Mormon Bloggers

It might look like a plain, gray BYU t-shirt. But it is deceptively powerful. The power does not lie in the fabric, the stitching, or even the mighty cougar standing atop the BYU logo.  I have several BYU shirts. Blue ones, gray ones, and the seasonal football shirts with the cheesy slogans. Why? I am a proud alumnus of BYU. I had a great experience, and remember it fondly. (If anyone from alumni fundraising is reading this, I am just joking, I have no money, and I don’t believe in telephones.) Sorry – back to the power.  The power of my BYU shirts lies in the simple fact that they have within their cotton-poly strands the ability to alter my behavior. It is true. I’m not necessarily proud of it, but it is true. No, they are not magic, and they do not have the power to repel various stains and tears, but they help me be a better person. How so? Look at the shirt. What do you see?  Brigham Young. The famous Mormon prophet. The American Moses. The Lion... Read the rest of this entry »

I’m speaking at this event from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and would love to see some friendly faces if any of you can make it. I’m sure all faces will be friendly, but people I know are a happy bonus   WHAT  ~ Utah Festival of Books WHEN  ~ Saturday, June 4 2011 WHERE ~ Provo, BYU Campus, Brigham Square adjacent to the Wilkinson Student Center TIME     ~ 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. What’s happening? “Everyone is invited to attend and celebrate reading by enjoying wholesome entertainment, including vibrant performances, author signings, literacy activities, engaging guest speakers and more,” said BYU Bookstore director Roger Reynolds. Festival attendees can meet New York Times best-selling authors, including James Dashner, Ally Condie, Kiersten White and Brandon Mull. “This will be a great time for families and children to meet some of their favorite authors,”... Read the rest of this entry »

What did I do to help shape his/her world today? This is a question mothers and mother-figures often ask themselves. The discussion of motherhood seems to arouse strong emotions in us. We all come to the discussion with our own personal experience, yet one thing that we can all agree on is the relationship (or lack thereof) between a mother and a child is a vital part of helping to shape us. And how we see ourselves in the world. The relationship with our mother often establishes a pattern of future relationships.Which is why many of us will sit in church today silently battling the internal conflict of the “Good” mother. As Sista LaKeysha (a safe name for us because there isn’t a LaKeysha in our wards…currently) stands up today and shares how wonderful her mother was. You’ve heard it before: “I’m so grateful for my wonderful mother and the example she was to me growing up. Everyday when my 12 brothers and sisters and I came home from school, my mother had fresh baked... Read the rest of this entry »

Carl Bloch: The Master's Hand. When we visited, the exhibition was much more crowded Today Jill and I attended the exhibition Carl Bloch: The Master’s Hand. Featured are five larger-than-life altarpieces. Four of these have come from Lutheran churches in Denmark and Sweden, removed for the first time since they were originally installed in the late 1800s. The fifth is Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda, which was acquired by the Museum from Bethesda Dansk Indre Mission in Copenhagen in September 2001 and remains a part of the museum’s permanent collection. The paintings, seen in their original size, are detailed and impressive and are a must see. Bear in mind as you view them on this post that the digital images obviously do not do the originals justice. Click on the images to enlarge. The Doubting Thomas But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto... Read the rest of this entry »

Alguns dias atás eu compareci ao fórum na BYU, onde Mark Zuckerberg (CEO do Facebook) e o senador Orrin Hatch de Utah falaram sobre tecnologia. Hatch respondendo as perguntas que foram feitas anteriormente por alunos da BYU na página da BYU no Facebook . Zuckerberg, falou sobre a fundação do Facebook, o seu conselho para os empreendedores que estão começando, e sua visão para o futuro da tecnologia e meios de comunicação social. Este relato foi traduzido do blog de Larry Richman, LDSMediaTalk.com Hoje, o Facebook tem 500-600 milhões de usuários ativos mensais. Mais da metade dos usuários da Internet nos EUA usam o Facebook. Dentro de dois anos, aproximadamente a metade da população geral dos EUA estará no Facebook. No começo do Facebook: Mark falou sobre como ele teve uma idéia em seu dormitório na Universidade de Harvard e a desenvolveu em uma empresa valendo talvez US $ 50 bilhões (que, aliás, tem apenas cerca de 2.000 funcionários). Ele tinha um curso duplo, em... Read the rest of this entry »

Jessica Purcell, a math professor at Brigham Young University, was recently honored as one of 20 mathematicians to receive the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship. Jessica is a champion of women in math and the sciences. You can read more about Jessica and her recent award in the following article: Math professor Jessica Purcell wins prestigious science fellowship  Read More →

~by Michelle The internet is abuzz with the recent events with BYU’s basketball program. Emotions are high, and opinions are flying. I find many of them rather extreme, especially those that are either overly critical of BYU or overly critical of Brandon Davies. I was interested to read what those closest to the situation had to say. For example, while this article from ESPN Sports focuses a lot on the confidence Coach Dave Rose has in the team in their ability to “bounce back,” there are some other facets further on in the article that I think are noteworthy. First of all, you can read comments on the importance of the BYU Honor Code from coaches and others, including former BYU basketball player and current Boson Celtics president of basketball operations, Danny Ainge. (I’d also invite you to read Janelle’s post yesterday on the Honor Code.) Here, I want to highlight one comment in particular from the ESPN article. Davies’ teammate, Charles Abouo, says... Read the rest of this entry »

~By Janelle It’s a good day to be a Cougar fan. In fact, every day is a good day to be a Cougar fan. Of course I am saddened by the dismissal of Brandon Davies from the BYU Basketball team for an Honor Code violation. I was getting pulled into the hype of the season. I found myself watching ESPN (gasp) voluntarily! I spent time watching Jimmer Fredette backstory videos and watching for tweets to pop up from celebrities giving him props for his scoring skills. Last night’s loss was tough. Really tough. Obviously Brandon Davies is a game changer, but the loss last night doesn’t change my love for BYU one bit. I didn’t choose to go to BYU for its sports programs. I didn’t choose to go to BYU for its academic chops. I didn’t choose to go to BYU for its low tuition and housing rates. Nope, I chose to go to BYU because of the Honor Code. Growing up in California there were a handful of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at all of the... Read the rest of this entry »

“We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.”  -Article of Faith 11[1] Perspective of One BYU Student: The kind of religious freedom affirmed in Article of Faith 11 is a farce at BYU.  I acknowledge that coming here is a choice; I acknowledge that people contract away a portion of their freedoms by signing the honor code.  I also do not dispute that BYU can restrict students’ religion, conscience, and speech freedoms- but that doesn’t mean that they should.  Before I get into what BYU should do respecting these freedoms, let me clarify briefly what I mean by religious freedom.  Religious freedom has three important, basic aspects:      1.      Letting people say in public and private what religion or beliefs they espouse with little or no penalty     ... Read the rest of this entry »

  Arthur Henry King by Nathan Florence   Wow! The new semester starts, with new classes and a new calling, and my blogging goes down the drain! I made a goal this week with some wonderful new friends that I would blog, though, so I planned all week to get here. I met with a member of our Stake Presidency a month ago, and we got talking about our common interests in philosophy and education. He pointed me towards a book, Arm the Children, by Arthur Henry King. It is a book of speeches and papers Brother King wrote on teaching and having faith in the contemporary world. From what I understand, Arthur Henry King converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he was later in his life. He was raised Quaker (which I assume led to his unique perspective on some of our cultural habits), in England, where he learned to love the hundred books or so that his home held. From the love of reading those few books he went on to become the predominant scholar of Shakespeare... Read the rest of this entry »

But first, on September 1st, 2010, Brigham Young University held a press conference to explain their decision to leave the Mountain West Conference and go independent in football while joining the West Coast Conference for other sports. Athletic Director Tom Holmoe said this was not a snap decision, but had been percolating for about five years; the departure of Utah to the Pac-12 merely accelerated the decision. He said that BYU is doing this for the reasons of exposure and access and for what they feel is best for BYU. If BYU finishes in top 14 of BCS standings, it would have the opportunity to get an at-large bid into a BCS game. The annual “Holy War” game with Utah is expected to continue. Additional story on press conference published by the Salt Lake Tribune. Watch KSL media story and BYU press conference below: Video Courtesy of KSL.com The decision by BYU to go independent has generated a blizzard of discussion on various media sites. Many approve of the decision because... Read the rest of this entry »

If you are curious to know what kinds of classes are offered at BYU Campus Education Week, this list of Mormon Times (from the 2009 BYU Campus Education Week) highlights the wide variety of topics that are covered. Subjects include spiritual topics such as the Atonement, Mormon doctrine on salvation and hell, and women in the scriptures. Many practical topics about day-to-day life, family relationships, and emotional and physical health were also covered. Classes specifically for youth are given each year as well. We’ll be highlighting a few of previous years’ talks here at Mormon Women this week so that wherever you are, you can enjoy a little of what Campus Education Week is all about. BYU Education Week preview Chronicle that history or put it in a narrative Tips for living: Publishing your family history LDS author gives ideas how to stretch your time Bennett invites readers to take a ‘leap of faith’ [presentation on the Book of Mormon] Fearful or fearless... Read the rest of this entry »