Mormon Bloggers

Ah Lent, my old friend. This is practice of Catholicism I could really get behind. I love observing it each year, although I don’t think we need a specific time period to try to become better people–I think that’s a struggle and goal for every day of our lives. If you know me, you know I’ve reveled in severe self-restriction in my past. It’s like I’d get a little high from denying myself of  Read More →

When you come across a challenge that is expansive and deep, you may not even realize when you’ve come to the other side. That day will come. And when it does, how will you look at your crossing? This Great Recession still lingers for many of us. I am no longer drowning in the same [...] All Content Copyright (C) 2007-2009 TJ Hirst. No content may be reproduced without the copyright owner’s express written consent.Faith and the Economy: Call for Interviews  Read More →

Missionary Me! I have been writing this blog for about 3 years now (wow, has it really been that long?), and most of my long time readers are well aware of my religious beliefs.  Some of you newer peeps, might not.  I am a Mormon.  I know I don’t talk about it a lot.  It isn’t because I am ashamed, because I am not.  I guess the reason I don’t talk about it much is because my religion is something that comes so natural to me, that I don’t have to talk about it, I just AM.  Everything I do and say is all part of what I believe.  I don’t have to cram religious doctrine down people’s throats for them to understand who I am and what I stand for. So who am I? I am opinionated.   I seek truth and reason.  Things have to make sense to me, and if they don’t I put them aside and search for the truth.  I don’t believe things simply because someone tells me to.  I want to be happy.... Read the rest of this entry »

I feel like Sundays are really the only day I have time to be narcissistic on this little corner of the internet. Let me be clear: I’m narcissistic everyday. It just mostly gets funneled into Twitter. This requires more thought (and more than 140 characters…), and thus, more time. What do I have to share? Hmmmm. I feel like it’s nothing original from my brain. I just have a long list of  Read More →

I do not mean to come across as being callous, cruel, or mean-spirited, but the older I get, the more discouraged and dishearten I become as I watch some of our young people – the future of our world, place themselves in a proverbial box called defeatism. Unquestionably, some of us have grown up in unfavorable conditions and in an unkind society that constantly reminds us, and in some cases has thoroughly convinced us, that our father never amounted to much, and our mother has never amounted to much, and so, as the proverbial apple never seems to fall far from the tree, we ourselves can expect to never amount to much either. The tragedy of it all is that society is not alone in painting this picture of hopelessness and despair, but that same picture hangs on the walls in our homes, as well as, in the classrooms of our schools. I wish to send a very clear, precise, and concise message to our youth of today: the time has come... Read the rest of this entry »

I remember when I taught gospel doctrine in my freshman year at BYU, I had a team teacher who used to say she thought old Laman and Lemuel got a bad rap. She imagined from time to time that it might not have been easy to have Nephi as a brother. And it was his record we were reading, after all. I used to roll my eyes when she’d say these things as we prepared our lessons. And I’d hope she wouldn’t say them while we were teaching. So it surprised me a little this past week in Sunday School as I felt a twinge of sadness for Laman and Lemuel. Our discussion was around their lack of faith, like that was their Chief Character Flaw. I’m not sure anyone meant the discussion to sound as it did, but from where I sat it sounded like “if they just had more faith, they would have been more like Nephi and less like, well, you know.” Less like themselves.I don’t mean to defend Laman and Lemuel. They had their agency just as Nephi did. But as the parent of seven kids, I can tell... Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, I have not written on this thing in a long time, and I probably should be finishing up my French homework at this moment but instead I felt that I should come and write down everything that is going through my head.  I’m writing this mostly just for me as most of my blog posts have been, but I’m always interested in others’ points of view and maybe someone is feeling something like how I do and can use what I’m about to write. I have gone through some really difficult experiences the past few months, some due to my choices and others due to just circumstances of life that I have no control over.  Throughout all of this, I have tried to stay positive and keep moving forward even when I wanted nothing more to give up.  Each time that I have kept going, I have been blessed by my Heavenly Father with something here and there.  I’m so grateful to know that He is always there for me, but at times, I wonder if He is the only one that is there. Most of you... Read the rest of this entry »

Where has the time gone? It is hard to believe that in just a few short hours another year will have come and gone and will have taken its place among the annals of history. It seems that with each passing year, though the amount of days and hours remain the same, the hands of time seem to move at a much swifter rate. With all of the incidences that occur in life over the course of a year, sometimes even the swiftest runner in the race can find it difficult to maintain a steady pace. As a new day dawns on the horizon inviting the beginning of a brand new year, what will the pages of history record as a descriptive summary of the year that we are about to bid farewell to? Perhaps the words from the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’ timeless classic “A Tale of Two Cities” could be used to put the cap on the pen after the final words of this, another chapter in our lives has been written. Describing the times about which he was writing, the English novelist wrote: It... Read the rest of this entry »

This is my favorite time of the year Not Christmastime…although that is fantastic and lovely all on its own. The first week of December.  Today is my rebirthday. Baptisaversary. Whatever other word I decide to make up to describe the day marking my baptism. I love December 1st.  It’s been 4 years (crazy) and it still feels like yesterday. I remember having an awesome brunch at  Read More →

24. I am grateful for completely normal family gatherings. And teeth. Oh man, the teeeeeth. The night before Thanksgiving, I had a terrible dream where all of my teeth fell out. In front of the man of dreams, no less. How embarrassing. Anyway, I only had my front teeth, 4 in total, and it was one of those dreams where even the tactile sensations are vivid. No teeth was weird. And terrifying. So  Read More →

The last few days have been ones full of long days and late nights. Today is the first day I’ve had my feet under me, so I get to stay up late writing here instead of workworkworking. 20. I am grateful that God is mindful of my needs.  Sunday was hard. Heck, a lot of the last few days have been hard. I’ve been feeling really distant from my bishopric since we reorganized…whereas before, I had  Read More →

19. I’m SO grateful for temples! Our ward went on a trip to the Portland Temple today. Drove the 2 hours, had lunch together, and then filled the temple to do some work! The last time I went to the temple was in June, in Provo, and I was by myself in the baptistry. This time I was surrounded by everyone from my YSA ward. You alllll know what I’m going to say–it was awesome. Beyond awesome,  Read More →