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March 30, 2007
BYU Invitation to Vice President Stirs Debate
An invitation by Brigham Young University to the vice president of the United States to be the commencement speaker next month has triggered discussion and some controversy over the issue of political neutrality.
Whatever the personal views of individual students or other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the invitation is seen by the university’s board of trustees as one extended to someone holding the high office of vice president of the United States rather than to a partisan political figure.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fired back Thursday at criticism of the choice of Vice President Dick Cheney as Brigham Young University's commencement speaker.
The church and the university also announced Thursday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, an LDS Democrat from Nevada, will speak at BYU on Nov. 27.
When Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, fell ill last year, convert Nora Healey prayed.
"Every morning and every night," said Healey, of Fillmore, who, with her husband, is on a service mission for the church at its Family History Library here.
In January 2006, Hinckley, then 95, had surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his colon but little was said about his condition or recovery.
Salt Lake Tabernacle to be Rededicated this Weekend
Calling it a rare gem of architecture, President Gordon B. Hinckley, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced in October 2004 that the Salt Lake Tabernacle would undergo retrofitting and renovation. He will rededicate this unique building with its shiny new roof this weekend during the church's annual general conference.
Before there was a Temple Square, when the trees were newly planted, the Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley undertook a project to build a large meeting place, a building where they could unite under one roof and hear the words of their leaders.
Most genealogical societies and groups encourage members to record and index family records as an important way to preserve family history records for future generations.
Whether you record marriage records at the court house, cemetery records throughout the county or devote your time to some other form of data, these contributions are invaluable.
Spaghetti straps are banned, so don't even think about strapless. Slits are fine, but not past the knee line. Nothing above the knee is allowed to show.
There is a prom where young ladies do not have cleavage. Boys act like gentlemen at all times. Freak dancing and grinding are forbidden. Not only is the music devoid of profanity, the lyrics must not be suggestive and there will be more melody than beat. Some young people might ask, "How do you have a mosh pit with such tunes?" The answer is, "You don't."
After all the bad dates, and some heartache, loneliness and despair, Amy Bonella finally did it.
She got married.
On March 3, Bonella, 32, and her new husband, Shane, 35, were wed in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a longed-for milestone and the "perfect" day, Bonella said. "If I could choose to relive a moment in my life, that would be the day, my wedding day," she said.
Local leaders are working to assess and meet immediate needs following a major earthquake just offshore in Japan and a series of tornadoes that touched down in New Mexico, USA.
Japan
Early on Sunday, March 25, an earthquake measuring 6.9 magnitude on the Richter scale shook the Hokuriku region of Japan. The quake killed one person, destroyed several roads and 50 homes, and severely damaged more than 200 homes, schools, and other buildings.
Shortly after the quakes, two six-inch tsunamis hit the coast, but caused no damage.
All members and missionaries in the region were safe and accounted for following the quakes, though multiple aftershocks have continued to plague the area.
New Mexico
Several tornadoes touched down overnight in the state of New Mexico on Friday, March 23. Local Church members responded quickly to distribute food, water, and hygiene kits to those in the affected area. Volunteers from local LDS congregations are assisting in the cleanup.
The tornadoes destroyed 24 homes and businesses in Clovis and Logan, New Mexico, where they did the most damage. More than 100 homes, businesses, and schools in the area reported damage.
Despite minor damage to some members’ homes, all members and missionaries were safe. No casualties were reported in the affected areas.
A few weeks ago, Rhonda Chivers came across a magazine article that detailed the plight of the nation's foster children.
The article said that, in some cases, foster children must carry their belongings from house to house in black garbage bags. The piece went on to tell a story about a woman in North Carolina who led a drive to collect luggage and backpacks for the kids.
The flag was lowered to half-staff outside Fairport High School on Wednesday, as students and staff mourned the loss of student Natalie Giambattista, 16, who died Tuesday of cancer.
Natalie's favorite colors of orange and yellow were seen on small bows worn by principal David Paddock and other students, in her memory.
Students also made posters containing special notes for the teenager, who would have turned 17 next week.
An on-campus protest opposing the invitation of Vice President Dick Cheney to speak at the April commencement ceremony has been approved by Brigham Young University officials.
Boyd Ivey, for the Deseret Morning NewsSpencer Kingman talks to fellow BYU students Wednesday at a meeting held to organize next week's protest. A group of students met Wednesday night to organize the protest, scheduled for next Wednesday, as well as other possible demonstrations in the Provo area.
The location and time for the protest at BYU have not yet been decided, said BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins.
LDS a cult? 350,000 DVDs try to shake Mormons' faith
Evangelical Christians claimed they distributed 350,000 anti-Mormon DVDs in Utah on Sunday, hoping to convince members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that the church is a non-Christian cult.
They said they gave out another 150,000 across the U.S. and Canada - about a half-million altogether.
Hundreds of volunteers placed the discs, which feature a picture of the church founder Joseph Smith and the Salt Lake temple, on doorknobs in a white plastic bag that said, "Good News for LDS." Others handed out the bags after Monday night's Jazz game in downtown Salt Lake City. Some confused it with the LDS Church's own promotional material rather than seeing the DVD as a critique of Mormon beliefs.
As Latter-day Saints get their first peek into the newly restored Salt Lake Tabernacle later this week, questions about what has changed and what remains the same are inevitable.
Yet curiosity about the 140-year-old building has been a discussion point throughout much of its history and rekindled by its closure for seismic retrofitting and upgrading in late 2004.
The historic building is to be rededicated this weekend during the 177th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formed in 1830 by Joseph Smith.
The faith's followers, Latter-day Saints, are also known as Mormons.
As a young man, Smith was praying in a wooded area near his upstate New York home when he reported experiencing a vision of God and Jesus. Some years later, he is said to have encountered an angel named Moroni who gave him metal plates with details of an ancient people who had lived on the American continent during the time of Christ.
The fact that it's another hot, sweltering day along Middle Road, doesn't stop these two young Mormon missionaries from trudging out under the sun to do what they came here for. Whether they're spotted on the south end of Middle Road in front of McDonald's or seen up Navy Hill, they're out walking.
“We probably walk about two hours a day,” says Elder Matt Roberts, from Alberta, Canada. “We get to meet a lot of very friendly people.” Saipan was his first area of service in his two-year mission and was recently informed of his transfer to Pohnpei. His companion Elder Jacob Peden from Highland, Utah will remain behind and receive a new companion to take Robert's place.
Several professors at Brigham Young University are joining a chorus of scholarly voices debunking the claim in a new book that Jesus was buried with his family in a tomb outside early Jerusalem — rather than resurrected, as the New Testament gospels say.
"The Jesus Family Tomb," written by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino, ranked 10th on last week's New York Times' best seller list in the nonfiction category. But the majority of biblical scholars who are familiar with the work say it is little more than a slick blending of heavy fiction with slim fact.
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many of them from out of town, descend on Salt Lake City this weekend for the LDS Church's annual General Conference, they are certain to notice some commotion: Two blocks in the heart of downtown are kind of a mess.
The blocks that encompass the Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center malls are the site of a massive downtown renovation project, spearheaded by the LDS Church in its efforts to bolster the economy and tourism of its headquarters city.
A ministry opposed to Mormonism distributed 18,000 copies of a DVD to homes across the state on Sunday as part of a nationwide effort to persuade members to leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The distribution of 15,000 DVDs in Mesa, Gilbert and Tempe was timed for the last weekend before the church holds its General Conference in Salt Lake City on Saturday and Sunday, said Jim Robertson, executive director of Concerned Christians, an organization largely made up of former Mormons.
A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by an anti-Mormon group that accused a pro-Mormon foundation of trademark infringement and unfair competition.
U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball ruled that a Web site set up purportedly for The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR) was a parody and visitors could recognize immediately that it did not belong to Utah Lighthouse Ministry, a Salt Lake City-based organization that is critical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Fire breaks out in roof of Anchorage Mormon chapel
More than 60 Anchorage firefighters battled for nearly 12 hours a fire that broke out in the roof of a south Anchorage Mormon chapel.
Thursday was a hard day for thousands in Alaska's faith community. A fire erupted at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Anchorage at 3:30 in the morning. No one was injured, but thousands of Mormons are now without a church home. Sadly, it's not the first time.
Getting to know your ancestors now might come in handy when you meet them in the afterlife.
This is part of the philosophy behind the popularity of genealogy with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"We believe that family is eternal, and it continues beyond the grave," said Nickie White, one of several regular volunteers at the Pleasanton Family History Center.
Conservative author says Romney can overcome "Mormon problem"
Conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt thinks Mitt Romney's biggest opposition comes not from evangelical Christians who view Mormonism as a cult, but rather from secular liberals who remain skeptical of anyone who believes in revelation, divine intervention or miracles.
Writers in Slate and The New Republic, for example, called Romney's Mormon beliefs ludicrous and suggested that believing them disqualified him from office. That is bigotry, pure and simple, Hewitt says, and all people of faith should condemn it - or no one is safe.
WHILE family and friends gathered last Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day, Janet Miller was 'mother' to the 14 children who attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in St Albans.
As the person responsible for the children aged between three to 11-years-old at the local St Albans branch, Janet, along with her team of other volunteer mums, plans and teaches weekly activities based on Christ-like principles for the children.
Seven years ago, only one semester shy of college graduation in his native Peru, Augusto Robles decided to relocate his family to Utah, leaving his degree, job and friends behind.
In Peru, Robles held a managerial position with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, overseeing the maintenance of 360 chapels scattered throughout the country, as well as the Missionary Training Center in Lima.
Some person or organization in Salt Lake City purchased a rare LDS hymnal at auction on Thursday for $180,000 — several times the expected price, and the same price was paid by another buyer in the northeastern United States for a first edition Book of Mormon at a rare documents auction in New York City.
The purchase price for both items is believed to be among the highest ever paid for historic documents associated with the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The two men making lattes and cappuccinos at Just Add Coffee simply smile and shrug when patrons ask about the official-looking letter displayed on the counter.
"We kinda got in trouble," explains Ed Beazer, co-owner of the shop.
The letter is from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, specifically its intellectual-property office, and takes issue with an advertising campaign for the coffeehouse that spoofs an LDS Church trademark.
Latter-day Saint Charities in India Provides School Kits
Latter-day Saint Charities recently provided school kits and bags for children attending Child Care India. The bags, emblazoned with the LDSC logo, included a year’s supply of school materials for each child. The children assisted in sorting the notebooks and other supplies, which were then delivered to the various study group locations.
In 1993 Child Care India was organized in a small room with 15 children. Today the organization educates 10,000 children in 209 villages. Supplementary education is provided by night study for two hours every day in 100 different locations.
Volunteer college English teachers staff a teacher-training program. To date 150 teachers and staff have been trained as part of this ongoing program. During the summer holidays, Child Care India organizes summer camps for the children in all of the program areas. Senior and former students presently at college or working return to teach classes in English, drama, art, music, and dancing.
The Idaho beauty queen who doesn't drink, smoke, or sip coffee or tea came to Hollywood this month on a personal mission to try to save the image of America's young women.
Like others distressed over what passes for a role model these days, 21-year-old Amanda Rammell was troubled by the antics of the high-profile Brit Pack: Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, whose behavior has resorted to pantyless photo ops.
Utah state officials, community leaders and advocates have made some independent progress in tackling domestic violence concerns.
Ned Searle, director of the Governor's Office on Violence against Women and Families, is developing a state program to help young men become better husbands and fathers. Known as TUFF — Teaching Utah Future Fathers — the initiative aims to use good dads as role models and mentors.
You've probably heard by now that Mitt Romney has a Mormon problem. It seems every pollster of note has published a poll showing that many Americans consider Mr. Romney's membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - commonly called the Mormon Church - a potential deal-breaker.
John F. Kennedy faced a similar challenge as he campaigned to become the first president who was a member of the Roman Catholic Church. Many are encouraging Mr. Romney, the Republican former governor of Massachusetts, to borrow several pages from the JFK playbook - especially the speech he delivered to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in September 1960.
A top leader in the Southern Baptist Convention predicted that former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani would not succeed in winning the votes of Southern Baptists if he were to become the Republican nominee for president in 2008.
In brief comments after a chapel service at the North Carolina legislature on Wednesday, Richard Land, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich would likely fail for the same reason.
On paper, Apana Nakayama's collegiate baseball journey has only spanned about 10 miles — the distance from Utah Valley State College, where he spent his first two years of eligibility, to Brigham Young University, where he spent the last two.
But factor in an LDS mission and the knee injury that confined him to the dugout last season, and you've got a long, strange trip that spans seven years.
Downtown Rising: Vision of what S.L. might become is unveiled
Six community districts, eight "signature projects" and one big vision.
The Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance unveiled their vision for Utah's capital city Tuesday, a blueprint connecting mountains and metropolis, communities and cultures, residents and guests.
"This is one of the most exciting endeavors I've been involved with in my life," said Salt Lake Chamber President Lane Beattie. "What is Salt Lake City going to be in the next 30 to 40 years? What could it be?"
GORDON MONSON: BYU's Collie works on regaining skills
Brigham Young receiver Austin Collie and quarterback Max Hall were bragging over dinner Monday night, after their first official practice in spring camp, about their budding chemistry on the field and arguing about their individual athletic prowess off it.
The conversation started out a love-fest and ended in a near brawl.
Collie: "Max is throwing the ball really well. He has what it takes out there. The more we throw, the more in sync we'll be."
A student from Oregon City has died in an ATV accident in Idaho.
Allison Brady was on an ATV with her boyfriend at the St. Anthony Sand Dunes when they went off a cliff, lost control of the machine and were thrown several feet on Friday.
Neiher were wearing helmets. Brady was killed instantly. The boyfriend fractured his jaw and received a leg injury in the accident. He was treated and released at the hospital.
An international custody battle years ago, now has a man suing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Mike Gulbraa says the church ordained his boys into the Aaronic Preisthood, even though church authorities had agreed they would not without his permission.
One and undone: Xavier comeback keeps Y. from elusive victory
BYU's NCAA win drought grew to 14 years on Thursday in the blue grass of Kentucky.
Unlike the last BYU try in 2004 — a loss to Syracuse in Denver — it wasn't a Gerry McNamara-type 43 points that killed BYU. It was a bunch of hops, skips and floaters inside the key by tiny 5-foot-7 Xavier guard Drew Lavender in the closing minutes that muddled BYU's NCAA hopes and lifted the Musketeers to a 79-77 win in the first-round of the South Regional in Rupp Arena.
"This was a tough, hard-fought game that could have gone either way," said Xavier coach Sean Miller.
Church Works to Save Infants Through Neonatal Resuscitation Training.
Dr. Bulane, a staff physician at the Makoanyane Military Hospital in Maseru, Lesotho, deals daily with a shortage of trained medical personnel and supplies. His landlocked country Lesotho, in the southern part of Africa, suffers from near 30 percent HIV/AIDS infection, a 34.4-year life expectancy, recurring drought, poverty and high infant mortality.
Because of his concern for high infant mortality, Dr. Bulane registered for a training program in neonatal resuscitation conducted in his community by the Humanitarian Services Division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Many religious conservatives worry that if Mitt Romney becomes president, it will help legitimize LDS missionary work abroad and condemn extra converts to hell. Liberals, meanwhile, see a chance to use his faith to show he is "too weird" to be president.
That is according to conservative evangelical radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, who just wrote a book titled, "A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney." It is published by Regnery Publishing, which prints conservative titles.
Presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said faith is important to him, but voters should look at a person's entire character when choosing a president and not focus on just one area.
Romney made his comments Thursday night on CNN during an interview with Larry King.
A phone poll for King's TV show found that 63 percent of respondents believe religion should matter when considering a presidential candidate.
Val Black tried the Boy Scouts as a youth growing up in Utah, but after a couple of years he decided that the organization wasn't for him.
That was, until Black's three sons decided to join up. Following their lead, in 1967 he began to volunteer with the organization as his help was needed.
Black, now 83, is still volunteering.
"It's a good program for kids," he said. "They need leaders."
Missionary work has grown immensely in the last decade, but there is much more to do, said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the First Quorum of the Seventy in Tuesday's campus devotional.
"I believe with all of my heart that we are on the threshold of the most significant missionary success to date," Elder Cook said.
How much of a "Mormon question" does former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney face in his presidential campaign? According to recent polls, a quarter of Americans say they wouldn't vote for a Mormon as president. That compares with only 5 percent who say they wouldn't vote for a Catholic or a Jew.
Romney's biggest problem is with evangelicals, who constitute nearly half of all Republican primary voters in the South and more than one-third in the Midwest. A Rasmussen poll shows that 53 percent of evangelicals wouldn't vote for a Mormon as president.
It is a private religious school named after an important ecclesiastical figure. It has been to the NCAA Tournament approximately 20 times. It won a national championship, of sorts, decades ago. Even so, its coaches and players still find themselves explaining who they are and what they've done.
Only once in its history has it advanced as far as the Elite Eight. It is often referred to by a single alphabetical letter.
The clip of his famous dad's most famous moment at Brigham Young is always running somewhere.
It's either on the big video screen at the Marriott Center during a Cougars home game. Or it's on the TV before a BYU contest begins. Or it's running through his head.
Murder trial delayed in shooting of Mormon missionaries
Prosecutors say the murder trial of a man accused of killing a Mormon missionary and wounding another has been delayed until October 9.
James Boughton Junior had been scheduled to stand trial March 26th in Chesapeake Circuit Court on charges that he fatally shot Morgan Young of Utah and wounded Joshua Heidbrink of Colorado in January 2006.
The Mormon church, long known for its inward-looking self-reliant nature, is making overtures to other faiths.
"We're trying hard to reach out," said Pleasant Hill, Calif., Bishop John Muir.
By joining in multidenominational service projects and sitting on interfaith councils, Mormons are bridging a gap that has kept them and the surrounding society at an uneasy distance for 177 years.
After its five-year exclusive run in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, Utah, and under the direction of the First Presidency, the film TheTestaments of One Fold and One Shepherd is being made available on DVD through Church distribution centers.
The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd is an epic story depicting Christ’s ministry to the people in ancient Israel and His subsequent appearance in ancient America, as related in two testaments: the Bible and the Book of Mormon. It follows the fictional family of Helam as they witness the signs and coming of the Savior to the Americas.
When the film was first introduced, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Seventy explained, “The purpose of the film is to establish that Jesus is the Son of God, ‘the light and life of the world,’ and to show the miraculous effect the Savior has on the lives of those who believe in Him.”
The film took more than two years to make and required extensive research into the ancient cultures of the Americas. It was filmed in Utah, California, and Hawaii on 57 sets, the largest of which was about the size of a football stadium. The 48 principal cast members, 52 featured players, and more than 1,000 extras brought the story to life. The Orchestra at Temple Square and the Tabernacle Choir provided the music.
The 65-minute film (01607) is being made available on a multilanguage DVD in Church distribution centers worldwide in 18 languages (American Sign, Cantonese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Ukrainian).
