Recently we went to a Castle in Wales (another story) and in the moat was a family of ducks – a mother and 11 babies that were clearly newly hatched. We watched while they swam over to this grate, where the water drained into a culvert that ran under the road into who knows where. We were horrified as one by one the ducklings got sucked down the grate. The mother did not seem particularly bothered by it and started to swim away. Only four babies followed her. I ran down to peek in the culvert and could see several of the babies were alive and trying to keep from being washed away. Unfortunately, they were 6-8 feet down and I could not reach them, nor could we move the grate as it was welded on. So we had to walk away knowing those baby ducks would die. What was even more disturbing was the mother duck. She swam over to the side and started eating with the four babies. It has bothered me ever since. I think what is even more disturbing is that I have read stories of humans who are not much different. However, on a happy note, most human parents do not act like this so enjoy those Mother’s on Mother’s Day and always remember to help out those baby ducklings you encounter in life.

Ok, so Romney, Gingrich and Santorum each have one win under their belts. Who do you like for Florida? After Florida comes Nevada, then Maine, Colorado, Missouri, and Minnesota all the first week of February. Here is my guess: Romney takes Florida by 5 points, easily takes Nevada, Maine, Colorado. Has a fight in Missouri and Minnesota (could lose those to Gingrich or Santorum). Likely the only one to dropout during this period is Santorum. What do you think?

One advantage of living in the UK is that I get to listen to the BBC. I really enjoy it, much more than listening to NPR for the most part. Today they were talking about a list of names that the New Zealand registrar has banned – basically you cannot name your child one of these names. Here are some of the names:
Lucifer
Duke
Messiah
89
Bishop
Baron
General
Judge
King
Knight
Mr.
C
D
I
T
any names with asterisks, commas, periods and other punctuation marks

I know people named some of these names – particularly Duke, Bishop, and Judge. I was thinking that the Church should ban certain names – what ones would you ban?

I love a new year as it is a chance to ponder the year past and consider the year ahead. This year could be particularly interesting given it is a Presidential Election. I have watched with fascination the machinations ongoing with the Republican candidates. Given tomorrow is the start of the process – any predictions for January outcomes and eventual nominee?

Here are mine:
Iowa – Ron Paul wins, Santorum in second, Romney third. Basically means everyone else is dead
NH – Romney wins, Paul second, Huntsman third
SC – Santorum wins, Romney second, Paul third
FL – Romney wins, Paul second, Santorum third

By this point, only Romney, Paul, Santorum are still in the mix. The party coalesces around Romney and he is the nominee given the party is scared to death of the other two…

What do you think?

We had our Ward Primary Program a few weeks ago. We worked hard teaching our six year old the words to the songs. Our three year old also learned them since she would listen as we sang the songs together. I love how three year old minds work – since some of the words were new to her, she filled in the words that were either too complicated or unknown to her with words she knows. For example, “Praise to the Man”, is now “Praise to the Manatee … Kings shall tightrope and nations severe…” The other song that is just too cute is “I’m trying to be like Jesus”. When she sings the second verse it is “I watch for the day of breakfast, when Jesus will come again…” I must admit, I do like some of the primary songs – the messages are very simple and resonate with me.

We moved from the US to England six weeks ago for my work. It has been an interesting experience as we have adjusted to the differences in culture between the two countries. I will admit one of my trepidations was in having to go to Church here. I was unsure what to expect. However, I will say that we have felt more welcome in this ward that in our previous ward in the US when we moved in. The wards are about the same size from an active member perspective, but the UK ward has a mix of Brits, Yankees, and other nationalities. It is a lot of fun to get to know the different folks. The other pleasant surprise has been the classes. I have previously avoided going to HP Group in the US given it is usually a bunch of old farts pontificating about their version of the Church that existed in the 1950s or Sunday School lessons that ask the silly questions from the manuals. Both HP Group and SS have been wonderful – I actually feel like I am learning things. So all in all, a huge positive on the move from a Church perspective! I forgot how wonderful it is to be in a classroom where you are learning as opposed to counting the minutes until you can exit.

We live in a Northeastern state that was hit directly by Irene. Our house is just a block in from the ocean. We were in an area that was covered by a mandatory evacuation. Like all good Americans and 80% of my neighbors, we chose to ignore the evacuation order. I should note that the evacuation order was due to nervousness about a little bridge which is the only way into our neighborhood which meant that no emergency services would be available for 48 hours and not due to some risk of death. Given we are all healthy, our house is on a little hill, and we have hurricane proof windows, we chose to stay, instead of stay in the high school gym which was 1 mile down the road. The storm started fairly small on Saturday night, but by Sunday morning, it was blowing really hard. We had pulled out flashlights, some food, our 72 hour kit, and blankets and put them in our basement in case we needed them. I was feeding the kids breakfast at 7AM or so and the really hard winds hit. The house was shaking and I got a little scared. We were ready to vacate to the basement, but the wind shifted direction and the rest of the day the house never shook again. The trees would bend at some amazing angles and not break. It was amazing to watch. Here, here, and here are some youtube videos from the beach near our house that some idiot shot – it shows the power of the wind. We were amazed at the number of people who were walking or riding bikes and headed to the beach in the middle of the Hurricane. It sure did not seem smart to me. We lost a few limbs from the trees and a lot of leaves, but no other damage – oh, and our power was out for 36 hours. Anyone else meet Irene last weekend?

This morning my son asked me if I knew what a “cake walk” game is. I must admit I have not thought about cake walks for years. However, growing up in Utah, I fondly remember the cake walk at various Church activities and school activities. I won once – I remember it was in 4th Grade and at a Primary Activity we had a cake walk. It was a yellow cake from a box with chocolate frosting. I started to eat it with my hands on my way home. It was a good day for a 9 year old! Do they still have cake walks? I have never heard of one occurring in the East Coast where I have lived for 16 years.

There was an interesting article on Food stamp usage in the US. What surprised me was that 15% of the population is on food stamps or 46 Million people which is nearly double from 4 years ago. I was also struck by the comment that Food Stamps are an “implicit subsidy for low-wage jobs” and basically, disincent companies from paying higher wages.

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With the sad passing of Elder Marion Hanks, the Church lost a great leader. One thing I found interesting is that the Church, a la the Deseret News, actually acknowledged he died of Alzheimer’s Disease which is a first in my view. Typically, we don’t acknowledge that our leaders would get such an ailment that would cause dementia (a la President Benson). However, data show that 1 in 8 people older than 65 years (approximately 13%) have Alzheimer’s Disease. Using these stats, you would assume that at least 1 of the Quorum of the 12 or First Presidency would suffer from the disease at any point in time (not saying any do). However, would the Church disclose this given it is a lifetime calling? Should it be disclosed? Should we allow someone to go “emeritus” if they suffer from a dementia?

NPR had a very interesting story this morning on Evangelicals who are questioning the validity of the Adam and Eve story based on the scientific evidence we have. In short, the genomic data suggests that it is impossible to have had fewer than 10,000 initial founders of the human race given the genetic variation within the human population today. It is interesting that evangelical scientists are questioning the validity as this is a very conservative movement – similar to Mormonism with regard to literalism of the scriptures. Within Mormonism, I think you have the same basic trend among Mormon scientists (at least in my experience with other Mormon scientists n=30 or so). The view I have heard (and agree with), is that Adam and Eve is a story about the creation, but it is not literal. There could have been people named Adam and Eve, but they are only representative of the creation of Humans. There is a lot more nuance than this obviously, but what do others think? But the key question to me is: Does the Gospel fall apart if Adam and Eve is downgraded to a story from literalism? I say no…

We are in the Northeast US and our ward had an activity on Saturday and sang songs about the 24th, but the talks were not 24th focused. I felt it was a good mix for a ward where 50% or more of the folks have no ancestors that crossed the plains and half or more of those have never even been to Utah. We also sang “Come, Come Ye Saints” which has always been one of my favorite songs…

What did you do for the 24th and where are you geographically? Was it appropriate for your locale?

I just returned from my annual pilgrimage to the West. This year was for a family reunion. I am always fascinated when I visit the West to see how different things are from my life on the East Coast. This year, our family reunion was in Rexburg. Some of my observations:

1. Wow, there are a lot of kids in Rexburg – There were kids everywhere, whereas they are a bit few and far between in the East
2. There are some very young mothers in Rexburg – Seeing such young mothers in the East is usually limited to the poor areas of large cities
3. There are a lot of pregnant bellies (which are really cute) in Rexburg – Not something I see a lot of in the East
4. There are some large families in Rexburt – Seeing a family with 4 kids in the East will turn heads, forget about 6, 8 or more…
5. People are really nice there – strangers were very friendly and customer service is very good – in the East not so much…
6. The roads are so wide and people drive really slow (most seem to drive the speed limit) – OK this was sort of obnoxious…

Overall, it really feels like you are in a bubble versus the rest of the world. I don’t know if that is good or bad as I can see both sides to it, but certainly it is almost surreal after being immersed in the East coast for so many years.

I have been following the machinations in Washington over the budget/spending/debt ceiling with interest. One area that has made me do a double take is the constant mention by Democrats of raising revenue. Ok, from a business standpoint, revenue is generated when you “sell” something that someone values. You cannot have revenue by just sending someone a bill without providing something concrete (some may argue that the Government does provide services although these are not proportionate to what one “pays”) to the person paying the bill. To me, call it a tax hike and be done with it. We are not stupid – don’t try to hide it or disguise it for something it isn’t… Anyone else befuddled by the “revenue” discussion?

1. What is your favorite Temple and why? My favorite is Portland, Oregon since I was married there and it is (or at least was 15 years ago) a beautiful Temple.

2. How many different Temples have you been inside of? Nine that I can remember

3. How many Temple dedications have you attended? One

4. How many Temples have you seen live? 15 that I can remember…

What about you?

I sat through a baby blessing today of a new baby girl. I am struck by the stark differences between blessings for girls vs boys (not always the case, but more often than not). The major differences I have heard are that baby boys are blessed they will be healthy, get an education, be leaders, serve a mission, serve faithfully in the Church, get married in the Temple, have a family, while young girls are usually blessed that they will be healthy, be faithful in the Church, get married in the Temple and have a family. I heard one today and that was it – four basic items. I am not sure if it should bother me, but it does. I wanted to ask the father why his daughter shouldn’t be a leader or get an education? From my experience, watching women struggle economically when their husbands have died or left them, it is critical that both women and men are leaders and get educations.

I am in the Nursery and “report” to the Nursery leader (my wife). It is a wonderful calling and it a lot of fun. One of the more interesting experiences I have is when the Primary Presidency comes into the room. They ignore me and speak to my wife about rolls, etc. However, when my wife is gone and they check in and see me, they are pretty uncomfortable about talking to me. I have noticed that in my limited experience that women leaders feel uncomfortable interfacing with the men they lead (of course this only happens in Primary). I am guessing this is because of the patriarchal nature of the Church and they feel somewhat uncomfortable leading a male. What do you think?

We had an earlier discussion on traditional vs alternative medicine. One topic that came up a few times was vaccinations. In addition, I was having a discussion with someone about vaccinations. They were railing on how evil vaccinations are and claimed that they are causing autism and all manner of diseases (kind of the opposite of those who claim certain nutraceuticals cure all manner of disease). When I asked them for data or sources that backed up their claims, they cited some random internet sites that are, to put it nicely, less than credible.

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On May 19th, I had the opportunity to have a discussion with one of the May 21st “End of the World” folks while I was waiting for a delayed train in Penn Station in New York City. He was adamant about the end of the world and the massive earthquake that would occur with the lifting up of the righteous. He was deadly serious and very concerned about it. I asked him what he wanted the rest of us to do? He said that we should repent, accept Jesus and be lifted up. I asked if it was that easy? He replied that “yes it was”. I wanted to continue to ask questions, but had to run to my train. I was not expecting the world to end on Saturday, but do I really ever expect the world to “end” in my lifetime? Honestly, it is not something I think about too often. What about you?

I always find the various views of Mother’s Day celebrations (or not) in the Church fascinating. There seem to be as many views as there are women. However, if you want some excellent reading from all viewpoints, check out the current issue of Exponent II. I don’t know how many male readers they have, but I love to read the stories and this issue is particularly good. They have assembled a diverse set of very good authors to give their perspectives on mothering and Mother’s Day. Happy reading!