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March 10, 2010
BYU-Idaho serves record number of students in 2009 (LDS Church News) (March 10, 2010) A record 22,997 students attended Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2009, continuing the university's steady increase in enrollment since becoming a four-year institution in 2001.
A major reason for the university's enrollment growth is the three-track system, which offers three distinct 14-week semesters throughout the year: fall, winter, and spring. Each student is admitted to a track consisting of two semesters: fall/winter, winter/spring, or spring/fall. By having three full semesters, the university is able to serve thousands more students.
Mormon Church seeks to be 'more proactive' in green-building efforts (Deseret News - Utah) (March 10, 2010) In some ways, the old downtown malls never went away.
As the towers of the Mormon Church's City Creek Center continue to rise, construction workers are using rebar made from recycled steel.
It's part of City Creek Reserve Inc.'s goal to recycle half of the steel from the old Crossroads and ZCMI Center malls as officials target an LEED silver certification for the massive downtown development.
Interest in genealogy taking off thanks to new TV shows (Deseret News - Utah) (March 10, 2010) Genealogy is not the boring word anymore that applies only to your grandmother or mother.
Instead, it's penetrating the mainstream of American life.
Thanks in part to four new television shows, tracing personal ancestry is taking off again, some 33 years after Alex Haley's landmark series, "Roots," aired on TV.
There's the new NBC series "Who Do You Think You Are?" (Fridays, 7 p.m., NBC, KSL-TV, Ch. 5 in S.L.) It is based on an original British version of the show.
On faith: GH youth rise up early to demonstrate their faith (Peninsula Gateway - Washington) (March 10, 2010) One example of faith in action today in Gig Harbor is shown by the 70 or so high-school-age teens who rise at 5 a.m. to attend religious studies at the church at 6 every school day morning except Wednesdays, even in the dark of winter. Most are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it’s marvelous to see these faithful young people gathered to study the scriptures and discuss how scriptural principles can be applied in their daily lives.
Road to redemption...(Boston Herald - Massachusetts) (March 10, 2010) How do you say “chutzpah” in Mormon?
Mitt Romney is out on a book tour insisting that Romneycare and Obamacare have very little in common. “It’s the difference between a racehorse and a donkey,” is Romney’s line. And besides, the former Bay State governor writes in his new book, “the plan is working.”
I don’t know how many of the working Massachusetts families facing insurance premium hikes of more than 30 percent this year alone - on top of the fastest-rising costs in America since the plan took effect - would say it’s “working.”
Family lifted up from sorrow (Deseret News - Utah) (March 10, 2010) t's been an entire year since Kandice Hemsley, Ryan Sherman and their children had to climb from the uttermost depths of sorrow to the top of the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle.
But on March 21, the family will do it again, climbing the 69 flights of stairs, 1,311 steps and 788 feet of elevation of the Pacific Northwest's tallest skyscraper in honor of their fallen family member, Ezra Sherman, who was named the official honoree of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Washington Alaska Chapter's Seattle Big Climb.
A day of rest amid March Madness (Deseret News - Utah) (March 10, 2010) Huddled in a news conference on a Sunday afternoon in a basketball arena in Ames, Iowa, a handful of reporters from around the country were stunned -- eyebrows raised and mouths agape.
They couldn't believe what they were hearing on that March day in 2002.
Dressed in Sunday-best attire, a couple of members of the No. 11-seeded BYU women's basketball team, which had crushed No. 6 seed Florida the previous day, 90-52, in the tournament's first round (it marked the program's first-ever NCAA tournament victory), sat in front of the media. They fielded questions about the Cougars' second-round, Monday-night matchup against vaunted No. 3 seed Iowa State -- on the Cyclones' home floor.
March 9, 2010
BYU Young Ambassadors celebrate 40 years of performance (LDS Church News) (March 9, 2010) Performing for the queen of Thailand, being welcomed to India by Indira Gandhi, meeting Mother Teresa and visiting 66 countries around the world — these are the accomplishments Brigham Young University's Young Ambassadors, observing the performing group's 40th anniversary this year.
BYU earns fourth Gates Scholar since 2004 (BYU news release) (March 9, 2010) Bill Gates is sending another BYU grad to study at Cambridge.
Trevor Ellison is the university’s fourth winner of the prestigious Gates Scholarship since 2004.
That means BYU is tied with Brown and other schools for 14th in the country over that span, in front of Duke and Georgia Tech, which each had three winners.
LDS president spoke at Osmond funeral (Examiner) (March 9, 2010) The tragedy of losing such a young life in Marie Osmond's son, Michael Bryan, shook a lot of people. His funeral, held in Provo, Utah, brought 450 people who loved and admired the young man who committed suicide. LDS church president Thomas S. Monson spoke and the Osmond shared their musical talents as they laid Michael to rest. Loving words and fond memories were shared in his behalf.
March 8, 2010
LDS Church leaders explain Salt Lake City land purchase (KSL - Utah) (March 8, 2010) The presiding bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints explained the reasons behind the church's recent purchase of land on the south end of downtown Salt Lake City.
In an interview with the Deseret News, Bishop H. David Burton said the LDS Church bought 13 acres near 400 South and Main Street to protect it for future development that would be in concept with the city's vision for growth in that area.
Elder Glenn L. Pace to speak at March 9 devotional (BYU news release) (March 8, 2010) Elder Glenn L. Pace, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will speak at Brigham Young University’s devotional Tuesday, March 9, at 11:05 a.m. in the Marriott Center.
The devotional will be broadcast live on all BYU Broadcasting channels. It will also be archived online at byub.org or at speeches.byu.edu. Rebroadcast information is available at the Web site.
Media technology in 20th century Mormonism (LDS Church News) (March 8, 2010) The Church's extensive use of electronic mass media in the 20th Century was documented by Shirley Pack Baker, associate professor in the Communications Department at BYU, in her Church History Symposium presentation Feb. 26.
In doing so, she highlighted landmark events occurring mainly in the administrations of four past Church presidents: Heber J. Grant during the radio era, David O. McKay during the mass media era of television and film, Spencer W. Kimball during the satellite era and Gordon B. Hinckley during the Internet era.
Dale & Nancy Murphy speak at BYU-Hawaii (BYU-Hawaii news release) (March 8, 2010) Thank you for the introduction. We'd like to say that we have eight children. They're all girls except the first seven. It has been a wild ride, I have to say, in our home, having so many sons. We're getting towards the tail end; we only have two left at home—our daughter's a junior and our last son is a senior so we'll be empty-nesters before too long.
Why aren't other peoples mentioned in the Book of Mormon? (Deseret News - Utah) (March 8, 2010) Last week it was explained that the Lehites were a small incursion into a larger existing New World population. Such a position raises at least two questions:
1. If the Lehites met "others" in the New World, why are they not mentioned?
2. What about those verses that imply that the Lehites were alone in the Americas?
March 6, 2010
Mormon missionary from Mesa lends aid in Chile (Arizona Republic) (March 6, 2010) The people of Talca, Chile, were literally tossed from their beds in the early hours of last Saturday as the 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck just 65 miles away.
Among those residents was a 19-year-old Mormon missionary from Mesa, Mark Roberts, who darted into the streets with his roommate in their pajamas and immediately began searching for survivors.
Brookings missionary in Chile when quake hits (Brookings Register - South Dakota) (March 6, 2010) James Francis, 19, a Brookings resident, is serving as a missionary in Chile for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was in the Recoleta district of the capital of Santiago, about 215 miles north of Concepcion, when an 8.8 earthquake rocked the South American nation at about 3:40 a.m. local time Saturday. The next day, he sent an e-mail to his parents, David and Madelyn Francis, of Brookings, letting them know he was well and unharmed. The Francises shared this e-mail and a second one sent Monday with The Brookings Register. These are excerpts from their son's correspondence
Big brother molds Fredette into star (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (March 6, 2010) Al Fredette came home from his work as a financial planner in the tiny upstate New York town of Glens Falls one summer day to find his two sons, 9-year-old Jimmer and 16-year-old T.J., playing basketball in 90-degree temperatures on a small slab of concrete in the back yard.
But the brothers weren't playing a real game of basketball. Jimmer was dribbling the ball, and T.J. was doing all he could to steal it, get Jimmer to pick up his dribble, or knock little brother off the cement patch. The father said it looked like some form of torture, but Jimmer was enjoying every minute of it.
Religion & recession: Churches help people find jobs (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (March 6, 2010) Larry Adakai was out of options.
He lost his welder job after taking too much time off to care for his ailing wife through numerous surgeries. The Navajo father had no savings and few places to turn.
That's when the Rev. Steve Keplinger and the good folks at St. David's Episcopal Church in Page, Ariz., part of the Utah diocese, stepped in.
Books: Association for Mormon Letters honors 14 winners (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (March 6, 2010) The Association for Mormon Letters has named 14 winners of its annual AML Awards.
The nonprofit organization, which promotes the production and study of Mormon literature, also announced several changes in administration at its annual meeting Feb. 27 at Utah Valley University.
Margaret Blair Young will serve as the new AML president, with Boyd Petersen now serving as past president. J. Scott Bronson will serve as the association's president-elect.
March 5, 2010
The truth about Hugh Nibley myths (Deseret News - Utah) (March 5, 2010) Imagine, if you will, that Hugh Nibley is stuck like Bill Murray in the movie "Groundhog Day" -- except instead of repeating the same day over and over, the magic of folklore is creating multiple stories of how Nibley found love and marriage at BYU.
March 4, 2010
Elder Holland reflects on life in Chile (LDS Church News) (March 4, 2010) Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve was on a Church assignment in the African nation of Ghana when he received word of the history-making earthquake that sent a portion of Chile into a literal upheaval on Feb. 27.
Sister Bednar speaks of Christ's love through own experience (Deseret News - Utah) (March 4, 2010) Sister Susan K. Bednar, wife of Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve, emphasized the power and strength found in individuals and Jesus Christ's infinite love to the the Sandy, Utah, institute students Wednesday, March 4.
Sister Bednar cited Romans 5:19: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."
Mormon-Catholic tolerance goes back to Brigham Young years (Deseret News - Utah) (March 4, 2010) During his forum address at Brigham Young University on Feb. 23, Francis Cardinal George, head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, mentioned last year's participation by President Thomas S. Monson and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the centennial celebrations for Salt Lake City's Catholic Cathedral of the Madeleine.
He wondered aloud whether Brigham Young and Lawrence Scanlan, the first Catholic bishop of Utah, would have been shocked at such cordial relations.
Wyoming college drops LDS-targeted recruitment (Associated Press) (March 4, 2010) The president of Northwest College in Powell says he'll keep religion out of his recruitment efforts after a recent mailing to Mormon high school students raised ire on campus.
Paul Prestwich wrote an e-mail to students and faculty members on Tuesday saying religion won't be the focus of the school's formal recruitment efforts in the future.
Prestwich, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sent about 1,000 letters to LDS teens last month touting the benefits that the school and community offer students of that faith. The letters were written on school letterhead and were accompanied by a letter on church letterhead from Fred Hopkin, president of the Mormon church's Cody Wyoming Stake.
LDS missionaries may throw off Idaho college stats (Standard Journal - Idaho) (March 4, 2010) State officials are promising to remedy low college completion statistics in Idaho, but the statistics may not be completely accurate due to a large population of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionaries.
This week, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and the Idaho Board of Education joined with 16 other states and Complete College America, a nonprofit educational organization, in pledging to "significantly increase college completion by 2020."
Book Report: Romney’s ‘No Apology’ (Wall Street Journal - New York) (March 4, 2010) Is it 2012 already? The next presidential election must be getting closer, because more books from would-be candidates are hitting the bookstores. This week, it’s “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness” by 2008 GOP candidate and likely repeat contender, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Extinguishers Set Off At Mormon Church (KCRA - California) (March 4, 2010) Investigators went to a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sacramento Tuesday morning on a call of vandalism.
Police said teens set off fire extinguishers inside the church, which is on 51st Street.
There's no word on how much damage was caused.
The vandalism is not believed to be a hate crime.
March 3, 2010
LDS send 6 tons of aid (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (March 3, 2010) The LDS Church delivered 6 tons of food Tuesday to the Chilean city of Talca.
Church spokesman Scott Trotter said the donation -- from LDS food-supply warehouses in Chile known as Bishop's Storehouses -- is meant to help meet needs in several quake-devastated cities north of Concepción.
BYU devotional: 'Grow toward Christ' (LDS Church News) (March 3, 2010) How individuals choose to react to difficult circumstances makes all the difference, Barbara Heise said during the campus devotional held in BYU's Marriott Center on Tuesday, March 2. Individuals are the masters of their own choices, she said.
Victim deserves dignity (Deseret News - Utah) (March 3, 2010) Now that a federal court has found Brian David Mitchell competent to stand trial, prosecutors can move ahead with the criminal case against the alleged kidnapper of Elizabeth Smart.
LDS Church works with Cambodian government to aid rice farmers (KSL.com) (March 3, 2010) Last November, KSL 5 News showed you how Utahns were helping Cambodian children receive education and training that changes their lives. Now, other Utahns, also missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are working to help rice farmers double their production.
March 2, 2010
Church Responding to Chile Earthquake (LDS Church news release) (March 2, 2010) Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile are actively assisting in relief efforts and determining how the Church can be of most assistance in the wake of one of the most powerful earthquakes of the last century. With over half a million Latter-day Saints living in the country, the Church has a substantial presence in Chile.
Messages from Chile tell of experiences during 8.8 earthquake (LDS Church News) (March 2, 2010) Even as Church members in Chile take their maiden steps of recovery following a massive earthquake on Saturday, Feb. 27, many are recalling the horror of experiencing one of the strongest recorded temblors in history. The following accounts were collected by Church News contributor Laurie Sowby. Sister Sowby and her husband, Stephen Sowby, served in the Chile Santiago West Mission from October 2005 to April 2007. They are now serving in the Washington D.C. South Mission.
LDS Church set to augment Chile quake relief (Deseret News - Utah) (March 2, 2010) While continuing its limited local relief efforts in quake-shaken Chile, LDS Church leaders there and in Utah are determining the extent of additional assistance in the aftermath of Saturday's magnitude-8.8 earthquake.
Early fatality reports indicate three members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died in the wake of the quake and ensuing tsunami. More than a half-million LDS members reside in Chile.
Giant LDS Church holding open house (KIDK - Idaho) (March 2, 2010) A model of the largest LDS church in existence is about to have an open house in Rexburg. The double chapel is 38-thousand square feet.
Soon it will house 8 BYU-Idaho wards. Currently those wards are all over the city.
BYU-I 8TH Stake President Terry Call said, "The unity that can now be felt in the hallways. The friendship that can now be generated. Over the last year and a half that our stake has been in existence, we've had all of our units meeting all over town in different church buildings here in Rexburg."
Beginnings of Primary presented at Church History symposium (Deseret News - Utah) (March 2, 2010) The beginnings of the Primary organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was rooted in a desire to make the "hoodlum" sons of Utah's first settlers into decent husbands and fathers.
Several women played key roles, RoseAnn Benson said during her presentation of the Early History of Primary at the Church History Symposium on Friday at Brigham Young University. They included Aurelia Spencer Rogers, Zina Young, Sara Louise Felt and Eliza Roxey Snow.
Romney set for warmup to 2012 run with new book (Reuters) (March 2, 2010) President Barack Obama may have three years to go before the next presidential election, but Mitt Romney has regrouped after his failed 2008 White House run and is already setting himself up for the 2012 Republican nomination.
BYU grad turns Nike scraps into NBA-quality sneakers (Deseret News - Utah) (March 2, 2010) Everybody has leftovers. But rather than mix them with cream of chicken soup and sprinkle Corn Flakes on top, creative designer Kasey Jarvis turned Nike scraps into NBA-level basketball shoes.
The BYU industrial design graduate returned to campus Thursday night to share the story of Trash Talk, the sneaker company's first "recycled" shoe.
March 1, 2010
Church Statement on Earthquake in Chile (LDS Church news release) (March 1, 2010) "We, along with the rest of the world, are watching with concern as reports from the massive earthquake in Chile continue to unfold. As with any disaster, immediate details are difficult to confirm. We have confirmed that all of the Church's missionaries in Chile have reported in and are safe, including the two elders on the Juan Fernandez Island." (This is an update from a report earlier today when some missionaries had not reported in).
Tsunami threat leads to precautions for LDS missionaries, members in Asia (LDS Church News) (March 1, 2010) As a tsunami bore down on Asia Sunday, Priesthood leaders took action to protect missionaries and members.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center removed warnings for all areas except Japan and Russia by Sunday morning Asia time.
Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Seventy, and president of the Asia North Area, said the Micronesia Guam Mission was the first to be affected by the tsunami warning. In an e-mail to the Church News, he said the mission reported that unit leaders, assisted by missionaries, saw to it that members and missionaries were moved to higher elevation areas on the Micronesia Islands of Kosrae, Chuuk, Yap and Pohnpei until the tsunami warning expired.
Tsunami Warning Update: All Clear (BYU-Hawaii news release) (March 1, 2010) As of 1:38 PM HST, the tsunami warning for the Hawaiian islands has been cancelled. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center is continuing to monitor wave activity for the next few hours, but says the danger has passed. The Department of Emergency Management has issued an 'All Clear' message, roads have been re-opened, and residents (including BYU–Hawaii students, faculty, and staff) may return to their homes.
LDS in Chile are coping after earthquake (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (March 1, 2010) As Chileans work to recover victims and begin to repair damage done by Saturday's 8.8-magnitude earthquake, the country's large LDS population has come together to help each other, said Salt Lake City resident Marc Boyden.
His father, Stephen Boyden, is serving as executive secretary to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints area presidency in Santiago, Chile. People with damaged or destroyed homes are staying in chapels or with other church members, he told his son. And the local bishop's storehouse, which helps the poor with food and necessities, is "very busy," Marc Boyden said.
Missionary From Manteca Survives Chile Quake (Fox 40 - California) (March 1, 2010) A young missionary from Mateca was caught in the Chile quake. Daniel Heinze is in Chile on a mission trip for the Mormon Church. He hasn't yet been able to contact his family, but they have gotten word from other Americans that he is safe-and-sound.
Dismissing Book of Mormon geography inaccuracies (Deseret News - Utah) (March 1, 2010) One issue that relates in important ways to Book of Mormon geography is the human composition of the ancient Americas. The traditional LDS folk-belief asserts that the Lehites arrived to a nearly vacant New World, with the possible exception of some Jaredite survivors and the Mulekites. This tradition implies that virtually all Native Americans are descendants of exclusively Book of Mormon peoples.
Marie Osmond's son committed suicide, police say (CNN) (March 1, 2010) The death of Marie Osmond's 18-year-old son has been classified as a suicide, police said Sunday.
A family spokesman on Saturday said that Michael Blosil had died.
Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Karen Rayner told CNN she could not release further information because the death is a Los Angeles County coroner's case. The coroner's office said the case was on "security hold" and nothing further would be released Sunday.
From mission to mat in the Big Ten (LDS Church News) (March 1, 2010) Getting from small-town Utah to Big Ten college athletics is quite a journey. But two highly rated wrestlers made it, even with a two-year detour.
Levi Mele is crafting a respectable record in his first season on the mat for the Northwestern University Wildcats. Colton Salazar has improved his record for the third year in a row for the Purdue Boilermakers.
Reader Voices: Southern Baptist finds gospel in Utah (Deseret News - Utah) (March 1, 2010) Growing up very active in the Southern Baptist church in Georgia, Marsha Addams could not in her wildest dreams have imagined she would one day become a Mormon.
When she moved to Utah to start a new job, a man commented on her maiden name, saying: "Cannon: that's a good Mormon name."
Addams retorted, "It's a good Southern Baptist name!"
Mormon moms use talent to sing, inspire at 'Time Out' (Deseret News - Utah) (March 1, 2010) It was a first for Brooke Stone, Soni Muller and Whitney Permann.
The Mercy River trio were presenting at their first Time Out for Women event last month.
"We were really nervous and the women were so sweet," Stone said. "It was a lot of fun."
"I was sitting there in the audience watching the whole event and I'm thinking 'what and I doing here? I'm not one of those presenters,'" Permann added. "I was learning so much."
Then it was their turn to sing and share.
Romney should not have to defend his Mormon faith (USA Today) (March 1, 2010) Scott Hindes - Gig Harbor, Wash.
I take exception to the following statement in USA TODAY's article on former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney: "Nor does he try to explain or defend his Mormon faith." Defend it against what or whom ("Is it Romney's time?," Cover story, News, Feb. 22)?
If one wants an explanation of the faith, then read the Book of Mormon, and visit Salt Lake City or a house of worship belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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