Mormon Bloggers

Daniel (right) and and Elder Hardy with couple

We had yet again another great week. This time its full of exciting things such as baptism! We had one investigator pass an interview and another having her interview this Friday. They should be baptized next weekend.

Stephanie is a investigator that looked up the church online and went to the wrong building and at the wrong time. She remembered going there as a small child and said she enjoyed the services. The bishop there got her information and it was passed to us. I remember her saying on the first phone call she wasn’t interested in converting. I mentioned we would stop by to tell her more about the church so she’d feel comfortable coming and could answer her questions. So she has come to church about four times now and we’ve been meeting with her for that month’s time. We asked her to be baptized a while ago, but since she was living with her boyfriend she didn’t know when she could be. So this week, she is moving out and it opened up the opportunity for her to be baptized. Her boyfriend didn’t treat her with respect so she is relieved to move out. We are so happy that the Lord has helped her to improve her life.

Also we have been working with a less active couple. They had been making their way back to activity and asked us to come over and teach the lessons. We taught them lessons and the Spirit helped them. Now they feel comfortable coming to church. We saw them at the ward BBQ (see picture above).

To top it off four investigators also came to the ward BBQ and they had a great time. We got to play volleyball with them for awhile and they developed friendships with the members.

The weather here has been very dry for about two months now. We hope the rain holds off for a lot longer. It has been nice, but it has had it’s effect on people’s lawns. Since it does rain so much usually they don’t have sprinklers so in the summer it’s common to have a dead lawn. A member’s neighbor wanted to still have green grass so they painted it (see photo below). The member said of the experience, “I went to church in the morning and we both had dead grass, I come home and my neighbor’s grass was green. I thought they don’t go to church and I do, but they get the green grass.” It was funny to hear him talk about it.

All things are well and thanks for all the support. The pictures were great to see, it looks like the festival was fun.

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.

Related posts:

1. Missionary Dan Email #7 from Vancouver, Washington
2. Missionary Dan Email #15 from Vancouver, Washington
3. Missionary Dan Email #9 from Vancouver, Washington

This is something we could all benefit from:

What I hoped wouldn’t happen has happened on August 31st, 2010. Brigham Young University (BYU) has sold out and is going independent in college football effective the 2011-12 season. To add insult to injury, they’re stepping down to the West Coast Conference (WCC) instead of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for other sports also effective the 2011-12 season. BYU will further explain the move in a September 1st press conference. Media stories from the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Provo Daily Herald, and KSL Channel 5. KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

BYU Coach Bronco Mendenhall weighed in extensively on the decision. In basic terms, he approves of it. “I support our administration’s decision. I think there will be a chance for tremendous exposure for our program and more details will come [Wednesday], I am certain. As far as I am concerned, I am supportive of it and anxious to coach the team in a new situation”, said Mendenhall

MWC commissioner Craig Thompson issued the following statement, in which they tellingly omitted mentioning BYU by name:

“Since its inception the Mountain West Conference has worked strategically to grow and strengthen the league, in order to position itself at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics.

“Our board of directors’ diligent exploration of options to advance the membership’s objectives is ongoing. This includes conversations with our television partners to address issues of mutual importance, as well as determining the optimal configuration for the conference and investigating the possibility of various collaborative alliances.

Reaction from the West Coast Conference is documented on BYU Newsnet. Colorado State Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk, whose school is part of the MWC, said, “”It’s unfortunate. I hate to see BYU go, on one hand. But, on the other hand, the Mountain West is a strong conference with the recent additions of Nevada, Fresno State and Boise State. It puts us in a position as a conference to get better and have a BCS shot.”

According to ESPN, BYU made the move to establish itself as an independent power in the West, hoping to control its football television rights and keep the money for itself. BYU already has its own TV network, BYUtv, but all of its football games were a part of the Mountain West television contract. That was a huge sticking point when it came down to deciding whether to go independent or stay with the Mountain West.

Analysis: With the previous departure of the University of Utah for the Pacific-12 Conference, this effectively cuts the heart out of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). It seriously dilutes the value and appeal of the annual “Holy War”, the game between Utah and BYU. The accession of Nevada and Fresno State to the MWC hardly begins to compensate for this move. What must Boise State think about this? When they decided to leave the WAC and move to the MWC, Boise State never dreamed that two of the best MWC teams, Utah and BYU, would be gone within a year. Boise State must feel like they bought a pig in a poke; the Idaho Statesman provides more insight on Idaho thinking HERE.

Can you imagine how competitive a conference including Utah, BYU, Boise State, and TCU would have been? At least four possible Top 25 teams in football. And Air Force and Wyoming aren’t exactly slouches, either. Now that’s not going to happen, because two of them got greedy and bolted for greener pastures.

Some have said that BYU wants to become the Mormon version of Notre Dame. But there’s a slight hitch — there are an estimated 10 times more Catholics than Mormons in the United States. So that may not necessarily prove viable. Furthermore, will Mormons outside the United States really care about how BYU’s teams are doing? Many of them have local rooting interests, particularly in Europe and Latin America, where soccer is the national sport.

Bad move, BYU; you’ve just lost a fan. And based on some of the comments appended to the media stories, I’m not the only one.

So, I took a custom order.

I know, I know… I am trying not to do that. It is just SO hard to turn down those poor, naked, or immodest Barbies!

This last customer requested that I re-make a lot of things I had already made, as you can see below.

I really do need to take a break from custom orders, though, as much as I want to take them.
I am one of those lucky people who suffer from severe morning sickness when I am pregnant, and this time has been no exception. Since I never know when I will be hit with one of those “bad” days, I need to sew on my own schedule, and not be tied down to a deadline.

My goal is to use what good days I have to finish up one more custom order that has already been placed, and make stuff to (finally) post on Etsy.

Further down the road, I will continue the process of researching textile manufacturers and packaging companies, applying for my LLC, and regulating my patterns so they can be digitized.

One day my dream of having accessible, affordable, modest clothing for all the world’s fashion dolls will be realized. I just might have to have this baby (and kiss it lots) first.

Oh. My. Goodness.This football player must be channeling Samson. How does he strap on a football helmet? (Disclaimer: I am not endorsing Head and Shoulders.)And one last funny for your Tuesday:

Meet Kristi and Jenny from my ward.  Kristi has two adorable children and Jenny has three.  I loved their outfits, their “look” and the upbeat uniqueness they express.  So I took a picture.

Can you imagine hating these two, as bright and cheerful as they are?  Yet there are those who would malign them regardless of who Kristi and Jenny really are.  I’m referring to the dark world of anti-Mormonism.

From personal experience, there are some repeating pattern I’ve witnessed over and over.  More often than not, anti-Mormonism fuels itself on the blinding emotions of hate and anger.  The reason these emotions are so important, is that the information doesn’t have to be very sound or hold much water, and people will latch onto it and put a lot of stock in it, while in this emotional state.  The other repeating patterns are:  the strange science of conspiracy theories (i.e. the Church is run like the “Matrix” by secretive individuals), quotes taken out of context and more than anything else, false information.  Lots of false information.  I’ve studied quite a bit of anti-Mormonism, really dove into the most reputable of anti-Mormonism literature, with a scholarly approach and checked the references.  So much deceitfulness, altered quotes, unsubstantiated rumors. They don’t even make an attempt to quote correctly from the Book of Mormon, the most easily-checked source.

That puzzled me!  If you really thought you were on God’s mission and exposing wrong, do you honestly believe God needs you to fight his battles with lies and deceit? Since when do we Christians peddle hatred and mis-information as righteousness and intelligence?  There is a scripture in the Doctrine & Covenants written specifically for those who fight the Church with false info.

It became obvious to me that most people who buy into this stuff don’t really want to know the truth, they already have an agenda.  I’ve had the experience several times now where after I show someone how their anti-Mormon information is mistaken, they don’t bat an eyelash and they go right to the next bullet point.  Without a moment’s thought for the credibility of the author they have bought into, who also just made a fool out them.  And this repeats as you go point by point, until you realize they don’t care if the anti-Mormon points made are false.  Now, I draw the boundaries ahead of time.  They get to show me 5 or 6 anti-Mormon facts and if they’re shown to be in error, then we both accept that the material they have is of poor scholarship and not worth either of our energies.

I’ve also noticed repeating patterns for those who engage in anti-Mormonism.  A)  the bitter ex-Mormon.  And sometimes it has turned out to be a guilty conscience they don’t want to clean up.  It’s easier to get angry and hateful than it is to feel or accept guilt.  Life has taught me that ego and guilt do not exist well in the same room together.  B)  Pastors and church leaders who are losing members to Mormonism, and their faithful followers whom they incite.  And take great pains to do so.  The LDS religion is the fastest growing religion in America.  Most other religions and their leaders make a living off of the donations, and their living is slipping out the door and attending our church down the street.  And that is a huge threat, because we’re very successful.  Really successful  We build a new chapel every working day.  C)  the anti-establishment, conspiracy crowd.  Anti-Mormons have an axe to grind, and it’s rarely the same one they would have you believe, the one made of altruistic motives and with the smooth public veneer.

We LDS are all volunteer. and that’s a threat too.  Our clergy isn’t paid.  As members, we generally have no clue who is paying tithing and who is not.  We don’t pass around a public, peer-pressure donation plate, donations are private and confidential.  Turned into a Bishop outside of the meeting times in a sealed envelope even, and only 2 or 3 brethren are allowed to see and process them.  Donating is a personal choice.  And it’s between that individual and the Lord whether they donate or not.  We do it because we know about the blessings.  We believe it is God’s will, we want to help build God’s kingdom and that is enough for most of us.  And tithing is a whopping 10%.  Being a faithful LDS is not for the faint of heart or the weak.  It takes a lot of backbone to remain a faithful LDS member.  But it is the best thing that ever happened to me.  (Why I am Mormon)

Another anti-Mormon tactic is to hold LDS church leaders 150+ years ago to standards that no one of their time could measure up to, like blacks and the priesthood.  Brigham Young held opinions that were the culture of the day.  Remember when blacks got the priesthood in 1978?  Remember how much flak we took over that?  Yet, every church or secular organization of Brigham Young’s day practiced segregation or some form of the belief that blacks were inferior. The Baptists didn’t officially change their written doctrine on the blacks until a convention in the 1990′s.  But we never hear about blacks and the Baptist Church.  Or any other Protestant religion.  Or Government or Military…Or how modern churches were still denying blacks to come into their doors in 1974!  We don’t bring it up.  We LDS are taught not to criticize or pick apart anyone else’s religion or their history.  (Oops, where did those links come from?)

The most glaringly, ironic thing that anti-Mormons do is point their fingers over historical segregation of blacks (or our beliefs about homosexuality), and claim “racism” while simultaneously engaging in hateful prejudice against a whole populous of people (the Mormons) whom they do not know.  “Pot, meet kettle..”

Back to the point, Paul, one of the greatest New Testament contributors and one of the greatest missionaries/apostles ever had to be convinced by a notable, repeated vision that non-Jews were OK.  He was mortal and human, believing in what he was raised to believe, then learned a better way, line upon line.  And the same is true with any Prophet or Apostle.  Finding an issue or an opinion we don’t agree with, doesn’t stop them from being a Prophet.  Prophets and Apostles are a work-in-progress like any of us.  The Bible is full of examples of that repeating occurrence.  Moses, Peter and Jonah come to my mind quickly.

How about the practice of scrutinizing every word that comes out of any Mormon leader’s mouth for the last 200 years, and faithlessly portraying it as being a part of our official canon, scripture and beliefs?  There is a difference between personal opinions, and official, canonized doctrine.  No church, nor any other secular organization could hold up to that same standard -of leaders’ every word being documented and considered binding.  Every organization has it’s own history of  laughable opinions and beliefs expressed.  Simply because we are human, and even the best of us make mistakes.  We say things we wish we could take back.  We believe things we don’t believe later.  We could go back in time at anyone’s church, educational institution, business, or any secular enterprise and find ridiculous quotes.  As LDS people, we don’t catalog them nor engage in the practice of maligning others.  Sometimes an appropriate response is “That’s not official or canonized doctrine and has nothing to do with my beliefs.  That was an opinion expressed almost a couple of centuries ago and was never claimed as revelation nor put forth as official.”  Then if they pull the “has to be perfect to be an Apostle or Prophet” routine, you can simply say, “that’s not the repeating pattern in the Bible, the learning curves and mistakes of prophets and apostles are recorded in the Bible, over and over.” 

Our real official beliefs, what we teach in church, Sunday School, in our homes, or anywhere are free for all to see.  Our official beliefs do not include every opinion ever expressed nor every learning curve any church leader has ever gone through.  If it really is an official doctrine for our church, it is canonized, documented, out in the open, in the lesson manuals, in our current publications, in our scriptures and easily accessed.  No secret Matrix hierarchy, no secret anything.  We do hold some experiences as personal and sacred, like the Temple.  But the experience of the Temple is open to anyone who wants to pursue the same, established steps to get there.  It is an ordinance like baptism.  You must first exhibit the attributes of one who will keep the vows taken before you qualify to take those vows.  In a sense, it is like getting a college degree.  We don’t qualify for a diploma because someone we know has one and we want one.  The diploma is earned by fulfilling requirements.  The Temple comes after a list of spiritual accomplishments.

Continued tomorrow – “Antidotes to anti-Mormonism that WORK”

(This post is an excerpt from the “Antidotes to Anti-Mormonism” page.)

A few days ago, one of my readers asked if I would “post some advice on what it was like having a second baby. Sibling issues, bedtime madness, and when you actually sleep.”  I have to admit that I am pretty flattered that someone would ask me when we all clearly know what a nut case I am!  So, after thinking about it for a few days, I decided to give my piece and then open it up for you more experienced moms.  So please leave a comment if you have some pointers and advice to share for our new mom’s of plus ones.

I got pregnant with my second, Nephi, when Sammy was just a year old.  We wanted to have the first two close together because my husband and I both grew up with a close sibling and loved it!  Ben and I wanted that for our kids too.

From the very first when we found out we were expecting numero dos, we started prepping Sam for it.  Even though he was only one and had speech and language impairment (although we didn’t know this at the time because he was only one) we made sure to talk to him everyday about the baby in mommy’s tummy. We included him in all the pictures, let him feel the baby kick all the time and told him that was going to be his new friend forever!  We took him to doctor’s appointments and made a huge deal about the ultra sound, and that was very exciting for Sam, too.  I even let him pick out some of the clothes.

Like most parents, we had the same fears as others do with number two.  We were worried that Sam would feel less loved, or replaced, or even be jealous of the newbie in town.  We also had fears that Sam might try to hurt him or pick him up and drop him… you know, stuff like that.  I know many moms who put off having another one for years or not at all for those exact reasons.  But we put aside our fears and just trusted that things would work out great.  We knew that we weren’t “replacing Sam” or loving him any less because we wanted more children, and I believe that Sammy knew that in some way.  We were giving him a life long buddy!

My mother-in-law took Sammy for a couple days while we were in the hospital, and I will never forget what happened the day they brought him in to met his baby brother for the first time.  All I can say is that it was love at first sight!  He was so thrilled to come in and see a little baby in the hospital-made crib thing, that he was literally shaking with excitement!  He even tried to get in with the baby so he could love him!

LDS History Chronology /Timeline

– Sep 10, 2005
[Mormon Tabernacle Choir] Inaugural Bells on Temple Square. (1)

– Sep 20, 2005
[Hinckley] Dedicated the Joseph F. Smith Building on the BYU campus. It houses the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences and the College of Humanities. (2)

– Oct 7, 2005
The First Presidency broke ground for a five-story state-of-the-art Church History Library at a site across the street east of the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. (3)

– Oct 8, 2005
[Hinckley] The First Presidency broke ground for a state-of-the-art Church History Library across the street from Temple Square (2)

– Oct 22, 2005
[Mormon Tabernacle Choir] Tanner Gift of Music Concert with the Utah Symphony, featuring Irish tenor Ronan Tynan and musical group Leahy. (1)

– Oct 26, 2005
[Utah] The Mormon Church, citing difficulties with the government of President Hugo Chavez in renewing visas or obtaining new ones, said it is pulling its foreign missionaries out of Venezuela and reassigning them to other countries. (4)

– During October 2005
General Conference is available in 80 languages. (5)

– Nov 12, 2005
The first Church meetinghouse on Kiritimati Atoll, a 248-square-mile coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean, which is part of the Republic of Kiribati and also known as Christmas Island, was dedicated. (3)

– Nov 19, 2005
[Mormon Tabernacle Choir] Mini-tour to Denver for the National Sports Center for the Disabled. (1)

– Dec 16, 2005
Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration premieres at Legacy Theater. (5)

– Dec 23, 2005
Culminating a yearlong celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Church held a commemorative satellite broadcast that featured segments from the prophet's birthplace in Vermont, as well as from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. The commemorative program was telecast to 161 countries by satellite and worldwide by Internet, with the proceedings translated into 81 languages. (3)

[Hinckley] Conducted and spoke at a Church wide meeting from the Joseph Smith birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. It culminated a year of activities celebrating the prophet-"s 100^th birthday (2)

– 2005
Church Membership at end of year: 12,560,869
New Converts : 285,047
Percent Change from previous year: 2.32% (6)

Footnotes:
1 – Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Newsroom, http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=036eb2987ff92110VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRDvgnextchannel=9ae411154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD
2 – LDS Newsroom, Time line of Significant Events as President, http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/time-line-of-significant-events-as-president
3 – Church News: Historical Chronology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58765/Historical-chronology-of-The-Church-of-Jesus-Christ-of-Latter-day-Saints.html
4 – Ratnikas, Algis, TimelinesDb, http://www.timelinesdb.com/listevents.php?subjid=201title=Utah
5 – Sherry Baker: Mormon Media History Timeline: 1827-2007, http://byustudies.byu.edu/showTitle.aspx?title=7984
6 – Wikipedia, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Membership History, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints_membership_history

Mormon History Timeline /Chronology
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/