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April 17, 2014
Mormon Leader: Resolve Differences With Mutual Understanding (LDS Newsroom) (April 17, 2014) When religious freedom and nondiscrimination interests collide, we should seek “effective ways to resolve differences without anger or contention and with mutual understanding and accommodation.” That was Elder Dallin H. Oaks’s encouragement tonight at Utah Valley University’s Center for Constitutional Studies, where he was named one of the center’s honorary fellows.
Strength of religious freedom must be built in US courts, LDS leader says (KSL - Utah) (April 17, 2014) Elder Dallin H. Oaks, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will give the keynote address at Utah Valley University's Spring Constitutional Symposium on Religious Freedom.
In an interview with KSL Newsradio’s Amanda Dickson and Grant Nielsen, he said he won't be speaking as a leader of the LDS Church, but as an interested, knowledgeable citizen concerned about the condition of democracy and free speech in the United States of America.
BYU-Idaho: 'Living a benevolent life' (LDS Church News) (April 17, 2014) “As you complete your formal education here at BYU-Idaho, you by no means have to put a period on your learning. You will continue to learn your entire life.”
This was part of the counsel and instruction Elder Richard J. Maynes of the Presidency of the Seventy gave as he spoke during the winter semester commencement at Brigham Young University-Idaho on April 11.
BYU-Hawaii: 'In His strength I can do all things' (LDS Church News) (April 17, 2014) As individuals trust in the Lord and in Heavenly Father, they are able to do anything required of them, Elder Craig C. Christensen of the Presidency of the Seventy told 460 Brigham Young University-Hawaii graduates during commencement exercises on April 12.
LDS Business College: 'Life is what we make it' (LDS Church News) (April 17, 2014) Life is what you make it, Elder S. Gifford Nielsen of the Seventy told LDS Business College graduates during commencement exercises held in the Tabernacle on Temple Square on April 11.
“You can write your own story and choose the kind of person you want to be," he said. "Your attitude about every circumstance that confronts you in life will determine just who and what you become. Your life will be exactly what you make it."
Church Provides Furniture to Utah Ronald McDonald House (LDS Newsroom) (April 17, 2014) Humanitarian outreach by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is benefitting many people throughout the country through dozens of non-profit organizations in Utah and surrounding states. Donations range from assistance for the homeless to those in drug treatment programs to families in need of temporary shelter.
The story behind the missionary reality TV show, 'The District' (Deseret News - Utah) (April 17, 2014) Elder J. Tyler Christensen saw his opportunity and didn’t hesitate.
“From what you have been telling us, over and over again, is your willingness to follow Jesus Christ,” said Christensen, whose eyes were fixed on a stout young man with curly black hair. “Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?”
LDS convert and influential friend reunite after 55 years (Deseret News - Utah) (April 17, 2014) Having been born into a family void of religious instruction, I didn't know the love of my Father in heaven and his keen awareness of me as a young man. This knowledge came as a result of joining the Army as an 18-year-old fresh out of high school.
While in the U.S. Army stationed at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., in 1954, I met Dee Halladay.
Picturing history: Washington Park, Quincy, Ill. (Deseret News - Utah) (April 17, 2014) One of the most uplifting stories in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that of the kindness shown by the citizens of Quincy, Ill., to the Mormon refugees who had been driven from the state of Missouri in the winter of 1838-39.
Although some of the suffering Saints were taken into the homes of the locals, there were many more Mormons than local residents of Quincy. Consequently, a good number of the Latter-day Saints had to stay outside. Many of them set up a camp in what is now Washington Park in downtown Quincy.
Neon Trees’ Tyler Glenn proud to be gay and Mormon (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (April 17, 2014) KISS may have been on the cover of the April 10 issue of Rolling Stone, but the most eye-opening headline — at least for those in Utah — was the one on Gene Simmons’ right thigh that proclaimed: "Gay, Mormon & Finally Out."
It led readers to page 46 and a story about Tyler Glenn, the frontman for Neon Trees, Utah’s most prominent band.
April 16, 2014
LDS leader, Obama meet to push for immigration reform (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (April 16, 2014) A top LDS Church official joined fellow faith leaders to meet with President Barack Obama on Tuesday, urging action on immigration reform that has so far stalled in Congress.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Thomas S. Monson, said outside the White House that he’s hopeful for a break in the partisan logjam preventing meaningful reform.
LDS Church reaffirms stance on immigration (Deseret News - Utah) (April 16, 2014) Congress has a window of opportunity to approve common-sense immigration reform and should act, faith leaders, including President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said Tuesday after meeting with President Barack Obama.
"The president mentioned in our conversation in the Oval Office he would not use executive orders through the summer because he hopes Congress can find a solution," President Uchtdorf told the Deseret News. "Executive orders aren't permanent. A law can provide a comprehensive, common-sense solution.
"I think there is a window of opportunity now."
Tad R. Callister: New Sunday School general president (LDS Church News) (April 16, 2014) Decades before his recent call as Sunday School general president, Sunday School had already played a pivotal role in the life of Brother Tad R. Callister.
It was while he was serving as Sunday School president in a student ward at Brigham Young University in 1967 that he became acquainted with his future wife, Kathryn L. Saporiti.
Salt Lake City's Secret to Escaping the Recession (National Journal) (April 16, 2014) ...One of the striking data points about Salt Lake City is its low unemployment compared with the national rate. It seems that Salt Lake escaped the aftermath of the recession better than most places. What's the secret?
There were a few things that helped us. One is that we have a very diverse economy; it's not like we were completely dependent on one sector. Certainly another key factor was that just before the recession started, the LDS church started to think about building a $1.5 billion downtown development called City Creek Center. There was a mall in its place once, but now it is an example of one of the first LEED-certified, true mixed developments. The LDS church paid cash for that development. As Lane Beattie, head of the Salt Lake Chamber says, the difference between Salt Lake and other cities is that in Salt Lake the cranes kept moving. So really, there was virtually no slowdown in development.
Spending a day with Provo missionaries (Universe - Utah) (April 16, 2014) It was 6:34 a.m. when I nervously knocked on the door.
You know those moments when you feel like running away from something you know is going to be hard, maybe a bit uncomfortable and potentially life changing? This was one of those moments.
I nervously pulled at my skirt and wondered what the heck I was doing as I waited for the BYU North sisters to open the door to their apartment. I was there to document a “day in the life” of missionaries serving in Provo, and to be completely honest, I was terrified.
Food Drive a success for Food Bank (Melfort Journal - Canada) (April 16, 2014) The Melfort Food Bank and the Melfort LDS Church teamed up on Saturday, April 12 for a Food and Bottle Drive. In total they collected nearly 3,000 pounds of food, which is just short of their 5,000-pound goal. The entire event was deemed a success.
“We were ecstatic about the whole thing,” Perry Froc, who was one of the organizers for the LDS Church, said.
Atheist leader: ‘Mormonism demonstrates the power of indoctrination’ (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (April 16, 2014) The Beehive State will be swarming with atheists this week as their national convention gets under way in Salt Lake City.
As many as 700 nonbelievers will be on hand for the gathering, which runs Thursday through Sunday.
As a "warm-up event," the group is featuring a panel discussion at Salt Lake City’s Main Library with two Mormon professors from LDS Church-owned Brigham Young University and two atheist experts.
April 15, 2014
Mathletes repeat history (BYU news release) (April 15, 2014) BYU > Yale, Princeton in math's "Big Dance"
As a national math champion in high school with offers from Stanford and MIT, Sam Dittmer came to BYU with lofty expectations.
He didn’t disappoint, making school history two years in a row.
Buildings at Mormon campus to be bowled (Waikato Times - New Zealand) (April 15, 2014) A series of smaller buildings and structures will be demolished at Temple View's Church College campus site from next week.
The Mormon Church confirmed work would begin on April 22 and include the bulldozing of covered walkways, footpaths and some carports and garages.
Project director Paul Coward said the removal of buildings was a permitted activity under the Hamilton City District Plan and was not part of the stake centre project currently under appeal by the Temple View Heritage Society.
Where Atheists Meet to Evangelize (Wall Street Journal - New York) (April 15, 2014) Look out unbelief—atheism is on a roll, or so proclaims American Atheists, whose annual convention kicks off Thursday in Salt Lake City. "This has been an excellent year for atheism," says Dave Muscato, public-relations director for the deity-dissing group. "Between 2005 and 2012 there was a fivefold increase in the number of people who use the word atheist when asked to identify their religion."
April 14, 2014
85 Mormon missionaries moved in troubled Ukraine (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (April 14, 2014) Concerned about civil unrest in Ukraine, the LDS Church said Friday it is moving another 85 of its missionaries from the Donetsk Mission to another part of the country.
Last month, the Utah-based faith transferred 23 missionaries in the Dnepropetrovsk Mission from the Crimean peninsula to other areas within the mission "as a precautionary measure," the church said in a release.
Elder Christofferson Fulfills Historic Assignments in Europe (Church News) (April 14, 2014) Being a Latter-day Saint in Greece is not easy. Members there endure persecution and discrimination. Some have lost jobs because of their faith. Others have been expelled from school.
Still, the small collection of members that call Greece home has remained faithful. They persevere amid their hardships.
That was the observation of Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
The Movement to Ordain Mormon Women (The Atlantic) (April 14, 2014) A women’s movement, and a sturdy one at that, is beginning to ruffle the steadfastly patriarchal Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over the last weekend, some 400 Ordain Women supporters, marched together to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City to request tickets to Saturday night’s twice-a-year, all-male priesthood meeting held at the 21,000-seat LDS Conference Center.
Appeal of suit based on professor's treatment at BYU (Daily Herald - Utah) (April 14, 2014) Ralph and Muriel Siebach, longtime philanthropic contributors to Brigham Young University and BYU-Idaho, have filed an appeal with the Utah State Supreme Court after a civil lawsuit involving the Siebachs and the university was dismissed by Fourth District Court Judge Fred Howard.
The former president and matron of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Palmyra, N.Y. temple claim BYU was negligent in how the university handled their donations.
Amen! A farewell to the Tribune’s print Faith section (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (April 14, 2014) Every Saturday morning for more than two decades, The Salt Lake Tribune has played host to a conversation about faith.
We asked big questions: Who is God? What is resurrection? Why does Mary keep showing up in unexpected places? How and why do people pray? Are popes and prophets infallible? How do you teach children compassion? What is wisdom? Karma? Heaven? Hell? What does the Bible say about sexuality? Is suicide a sin?
A peek into the journal of sister missionary (Deseret News - Utah) (April 14, 2014) Sister Nuckols has embarked! My time at the CTM (Centro de Treinamento Missionário, the MTC in São Paulo, Brazil) has ended, and I am about to missionary as soon as this plane lands in João Pessoa. Holy excitement! I’m not nervous or worried or sad, just peaceful and ready.
NBA notes: Jabari Parker says he won’t go on LDS mission (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (April 14, 2014) Jabari Parker made one decision known Friday, though the freshman phenom from Duke left basketball fans waiting for his answer regarding another question.
In Los Angeles for the Wooden Awards, Parker, a Mormon, told ESPN L.A. that he had ruled out serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
April 11, 2014
Denver judges appear divided on Utah case (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (April 11, 2014) After an hourlong hearing at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Utah’s same-sex marriage case was left in the hands of what appeared Thursday to be a divided court.
All three judges — Paul J. Kelly Jr., Carlos F. Lucero and Jerome A. Holmes — pushed in different directions as they asked questions about family, equality, legal review standards and states’ rights.
First-edition copy of Book of Mormon sells for $45,000 (Deseret News - Utah) (April 11, 2014) A first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon sold for $45,000 to a private collector at the Printed & Manuscript Americana auction in New York on Tuesday.
One of 5,000 originally printed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830, the book was discovered in an estate auction as part of a box of books that sold for $220. It once belonged to a man named Guy H. Bevington (1889-1958) of West Bridgewater, Pa., who wrote his name in the book.
A glimpse into the thriving business of family history (Deseret News - Utah) (April 11, 2014) Gilad Japhet launched MyHeritage.com out of his garage in 2005. He mortgaged his home, poured all his money into the business, and was not afraid to take a few risks.
Almost a decade later, the startup MyHeritage has revenues in the tens of millions of dollars, continues to see significant growth and has more than 160 employees. Its 75 million users have built 1.5 billion profiles and millions of family trees in 40 different languages.
Provo boy uses lemonade stand as fundraiser (Daily Herald - Utah) (April 11, 2014) This is the fifth year Zack Francom has sold cookies and lemonade on his front lawn to raise funds for wheelchairs. The 10-year-old Provo boy and his family have made it an annual tradition to open "Zack's Shack" lemonade stand in April to donate the profits.
He started with enough money to buy one wheelchair, and after last year's successful campaign, his total now stands at 293 wheelchairs shipped by LDS Philanthropies to developing countries.
BYU Professor Draws Sharp Criticism For His Latest Book On The Role Of Women (KUTV - Utah) (April 11, 2014) BYU Professor Alonzo L. Gaskill is being criticized heavily by his peers for the contents of his latest book called "The lost Teachings of Jesus on the sacred Place of Women."
The controversy is over the use of late 19th century writer/correspondent Nicholas Notovich as the main source for Gaskill's book. "It's absolutely fraudulent," said University of Utah Professor Dr. David Bokovoy of the book's source.
Church Grumbles at 'Date a Mormon' Site (Courthouse News Service) (April 11, 2014) The Mormon church is trying to shut down the "Mormon Match" dating website under the mistaken belief that the "church has total ownership of the word" Mormon, the site's owner claims in Federal Court.
Jonathan Eller sued Intellectual Reserve Inc., a holding company for the intellectual property of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
April 10, 2014
Chick-fil-A wings in new direction after gay flap (Salt Lake Tribune - Utah) (April 10, 2014) The iconic chicken chain, as well known for its conservative heritage as its savory eats, is recalibrating its moral and culinary compass. It wants to go from old school to almost cool. It wants to evolve from a place where gays once picketed to a place where they’ll feel comfortable going to eat. It wants to broaden the brand as it expands nationally and plows into the millennial-driven urban arena.
Lesson from Singapore on supporting families (Deseret News - Utah) (April 10, 2014) We are writing this week’s column from Singapore where we’ve just had the interesting opportunity of presenting a parenting and family relationships seminar to a large audience composed of roughly equal proportions of Buddhists, Muslims and Christians.
April 9, 2014
Hook Of Mormon: Inside The Church's Online-Only Missionary Army (Huffington Post) (April 9, 2014) During a worldwide broadcast in June, the church leaders heralded a new era of redemption through screens. All 84,000 of the church’s missionaries would eventually be able to proselytize over the web using a previously forbidden arsenal of media, including blogs, email, text messages, Skype and even Facebook. Along with their in-person preaching, missionaries can now use social networks to check in on potential converts, or woo new ones with status updates about the Heavenly Father.
Easter reflections on a loving, kind and gracious God (Gateline - Washington) (April 9, 2014) The Easter season invites us to reflect on the lovingkindness of our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Interestingly, as I write, my spell check tool does not recognize the word “lovingkindness,” but it appears in my cherished King James Bible, with the psalmist praising the living and merciful God.
If only: Parker brings first NCAA Championship to BYU basketball (BYU Universe) (April 9, 2014) Alexander the Great commanded troops for five years before his influence was truly felt. Napoleon’s rise to military prominence was 15 years in the making. Jabari Parker seized control of Provo and college basketball in one year.
It didn’t really turn out that way, but sports writers and their readers love a good “what if?” story, so let’s proceed as if Parker had worn a BYU jersey instead of playing for Duke. The story might have gone something like this:
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