In the News:
The Christian Coalition issued a statement praising Sarah Palin
"Christian Coalition of America commends Senator John McCain for his selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a pro-life conservative mother of 5 children including a Downs Syndrome baby born during April. Liberal and pro-life columnist Nat Hentoff said about Governor Palin in his column on May 26th: “I offer my unsolicited suggestion for (McCain’s) vice president: the first woman — and youngest — governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, who is an unstereotypical and effective Republican.”
Governor Palin said about her husband’s and her feelings about their newest child: “We’ve both been very vocal about being pro-life. We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential.” She served notice to her Alaskan constituents after the birth of Trig Paxson Van Palin that being the mother of a child of special needs would not hinder her professional commitments: “It’s a sign of the times to be able to do this. There is no reason to believe a woman can’t do it with a growing family. My baby will not be at all or in any sense neglected.” And she added, “I will not shirk my duties.”
Roberta Combs, President of the Christian Coalition of America said: “Governor Sarah Palin is a bold choice for Vice President who is a courageous advocate for unborn children. In addition, she is a conservative who is a reformer not afraid to shake up the establishment. I congratulate Senator McCain for his outstanding selection for his vice presidential running mate.”
In a separate statement, the Christian Coalition proudly declared that this year’s proposed GOP platform contains “the strongest pro-life language ever in the history of the party.”
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Saturday, August 30, 2008
Sarah Palin ~ McCain's V.P. Pick Unites Christian Conservatives
Friday, August 29, 2008
McCain Picks Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
In the NewsALERT: John McCain picks 44 year old Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, to be his running mate.
"Palin is considered a rising star in the Republican Party. She is the state’s first female governor, the mother of five — and at 44 is its youngest chief executive.
Born in Idaho, Palin moved to Alaska with her parents, to Charles and Sally Heath, when she was 3 months old.
She grew up in Wasilla, just outside of Anchorage, and played on the Wasilla state championship girls’ basketball team. She was crowned Miss Wasilla in 1984 and was a runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant.
Palin studied journalism and political science at the University of Idaho and graduated in 1987. She eloped with her high school boyfriend, Todd Palin, in 1988 to save money on an expensive wedding. She helped out in her husband’s family commercial fishing business and appeared occasionally as a television sportscaster.
Palin won a seat on the Wasilla City Council in 1992 as a new face and a new voice, and by opposing tax increases. Four years later she was elected mayor at 32 by knocking off a three-term incumbent. At the end of her second term, party leaders encouraged her to enter the 2002 race for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Against veteran legislators with far more experience, Palin finished second by fewer than 2,000 votes, making a name for herself in statewide politics. She was elected Alaska’s youngest and first woman governor in 2006.
Sarah and Todd Palin have five children: boys Track, 19, and Trig, 4 months, and daughters Bristol, 17, Willow, 13, and Piper, 7. Track Palin joined the Army last September and will deploy to Iraq on Sept. 11. Palin gave birth to Trig, who has Down syndrome, in April and returned to work three days later.
When McCain picked Palin , she became the second vice presidential candidate from a major political party. The first was New York Rep. Geraldine Ferrarro, who was Walter Mondale’s Democratic running mate in 1984."
Sarah: How a Small Town Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment on Its Ear
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Thursday, August 28, 2008
Mitt Romney, Republican V.P.?
UPDATE: The news should come out today or tomorrow concerning McCain's pick for V.P.
The Drudge Report has a poll going this morning about who McCain will choose. Romney is in the lead, way ahead of the next closest competitor, Kay B. Hutchison, by over 40,000 votes.
Of course, we all know that McCain is a "maverick" and will make his own choice.
Go Romney!
I'm still praying for our country's best hope right now, that Mitt Romney will become the Vice President candidate of the Republican Party. I still can't believe that he isn't the Republican candidate for President !
But, God is in charge and His plans are above our plans and He will do what is best for America, even if it may come about in a way I couldn't have imagined. But somehow, I believe, Mitt Romney will be a big part of it!
from Feb 07, 2008
"It is the common task of each generation-- and the burden of liberty -- to preserve this country, expand its freedoms and renew its spirit so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future.
"To this task, accepting this burden, we are all dedicated, and I firmly believe, by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed beyond our fondest hope. America must remain, as it has always been, the hope of the Earth.
"Thank you, and God bless America."
-Mitt Romney
Read Mitt Romney's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
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Monday, August 25, 2008
President Thomas S. Monson, 81 Years Old
In the News:
'Age does bring an awareness of responsibility, so does experience'
By Gerry Avant
Church News editor
Having dedicated the Panama City Panama Temple on Aug. 10 and preparing to dedicate the Twin Falls Idaho Temple on Aug. 24 — and in between tending to numerous details required of his office as leader of the Church — President Thomas S. Monson is going strong at age 81.
President Thomas S. Monson, who observed his 81st birthday Aug. 21, keeps a busy schedule administering the affairs of the Office of the President of the Church.
He took some time out of his busy schedule to converse with the Church News a few days before his birthday, which was Aug. 21.
"I'm doing fine," he said when asked about his health. The calendar of his recent activities showed no indication that he has reached a "taking it easy" stage of life. The interview was the sixth meeting on that day's agenda.
He noted that he was born in 1927, the year Charles A. Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic Ocean, flying solo from New York City to Paris. No one, of course, knew that the baby born to G. Spencer and Gladys Condie Monson just three months after Lindbergh's history-making flight would some day cross that same ocean — as well as others — numerous times, not as a pilot setting records, but as a servant of the Lord fulfilling divine commissions.
President Monson was ordained and set apart as President of the Church on Feb. 3, 2008. In the Church News interview, he was asked about this landmark birthday, his first since he became President of the Church, and if he had any particular reflections upon the events of the past months, of his years on Earth and in the service of the Lord.
"Oh, yes," he said. "The responsibility increases manyfold. Advantageous to me has been the privilege of having served as a counselor to President Ezra Taft Benson, President Howard W. Hunter and President Gordon B. Hinckley. 'Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.' That's the phrase I believe in.
"You just plow in and go to work. I've done that all my life. I haven't had a period in my life that I can remember when I didn't have anything to do. My father (who was in the printing business) believed in young men learning to work, so I started out with a little job in the printing business after school when I was 13; I worked each night after school and on Saturday mornings. I have a good work ethic."
Still on the topic of birthdays, President Monson said, "You don't go through life alone. I think you learn from every person you know and every person you meet. And they've all been mighty good to me."
Of age and wisdom going hand in hand, President Monson declared, "I'd say age does bring an awareness of responsibility, but so does experience. It isn't just age; it's the experience. I've certainly had my load of that."
He started gaining experience in being on the Lord's errand when he was a young teenager, serving as president of his ward's teachers quorum. He was called as a bishop at age 22 and as counselor in a stake presidency at age 27. When, at age 31, he was called to preside over the Canadian Mission, President Monson and his wife, Frances Johnson Monson, and their two young children, Tom and Ann, embarked on another journey in fulfilling the Lord's errand, that of helping bring others to Christ and building the kingdom. (Their third child, Clark, was born while President and Sister Monson were living in Toronto.)
President Monson was 36 when he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve. By this coming October's general conference, he will have served as a General Authority for 45 years. No one living today has had that much exposure to and experience in the workings of the Church in its highest levels of administration.
As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, he supervised the missions in western America, the South Pacific, Mexico and Central America, and supervised the work in Europe. After a number of years and following the policy of rotation, the European missions were transferred to another member of the Twelve; however, Elder Monson retained responsibility for several countries behind the Iron Curtain. He was instrumental in the construction of the Freiberg Germany Temple, served as chairman of the Scriptures Publication Committee and supervised the process which resulted in new editions of the Standard Works of the Church.
He was called as second counselor to President Benson in 1985, as second counselor to President Hunter in 1994 and as first counselor to President Hinckley in 1995.
Last year, at a reception in the Church Administration Building, President Hinckley said to President Monson, "What a proud day it was when you were born." Then, turning to the gathering of well wishers, President Hinckley added, "His mother had great expectations. They have all been fulfilled".
It wasn't just Thomas S. Monson's mother who had great expectations when he was born on Aug. 21, 1927. He has had expectations of his own all his life, expectations that motivated him to do his best and to always ask what the Lord would have him do.
Asked what, on his 81st birthday, he aspired to, President Monson paused for a moment and then said, "I look forward to lifting each person a little higher than he stands now, and to lead by example. I demand effort from myself, and that way I certainly can expect others to be aware of the individual after the pattern of the Lord."
Although the Church News article would go to press after his birthday, President Monson was asked to describe what he would consider the ideal gift that members worldwide could give him. Without a moment's hesitation he said, "Do something for someone else on that day to make his or her life better. Find someone who is having a hard time, or is ill, or lonely, and do something for them. That's all I would ask."
His reply was in keeping with the character of a man who has devoted his life to serving others.
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Fire Spreads Near New LDS Temple in Utah
Saturday, August 23, 2008
New LDS Movie: "The Errand of Angels"
Sister Rachel Taylor (Erin Chambers) boards a train in a scene from "The Errand of Angels."
'The Errand of Angels'
LDS movie: Actress, a BYU graduate, gains new respect for missionaries
By Sean P. Means
The Salt Lake Tribune
Erin Chambers looks so sweet, perky and petite, but the 28-year-old Oregon-born Brigham Young University graduate doesn't always play the good girl.
On an episode of the CBS series "Without a Trace" this season, "I was a killer, I slept with a married man and I set up bombs to destroy an ROTC building," Chambers said this week. "It seems like lately I've played killers or liars."
So playing a naive LDS missionary, plunked down in Austria with a spotty ability to speak German, was a welcome change. "It's exciting to play something that is my value system, that is something I really believe in and am passionate about," Chambers said of playing Sister Rachel Taylor, the lead character of "The Errand of Angels," a missionary drama opening in Utah and eastern Idaho theaters today.
Sister Taylor's story is based on the real-life missionary experiences of Heidi Johnson, a mother of four and BYU alum. "I kept a really good journal on my mission and always planned on doing a book or something," Johnson said.
When she started seeing a wave of movies about male LDS missionaries - notably, Richard Dutcher's "God's Army" and Mitch Davis' "The Other Side of Heaven" - Johnson said, "I felt an urgency to go through and gather my stories."
Johnson connected with Christian Vuissa, an Austrian-born filmmaker (who, incidentally, graduated from BYU in 2002, the same year as Chambers) who served his mission in Leipzig, Germany. "My mission president is Heidi's father-in-law," said Vuissa, who directed the 2004 LDS romantic comedy "Baptists at Our Barbecue" and founded the LDS Film Festival held every January in Utah County.
Vuissa said he was most intrigued with Johnson's dealings with her mission companion, an abrasive native German speaker. That became the basis for Sister Taylor's companion, Sister Keller, played by Viennese actress Bettina Schwarz.
The character of Sister Keller is like any relationship with an annoying relative or co-worker, Vuissa said. "Missionary life condenses that," he said. "You cannot escape that confrontation. You have to kind of work it through. So it becomes a great learning experience."
"The thing that stood out the most was that universal idea of reaching out to people you don't necessarily get along with," Chambers said. "A lot of people have said at the screenings, 'I had a Sister Keller.' "
The movie was shot in Austria, where Chambers had the same cultural adjustments as her character - tasting unusual food and struggling with the language - especially when Vuissa decided at the last minute to switch a scene from English to German.
In another scene, Vuissa set up a camera at a distance in a public square and had Chambers and co-star Rachel Emmers try to get passers-by to stop and take a missionary pamphlet.
"We were really tracting, and a lot of people wouldn't stop," Chambers said. "I got frustrated because nobody would stop. At one point, I finally said, Please, just talk to me.' That was one of the hardest and scariest things I've ever done. . . . I feel like I have a lot of respect for missionaries, because what they do is really hard."
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Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Many LDS Athletes Competing in 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China
from "Mormon Times"
mormontimes.com
"Mormon Times counts at least 17 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as athletes who will be competing in the 2008 Olympic Games, beginning Friday, August 8th and running through Aug. 24 in Beijing:
UNITED STATES
TRACK AND FIELD: Former Brigham Young University runner and current Orem resident Josh McAdams will run in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Lindsey Anderson, a former Weber State University all-America distance runner and Morgan native, will compete in the Olympics' first-ever women's steeplechase. Jill Camarena of Tucson, Ariz., competes in shot put; she graduated from Stanford and did post-graduate studies at BYU. Pole-vaulter April Steiner Bennett is a Mesa, Ariz., native and University of Arkansas graduate.
SOFTBALL: Starting first baseman Tairia Flowers, a UCLA graduate, and outfielder Laura Berg, of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., see considerable playing time. Also, right-handed pitcher Alicia Hollowell, a University of Arizona alum, is an alternate member of the U.S. team.
INDOOR VOLLEYBALL: Middle blocker Ryan Millar and libero Rich Lambourne were the two players with the most playing time on the U.S. national team last year. They played on BYU's first NCAA championship volleyball team. Millar also helped coach the Cougars in 2007. Both are Southern California natives.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Bountiful native and University of Utah alum Jake Gibb, now residing in Costa Mesa, Calif., is one-half of the world's No. 9-ranked tandem.
WEIGHTLIFTING: Melanie Roach, a 33-year-old mother of three from Bonney Lake, Wash., will compete in the 53-kilogram weight class.
SWIMMING: Lacey Nymeyer of Tucson will compete in the 100-meter freestyle and 4x100-meter freestyle relay. She is a University of Arizona student.
SOCCER: Natasha Kai of Kahuku, Hawaii, is a forward and the No. 3 goal-scorer on the U.S. team.
NEW ZEALAND
BASKETBALL: Guard Noni Wharemate, guard Charmian Purcell and forward Natalie Purcell are women's team members. The latter two are sisters. Wharemate played college ball at UTEP and Natalie Purcell at Southeast Missouri State University.
SWIMMING: Hayley Palmer competes on the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay team.
SWEDEN
TRACK AND FIELD: Utah County native Niklas Arrhenius competes in the discus, the event that won him an NCAA individual championship while competing at BYU. He has dual citizenship because his father is Swedish."
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Monday, August 11, 2008
BYU Thinking BCS Bowl? You Bet!
In the News:
By J. Darin Darst
CBSSports.com Staff Writer
"The season hasn't even started and BYU is already hearing the whispers.
Shhhhh. Listen closely and you can hear those three magical little letters.
B-C-S.
Max Hall is poised to lead the Cougars to the MWC crown ... and a BCS berth?
B-C-S.
Sorry BYU faithful, there is no getting around it. When you finish 11-2 and enter the season with a 16-game conference winning streak, the public and media start talking about that ultimate goal. And for teams in "mid-major" conferences, a BCS bowl is the icing on the cake.
Utah did it, then Boise State and last year Hawaii. Is it BYU's time?
"It's something we think about; It's a goal we want to reach, but at the same time we have a lot of other stuff we are focusing on," said quarterback Max Hall.
"Having a successful season, no matter if its a BCS game or not, and winning a conference championship, representing our faith and our institution the way it should be. If we get a shot to play in a BCS game that's awesome and we'll give it our all, but it's the home victories and conference championships that define our program."
Winning conference championships are nice, but let's be real here.
The Mountain West title gives you another trophy to place in the athletic department, a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl and a payout of close to a million dollars.
But a BCS bowl can do so much more.
Hawaii made $4.4 million from the Sugar Bowl last year. It got to share that money with every team in the conference, which not only makes the program better, but the rest of the conference too. The boost can also be felt in recruiting the following years. Imagine a kid deciding between BYU and Utah, knowing that BYU just got to play in the Fiesta or Orange Bowl.
This season has all the makings of BYU making that possible."
Read Entire Article Here
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Friday, August 8, 2008
Remove Beer Commericials from NCAA Games!
In the News:
Utah colleges pushing for ban on beer commercials
AP- PROVO - College officials in Utah are among those calling for an end to beer commercials during televised NCAA sporting events. Representatives from Brigham Young University, University of Utah, Utah State and Southern Utah have signed letters urging the ban. The effort is called the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV. So far 60 Division 1 college presidents, 240 athletic directors and 101 football and basketball coaches have signed letters. Advertisements for cigarettes, guns, nightclubs and gambling are already prohibited college sporting events.
Pressure Grows to Expel Beer Advertising from NCAA Basketball and Football
College Presidents, Athletic Directors, and Coaches Appeal to NCAA
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Monday, August 4, 2008
Outstanding LDS Composer and Conductor
I've just learned about an amazing LDS Composer and Conductor. We are watching one of his video musical productions, and it is incredible. He actually wrote and composed this production while he was still a student at BYU!
Rob Gardner is the author of three sacred oratorios, He is Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith the Prophet, and Saints and Pioneers.
Check out:
Rob Gardner Music
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The LDS Church Is Like A Great Caravan
The Caravan Moves On
"The Church is like a great caravan—organized, prepared, following an appointed course, with its captains of tens and captains of hundreds all in place.
What does it matter if a few barking dogs snap at the heels of the weary travelers? Or that predators claim those few who fall by the way? The caravan moves on.
Is there a ravine to cross, a miry mud hole to pull through, a steep grade to climb? So be it. The oxen are strong and the teamsters wise. The caravan moves on.
Are there storms that rage along the way, floods that wash away the bridges, deserts to cross, and rivers to ford? Such is life in this fallen sphere. The caravan moves on.
Ahead is the celestial city, the eternal Zion of our God, where all who maintain their position in the caravan shall find food and drink and rest. Thank God that the caravan moves on!"
~Elder Bruce R. McConkie
“.. Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.……….” Isaiah 43 : 1 - 2
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