The Church issued the following statement following the California Supreme Court Decision on Proposition 8 on May 26, 2009:Today’s decision by the California Supreme Court is welcome. The issue the court decided was whether California citizens validly exercised their right to amend their own constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. The court has overwhelmingly affirmed their action.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognizes the deeply held feelings...
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Moderation In All Things...Except Bike Riding.
Steve competed in a 75 mile bike race on Saturday (actually 77). We're so proud of his hard work and finishing race resul...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Radio is my First Love.
I started my career by working in radio...so I'm super excited about this new radio station called The Mormon Channel. Admittedly, I am curious about the name they chose, since the church...
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
They Call It The Miracle of Life For A Reason...
The Lord created the world. I do not understand how, but He did. And every time I see life springing forth into this world, I am amazed and humbled by the wisdom and intricacy and simplicity of it all. I stumbled upon this scene today in my back yard. It's a robin's nest. Two birds have hatched (quite recently, perhaps an hour ago?) and two blue eggs await their Grand Opening. I love how the two hairless, fragile beings snuggle on to each other for warmth....
Defend Marriage? "Yes We Can!"
Defending marriage
The Revs. Robin Jarrell and Chris Boyatzis in their recent letter describe a problem which should be more alarming to anyone interested in the future of marriage than the current debate over same-sex marriage. That is the current divorce rate. The projection is that if current trends remain the same, 40-50 percent of today's marriages will end in divorce.
Marriage is definitely in danger, but largely by decay from within, rather than by attacks from without (although both occur). Marriage is losing its place as a fundamental unit of society.
We have treated marriage too selfishly and look too frequently to ourselves and what we believe we are entitled to, rather than becoming one with that person with whom we made our vows.
Who cares?
Will people actively involved in the same-sex marriage debate spend the same amount of time and energy on encouraging people to value marriage as though it were something important to society? Will we recommit ourselves to a spouse or children and seek their happiness above our own? Will we put more effort into achieving success in the home than achieving success in the workplace? Will we lend a hand of support and encouragement to friends and family who may be experiencing the troubles of life within their marriage? Will we try to learn from our hard times rather than conclude that life's troubles must mean a marriage that needs to be ended? Will we remember how to love; the family should be the source of the most valuable training in how to love?
I say, "Yes, we can!"
Nathan Gee,
Danville
Sunday, May 3, 2009
What It Takes To "Grow Up Unto The Lord" - An FHE Idea
Because our children are so young, we like to use the simplest kinds of hands-on lessons during our Family Home Evenings to teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Since we have been putting together our family garden this week, we used that to talk about what it means to "grow up unto the Lord". (See Helaman 3:21)
Just as a plant needs certain things to grow healthy and strong, every person needs and can do specific things to grow in faith and righteousness.
Using scrap paper, I created a simple-looking flowers with my children's faces in the middle. I used a very thin dowel for the stem, but a chop stick or even a drinking straw would work just as well.
At the beginning of FHE, my kids planted themselves in "gospel sod" (our veggie garden) and we discussed the following scriptures which you might want to pick and choose from:
Lesson/Discussion Points: (Roughly based on this talk by Anne C. Pingree, May 2006 Ensign)
Making and keeping covenants with the Lord is like planting yourself in good soil
Keep Covenants: Doctrine and Covenants 35:24
Pray Always: 2 Nephi 32:9
Apply the Scriptures to Your Life: 1 Nephi 19:23
Repentening as often as we need to keeps weeds from weakening us unnecessarily
Keep the Commandments and Be Happy: Mosiah 2:22 and 41
Repent When Needed: D&C 19:16-17
Service and Following the Prophet will make us stronger and cause our roots to run deep
Service: Mosiah 2:17
Follow the Prophet's counsel:
After this brief discussion, we proceeded to do our regular planting...getting nice and dirty before bath/bedtime.
(Note: Obviously, you might not get to each of these points, but this might be a discussion for you to continue with your children whenever you have quiet moments out in the garden together...)
Friday, May 1, 2009
YOU are the Champion, My Friend!
YOU are the Champion, MY Friend!Congratulations to Cherry, the winner of my General Conference challenge on Facebook.Cherry brought the words of the prophets to life by creating this poster and displaying...
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