Archive for March, 2009

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Mormon tradition stands out in hard times

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

From The Charlotte Observer:

Clarence Brown (foreground) leads prayer before lunch for volunteers at the Bishops’ Storehouse in Greensboro. JOHN D. SIMMONS – jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

GREENSBORO The sign out front – “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” – is the first clue that the brown brick building is a little different than the other warehouses that dot Triad Industrial Park.

Inside, pictures of Jesus helping have-nots hang above shelves packed with boxes of cereal, lasagna, turkey and Huggies. Cans of beef stew and tomato sauce bear stamps that say: made by Mormons in Utah. The workers, busy bagging, boxing and loading onto trucks everything from chicken to eggs, are volunteers and address each other as “brother” and “sister.”

From this Bishops’ Storehouse, food and other necessities are transported across North Carolina to aid fellow Mormons and occasionally others.

“We all need help sometimes in our lives – especially now,” says Greensboro accountant Keith Hiatt, a lifelong Mormon who assists with storehouse operations. “We want to give.”

Houses of worship of all stripes are pitching in as their flocks try to survive this severe economic squeeze. Few were as ready and are as practiced as the fast-growing Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons. The Church’s first storehouse opened in the 1840s in the Ohio home of Bishop Newell Whitney. During the Great Depression, the Salt Lake City-based church launched its Welfare Services system, with regional pantries, as well as church-owned farmland to grow most of the food and church-owned trucks to deliver it.

Today, there are 140 bishops’ storehouses. Besides Greensboro, sites include Columbia, Knoxville, Tenn., and Richmond, Va.

Mormons, who number 71,737 in North Carolina and 36,141 in South Carolina, trace their tradition of giving to their founder, Joseph Smith. They say he was instructed by God in 1831 to keep goods “in my storehouse to administer to the poor and needy.”

These days, those on the receiving end are increasingly the suddenly unemployed.

Last year, the storehouse got 5,482 orders – each number representing a family. At the pace orders are coming in this year, “we’re going to go well over 7,000,” says storehouse manager Bob Hahn. “That’s a real sign of the times.”

Fast Offerings

It’s also a testament to how the downturn is hurting even members of a church that prizes self-reliance as one of its core principles.

Mormon families are encouraged to save as much money as they can and store large amounts of food at home – a three-month supply of what they normally eat and a year’s worth of long-term stocks such as wheat, rice and nuts. Many Mormons also can their own food, and the Greensboro storehouse includes a cannery that stays busy.

Bishops’ storehouses are funded by members of the church, who are asked to fast for two meals, usually on the first Sunday of the month. They then send the money they would have spent on those meals – their “Fast Offering” – to the church.

And the name Bishops’ Storehouse?

In the Mormon tradition, it’s the bishop – an unpaid layman appointed to head a “ward” (congregation) – who assesses each request for assistance and, if it’s granted, sends an order to the storehouse.

“Storehouse” can also be a figurative term, referring to the members of his flock who are specialists willing to offer their services for free. The bishop could assign an accountant to a family with budget problems or dispatch a mechanic to help somebody with little money whose car breaks down.

In assessing who needs help, the bishop’s job is to “sustain life, not lifestyle,” says Bishop Randy Rummage, who heads the Pineville, 1st Ward, a 500-member congregation. “If they are still wanting to keep their season tickets to the Bobcats and still want to stay in the country club, then we’re going to have to talk and reach an agreement that those are not necessities.”

Those who do get help are asked to perform some tasks in return – say, clean the church every weekend.

“The church doesn’t need the work,” says Tom Cheney, president of Charlotte’s South “Stake,” a group of nine congregations. “But the people do. They need to feel they have worth.”

From bad to worse

For years, life was good for a Fort Mill, S.C., couple we’ll call Wayne and Marie (they asked the Observer not to use their real names). Mormon converts and transplants from the Midwest, they both had good jobs and had even managed to store up enough canned goods in their home to last a year.

But in 2008, Marie lost her job as a flight attendant when ATA Airlines shut down. And before long, the nosedive in the economy choked off Wayne’s business selling credit card processing machines.

Then the couple got the worst news: She was diagnosed with breast cancer.

A counselor to Bishop Rummage approached Wayne and Marie to offer some help. With hospital and other bills mounting and little revenue coming in, they eventually said yes.

“We held out until we had to turn to the church for help,” says Wayne, 55. “We were at a point where it was very difficult …to pay the bills.”

Inside and outside the faith

Rummage talked to the couple. He then had the church help pay their COBRA health insurance premiums and supply them – from the storehouse in Greensboro – such perishables as milk, bread, fruit, vegetables, cheese and meat.

“We had been cutting into our own (canned goods),” Marie, 51, says, “but the church has been generous in providing the necessities.” The food is delivered every other Wednesday.

Rummage says he gets two to three aid requests a month. After investigation and prayer, he sometimes says yes, sometimes no, and sometimes hooks people up with a government program.

Occasionally, he says, the call for help will come from a non-Mormon who walks in off the street. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a history of helping people outside the faith, particularly victims of natural disasters. One example in recent years: The church sent waves of tractor-trailers filled with food and emergency supplies to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

‘It’s in my heart’

Deciding to help Wayne and Marie, who are members of his congregation and regular attendees at church, was not difficult, says Rummage.

“We rely heavily on the influence of the Spirit and on knowing our sheep,” he says. “This was an easy call, with this family. These are obedient children of a loving heavenly father. The hard calls involve those we worry about spiritually. The only time I see them is when they come for help.”

Besides the groceries and financial aid from the church, Wayne and Marie have gotten help from the congregation in the form of rides to the doctor, casseroles, tips on possible jobs, and classes on networking and resume-writing.

“I want to get to the point where I can return the favors,” says Marie. “Not because of obligation, but because it’s in my heart. The sisters and brothers have become like literal sisters and brothers.”

Posted in Food Storage, LDS Church, Provident Living | No Comments »

Braves icon Murphy visits old friends

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

From Braves.com:

Nearly 30 years after making a career-changing conversion, Dale Murphy returned to Braves camp and was reunited with the two men who gave him the opportunity to end his days in the infield and become a five-time Gold Glove-winning outfielder.

When Murphy arrived at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex on Tuesday morning to begin a week-long stint as a special Spring Training instructor, he was greeted warmly by manager Bobby Cox and Bobby Dews, the two men who gave him a chance to display his athleticism in the outfield.

“I have to go in the clubhouse to look in the mirror to see if I’m 69 years old,” said Dews, who currently serves as a Major League consultant for the Braves. “But when I see Murph, I feel young. He makes everybody on the field feel good about themselves.”

Murphy wore his retired No. 3 Braves jersey on Tuesday and walked onto the field to interact with former teammate Glenn Hubbard and many of the current Atlanta players, some of whom were too young to remember when he won consecutive National League Most Valuable Player Awards in 1982 and ‘83.

“The jersey is a little tighter than it used to be, but it’s always great to get out here with the guys,” Murphy said. “All of my kids are done playing baseball. So I’d like to get down here as much as I can in the future.”

Times have certainly changed since Dews, who will turn 70 next week, and Murphy first met during Spring Training in 1975.

Dews was in the first year of his current tenure with the Braves and Murphy was less than a year removed from having been selected as the fifth overall selection in the 1974 First-Year Player Draft.

“He was just a skinny high school kid,” Dews said. “He had a bullet arm, really quick feet and good power. He was very coachable. The first time you saw him, you said, ‘This guy has a chance to be a champion.’ A champion to me is a champion off the field and on the field. He certainly qualifies for that.”

When Murphy struggled during his early years as a catcher, the Braves decided to keep his bat in the lineup by moving him to first base. But to best utilize his athletic skills, Cox, who was in the midst of his first tenure as Atlanta’s manager, decided to convert him into an outfielder during the 1980 season.

“I just thought with his speed, athleticism and arm, it would make sense to move him to the outfield,” Cox said. “Then — what do you know? — he won two MVPs.”

While combining for 44 homers during his first two full Major League seasons in 1978 and ‘79, Murphy proved that he could be a successful offensive threat. But he also combined for 35 errors as a first baseman and retired just six of the 38 opponents who attempted to steal a base against him while he was catching in ‘79.

“I knew it was do-or-die for me,” Murphy said of the conversion to the outfield. “I wouldn’t be here today if the two Bobbys hadn’t helped me become an outfielder. I was hitting good. But I didn’t really have a position.”

Murphy reported to camp in 1980 determined to make himself into a strong defensive outfielder. He spent countless early-morning hours with Dews, who was supplying a seemingly endless supply of fly balls via a fungo bat.

“Usually, when you’re hitting ground balls and fly balls to players, you say, ‘Let me know when you have enough,’” Dews said. “But I would say, ‘Hey Murph, let me know when I’ve had enough.’ He would just wear you out.”

Murphy’s determination proved fruitful in 1982, when he captured the first of five consecutive Gold Glove Awards. Now, nearly 30 years later, he still takes advantage of every opportunity to show his thanks to Cox and Dews, who served as his manager in 1975 at Class A Greenwood.

During that summer in Greenwood, S.C., Murphy got fined because he committed the charitable act of going to an apartment building in the middle of the night to pick up some teammates who had encountered some trouble.

Instead of explaining what had happened, Murphy simply accepted the punishment and didn’t tell Dews the truth until he returned from an All-Star Game and learned that, while he was gone, the team had held a party using some of the funds gathered from the fines.

“I think I’m the only manager who ever fined him,” Dews said with a smile. “I didn’t know he was the only reason all of those other guys even got home that night.”

While reminiscing about that summer in Greenville, Murphy remembers benching himself after he didn’t run hard to first base on an infield pop fly. Just a few days earlier, Dews had told the players that they wouldn’t play if they committed that act. But after seeing his star player voluntarily accept the punishment, Dews provided an immediate pardon.

“I was like, ‘I didn’t hustle, and I’m taking myself out of the game,’” Murphy said. “But then Dewsy was like, ‘No, wait, wait.’”

Murphy still laughs about that event and memories of the day when Dews’ anger created a painful self-inflicted injury.

“All I remember is that he got mad at an umpire, threw his hat down, went to kick the hat, came up about a foot short of his hat and broke his ankle,” Murphy said. “So the next day, he’s sitting there relaxed with his foot elevated in the dugout.”

Through these stories and their interaction, it doesn’t take long to recognize the bond shared between Murphy and Dews. Nor is hard to realize that the mutual respect that they’ve nurtured for more than 30 years extends beyond the events they’ve shared on a baseball field.

“When you look at him, you know he’s a winner,” Dews said. “Some of our players build our character, and that’s what I like to say about Dale — he built my character.”

Posted in Member News, Sports | Comments Off

Glenn Beck’s backing bumps Skousen book to top

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

From The Deseret News:

W. Cleon Skousen’s book “The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World, Principles of Freedom 101″ is No. 1 on Amazon.com’s list of Best-sellers in Books. The book was originally published in 1981. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

Move over, Oprah. Apparently, a book recommendation from Fox News Channel talk show host Glenn Beck carries a lot of punch, too.

Beck, who will speak at the Stadium of Fire during America’s Freedom Festival at Provo on July 4, has told viewers and listeners of his TV and radio shows to buy a book published nearly 30 years ago by late Utah and Mormon author W. Cleon Skousen.

On Friday, after several days in the top 10, “The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World, Principles of Freedom 101″ leaped to No. 1 on Amazon.com’s list of Bestsellers in Books.

“Everyone should read this book,” the conservative talk show host said as he passed out copies during a recent broadcast. On his radio program Friday evening, Beck touted the book’s climb to No. 1.

Skousen published “The 5000 Year Leap” in 1981, nearly 25 years after he published “The Naked Communist,” a national bestseller that has sold more than 1 million copies.

“The 5000 Year Leap” is now in its seventh edition. In it, Skousen lists 28 fundamental beliefs he declared were held by America’s Founding Fathers. He suggested those core beliefs made possible more world progress in the first 200 years of the American experiment than was made in the previous 5,000.

Beck added an introduction to the copies he handed out on his show. “(Skousen) was years ahead of his time,” Beck wrote. “And our founders were thousands of years ahead of their time. My hope is that all Americans young and old will spend time with this book to understand why we are who we are. The words of our Founding Fathers have a way of reaching across any political divide.”

Beck, as Skousen was, is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“They are words of wisdom that I can only describe as divinely inspired,” Beck continued in his introduction. “They are here for us to help solve the unsolvable — and they are the reason why we have for so long been the greatest nation on earth. But most importantly, in these pages, you will find hope.”

Beck, who regularly criticizes the Obama administration and decries the nation’s financial future on his shows, is the third most-watched individual on cable television. His 5 p.m. program averaged nearly 2.2 million viewers last month.

He has been featured during the Stadium of Fire in Provo for the past two years.

Skousen died in 2006 at the age of 92. A sometimes controversial figure inside and outside the church, where he was close to late church President David O. McKay, he caused a huge flap in 1960 when as Salt Lake City’s police chief he raided a private club where new Mayor J. Bracken Lee was playing cards. Lee fired Skousen.

Skousen spent 15 years as a professor at Brigham Young University in two stints. An FBI agent who worked with J. Edgar Hoover, he ran for governor of Utah and organized the Freemen Institute, later known as the National Center for Constitutional Studies, which published “The 5000 Year Leap.”

Skousen never joined the ultra-conservative John Birch Society but was a supporter. NewMajority.com writer David Frum has called Skousen a Mormon Bircher and characterizes him as one of the “legendary cranks of the conservative world, a John Bircher, a grand fantasist of theories about secret conspiracies between capitalists and communists to impose a one-world government.”

Dozens of Amazon.com book reviewers have praised “The 5000 Year Leap.” One, S. Peek, wrote that “The premise of the book is that because of the free market system that took root after our Constitution was enacted, the United States literally made a 5,000-year leap of progress in the time since then.”

The book outlines sources of thought used by the Founders as they developed the Constitution, including Cicero, Locke, Montesquieu and Adam Smith.  (cont.)

Posted in BYU, Entertainment, Higher Education, LDS Church | No Comments »

Draper Temple Dedication

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

From ABC4.com (SLC)

Saturday was the second day of dedication for the newest LDS temple in Draper.

Friday, during the cornerstone ceremony, LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson took trowel in hand to set the cornerstone, and then invited others to do the same.

The final dedicatory session will be held Sunday, March 22.

The temple in Draper is the 129th worldwide and the third in the Salt Lake Valley.

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan is expected to open this summer.

Posted in LDS Church, Temples | No Comments »

LDS Church defends itself against new allegations

Friday, March 20th, 2009

From The Deseret News:

The LDS Church is taking issue with new allegations by a California gay-rights activist who has said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints understated the financial backing it gave to help pass a gay-marriage ban in California.

A church spokesman says the accusations by Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, who alleges that the LDS Church played a role in establishing the National Organization for Marriage, are baseless.

“The church is unconcerned about Mr. Karger’s newest complaint,” said LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter. “Mr. Karger has again made claims that have no basis in fact, and this newest round of allegations follows the same pattern. As we have said before, he is entitled to his opinion but not to his own version of the facts.”

The National Organization for Marriage, a New Jersey-based group that opened a California office last year, was the largest contributor to Proposition 8, a narrowly approved November 2008 California election measure amending the state constitution in defining and recognizing marriage as only between a man and a woman.

Karger filed his supplemental complaint Thursday with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, which is investigating his earlier allegations against the LDS Church.

Trotter said the LDS Church did not establish the National Organization for Marriage. He said the LDS Church has reported its entire contribution to the ProtectMarriage Coalition and that the contributions, none of which were cash donations, are a matter of public record.

The value of the LDS Church’s in-kind, or non-monetary, contribution of $190,000 is less than one-half of 1 percent of the approximately $40 million raised for the “Yes on 8″ campaign in support of Proposition 8, he added.

“The Church has been consistent in its support of traditional marriage, realizing the value to society of this divine institution,” Trotter said, citing the LDS Church’s position as outlined in 1995 in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.”

Posted in LDS Church, Politics | No Comments »

It's not a dream: They're back

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

From TheStar.com:

Marie and Donny Osmond in their 1970s heyday. Three decades later, they’re clawing back into the limelight.

Hoping to spread more of their cheer, the Osmonds find a way to return to spotlight.

At first I thought it was a coincidence: Donny Osmond, the wholesome ’70s teen idol turned 51-year-old grandfather of two, popping up on The Insider (7 p.m. weekdays on NBC, E) to yak about Dancing with the Stars, the notorious Octo-mom and his cheesy Vegas show with sister Marie.

“Look who’s back!” crowed host Lara Spencer as the beaming kitsch icon, looking like a less-aged Wayne Newton, bopped excitedly in his seat.

Okay, great, I moaned. Donny Osmond, a grinning beacon of pop’s shameful past, has somehow weaseled his way back into the pop-cult spotlight.

“My dancing shoes are already warm from Vegas!” he intoned, making a bid for next season’s lineup of Dancing with the Stars.

Am I dreaming? I wondered, whacking my head with the remote. Is this really happening?

And then, like a spring-loaded rodent from the midway Whac-A-Mole, he popped up again a few nights later, still yammering about Dancing (”I wish Ty Murray would have some fun … you’ve gotta lighten up, buddy!”), introducing a slate of goofy wedding videos and confirming once again that, yes, he, Donald Clark Osmond, would be thrilled to shake his booty on Dancing with the Stars, ahem, should he be asked.

Unsure what to make of it, I flicked on Entertainment Tonight (7:30 p.m. weekdays on NBC, Global) to find – gak – his sister Marie, who served her own headline-grabbing stint on Dancing two seasons ago, being treated like visiting royalty by the outrageously overcaffeinated Mary Hart.

“How’s your life – seriously?” grilled the fawning co-host, eager to dish about the 49-year-old’s romantic travails.

“It’s good!” trilled Marie happily.

“Are you dating someone?”

Marie giggled. “I’m dating a few people!”

It went on from there, no particular point to it, no real reason for the twice-divorced mother of eight to be on the show, except, of course, that she’s Marie.

“What the heck is this?” I exploded at the cat. “Who cares who Marie is dating? Who cares what Donny thinks of Dancing with the Stars? And how long till Little Jimmy pops out of retirement to join the cast of Celebrity Apprentice?”

Logging onto the Internet Movie Database website I was horrified to discover these tabloid insurrections weren’t isolated events, with Donny and Marie chalking up almost 200 appearances between them on Entertainment Tonight and The Insider in the past two years alone.

Two hundred appearances? Isn’t it enough they terrorized an entire generation with their spasmatic ’70s variety show that saw Donny toppling into oversized cream pies while Marie joked about purple socks and tittered girlishly from the sidelines?

Has the pop culture restraining order imposed after noxious hits like “Puppy Love,” “Paper Roses” and “I’m a Little Bit Country, I’m a Little Bit Rock ‘n’ Roll” run its course already?

Beats me, but when you factor in the insidious emergence of Osmond nephew David as a Hollywood-round contender on American Idol – yes, there’s a new generation waiting in the wings – there can be only one explanation: ladies and gentlemen, it’s an Osmond conspiracy.

Call it divine retribution for the grunge era and rise of hip-hop, but despite a laughably square image that went out of style sometime between the end of The Brady Bunch and the start of the Ford administration, this bright-eyed Mormon clan of song-and-dance vaudevillian throwbacks has resurfaced, and not for the last time, to spread their chirpy vivaciousness to yet another generation.

“And now, the fearless Donny Osmond!” Insider host Spencer intoned a few nights ago as the toothsome marauder flashed his blinding Vegas grin and boldly declared, yet again, “I’m back!”

He’s back all right, and for those who envisioned a Donny and Marie-free universe as the ubiquitous irritants crept toward their golden years, it’s a sign that Armageddon may be one step closer than we thought.

Posted in Entertainment, Member News | No Comments »

What was the GOP thinking?

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

From NJ.com:

I found Kathleen Parker’s March 4 column (”Limbaugh is a showman, not a shaman”) interesting, but more interesting than her comments about Rush Limbaugh were what she had to say about former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Romney was at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and won the presidential preference straw poll for the third straight year. So why did the Republicans put Bobby Jindal out front and center after President Obama’s address to Congress on Feb. 24? Jindal’s speech was almost as bad as former President George W. Bush’s attempts to offer our nation an inspirational speech or speak in a coherent sentence.
And how can the GOP still consider Sarah Palin a possible candidate for 2012?

As Parker rightly states, Romney’s speeches show who the real GOP leader is. Romney is an “optimistic leader with a business record of red-to-black successes.” So why isn’t the Republican party putting forth Romney since he is currently the party’s brightest individual? He is intelligent, thoughtful, speaks clearly and concisely, understands the world of business and finance, as well as the world in which we live. How sad to consider the possibility that a Mormon is not the minority the Republicans are looking for.

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Hard to gag BYU’s Tavernari and his game

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

From Rivals.com (Yahoo! Sports):

(Photo courtsey of The Conglomerate)

His days in the United States have been a precarious balance for BYU forward Jonathan Tavernari, a weighing of what he wants for himself as an athlete and as a human being, a search for self-awareness that always seems to have people questioning his motivations.

Why did he come to this country in the first place? How did he end up at BYU, where he has become the Cougars’ most talkative player and their most prolific 3-point shooter? What will he do after this, his junior season?

The questions never stop.

“There’s more to life than basketball,” he said Wednesday, one day before eighth-seeded BYU’s West Region first-round game against ninth-seeded Texas A&M at the Wachovia Center. “My progress as a person has been as great, if not better, than my progress as a basketball player.”

Tavernari emigrated from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to the United State in 2004, a Catholic kid so set on honing his basketball skills and getting an education at an American university that he was willing to change religions to do it.

His mother, Thelma, a renowned basketball player and coach in Brazil, asked one of her former players, Walter Roese, if Jonathan could stay with Roese’s family and attend high school in Provo, Utah. Roese, who was pursuing his MBA at BYU and was the director of operations for BYU’s men’s program at the time, agreed to take Jonathan in. Himself a Mormon, Roese baptized Tavernari into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“The religions are not too different,” Tavernari said. “My parents always gave me a good religious base since I was a young kid. They were actually really happy for me. It wasn’t really much of a transition.”

After one year at Provo’s Timpview High, Tavernari moved in with a friend’s family in Las Vegas and transferred to Bishop Gorman, the high school with perhaps the highest basketball profile in Nevada. But Tavernari’s arrival ignited a blaze of controversy. Schools threatened to leave the Nevada Interscholastic Athletic Association if Tavernari was permitted to play because he wasn’t living with a legal guardian. After he was declared eligible, he averaged more than 25 points and 10 rebounds per game, the TV cameras, protests and police escorts at Gorman’s games barely bothering him.

“That was hard,” he deadpanned Wednesday, “because I’m kind of shy.”

Tavernari, who has made 82 3-pointers and is BYU’s third-leading scorer at 15.9 points per game, is so uninhibited that Cougars coach Dave Rose had to put a gag order on him in January after Tavernari reportedly suggested that BYU opponent Wake Forest didn’t play “a whole lot of defense.”

Yet for an institution stereotyped as conservative and homogenous, BYU has learned to live with different sorts of words from the mouths of its basketball players. Foreign-born players at the Division I level now number more than 400, the total tripling from 1993-2006, and BYU has been a trailblazing program. Twenty-eight international players have gone through BYU, and the school touts itself as being the first Division I team to have a foreign-born player on its roster – Finland’s Timo Lampen in the 1960-61 season. And when Roese joined Rose’s coaching staff in 2005 and spent two seasons on BYU’s bench, he became the first full-time native Brazilian assistant in Division I history.

“The U.S. still has the best players, no question about it,” Roese, now an assistant at Nebraska, said by phone this week. “But there are other countries picking up the love of the game, especially because of TV and the Internet. Now, they’re showing all the NCAA games. On Brazilian channels, you see NCAA games now.

“That creates a lot of expectations for these kids because they want to play the best basketball possible.”

That was what drew Tavernari to the United States initially, but here he is now: an international relations major who loves college life (even the more restrictive life on BYU’s campus), is engaged and on Thursday can help the Cougars win their first NCAA tournament game since 1993.

Tavernari was the only non-professional to earn a roster spot on the Brazilian national team last year, and his return to BYU for his senior season is questionable. He will have opportunities to play professionally, here or elsewhere.

“Since they have their own professional teams [in Europe and South America], it’s tough to get a kid who could get money and bring him to the U.S.,” Tavernari said. “I’m half-Italian and have my Italian passport, so the temptations and offers to play overseas come all the time. You get $600,000, $700,000 offers.

“I’m debating with my parents whether I should have done it or not, but at the end of the day, when I put my head on the pillow, there’s so much more than basketball: my education, my legacy.”

Those questions are for another time, though. Texas A&M beat BYU 67-62 in the first round in last season’s tournament, so this matchup is unique for this field of 65.

“It’s kind of a controversial thing that we’re matched up with them again,” Tavernari said. “But I think from all the 65 teams here, we’re probably the luckiest ones because we know who we’re going to face. We actually have a chance to know who we’re playing against.”

Then he headed off for practice. For once, come Thursday, basketball will be all there is for him.

Posted in BYU, Member News, Sports | No Comments »

LDS Church and Home School

Monday, March 16th, 2009

From TheExaminer.com (Dallas):

I had given my speech at our local Toastmasters club concerning Home School.  I got a little animated at the end because I am a devout home schooler and I illustrated my dissatisfaction with our current public school system.  After I was done and the meeting was over I was approached by a member of our club who said, “I thought the LDS church was for the public education system.”  This shocked me.

One, I didn’t know how he knew I was LDS.  I had never mentioned it that I recall and we’d never talked about it.  Second, I think that the LDS Church is very big on education as a whole.  I do not feel that they are pushing us into the public education arena; I believe that they more want us to stand up for moral values within and without the public education system.

I found on the LDS website when I did a search for education the following: “A good education will prepare us for opportunities as they come and will help us be an asset to our families, the Church, and our communities.”  Notice what it says, “A good education…”  That is the key point.  You have to determine, and as parents you are responsible for, what a good education is for your children.  I think that is the material point the LDS church always tries to communicate.

In fact President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Gordon B. Hinkley, was once quoted as saying, “There is need for another education, without which the substance of secular learning may lead only to destruction. I refer to the education of the heart, of the conscience, of the character, of the spirit…”  In his opinion secular learning by itself could only lead to destruction.  That’s a powerful statement.  This is one which we need to consider.

When looking at the public school system you should ask yourself if the school system you are letting your child attend is teaching them the heart, the conscience, the character, and the spirit they need to make good in their lives.  I didn’t think our school was when we decided to take our children out of the public school system and educate them ourselves.  You may be blessed and live in an area where they are teaching these things.  You should also ask if they are even capable of teaching these things.  Most are not because that means you’d have to place value in some kind of deity.  That is not allowed in the public school systems.

Also, as my wife pointed out to me one day, if you are a devout follower of your religion and you attend church regularly you would never send your child to the church down the road if it didn’t share or support your religious beliefs.  Then why in the world would you send your children to a school system that attacks religion, promotes sexual promiscuity, and homosexuality? 

Thinking about this you can see why the LDS church promotes “A good education…”  It is easy to see where our public school system has ventured far away from that and have begun an education of promotion.  Everyone should have the option of getting a good education and every parent should consider what a “good” education means to them and their families.

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LDS church missionaries ‘grow up’ as they serve God

Monday, March 16th, 2009

From The Manteca Bulletin (CA):

Missionaries serving in Manteca, Tracy, Lathrop, and Ripon gather at the Northland Road stake center of The Church of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Matt Connell expected to strengthen his faith in God as well as to help others when he volunteered to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What he didn’t expect was to mature personally.

“I’ve grown up,” the 20-year-old resident of Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri said Thursday at the LDS stake center on Northland Road where the 14 missionaries serving in Manteca, Ripon, Lathrop, and Tracy meet weekly to sharpen their grasp of the Bible and their faith in a group setting. “I’m thinking less of myself and more of other people. I have a lot more patience now.”

Connell is 14 months into a two-year mission. He interrupted his education at Brigham Young University – he plans to become a dentist – to go on the mission. Every year more than 10,000 young Mormons step up to serve. It is a commitment that requires them to put their secular life and relationships on hold for two years. They also must cover their own expenses and follow a regimented schedule 6.5 days a week that starts at 6:30 a.m. with devotion and exercise for two hours before doing missionary work and returning by 9 p.m. each night.

It is a regimen that Mission President James Jardine, who also is a volunteer and oversees 195 missionaries in the greater Sacramento-Stockton area, said serves the  young men and women  by helping them mature, develop focused work habits thanks to the intense study and regimented schedules as well as grow spiritually.

Jardine knows that from first had experience. Jardine, who was raised in Salt Lake City, served as a missionary in Los Angeles.

“I was surprised at how demanding it was,” Jardine recalled when he initially started his service as a missionary as a young man.

He also found that serving in a stateside mission – there are 350 LDS geographical missions worldwide of which Sacramento-Stockton is one – people are more alike than they are different.

“It’s a life changing experience,” said Jardine who is on a leave from his law practice and the Utah State Board of Regents.

Jardine noted missionaries are often called upon by people they encounter to offer a religious context   to life’s trials and tribulations.

“The miracle of all this are 19 to 20 year-old men are being asked what to do by people such as a struggling single mom, someone in an abusive relationship (and such),” Jardine said. “We forget they are 19 to 20 year olds.”

Judging by the “game” conducted Thursday the missionaries take their task seriously. Although they were sharing laughter and making jokes, they were competing in a game that pitted Tracy missionaries against their Manteca counterparts to test not just their knowledge of the Bible but also to place it into context with various day-to-day situations.

Hawaiian resident serving in Manteca

One of the enthusiastic participants in the drill was Elder Robert Kahawaii, 23, who hails from the Island of Oahu in Hawaii. Kahawaii, like Connell, is currently serving in the Manteca area.

“I’ve learned to be more patient and more humble,” said Kahawaii who is in his sixth month as a missionary.

Kahawaii intends to return to Brigham Young University-Hawaii after he is through with his commitment and study to become an architect. Kahawaii, like all missionaries, pays for his own expenses. Usually that means working for a year or so before departing to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah on the BYU campus for immersion in the language and cultural traditions of where they are being assigned plus learning teaching techniques.

“When we teach our faith it is a great privilege,” Kahawaii said.

Elder Wes Michie, 20, from Kaysville, Utah is 10 months into his service as a missionary.

He said the experience has helped him grow closer to his family even though he hasn’t seen them since he departed for Provo.

“It’s made me more certain about what I want out of life,” Michie, who is also serving in Manteca, said. “I definitely have more patience now.”

Jardine said he fully expects that when the missionaries that he is helping oversee return to their homes they will do so with maturity and abilities beyond their years. As a church background piece notes, “often they find themselves able to reach out to others, to successfully manage challenges and to find happiness in their own lives.”

World’s largest full-time volunteer missionary force

The 53,000 missionaries constitute the world’s largest full-time volunteer missionary force.

Missionaries can be single men between the ages of 19 and 25, single women over the age of 21 or retired couples. They work with a companion of the same gender during their mission except, of course, couples, who work with their spouse. Single men serve for two years and single women for 18 months.

They are only sent to parts of the word where the church operates and is accepted by the government.

They are also the highest profile members of the Mormon, especially single young men dressed in white shirts, ties, and dark slacks who often ride bicycles as they go about their calling.

Jardine noticed that since missionaries are viewed as “giving” to a community they are often times protected by troublesome elements. He recalled his son and his companion being warned by gang members at their inner city location to avoid an area well in advance of an anticipated violent encounter between rival gangs.

Contacts with family and friends are limited to letters and an occasional phone call to family at special times during their service. Missionaries avoid entertainment, parties, and other activities common to their age group to allow them to focus entirely on the work of serving and of teaching others the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The impact of their service benefits them in ways that one may not immediately appreciate. Jardine noted a professor he works with said missionaries who have served in another country are much more versatile in the people and customs than a tourist could ever be.

“Tourists visit for a short time and get (a superficial) feel for the country,” Jardine said. “Missionaries immerse themselves in the day-to-day life.”

Elder M. Russell Ballard, one of the church’s Twelve Apostles, is quoted in a church release noting, “They (the missionaries) have spent up to two years helping others, thinking outside of themselves, studying scripture, learning a new language in many cases, finding out about new cultures and have experiences that make them more responsible, more caring, and more thoughtful human beings.”

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Utah State’s Gary Wilkinson A Changed Man - On And Off The Basketball Court

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

From UtahStateAggies.com:

LOGAN, Utah - It’s not uncommon for a teenage boy to feel lost at times, to wonder what life has to offer. In rare cases, one will even rebel and choose an alternate path; one that is not socially or morally acceptable. Such was the case with Gary Wilkinson. And for anyone who has had the privilege to meet the out-going redhead, you would never guess that not long ago Gary’s life was spiraling out of control.

Raised in Salt Lake City, Gary’s upbringing was no different than anyone else. His parents, Gary and Kristine Wilkinson, were even members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, though they rarely attended Sunday service. As a youth, Gary never did get baptized and even took measures to avoid any religious gatherings.

As Gary matured and advanced in high school, he never seemed to find his niche athletically or academically. He did try out for the basketball team his sophomore year, but was cut in large part to a bad attitude and lack of desire. The volatile combination finally seized control of his life midway through his senior year at Bingham High School, and Gary simply dropped out of school, three months before graduation.

“I had no desire to go to school,” admits Wilkinson. “I didn’t feel like the things I was learning had a lot of validity to what was required to be successful.”

So there he was, a high-school dropout with no desire and a bad attitude. Not necessarily the best of combinations to find success or make a name for yourself.

Then in November of 2000, one of Gary’s friends took his own life, and that tragic event forced Gary to re-evaluate the prior decisions he had made. Shortly there-after, Gary embarked on a new path in life that included joining the LDS Church and serving a two-year mission in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

“When the Church came into my life, it provided me with the structure to be successful,” Wilkinson stated. “The Lord had done so much for me. I knew I could never repay Him, but serving a mission seemed like a desirable thing to do.”

Once Gary returned from his mission, he decided he wanted to give basketball another try. So he called Norm Parrish, the head men’s basketball coach at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC), and secured a tryout with the team. Two days later he was offered a scholarship.

And when that scholarship from SLCC was offered, Gary took full advantage of it - both on and off the basketball court. In his two years at the junior college level, Gary thrived in his new surroundings earning junior college All-American honors twice as he averaged 14.6 points and 7.0 rebounds a game as a freshman, and 18.5 points and 8.1 rebounds as a sophomore. Gary also thrived in the classroom, earning a cumulative 3.96 grade-point average and was twice awarded Academic All-America honors.

With a successful stint both athletically and academically at Salt Lake Community College coming to an end, Gary set his sights on a four-year institution and transferred to Utah State University to continue his development as a student-athlete. And even though his demands were more at USU, Gary continued to excel. In his first year with the Aggies, he earned second-team all-Western Athletic Conference honors as he averaged 13.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in helping USU win its first-ever WAC regular season championship and finish the year with a 24-11 record. He also earned academic all-WAC honors majoring in sociology.

Entering his senior season, Gary’s list of honors and accomplishments continue to grow. Beginning the year, Gary was named the WAC’s Preseason Player of the Year. He was also named a preseason high-major All-American by CollegeHoops.net, and to the early season watch list for the Naismith Trophy, given annually to college basketball’s player of the year. Furthermore, Gary was also named a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to one senior in the country who demonstrates outstanding character and competition, not only on the court and in the classroom, but in the community as well.

Now, with a college degree just months away and a potential professional basketball career on the horizon, Gary Wilkinson has truly come full circle from his days at Bingham High School. Days where his bad attitude and lack of desire kept closed the doors of athletics and academics, the two things that has helped him realize his dreams.

Posted in Member News, Missionary, Sports | No Comments »

Sacramento Mormons invite African Americans on search for ancestors

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

From The Sacramento Bee:

Elizabeth W. Stephens, left, of Elk Grove and Hester McCoy Snider of Rocklin went Saturday to the Sacramento Family History Center, owned by the local Mormon church, to find out more about their ancestors.

Ron McDowell clunks open a metal drawer, one of many at the Sacramento Family History Center, to reveal stacks and stacks of microfilm.

“Those are the census records from 1880,” he said, pointing down the line of drawers. “They just go on and on.”

As co-director of the center, McDowell, along with his wife, Lynette, watch over a small part of the treasure trove of genealogical records belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On Saturday, the church invited African Americans in the region to view those records, offering workshops and guidance on how to sort through dusty documents and online databases to uncover more about their ancestors.

As part of its fourth annual seminar, the church offered scores of probate, land transfer and bank records, along with slave transaction records, to African Americans, a group whose documented ties to ancestors were muddied by more than two centuries of slavery in America.

“All of us need to feel like we belong to a community,” Lynette McDowell said.

The LDS church is considered a world leader in genealogy research and makes its ancestral records available to the public.

Genealogy is valued as part of the faith’s emphasis on the eternal nature of marriage and family. Since the bonds of family last forever, even beyond death, according to Mormon belief, it’s crucial for the living to be aware of their ancestry.

Saturday’s church event, which drew more than 100 participants, was something of an awkward union, as African Americans were blocked from church ceremonies and the priesthood until the late 1970s, when the church repealed the restrictions.

To help bridge the divide, the local Mormon church sought sponsorships from African American business groups, and advertised directly to the African American community before Saturday’s event.

Participants were delighted with the access to the church’s family history room – a library holding more than 20,000 research books of historical records and maps within its exposed brick walls.

Hester McCoy Snider, 82, from Rocklin, came to the event with a friend. She just finished up her memoir and was hoping to find out more about her ancestors.

“You want to know as much as possible because you want to let your children know who they are,” she said.

Brenda Austin of Vallejo also came with a friend. She said the importance of being familiar with your family tree hit home when her daughter, then in middle school, came home talking about a boy she liked. After the family did some research, they made an unnerving discovery.

“He turned out to be a cousin,” Austin said. “It’s a very small world.”  (cont.)

Posted in Family History, LDS Church, Member News | No Comments »

An Open Letter to Time-Warner, HBO, and the Producers and Writers of “Big Love”

Friday, March 13th, 2009

From TheBettyFactor.com

AUTHOR’S NOTE: After several days of sitting by while watching the drama unfold surrounding the planned unveiling of a new segment of the HBO series “Big Love,” I was finally compelled to respond today based upon an Associated Press article published in yesterday’s edition of the Daily Variety.

What follows below is a slightly modified version of my response to said online article in the Daily Variety.

For the record, this Website is dedicated to identifying and applauding the best efforts of those trying to simplify and demystify complex and technical subjects. I publish my commentary about this “Big Love” brouhaha here as I know that the commingled subject of polygamy and religion are quite complex; unfortunately, it is also clear to me that the writers or producers of “Big Love” or the executives of HBO or Time-Warner have done a huge disservice to both Mormons and polygamists alike in distorting the truth.

David Politis

= = = = = = = = = =

Dear Variety and Variety Readers:

As a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (”Mormon”) I am certainly not surprised that HBO is moving forward with its plans to air a segment of “Big Love” that purports to show scenes from what is arguably one of the most sacred portions of the LDS religion — the temple endowment ceremony.

Then again, I am disappointed in HBO as I would have hoped that HBO and its parent company, Time-Warner, would have been more respectful of the faith and a people who have experienced significant persecution during its 175-year history. Obviously, those were false hopes.

More importantly, it appears that in spite of communications to the LDS Church to the contrary, HBO and the producers and writers of “Big Love” seem intent on blurring the line between the LDS/Mormon Church and the failed and illegal practices of a few polygamists.

As a practicing polygamist, Jeanne Tripplehorn’s character, Barb, would not be allowed into a dedicated Mormon temple where sacred rites are performed and religious instructions are given. She would not pass muster in the two worthiness interviews required with two local leaders of her local & regional congregations before she could receive a “letter of recommendation” to provide her with access inside a temple.

In truth, anyone (Polygamist, Christian, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, Gentile, Wiccan, Atheist, or whatever) can enter any Mormon meeting house around the world and attend any of our regularly scheduled meetings, and they can do so without being baptized and becoming converted to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

That said, entrance into any LDS temple first requires baptism into the LDS Church and continued adherence to minimal standards for at least a year after baptism before one is eligible to seek a Temple Recommend.

Some of these Temple Recommend standards include

  • no smoking;
  • no drinking of alcohol, coffee or tea;
  • no use of illegal drugs;
  • no misuse of prescription drugs or medications;
  • no sexual activities outside of (or before) a legal and lawful marriage relationship;
  • paying of tithing (10 percent of annual income);
  • regular attendance at Church meetings;
  • volunteer service within the Church;
  • acceptance of the current President of the LDS Church as Prophet, Seer and Revelator;
  • belief in God the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world, and the Holy Ghost as the 3rd member of the Godhead (and each of these beings as separate and distinct individuals);
  • and (though perhaps last in this list, not least for this commentary)
    agreement to follow and obey the laws of the land where you live.

Last time I checked it is illegal to be in a polygamous relationship in the U.S. It is also grounds for removal from the Mormon Church if a Latter-day Saint is found to be practicing polygamy and will not give it up. Practicing polygamy will also prevent one from

  1. being baptized into the LDS Church and
  2. from receiving a Temple Recommend allowing one to enter an LDS Temple.

I am ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENT that the “Big Love” writers and producers know these facts. I am ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENT that the management of HBO and Time-Warner know these facts.

Unfortunately, I am also ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENT that the segment of “Big Love” scheduled to premiere this weekend will air as scheduled.

By doing so, the HBO and all affiliated with “Big Love” will do all Latter-Day Saints and the public at large a huge disservice by blatantly depicting not only something that is held as being supremely sacred by Mormons around the world, but also by depicting and promulgating a lie that a practicing polygamist (like the character “Barb”) would ever be allowed into an LDS Temple. Then again, I have a hard time believing that any practicing polygamist would even want to go through a Mormon Temple ceremony; but hey, who am I to judge?

At the end of the day, I agree with the premise that HBO has the constitutional right to produce and air “Big Love” as well as this forthcoming segment.

I also have the right to NOT watch “Big Love” and to point out the the world and to HBO what I believe to be HBO’s patently misleading, hurtful, salacious and disrespectful approach to all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sincerely,

David Politis

A P.S. for Long-time Readers of TheBettyFactor.com: HBO and Time-Warner both land “Sad Betty Awards” for their handling of this mess. How disappointing!

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Church Statement on boycotts, 'Big Love', and other Controversies

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

From LDS.org (Newsroom):

Like other large faith groups, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometimes finds itself on the receiving end of attention from Hollywood or Broadway, television series or books, and the news media. Sometimes depictions of the Church and its people are quite accurate. Sometimes the images are false or play to stereotypes. Occasionally, they are in appallingly bad taste.

As Catholics, Jews and Muslims have known for centuries, such attention is inevitable once an institution or faith group reaches a size or prominence sufficient to attract notice. Yet Latter-day Saints – sometimes known as Mormons - still wonder whether and how they should respond when news or entertainment media insensitively trivialize or misrepresent sacred beliefs or practices.

Church members are about to face that question again. Before the first season of the HBO series Big Love aired more than two years ago, the show’s creators and HBO executives assured the Church that the series wouldn’t be about Mormons. However, Internet references to Big Love indicate that more and more Mormon themes are now being woven into the show and that the characters are often unsympathetic figures who come across as narrow and self-righteous. And according to TV Guide, it now seems the show’s writers are to depict what they understand to be sacred temple ceremonies.

Certainly Church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding. Last week some Church members began e-mail chains calling for cancellations of subscriptions to AOL, which, like HBO, is owned by Time Warner. Certainly such a boycott by hundreds of thousands of computer-savvy Latter-day Saints could have an economic impact on the company. Individual Latter-day Saints have the right to take such actions if they choose.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an institution does not call for boycotts. Such a step would simply generate the kind of controversy that the media loves and in the end would increase audiences for the series. As Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Robert D. Hales of the Council of the Twelve Apostles have both said recently, when expressing themselves in the public arena, Latter-day Saints should conduct themselves with dignity and thoughtfulness.

Not only is this the model that Jesus Christ taught and demonstrated in his own life, but it also reflects the reality of the strength and maturity of Church members today. As someone recently said, “This isn’t 1830, and there aren’t just six of us anymore.” In other words, with a global membership of thirteen and a half million there is no need to feel defensive when the Church is moving forward so rapidly. The Church’s strength is in its faithful members in 170-plus countries, and there is no evidence that extreme misrepresentations in the media that appeal only to a narrow audience have any long-term negative effect on the Church.

Examples:

  • During the Mitt Romney election campaign for the presidency of the United States, commentator Lawrence O’Donnell hurled abuse at the Church in a television moment that became known among many Church members as “the O’Donnell rant.” Today, his statements are remembered only as a testament to intolerance and ignorance. They had no effect on the Church that can be measured.
  • When the comedy writers for South Park produced a gross portrayal of Church history, individual Church members no doubt felt uncomfortable. But once again it inflicted no perceptible or lasting damage to a church that is growing by at least a quarter of a million new members every year.
  • When an independent film company produced a grossly distorted version of the Mountain Meadows Massacre two years ago, the Church ignored it. Perhaps partly as a result of that refusal to engender the controversy that the producers hoped for, the movie flopped at the box office and lost millions.
  • In recent months, some gay activists have barraged the media with accusations about “hateful” attitudes of Latter-day Saints in supporting Proposition 8 in California, which maintained the traditional definition of marriage. They even organized a protest march around the Salt Lake Temple. Again, the Church has refused to be goaded into a Mormons versus gays battle and has simply stated its position in tones that are reasonable and respectful. Meanwhile, missionary work and Church members in California remain as robust and vibrant as ever, and support for the Church has come from many unexpected quarters — including some former critics and other churches.

Now comes another series of Big Love, and despite earlier assurances from HBO it once again blurs the distinctions between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the show’s fictional non-Mormon characters and their practices. Such things say much more about the insensitivities of writers, producers and TV executives than they say about Latter-day Saints.

If the Church allowed critics and opponents to choose the ground on which its battles are fought, it would risk being distracted from the focus and mission it has pursued successfully for nearly 180 years. Instead, the Church itself will determine its own course as it continues to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

Link

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