In the News:
By Jeff Call
Deseret News
PROVO, Utah -- In the world of LDS returned missionaries, John Beck is a pioneer of sorts.
Last fall, the former Brigham Young University quarterback, and current member of the Miami Dolphins, became the first returned missionary to start a game at quarterback in the National Football League.
For years, observers have noted that no returned missionary had ever started at quarterback in the NFL, but not anymore. Beck has broken that barrier, having started three games in 2007.
It's little wonder why it's taken so long for that milestone to happen. It's been said that quarterback is the toughest position to play in all of team sports -- especially at the NFL level. Imagine taking two years off from football to proclaim the gospel, which Beck did when, out of high school, he served a mission to Portugal from 2000 to 2002.
Other returned missionary quarterbacks have played in the NFL, such as Ohio State's Joe Germaine and BYU's Brandon Doman, but no returned missionary had ever started an NFL game before Beck came along.
From a young age, Beck wanted to play in the NFL, but he also decided to serve a mission. While those appear to be conflicting goals, he managed to accomplish both. Yet serving a mission took precedence over everything else, including football.
"From the beginning, it was all about going on a mission," Beck said. "One of the reasons was, I want my kids to go. I don't want, down the road, for my kid to say, 'Dad, why didn't you go on a mission?' I felt like it was important for me to go, no matter what."
Read Entire Article Here
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
NFL Quarterback: "LDS Mission Was Most Important"
Shinin' Shoes for the LDS President
(copyright KUTV)In the News
Here's a rare candid look at President Monson, as he goes about his daily routine activities in Salt Lake City, Utah
from KUTV(Salt Lake City)
"LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson spends time with one of Utah’s best shoe shiners. It’s just one of the beehive state's public places that President Monson spends some time. 2News' Ron Bird talked with Monson at a downtown hotel.
It is unusual considering most LDS presidents are only seen at semi-annual conferences, events, dedicating a temple or greeting U.S. Presidents."
Reporter Ron Bird found him getting an old-fashioned shoe shine.
Watch the Video
Chatting with the LDS President
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Healing Relationships Through Forgiveness, by LDS Author, C. Terry Warner
This looks like an interesting and powerful book for our times, by LDS author C. Terry Warner. I've just learned that you can read it online, chapter by chapter, at "Meridian Magazine, The Place Where Latter-day Saints Gather".
What a nice gift for yourself and those you love (and those you want to love).
"Bonds that Make Us Free"
by C. Terry Warner
"Terry Warner, presents a dramatic alternative to most psychological theories by giving a life-changing perspective on how we relate to others. Through personal experiences and other examples, the author teaches that by learning how to identify the unproductive cycle of self-betrayal, we can be taught to be true to ourselves, see others as they really are, and learn to love.
This remarkable book suggests that by increasing our knowledge of forgiveness and integrity, we can stop justifying negative emotions and remedy them by addressing their root causes."
Meridian Magazine
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Monday, July 28, 2008
BYU Cougars Football On A Roll
In the News:
BYU Football Favored in 2008 Title
By Wendy Harris
BYU NewsNet
"BYU's football team is a hands-down favorite to claim yet another conference title in 2008, according to a Mountain West Conference media poll released Monday.
The Cougars, who enter the 2008 season with the nation's longest winning streak at 10 games, captured 29 of 34 first-place votes to top the poll. Utah was a distant second with five votes and TCU came in at No. 3. The Cougars ended the 2007 season with top-20 rankings in various polls including the USA Today Coaches poll, tied with Auburn at No. 14, Associated Press poll, No. 14, and Harris poll, No. 18, and a win over UCLA at the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl.
"I don't pay too much attention to the rankings," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said in a news release. "While it may provide motivation and an opportunity to ask more of the team, this won't change how we prepare for the season, nor will it change how we prepare for each individual game. If anyone has been paying attention to our program, we've tried to make it clear that our focus has to be on how we work, how we prepare."
BYU's offense, which was ranked among the top 25 nationally in passing and total offense last year, will return 10 starters, including four MWC first-team honorees, led by junior quarterback Max Hall. Hall, who was the top sophomore quarterback nationally a year ago, was recently named to the 2008 Davey O' Brien National Quarterback Award watch list, which highlights 31 quarterbacks from around the nation. If selected for the award, Hall will join the likes of BYU passing greats Jim McMahon (1981), Steve Young (1983) and Ty Detmer (1990-1991) to receive the prestigious award.
"Max has high goals," Mendenhall said in a news release. "The fact that the other coaches and the media recognize that he can be that type of player is not a surprise to me. Max has a long way to go, in terms of where we are now until the end of the season. He has a good idea of what he wants to accomplish and he has to remain focused on those goals."
Sophomore running back Harvey Unga, junior wide receiver Austin Collie, tight end Dennis Pitta and offensive linemen Ray Feinga and Dallas Reynolds were named, along with Hall, to the All-Conference team.
Three starters will return for a Cougar defense that was ranked among the top 10 nationally in scoring, rushing and total defense in 2007. Junior defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen was the only Cougar defender to be named to the pre-season all-MWC football team.
"It's important for people to understand that none of the predictions and other speculation that happen at this time of year will influence the outcome of the season," Mendenhall said in a news release.
The Cougars will begin their quest for another Mountain West Conference title as they challenge Wyoming on Sept. 20. BYU's first non-conference game is against Northern Iowa on Aug. 30 in Provo."
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Friday, July 25, 2008
"Do Not Betray Heaven" ~Joseph Smith, Prophet of God
Wise counsel from the Prophet Joseph Smith, spoken to the early Apostles and Saints, but even more applicable for our times and seasons.....
~The Prophet Joseph Smith (History of the Church, 3:385)
God,Jesus,Christianity,Spirituality,Meditation,LDS,Mormon,Christian,Hymns,Praise and Worship,FLDS
Monday, July 14, 2008
American Idol, David Archuleta Sings at LDS Church
David Archuleta, who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), sings the beautiful Mormon hymn "Be Still My Soul" at a Mormon Church.
Music by Jean Sibelius, 1899
(Originally Composed as Finlandia)
Lyrics by Katharina von Schlegel, 1752
To learn more about what Mormons (and David) believe, go to:www.Mormon.org
God,Jesus,Christianity,Spirituality,Meditation,LDS,Mormon,Christian,Hymns,Praise and Worship,FLDS
God's Constant Care for His Creations
A beautiful story about God's constant care.....
Spring was late coming to Vernal this year. There wasn't a blossom in sight, yet I knew the hummingbirds would be arriving in early May as they had done for many years.
I went to my garage and found the box where I kept the feeders that I faithfully hung under the eaves every spring. The hummingbirds would expect to find them filled with sweet syrup. I mixed the sugar and water in a jar and put it in the refrigerator in anticipation of filling the feeders when the birds appeared.
When the hummingbirds arrived, it was as if they knew I had been expecting them. They hovered close to my window with their beaks occasionally hitting the glass and their wings vibrating furiously. "I see you little birds," I said. "I'll bring you something to eat."I filled the feeders, took them outdoors and hung them in the usual place near the window.
As I stood watching my little friends hungrily sampling the sweet syrup, a young hummingbird flew through the open door and onto the enclosed porch. Realizing its error, it began to hit every window and wall in a desperate attempt to free itself. I held the door wide open hoping it would fly that direction, but to no avail. I despaired to see the poor little creature about to beat itself to death as it flew wildly about the room.
"Please, Lord, let me help this little one," I prayed silently. Then holding out my finger, I spoke softly and calmly. "Little bird, if you will just light on my finger, I'll carry you out."
For that brief moment, we communicated spirit to spirit. The frightened hummingbird flew down to my outstretched hand and stayed there until I carried it out to safety.
God does care for all his creations. Doesn't the scripture say, "Not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father knowing" (Matt. 10:29)?
"....hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation." (D & C 6:13)
God,Jesus,Christianity,Spirituality,Meditation,LDS,Mormon,Christian,Hymns,Praise and Worship,FLDS
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Your Politics, Your Life...Right, Left or Biblical?
With the Presidential election later this year, you may be considering your "political stand". Are you a Democrat, a Republican? A Liberal, a Conservative?
Are you swayed by the "left wing" or are you swayed by the "right wing"?
In both the Bible and the D&C, God tells us to follow only His Path. The way He has set forth for us will never be frustrated, but "the work of men" will fail.
So, in politics and in everyday life, we have perfect Guidance.
The question is....is anyone really listening?
"Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law..... turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1:7)
"The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught. For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round. Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men." (Doctrines & Covenants 3:1-3)
God,Jesus,Christianity,Spirituality,Meditation,LDS,Mormon,Christian,Hymns,Praise and Worship,FLDS
Friday, July 4, 2008
Happy 4th! Dear God, Please Keep America Free!!!
This year has seen many good people denied their Constitutional rights in Texas, simply because of their religious beliefs. This ought not to be. Yet the persecution of the FLDS in Texas continues. The LDS Church denies that FLDS are "mormons", and have set their attorneys on the media to try to prevent them from using the word "mormon" when writing about the FLDS. And tv news talk show hosts still let their prejudice show when they refer to "the awful situation at the YFZ Ranch in Texas". What awful situation??? There has been NO proof of ANY wrong doing. The awful situation was when the CPS came in and kidnapped 450 happy children!
Now the parents of this community are being required to take parenting classes in order to keep their children. They were forced to agree to attend these classes to get their children returned to them after they were illegally taken away by the Texas CPS. See: "FLDS Parenting Classes Set"
This is wrong on so many levels. The children were taken away orginally on the suspicion of underage girls in the community having babies. Where are these girls? I haven't heard of one yet! In Massachussets, last month, 17 underage girls were found pregnant in one high school! What happened to the parents of those girls? Are they taking parenting classes? And will the newborn babies be pulled from their young mothers arms, by CPS, as soon as they are born?
From what I've learned about the FLDS parents, they are far better than most parents. They homeschool all their children, they make all their own clothes, they provide their children with nutritious healthy meals, they live in a loving and fun atmosphere where sweet song is often heard,
and they teach their children Christian values and a strong work ethic. Yet, they need "parenting classes"? This makes no sense.
What could it be other than religious persecution???
What surprised me the most from this whole tragic event was that not one of the over 450 children taken from their parents did not wish to return to their parents. Each one of them begged to be returned to their parents. They pleaded with Texas CPS to let them go home.
How unusual is that!!! I can certainly understand the little children wanting to be with their parents, but even the teens...both boys and girls, longed to be with their parents! I don't have children myself, but I can still remember being a teen, and most teenagers in the world today seem to want to be as far away from their parents as possible, for as long as possible!
Maybe the FLDS parents should be the ones offering the parenting classes!!!
"I don’t know how you feel, my brethren and sisters, but I’d rather be dead than to lose my liberty. I have no fear we’ll ever lose it because of invasion from the outside. But I do have fear that it may slip away from us because of our own indifference, our own negligence, as citizens of this land. And so I plead with you this morning that you take an active interest in matters pertaining to the future of this country."
~Ezra Taft Benson
Very interesting article about Flora Jessop.
And the difference one person can make....
for good or for evil.
PRAY FOR AMERICA!!!
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