A few days ago when Kevin posted this post about undocumented missionaries I was initially intrigued, read all the comments (15 or so at the time) and then promptly forgot about it. Tragic situation, thoughtful post, comments expected to wind down after about 35 or so. End of story, move on. (more…)
Teaching a church lesson on Zion as it was understood by the early saints got me to wondering about the evolution of this word in our church vocabulary. We have all kinds of uses of the word, from a physical place (several, actually) to a state of being. (more…)
I would bet that if you asked a hundred Mormons to describe eternity you would get a hundred different depictions (even if that group included Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson). And if you asked me seven days in a row I would likely give you seven different versions. And I’m okay with that.
This last Saturday was as close as I’m going to get to one of those versions (version #WC41809 to be exact). Look at all the similarities: (more…)
“The Devil made me do it.”
We’ve all seen the cartoons where the protagonist is faced with a moral dilemma and, “poof” a little angel with wings and a halo appears on one shoulder and a little horned devil with a pitchfork on the other. And then the hero stands idly by as the two outside forces compete for his support. (more…)
We hold our Family Home Evenings on Friday evenings. Kind of an acknowledgment that, as parents of young children, we have no social life. Things went well with songs and prayer and a treat waiting in the wings for afterward. Then it was time to sit down with daddy while I read a Gospel story to my young children. (more…)
Former fellow co-bloggers,
I called this backlist chatroom meeting with you all to announce my resignation from 9moons. Before you protest and beg me to stay,
RUSTY: HA!
TOM: Please, no interruptions. As I was saying, before you protest, please let me assure you that my mind is made up. My reasons are various and sundry and I will lay them out in a numbered list with some of the numbered items being funny and cute. (more…)
Is Elder Ballard backing away from the bloggernacle? Is President Uchtdorf telling us to stop blogging? Both made references to the internet this conference session already, but neither was positive. Elder Ballard said:
“You can’t google a testimony, you can’t text-message faith.”
President Uchtdorf said that blogging could be one of those “burned out lightbulbs” that distract us from what is really important, causing us to crash into the swamp.
These references are all the more disturbing because they come from two of the more progressive members of our leadership. It seems so recent that the bloggernacle was abuzz over Elder Ballard’s much bloggyhooed talk that refenced the ‘nacle specifically and asked us to “join the conversation.” Now, a year later, here he is telling us that we can’t google a testimony or text-message faith! In other words, clever wording aside, he’s saying that the spirit can’t work over the internet which, in my experience, is patently false.
For myself, I think the change in message is a little jarring and unneccessary. It was so recently that we had any acknowledgement from the Church that Mormon bloggers even existed. Unless you are blogging or texting to the exclusion of working, attending church meetings or spending time with your family (which, admittedly, may be happening), warning people about it seems premature. Have we gone from allies to addicts in so short a time?
In any event, if anyone asks me to stop blogging, my message is this:
I’m doing a great work and cannot come down.
