Mormon Bloggers

Freshman Matt Ziesel scores a touchdown against Maryville. Below is a little write-up from the Ziesel family for those of you not familiar with Matt: Matt is a special athlete who has Down Syndrome. He loves football and has grown up in an environment surrounded by sports. His father is a coach/ athletic director, and all his siblings play sports. He grew up at athletic events, and has always been a cheerleader. He registered as a freshman at Benton High School -Saint Joseph, MO this year, and told his mother and father he wanted to play football. The team takes good care of looking after Matt, and he is still the cheerleader on the sidelines. He puts his pads and helmet on, stands next to Coach McCamy and waits for his turn to play. Over and over during the course of the game Matt will say, “Coach McCamy, I am ready! I am ready Coach!” On this Monday night coach gave him a chance. The Cardinals were down by a few touchdowns with 15 seconds left. Coach McCamy called a timeout and asked the coach of Maryville High School if they could run their “Matt Play”. He agreed and this is where the video begins. Thanks to Coach McCamy and the freshman coach at Maryville, Matt and his family will cherish his moment forever!

As I’ve pondered how I can better prepare myself and my family for the October 2010 General Conference this weekend, a few ideas have come to mind. About a month ago I began praying for the leaders of the Church to be guided by the Spirit to know what to teach us. Thinking of them has helped me look forward to General Conference.Yesterday as I was visiting another sister in the ward, my visiting

If George W. Bush had doubled the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved? If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had criticized a state law that he admitted he never even read, would you think that he is just an ignorant hot head? If George W. Bush joined the country of Mexico and sued a state in the United States to force that state to continue to allow illegal immigration, would you question his patriotism and wonder who’s side he was on?

If George W. Bush had put 87,000 workers out of work by arbitrarily placing a moratorium on offshore oil drilling on companies that have one of the best safety records of any industry because one company had an accident would you have agreed? If George W. Bush had used a forged document as the basis of the moratorium that would render 87,000 American workers unemployed would you support him?

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a TelePrompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan’s holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia , would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the nonexistent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had stated that there were 57 states in the United States, would you have said that he is clueless?

If George W.. Bush would have flown all the way to Denmark to make a five minute speech about how the Olympics would benefit him walking out his front door in Texas, would you have thought he was a self important, conceited, egotistical jerk?

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W. Bush had misspelled the word "advice" would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoes as proof of what a dunce he is?

If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he’s a hypocrite?

If George W. Bush’s administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown  Manhattan  causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?

If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?

If George W. Bush had created the position of 32 Czars who report directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is happening in America , would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

Funny Junk Interiors is having an “All About Me” link party and as I read posts by my Mom and aunt, I decided that I wanted to join in too! Who Am I? I am a young adult attending BYU Provo. I love dancing, exercising, learning about and spending time with my boyfriend. One of our favorite things to do while the weather is nice is go on hikes. I grew up in Washington but was born in Spain and have

In case you missed it, in the news you read this item probably avoided your radar:

Yesterday, 39 House Democrats joined Republicans in voting against adjournment – but not Jim Matheson. Nancy Pelosi did not want to discuss tax cuts before the election. She moved to adjourn and avoid a vote to extend the Bush tax cuts to American families and businesses.

Last week Congressman Matheson told his Utah constituents that he wanted to vote on the tax cuts before the election. Apparently, he says one thing in Utah, and then caved to the demands of Pelosi and voted with her to adjourn.

Here’s the disastrous news for America — the vote to adjourn passed by ONE vote: 210-209.  If Matheson had joined the other 39 Democrats and defied Pelosi, the House could have debated and passed the tax cuts.

So who does Matheson have in mind?  He’s not interested in what’s best for his constituents, apparently.  And, oh by the way, his worst vote in history was voting with his caucus to seat Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House in the first place.  His allegiance to Nancy Pelosi is apparently a higher priority than his constituents in the 2nd District.  I am one who has made the mistake of voting for him five times in the past.  Never again.  

On the other hand, two Republican members of the House from Utah — Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz — did vote against Pelosi’s motion to adjourn so that the tax cuts could be discussed. Unfortunately, for Utah families, they needed one more vote. Jim Matheson failed to provide that vote.

When people tell you their vote doesn’t count, remember this example of what one vote actually amounts to.  It’s time for Congressman Matheson to be held accountable for his actions. It’s time for the citizens of the 2nd District to elect a Congressman who values the opinions of the voters here in Utah more than the demands of Nancy Pelosi. 

If you are upset by Matheson’s vote, please forward this message to all your friends in the 2nd Congressional District.  Join Morgan’s team by visiting his website.

Statement by Congressman Rob Bishop:

“Democrat leadership should be embarrassed that they brought the entire Congress from around the country back into session for just one day and then left with so many issues that impact our economy just hanging out there. Congress should have at least stayed in long enough to extend the tax cuts to stop massive tax increases and provide some stability and certainty. More time would also have allowed for better policy decision on a whole host of issues, including the NASA bill.”

Statement by Congressman Jason Chaffetz:

“Yesterday the House decided by a single vote to adjourn until after the election this fall. It is totally irresponsible for Congress to leave town when critical issues such as extending the Bush tax cuts need to be debated. In order for the marketplace to thrive, businesses need some regulatory certainty. Congress has failed to deliver. At a time when our economy is weak and people need jobs, it’s very frustrating to see Congress act in such a negligent manner. It is up to voters to hold those Members accountable who place politics above the American people.”

Statement by Congressman Jim Matheson:

“I have led the effort in the U.S. House of Representatives to extend tax cuts for all at this time of fragile economic recovery.  Efforts to suggest otherwise are playing politics and that is a shame.”

Memo to Congressman Matheson: 

It is you, Congressman, who is playing politics now.  If that’s your best defense to the people of the 2nd District whom you represent, it is a lame definition of “leadership” and we will dismiss you without further argument on November 2nd.

Free Counter

On a consistent basis here at Mormon Women: Who We Are, we see that people are asking questions about Mormons and polygamy. The questions come in different ways:  “Can Mormons have many wives?” “Do Mormons practice polygamy?” “What do Mormons think about polygamy?”

Television programs like “Big Love” or the newly-released reality show “Sister Wives” (as well as news stories on small polygamous groups that appear in the news on occasion) have likely contributed to the fact that this question remains on some people’s minds.

And because of the way some polygamous groups live (in compounds, separated from modern society, dressing in 19th-century attire, etc.), we also get questions such as: “Do all Mormon women have long hair?” “What do Mormon women wear?”

We wanted to share a few simple answers to the above questions in the hope that there would be less confusion about these issues.

The Church’s official site (lds.org) says the following under the index entry for “polygamy”:

“The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. At certain times and for His specific purposes, God, through His prophets, has directed the practice of plural marriage (sometimes called polygamy), which means one man having more than one living wife at the same time. In obedience to direction from God, Latter-day Saints followed this practice for about 50 years during the 1800s.” The Church officially stopped sanctioning the practice of plural marriage in 1890. (You can find more about the history of polygamy at the above index link.)

Polygamy was a test of faith. It was not easy for either men and women who were asked to live this commandment. Nevertheless, those affected by this commandment sought personal inspiration about whether to accept it, and where applicable, live it.

If you were to ask different LDS Church members today what they think of polygamy, you’d probably get a range of answers. Some have struggled with the fact that plural marriage is a part of Mormon history. Others accept is as a part of our history. Some will give their personal ideas for why it existed, with opinions differing, even among historians. (Links above to lds.org and mormon.org’s FAQ explain some possible reasons.) Some people are personally descended from early LDS polygamists; their answers may have yet another slightly different flavor to them. (Read one such perspective in “Ask a Mormon Woman: “What do you think about polygamy?”)

Where discomfort does exist, it’s understandable to the degree that such discomfort acknowledges that monogamy is the rule in God’s commandments. “The Lord’s law of marriage is monogamy unless he commands otherwise….” (see Encyclopedia of Mormonism Vol. 3, pp. 1091-1095, quoted in another official Church answer in the FAQ on polygamy at mormon.org). President Gordon B. Hinckley stated, polygamy is “against the law of God.” This is true “[e]ven in countries where civil or religious law allows [the practice of a man having more than one wife] (“What Are People Asking about Us?” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 72). Any marriage must be monogamous in order for individuals to qualify for Church membership.

But we would hope that any such discomfort not be allowed to cloud the broader perspective and understanding about who we are, what we believe, and how we live as Mormons. Our faith as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints centers on the Savior and His role in God’s plan of happiness for His children. We try to follow the Savior and incorporate and live His teachings. We value marriage between a man and a woman as a critical part of that plan.

You likely cross paths with Mormons in your day-to-day life in your communities, places of employment, grocery stores, schools, and other places. We wear modest but very typical attire for the countries and cultures in which we live. Our hairstyles vary widely (short, long, curly, straight…). Our life circumstances vary as well.

And let us be clear that the only time you might see us in old-fashioned dresses is when we are re-enacting moments from early Church history.

A final note: When we study or celebrate our history, we usually don’t talk much about polygamy, because in reality, polygamy is not what defines (or at least shouldn’t define) what our history is all about. We study our history to understand more about how a deep faith in the Savior can help us face our trials and tests, and can fill our lives with joy as we seek to serve the Lord and those around us.

I was just about 8 weeks from my 10th birthday when we drove to Salt Lake to be sealed. We had been members of the church less than a year, but our mission president had petitioned for us to go early. Only many years later did I see the letter from Elder Ezra Taft Benson to our mission president granting the permission that we go early.

We were baptized in September, but went to the temple in August because that’s when Dad could get a week away and when my siblings and I wouldn’t have school conflicts. We drove out and back pulling our six-man travel trailer behind the station wagon. My parents drove nearly straight through from Pittsburgh, and as an adult now I can only imagine how fatiguing the trip must have been.

We stayed at a KOA campground just north of Point of the Mountain, and on Tuesday morning we all drove together to the temple. My older brother, two older sisters and I were ushered in to a waiting area while my parents went through their endowment session. I don’t remember much, except that we were dressed in white while we waited, and we were entertained by another much younger boy (a toddler, I think) while he waited for his parents, too.

When the time finally came, a sister walked us to our sealing room. I have no idea the route we took, since it was my first of only three times in the Salt Lake Temple (and the other two would be as an adult for weddings). I remember lots of chandeliers, a large staircase, and the sealing room itself. It was a small oval-shaped room with just a few chairs and of course mirrors in gold-painted frames hanging opposite one another.

My parents were in the room as was our branch president and his wife and probably another witness and the sealer of course, though I don’t remember that.

What I do remember is kneeling around the altar with my parents. I have no idea if they had already been sealed or if we witnessed that (I assume we did not witness it), but I do remember the six of us around the altar together. And I remember the free flowing tears following the sealing itself. We looked at one another in the “eternal” mirrors, we hugged and cried.

I can’t pretend that I understood everything then that I do now about the sealing (nor can I pretend I understand everything about the sealing now!), but I do know how I felt: The temple was a place of peace, of happiness, and a place where I wanted to return. Even at that young age, I attributed the peace that I felt to the influence of the spirit, and that experience kneeling around the altar with my parents has been and continues to be a key landmark in my path to testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and His restored church.

I am grateful that my own children have been born in the covenant, owing to my wife’s and my having been sealed at the time of our marriage, but I sometimes wish they could have had the powerful spiritual experience I did as a young boy.

Muitas pessoas já viram missionários “mórmons” (SUD). Eles normalmente se destacam onde quer que estejam porque são jovens, estão sempre alinhados, usando ternos escuros, camisas brancas e gravatas, trabalham sempre em duplas e utilizam a plaqueta que os identifica. Não é nenhuma surpresa o fato de que tantas pessoas os vejam porque a Igreja SUD tem provavelmente o programa missionário mais ativo da atualidade. Atualmente há mais de 50.000 missionários, três quartos deles rapazes, servindo no mundo inteiro.

Desde o princípio, A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias, ou Igreja mórmon como é chamada freqüentemente, foi uma igreja de proselitismo, enviando missionários para todas as partes do mundo. O trabalho missionário é feito normalmente através de palestras ministradas, por contatos feitos pelos próprios missionários ou através de referências dadas pelos membros da Igreja que desejam compartilhar o evangelho com seus familiares, amigos e vizinhos.

O trabalho missionário é parte fundamental e se tornou rapidamente uma das características marcantes de A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias. Os missionários homens, chamados Élderes, muitas vezes andando de bicicleta ou caminhando, podem ser facilmente encontrados nas ruas de pequenas e grandes cidades ao redor do mundo. As missionárias mulheres, que também trabalham em duplas, são chamadas de Sisters. Todos os missionários são designados através da sede da Igreja para servir e podem ser enviados a qualquer parte do mundo, em países onde o governo permite pregar. Os missionários contribuem para seu próprio sustento por até dois anos, e freqüentemente aprendem outro idioma.

Week-ends, of course, are for family, chores, and fun. And although sewing is fun, it’s not the only thing in life that is.

Anyway, feel free to take a look at what I worked on this week.
Especially the tan jacket below. Collared jackets are a lot of work, so I don’t do them very often, but the outcome is always SO satisfying, don’t you think? I want one full-size!

Raising the Bar: Missionaries to Match the Message, is a great mission prep book by Ed J. Pinegar. I liked it so much, in fact, that I’m giving it away. Seriously!

Giveaway: Everyone who makes a comment on this blog post will be entered into a drawing for the book. The winner will be selected at random next week, and I’ll send that person the book.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

Open Your Mouth and Preach the Gospel

• “Tell the missionaries to open their mouths right away. Don’t wait until you feel comfortable with the language. Many precious souls may be lost if you wait.” p. x
• Joseph Smith declared, “after all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.” p. 3
• “When we know what Christ has done for us, we will want to open our mouths, and they will be filled with everything we need to say.” p. 119
• The sons of Mosiah “didn’t see these Lamanites as enemies, but as fellow children of God who needed the gospel too. That’s why they were such successful teachers.” p. 127

How to Prepare for Missionary Work

• “One of the most important parts of preparing for your mission is catching the vision of the work—it will motivate you to prepare every needful thing.” p. ix
• “Are we willing to prepare [for our missions]? So many people want to win, but as BYU coach Lavell Edwards has often told his football teams, ‘Maybe they don’t want to prepare to win.” p. 21
• “Ye cannot say when ye are brought to the MTC that I will repent, that I will gain a testimony…Ye cannot say this , for the same spirit which doth posses you prior to the MTC will possess you after. Our true conversion must take place now. The Lord wants us already prepared.” p. 143

Teaching by the Spirit

• “We cannot do anything in the mission field without having the Spirit, and we can’t have the Spirit unless we choose to be obedient.” p. 24
• “Testify. Truth without testimony is hollow.” p. 67
• “Sober-mindedness is one of the most essential traits in order to be a spiritual giant, in order to speak by the Spirit, to be led by the Spirit, to be Ammon-like and Moroni-like missionaries. The language we use is an important key in maintaining sober-mindedness. Words like ‘He’s a cool dude’ are totally inappropriate when talking about spiritual things.” p. 110
• “With the Spirit, and by magnifying your call, you can do miracles for the Lord in the mission field. Without the Spirit you will never succeed regardless of your talent.” p. 137

Worthiness to Serve

• “If the Elders cannot go with clean hands and pure hearts, they had better stay here. Do not go thinking, when you arrive…that then you will purify yourselves.” p. 31
• “We must become missionaries to match the message, disciples of Jesus Christ, not just for a full-time mission, but for life.” p. 35
• “When you are busy obeying, you don’t have time to entertain temptation.” p. 84
• “Always sustain your leaders…Remember, sustain the prophet means you also sustain all the people under him in the priesthood line, and they you will have the blessings of the Lord.” p. 84

Getting Motivated and Understanding

• “Our duty is clear—to invite all mankind to come unto Christ.” We must “be worthy, willing, and eager to serve.” p. 6
• “If we are rooted in Jesus Christ, listening to the living prophets, and adhering to the scriptures, we will have a continual, living well of motivation.” p. 96
• “When we don’t have enough understanding, we don’t trust in God and we fear what others will think or what may happen to us. When we gain enough knowledge, we see clearly, we have power, and then fear will flee from us.” p. 118

Rules for the Book Giveaway

Enter for a chance to win the book “Raising the Bar: Missionaries to Match the Message” by leaving a comment on this blog post saying what you are doing or would do to raise yourself to the bar. Please, just one entry is allowed per person. Comments must be received by Thursday, October 7, 2010. The winner will be selected at random and announced on Friday Oct. 8th.

Raising the Bar: Missionaries to Match the Message is a post from: Mormon Mission Prep

Related posts:

1. Winner of Raising the Bar Book And the winner of the book Raising the Bar: Missionaries to Match the Message is…Jim….
2. Learning the Language: Tips for Mormon Missionaries A large percentage of Mormon Missionaries are sent to a foreign land, and the majority…
3. “We Need More Missionaries” Says Elder Nelson “From time to time we need to remind ourselves why we have missionaries. It…

Aurora’s a big girl now:

Aurora sitting in her modified bed

Steven caught Aurora trying to climb out of bed, and we worried that she would fall out and get hurt. So he converted her crib into a toddler bed. Which basically meant he took the front panel off and replaced it with a 2×4 in front of the mattress for support. He then put a mattress on the ground so when she rolls off she won’t get hurt. Isn’t he the best Daddy ever?