I haven’t really been following this Glenn Beck’s rally because I just didn’t care about it. On the news tonight I heard Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, interviewed about it. In emphasizing the religious diversity represented at the event, Land was presses on Beck’s Mormonism. He was asked if he thought of Mormonism as a Christian religion, as the Catholic or various Protestant churches are, and after trying to avoid answering the question, Land admitted that he did NOT believe Mormonism to be Christian, but would classify it as an Abrahamic religion. Read more »

Like you, perhaps, I held a number of callings while I was in the Young Women’s Program: I was the president of all three of the classes (3 different wards), and counselor or secretary here and there and I also served as Seminary President. Probably most of us who were members as youth served in some capacity. Read more »

Think of your ideal Sacrament Meeting: how many speakers are there?

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This has been the soundtrack of the last week of my life. Read more »

We are about halfway through summer folks, and I’m wondering what you are doing. Are you a vacation family? My family of origin took precious few vacations (and with 10 kids, I don’t blame my parents); I can name a few, but mostly we just went to family reunions. How Mormon is that?

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Like many of you, I am sure, I don’t watch commercials anymore. Yet today, one of my children distracted me from my show and I neglected to fast forward through the commercials. Some commercial with a surfing woman was on–it could have been for juice or cereal–and at the end, she said “I’m a Mormon” and the little mormon.org thing showed up in the corner. No logo. No Jesus. No blue scriptures. This was a commercial for selling Mormonism. I was shocked. Read more »

A few weeks ago, my son was being particularly fussy in Sacrament Meeting and my daughter offered to take him to get a drink. I agreed and, quite frankly, enjoyed the few minutes of Sacrament Meeting I could focus on while they were gone. This rendezvous at the water fountain has become a habit and it seems harmless enough: the kids, who get NOTHING from Sacrament Meeting, get to stretch their legs and get a drink, and I get to listen for a moment. We always sit in the front row on the short pew by the front doors and the water fountain is about 7 feet away.

Last week there was a brief announcement at the beginning of Relief Society that there would be a new routine for retrieving kids after Sunday meetings: all the Primary children should be picked up from the Primary room at the conclusion of the meetings. Although no reason was given for the change, I could think of some good ones and it seemed like it could be a really good idea. We’ve done it for two weeks now, and everything worked for me.

Today, as I sat in a ward-members’ backyard with a bunch of other moms as our kids swam, I got some new information: a registered sex-offender (possession of kiddie porn) had been attending Church with us, and that is what precipitated the change in Primary routine.

What bothers you the most about this? Read more »

10. The local paper does it’s once annual story abut those crazy Mormons who just KEEP ON COMING.

9. Half of your ward is AWOL, leaving near mass chaos when there is no one in nursery to drop your kids off to and you have already promised to sub in both Sunday School AND Primary.

8. The “What Mormons Don’t Tell” truck shows up, along with the megaphones and people wearing temple clothing.

7. There is more than one 15-passenger van in the church parking lot.

6. The pleading for us to PLEASE sign up for our allotment of Pageant assignments slows down to a trickle as those announcing realize that the only people left have walkers or infants and probably can’t direct traffic in the parking lots or act as bouncers at The Hill.

5. The sudden bloating of members at your Sacrament Meeting means that you don’t have anywhere to park or sit, but they also bolster your anemic congregational singing.

4. The ambient noise in the hallway is actually quieter than the dull roar of children and coughs in the Chapel.

3. ALL my local Mormon Facebook friends have invited me to Pageant and I received a special e-mail from my stake telling me how I can do the same.

2. Donny Osmond is spotted at the Chill & Grill.

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As mentioned, my stake had a rather unique activity this week: a scheduled viewing of Carol Lynn Pearson’s Facing East, and a discussion afterwards directed by our Stake President. Read more »

Some time ago, I stumbled across this recipe for a chocolate cake that includes a can of Coke. I thought it was funny and mentioned it to my sister. She is more conservative than I am and, more importantly, was living in a more conservative ward and heavily-Mormon town at the time. She claimed that it would be a scandalous item at a Church pot-luck. What do you think? Read more »

I know you’re wondering how I know that. Let me explain: Read more »

I’m an idea (wo)man, folks. I have no technical know-how, money for ventures, or entrepreneurial appetite, but I do have some ideas for products that would make my Sundays easier. Read more »

I don’t think I realized until I was in college that Dialogue and Sunstone were a different sort of publication than church magazines and anything from Deseret Books. Read more »

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Explain your answer in the comments, if you please.

This scenario is real.

Imagine you are Primary Chorister. One of your many important jobs is preparing the kids to sing on Fathers Day. Of course, unlike Mothers Day, the Children’s Song Book actually includes some fun options and (almost) everyone’s favorite:
Daddy’s Homecoming. Who can resist “a great big kiss”? Read more »

I have known lots of people to “take a break” from Church. Sometimes it comes just after release from a particularly intense calling, sometimes it has to do with certain personalities or dynamics in the ward, sometimes it is an attempt to find their own spiritual path, and they want a little separation between their own beliefs and the monolithic presentation and assumptions at Church. I have known people who take breaks for a matter of weeks and for decades.

I used to feel pretty laissez-fare about taking a break. You know, do what you need to do. But I have come to think that “taking a break” isn’t actually very helpful if you are looking to maintain your belief and activity in the Church. Read more »

You know this question. You’ve been asked it. You’ve probably asked it yourself. Here is my question: what is an appropriate response?

If you are like me, your immediate reaction is “no” but almost always, I have an immediate unstated reaction along the lines of: “I don’t know, how can you help me?”

You may have had experiences wherein you were asked for help that you felt was inappropriate. I think we all have had experiences, whether we recognize them or not, in NOT being asked for help we really could have easily offered. So where is the balance? Sure some of it has to do with your relationship, your family situations, and even your lifestyle. But let’s pretend that you are home or visiting teaching a family that is new to you: what services are you offering when you ask, “Is there any way we can help you?”

I think my title for this piece is probably a good summary as well. I have often felt that adoption of children is a blessing from God for both the adoptive parents and the children involved.

Early bretheren including Joseph Smith and Brigham Young adopted children into their households.

The decision to open your home for a new infant or even a teenager is one of selfless sacrifice that I feel our Heavenly Parents look upon favorably.

What experiences have you had with adoptions?

In addition to the upgrade the Young Women’s Personal Progress program received this year, the Young Men’s Duty to God program is apparently being revamped as well. While precious few details are currently available about changes, I did notice this statement included in the FAQ:

Because the purpose of the new program is to help
young men build spiritual strength and learn and fulfill
their priesthood duties, the principal recognition they
receive will be when they are presented in their wards or
branches to advance in the priesthood.

This answer is in response to a question about the recognition that Young Men will receive for their participation in the new program. Both the question and the response seem entirely appropriate and reasonable. Now let’s contrast this with the corresponding section of the Personal Progress roll-out:

With this revision several new items have been added to help
leaders recognize young women more frequently. The new
items include Personal Progress value ribbons, a bookmark
to hold the ribbons, and age-group certificates.

In the Young Women’s FAQ, a full 11 questions and answers are devoted to the various tchotchkes used to recognize the Young Women’s progress, the most prominent of which is the jewelry, including the re-designed pendants, the new torch necklace, and Honor Bee charm.

So, while I am inclined to enthusiastically embrace a non-scouting goal and progress program for our young men, the stark contrast it creates in such un-parallel outcomes is startling. Our sons who devote time and energy to this goal-setting and achieving (and even those who don’t) will be recognized with The Priesthood. Our daughters who do the same will be recognized with…cheap jewelry.

No, expensive jewelry would not make me feel any better.

This was Stake Conference weekend for me, and aside from the plastic seats 3/4ths of the way back in the gym, a good time was had. I am a personal fan of unorthodoxy in relatively unimportant issues, so this was a good conference for me. Read more »