achieved platinum status on two airlines last year. I like to observe people who are in the plane and try to figure out why and where they are going. Some are easy to figure out - the vacationers. Others are clearly students headed somewhere, while there are also a significant number of business travelers, particularly on flights going to New York City. And then there are those for whom I have no idea why they are traveling - they seem a bit nervous and out of sorts - maybe for a wedding or a funeral or some other family event? Traveling is much more pleasant in the Spring and Fall than in the Winter or Summer. In the Winter and Summer there are so many storms combined with large numbers of vacationers both of which make flying unpleasant.

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Yesterday, I was traveling for work and in O’Hare Airport in Chicago. I was headed to my gate to catch my flight home and stopped in the bathroom. I was using the urinal when I had the sudden urge to sneeze - the kind that come on so fast you can’t react appropriately. I sneezed and the strength of the sneeze knocked my glassess off of my face right into the urinal…

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Recently I received an email informing me that this fall will be my 20th High School Reunion. After I got over the initial shock that I have been out of High School for 20 years (Pleasant Grove High School Class of ‘88), I went to the website that had been set up. I added my profile and over the next few days a few good friends from high school contacted me. These are people whom I have not spoken to in at least 15 years.

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The rankings are out - Utah is number one in usage of anti-depressants for 2006 - 18.4% of persons in the state filled a prescription for an anti-depressant according to ExpressScripts. Wow - what is going on? Nearly 1 in 5 people in Utah are depressed? I have heard people mention this anecdotally before (and know a lot has come out on various blogs - thanks for the reminder JohnF), but this is the first recent data I have seen.

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Since we are heavily Republican on this blog, lets look across the aisle for a moment. I was puzzled by all of the excitement around Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Senator Obama. Senator Kennedy was touting how this country really needs change and that Barack Obama is the person to make the required changes. This is where I get confused.

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We have had a very snowy winter thus far in Boston with several storms dumping considerable amounts of snow such that we have 2 feet or so on the ground. It will be the most “white” Christmas I have seen in Boston in a long time. One of the more humorous things to me in my commutes is my fellow drivers behavior towards the snow on their cars. I have seen five types of drivers - the minimalist, the optimist, the climber, the obsessed, and the lucky.
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The recent conference talk by Elder Oaks is bound to be a classic. The simplicity of his “Good, Better, Best” talk was wonderful. In particular, I enjoyed this part of the talk:

Church leaders should be aware that Church meetings and activities can become too complex and burdensome if a ward or a stake tries to have the membership do everything that is good and possible in our numerous Church programs. Priorities are needed there also.

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I have been in some great Sacrament meetings, both spiritual and funny. A convert to the Church called Sacrament Meeting a “Spiritual Gong Show”, except we just need a gong to stop people sometimes. I wanted to share a couple of those experiences that just make up for those non-Spiritual Sundays that we (okay maybe it is an I here) have sometimes in the Church.

1) We had a member in a ward I attended who thought of himself as the “urban cowboy”. He was very nice although a little bit on the eccentric side. He loved to play his guitar and was quite good at it. He finally talked to Bishop into letting him play his guitar one Sunday during Sacrament Meeting. I don’t remember what the song was, but it was not a Spiritual song at all but a mix of a western and a polka sung while he was wearing a cowboy hat, boots and a bolo tie. By the end I could not look at my wife as we were both holding in some serious laughter.

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I was a counselor in a Bishopric ten years ago in a ward, that had recently been “promoted” from branch status, with a Bishop who was a year older than me (27). The ward was made up of a few students, a few young working families/couples, and a large group of converts - many of them young and inexperienced in the Church (in fact, that year we had 115 converts in five months with 15 over the age of 18 - that is another story). It was a fun, dynamic ward where the youth were nearly all new converts with a lot of excitement for the Gospel (we could have 30 or more kids at Mutual nights).
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I am the founding and only member of Liberal Mormons For Wal-Mart (LMWM) - ok there is no LMWM, but I admit - I love Wal-Mart! I love the smiley face, I love the cheap prices, I want to be a greeter when I retire, and Sam Walton is my hero - any billionaire who still drives a beat up pickup to work everyday is awesome. In fact, I consider myself a Democratic leaning person and STILL I love Wal-Mart.

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Last Friday, my wife and I had the most wonderful experience. We went to a meeting where Margaret Young and Darius Gray discussed their upcoming documentary “Nobody Knows: The Untold Story Of Black Mormons.” They talked about the documentary and showed a few clips from it. They then spoke about their experiences and thoughts regarding the ban on Priesthood. Darius, in particular, spoke poignantly about his experiences. I must admit it was one of the most touching and spiritual experiences my wife and I have had in a long time. In fact, it was one of those experiences wherein time stands still as you are engrossed in what you are hearing and feeling. Truly, Margaret and Darius have the Spirit of God with them and touched a roomful of people.

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Al Gore was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with the UN Panel on Climate Change. I think this is well-deserved as he has made climate change a topic that even the Republican Party has begun to address and, hopefully, has begun to effectuate real change in our global consumption and behavior. However, I realize that some bloggers will think this is terrible or stupid or a gimmick or whatever, but as for me and my house we are happy for the Gore!