tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75624598592417763502024-03-05T15:37:01.330-07:00The Secret Life of MichelleA moderate Mormon feminist attempting to forge a life of faith, integrity and joy. MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-58902436148312069962016-08-18T08:24:00.000-06:002016-08-18T08:24:30.958-06:00Memoir Day 1: I Remember When <span id="docs-internal-guid-9f40eca9-9dff-0a2c-1963-4cc4899ac713"></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-9f40eca9-9dff-0a2c-1963-4cc4899ac713"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="Thinking about the lovely illustrations by ellensurrey & lorislora today" height="640" src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/5bc1536de03e2a100ba05ebfa3dcfd79/tumblr_npb96djugk1rwxa2fo1_1280.jpg" width="451" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><a href="http://ellensurrey.tumblr.com/">Art by Ellen Surrey</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remember my cassette player with a cassette of Fiddler on the Roof. I would strap on my roller skates, put on my headphones and skate around the courtyard in our Alhambra apartment. I remember getting lost in the music, in my own little world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remember when I would sit on my bed by the window in our house in Covina and listen to the radio. I especially remember listening to Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper and You Gotta Be by Des’ree. I had my own little alarm clock radio that I loved. I would listen to love songs imagine what my life would be like in the future. I loved my bed too. The headboard had little cubbies where I could keep my books and keepsakes. I shared the bedroom with my three younger sisters, two in the bunk bed and one in a crib. We were crowded, but the bed was my space. Space has always been something I needed, a little bit of somewhere that was my very own where I could read, think and listen to music. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i style="line-height: 22.08px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Day 1 Prompt: “I remember when”. Set your timer for eight minutes. Go somewhere quiet and get out your writing utensils. Write “I remember when” at the top of your page and start writing. The rules are don’t edit/censor yourself. Don’t worry whether what you’re writing is good or bad. Don’t worry who might read it. Just write whatever comes into your head. Try not to think too much. If you get stuck, write “I remember when” again and try something new. Go the full eight minutes without stopping. If you want to keep going, great. If not, great. If you feel like it, comment about how it went. Happy writing!</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: normal; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; line-height: 22.08px; white-space: pre-wrap;">To join the memoir writing group and view the daily prompts, go to </span><a href="http://anndeeellis.com/" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 22.08px; white-space: pre-wrap;">anndeeellis.com</a><span style="font-family: "arial"; line-height: 22.08px; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></i></span></div>
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</span>MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-14813322834376043992016-07-20T09:12:00.000-06:002016-08-18T09:23:32.241-06:00Beginning Again <div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In recent months I have kept my
distance from the <i>Book of Mormon</i>, torn between the memories of power,
love, and knowledge I found it the book’s pages and the distaste left by my
recent faith journey. How does this book, the origins of which have become
more, not less, shrouded in mystery, fit into the new narrative of my life. Do
I still believe the <i>Book of Mormon</i> to be an actual historical account?
If I do, how do I reconcile the many historical inconsistencies and
inaccuracies? If I don’t, then does the book still hold any meaning for my
current and future spiritual life? Can I trust the product and promises of a
prophet whose infallibility in my life has shattered into pieces? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Try as I might, I cannot put these
questions to rest. Like my children, they keep me up in the night, asking to be
acknowledged, to be fed, to be comforted and held. In my soul I know that these
questions, and more, are central to my journey to claim my own Mormonism, my
own relationship with God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<img alt="Li Zijian - Fairy Tales: " height="400" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/21/d1/07/21d107bdb75dc73bdd2ddd7a3a49eea5.jpg" width="309" /></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Credit: Fairy
Tales by Li Zijian</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">As a child I was immersed in love
my mother has for the scriptures, mostly the <i>Book of Mormon</i>. The stories
and doctrines of the book were part of our everyday lives. I learned and
modeled that love for scripture and consider it one of the most precious gifts
my mother has given me. I was the child who, in Sunday School, always knew the
answers and could always tell the scripture stories. As I read, learned, and
grew, I developed personal relationships with the characters in the scriptures.
I loved “likening” the scriptures to my life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I arrived at the MTC with
scriptures marked, corresponding to the missionary lessons contained in <a href="https://www.lds.org/manual/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service?lang=eng" style="text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="color: #1155cc;">Preach
My Gospel</span></i></a>, the missionary manual that would become like another
book of scripture to me. Through the course of my mission I read and re-read
the chapter in <i>Preach My Gospel</i>, “What is the Role of the Book of
Mormon?” This chapter explains how the<i> Book of Mormon</i> is not only a
powerful witness of Christ and an essential part of an individual's conversion,
but that it is literally ‘true’ in every sense of the word. Missionaries
challenge investigator to pray to know if the book is ‘true’ and make powerful
promises regarding the outcomes of those prayers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In fact, the text sets up what I
now see as a spiritually precarious dichotomy with an excerpt from President
Ezra Taft Benson’s book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Witness-Warning-Modern-Day-Prophet-Testifies/dp/0875791530" style="text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="color: #1155cc;">A
Witness and a Warning</span></i></a>: “Just as the arch crumbles if the
keystone is removed, so does all the Church stand or fall with the truthfulness
of the Book of Mormon. The enemies of the Church understand this clearly. This
is why they go to such great lengths to try to disprove the Book of Mormon, for
if it can be discredited, the Prophet Joseph Smith goes with it. So does our
claim to priesthood keys, and revelation, and the restored Church. But in like
manner, if the Book of Mormon be true—and millions have now testified that they
have the witness of the Spirit that it is indeed true—then one must accept the
claims of the Restoration and all that accompanies it” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Faced with such all or nothing
declarations from church leaders, what happens when an individual loses faith
in some basic truth claims, as I have? Must I necessarily reject everything
else about the gospel that I love? Does the whole value of the Book of Mormon
rest on its literality? I fear this is a dilemma many face today. We were
taught, as Armand Mauss explained in his book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Beehive-MORMON-STRUGGLE-ASSIMILATION/dp/0252020715" style="text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="color: #1155cc;">The
Angel and the Beehive</span></i></a>, “to take a literal, proof-texting
approach to scripture study, and to believe that loyalty means blind acceptance
of whatever leaders have ever preached.” This leaves us, Brother Mauss believed,
“highly susceptible to disillusionment, either from anti-Mormon critic in other
religions or from secular sources. For people taught to think this way, each
new anomaly discovered … becomes a crisis of faith.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">As I ponder these questions of
truth and value, I am reminded of an article by President Boyd K. Packer in the
journal <i>BYU Studies, </i>“The Mantle is Far, Far Greater Than the
Intellect,” often used by critics to illustrate their perception of the
church’s suppression of honest inquiry. In the article President Packer shares
his belief that, “There is a temptation for the writer or the teacher of Church
history to want to tell everything, whether it is worthy or faith promoting or
not. Some things that are true are not very useful.” I have never felt
comfortable with this position as it seems to contradict other church teachings
about the supreme importance of truth in our eternal journey toward exaltation.
I have turned this idea over and over in my mind and finally settled on a
subtle but radical reordering of President Packer’s sentiment. I have to
believe, for the sake of my faith and soul, that not everything that is useful
is true. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Credit: <a href="http://debellefeuille.com/van-hove-francine-2/">Francine Van Hove</a></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I aim to embark on a study of the <i>Book
of Mormon</i>, to go deeper both in the text and in myself than I have done in
the past, looking for what is of value, what I can hold on to. I have of
course, the book itself but I’ve also placed a bunch of books on hold at the
library and filled up my podcast queue with episodes on different facets of the
Book of Mormon. I hope that by prayerfully studying not only the source, but
other’s words, I can come to some peace and clarity about who and what to
believe. I am putting my trust in the words of the Lord in the <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/88.118?lang=eng" style="text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="color: #1155cc;">Doctrine
and Covenants</span></i></a>, that for those of us who feel like we are lacking
in faith, we may “seek diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea,
seek out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning even by study and
also by faith.” I only hope that when I find myself I will also find that there
is still a place in Mormonism that will welcome me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-34716769071013755302016-03-07T09:35:00.000-07:002016-03-07T09:39:41.615-07:00Expectation vs Reality <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A quick google search of Expectation vs Reality yields countless videos about the hilarity that exists in the space between what we believe will happen or what we will achieve and what actually occurs. According to these videos, action movies, boyfriends, high school, Halloween costumes, and summer break are just a few of the experiences that fail to live up to the high hopes of the teenage girls who seem to love making these videos. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Disappointment is the feeling of unhappiness we experience when something doesn’t fulfill or hope or expectation and teenage girls aren’t the only ones who experience this feeling. Parents often experience this "space between."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I recently read a book called, “Parenting With Presence” by Susan Stiffelman. One of the exercises in the book asks the reader to consider their frustrations with parenting and the hidden expectations (and corresponding disappointments) those frustrations derive from. Stiffelman explains, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Many times we have trouble being attuned with and present to our child because our vision of raising children doesn’t quite match up to reality. It may even be radically different from what we expected, leaving us disappointed, discourages, or even regretful. None of this means we don’t love our children or that we wish we didn’t have them. It just means that we have feelings we need to face rather than sweeping them under the rug. It is our expectations that get us into trouble.” </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-a5cd45ff-51ea-8894-722b-ca14d1066a24" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This exercise forced me to face some uncomfortable realities of what I expected of myself, my husband and my children. I have been working on discovering and adjusting my expectations. This has been a humbling but rewarding work and has allowed me to practice more grace, mercy and presence with my family and myself. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even though I’ve been working on improving this area, sometimes my unrealistic expectations still get the better of me. This Sunday I sat in the church foyer with my children as the sacrament was being passed. I was worn out and frustrated by the previous hour which had been spent wrestling church clothes on my two boys. The older one, six years old, had asked me, “Mom, do you know why I’m so slow?” He then answered his own question, “Because I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">want </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">us to be late for church. I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">making you late.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I sat on the couch thinking about how I expected Sunday morning to proceed: a house filled with soft piano music, delicious pancake and bacon breakfast, children happily getting dressed, and arriving early to sit reverently in our pew. A far cry from the yelling and arguing about the necessity of fresh underpants and how long and boring testimony meeting would be. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then I started thinking about other, bigger expectations that have gone unfulfilled. Unfair expectations I have about who my children should be and what they should love. Expectations I have for myself, for the church and her members, for my family. I realized with heaviness that the problem with expectations, and why some people say they are the root of all heartache, is that no person or institution is perfect. The experience of mortality is one where, as Paul taught, we all “fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Even our righteousness, he said, is imperfect and leaves us all guilty before God.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometime between the bead and the water, while I was feeling this heaviness on my soul, I looked up. On the wall across from me was a picture that will be familiar to anyone who has spent a lot of time in LDS meeting houses. The painting is one of the Savior’s second coming. He is pictured descending in clouds, over a desert, surrounded by trumpet playing angels. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="367" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/OGsui9PWMe-siO25nLzbmrx-QFYMpFG93oWUeDkT5pC6cgH1XuNB1Rf3oNiXD-yDjn1GM-rc1ecvnYDgZ_LHqS4HO6N0vhoziPcbZsYuLG0eiekjfY1CM6twTbpmnEjM3tZOihpQ" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="245" /></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here was one who could be trusted to fulfill expectations. We were willing to come to this earth, this place of sin, mistakes, sickness, and heartache, because we expected Jesus Christ would keep his promise to save us. We expected him to suffer, die, and rise again for us. I thought of him, in the garden, with the weight of all our stupidity, all our meanness, our sickness and suffering, when he cried out to God to ask if there was any other way. I imagined, too, the weight of our expectations. Were we there, in heaven, holding our breath, waiting, hoping, and praying for him upon whom our salvation depended? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And now we wait for the fulfillment of another expectation, that he will come again. As I looked into his face, with his arms outstretched, my heart ached for that day. I remembered a scripture from the the 62nd Psalm: “My soul, wait thou </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>only </i></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">upon God; for my expectation is from him … Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.” Here is the one time, the one person, in whom I can safely trust to be true to the expectation of perfect love, mercy, grace, and justice. He will always be there to listen when I call, will always forgive when I stumble, and will always help when I turn to him. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-21064909224105290572016-02-29T09:41:00.001-07:002016-02-29T09:42:17.086-07:00The Power of Remembering <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a church with a lay ministry, every Sunday is an adventure. Like that famed box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. Usually the sermons are repetitions of General Conference addresses or recaps of scripture stories. Occasionally you get a politically or socially charged topic or a speaker who goes completely off the “safe” script and delves into life details that most would keep private. To those who, like me, may have tender feelings close to the surface, church attendance can be more of a spiritual minefield that a chocolate tasting. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuYYnBTFQCoFIwEf8P0QSnxuLcKxz1yA67XgBkNaEeEDOVYe3poo_Ue2Ij5joPaq2rqcduCENK_bBjnYxxdIEGNoda2YP2NZ3twH4PKumcIhffAtjw0FJYNFVu9xfQh9fLnEKk8cPD54/s1600/BoxOfChocolate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuYYnBTFQCoFIwEf8P0QSnxuLcKxz1yA67XgBkNaEeEDOVYe3poo_Ue2Ij5joPaq2rqcduCENK_bBjnYxxdIEGNoda2YP2NZ3twH4PKumcIhffAtjw0FJYNFVu9xfQh9fLnEKk8cPD54/s320/BoxOfChocolate.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yesterday, I sat in the pew with my children as we usually do. We sang the hymns, listened to the prayers, took the bread and water. I tried to help them sit quietly while trying to listen to the speakers myself. Our ward had a full program with three youth speakers and two adults. Things went smoothly and predictably through talks of scripture heroes and a sermon on agency. When the last speaker got up, he had only 10 minutes left and hurriedly worked to condense his planned talk, a rendition of a General Conference talk, “Choose the Light.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the challenges we face, said the speaker, was that of living in the information age where so much is available on the internet. Deciding what is true and uplifting can be difficult. There are those who seek to destroy faith by publishing and sharing criticisms of church policy and past and present leaders. Most of their information is false, especially the claims about how the church uses tithing funds and the claims about things Joseph Smith did. The people publishing this information hide behind the anonymity of the internet and their words are given more import than they should. But, if our faith is strong, if we pray and read our scriptures enough, we will not be overcome by the darkness. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My first reaction was to feel resentful and insulted. The implications of this brother’s words was that I don’t know what I’m talking about when I have legitimate concerns with policy, doctrine,and history or that I am willfully seeking to destroy faith. He suggested that maybe I just wasn’t praying enough or didn’t have enough faith and that I was being deceived. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He doesn’t know, I thought angrily. He doesn’t know how much I have prayed, coming close to praying without ceasing at times. I have continued to pray when the answers are slow to come. He doesn’t know the time I have spent studying, seeking to find comforting answers, only to come up empty handed. He doesn’t know how hard it is for me to come to church some Sundays when the only thing that gets me in the pew is a desperate desire to believe and a spiritual conviction of where my Heavenly Parents want be to be.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then I looked up, through watery eyes and saw my bishop. He looked right at me and smiled with immense gentleness. Because he knows me and our family, I think he could guess how the speaker’s words were affecting me. I’m not sure what he would have said to me if we hadn’t been across the room, but he didn’t need to say anything. In his eyes and his smile, for a moment, I felt peace knowing that at least one person knew who I was and loved me just as I am.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I quickly looked away to hide a tear. I thanked God for the moment and asked him to help me to love others this way. I remembered the words of the sacrament hymn we had sung just a few minutes earlier. I thought of the sacrament prayer, and my covenant to always remember the sacrifice of my Savior. I remembered His words, in the midst of pain, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKuVYEV4rmUGEM2YeY0zOGS6j1WN0kw9C7ApVV22-CPjNGGoKsV0ILj5iMRIni6dupYXxBXdMPhvdrP7SFyd89kk98ohi-9qTj7G0H_1lNwxheCoMxSYjkZFkmeBUWyZjnX-WxvVTHoCY/s1600/crucifixion-art-lds_1163854_inl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKuVYEV4rmUGEM2YeY0zOGS6j1WN0kw9C7ApVV22-CPjNGGoKsV0ILj5iMRIni6dupYXxBXdMPhvdrP7SFyd89kk98ohi-9qTj7G0H_1lNwxheCoMxSYjkZFkmeBUWyZjnX-WxvVTHoCY/s320/crucifixion-art-lds_1163854_inl.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am so far from perfect and make countless mistakes. I am deeply humbled by and indebted to the sacrifice that cleanses me from my sins and makes me new again. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have never known the weight of injustice that our Savior experienced. I have so little to forgive. I needed strength though, help to let go of the pride that told me I was justified in offence. I needed power to turn my heart soft, allowing it to be bruised and healed and bruised again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I looked up at the speaker and thought, you know what, he doesn’t know. His lived experience is all he knows. He doesn’t know me or the others like me. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The resentment and frustration from feeling misunderstood and misrepresented in such a public forum melted away. As I remembered Jesus Christ and my covenant to try to emulate Him, I was filled with a love and gentle peace beyond my own. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A mild voice whispered to me, "This is grace. This is Christ's power to change who you are and make you like Him. It happens like this, one small step, one small change a time." </span></div>
MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-16375714878400130892016-02-20T12:33:00.000-07:002016-02-20T12:33:43.761-07:00Question Everything <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyd7-pvZIIkCWsGoDHfjQof1c0a0SwoYmj8KrVgCH4D5_WcmvvOyeK8xuTQs8fZEzO0jhmCE_7eqkmzjlIYv0gS6cguVbizHG2eZ7vpEUlueLch9R0zl5coT0R-OhgcHkhZ8WrEOSgjzY/s1600/12716409_10153899823774029_7923911117810367391_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="67" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyd7-pvZIIkCWsGoDHfjQof1c0a0SwoYmj8KrVgCH4D5_WcmvvOyeK8xuTQs8fZEzO0jhmCE_7eqkmzjlIYv0gS6cguVbizHG2eZ7vpEUlueLch9R0zl5coT0R-OhgcHkhZ8WrEOSgjzY/s400/12716409_10153899823774029_7923911117810367391_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Terry Tempest Williams, quoted in Mormon Women Essential Writings.</i></span></div>
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MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-24458059472756845642016-02-11T12:40:00.002-07:002016-02-11T12:40:57.670-07:00My Year In Books, Part Three: A Little Bit of This And A Little Bit of That <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Cheryl Strayed </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Non-Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Travel, Nature </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPzdl5nB3HNh9ylTlaJaCOhngCzmevxOutfhCofb8TgZvRN5U5sHbJP383vJne1B41DbWaiAWiuQEgYN0kZk1tX4vkcRYGWkGKNAxygLUThUtG7ipUDpzNEUPH9w2PKcVysCWblRmYAo/s1600/WildTP_Books-680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPzdl5nB3HNh9ylTlaJaCOhngCzmevxOutfhCofb8TgZvRN5U5sHbJP383vJne1B41DbWaiAWiuQEgYN0kZk1tX4vkcRYGWkGKNAxygLUThUtG7ipUDpzNEUPH9w2PKcVysCWblRmYAo/s320/WildTP_Books-680.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-de686b3a-d1d2-db6f-865c-cbbe4812ff41" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Retreating to nature in order to find oneself is a common theme in literature. Cheryl Strayed’s book follows many of the familiar themes: a wound, a period of losing oneself, a journey of physical difficulty and solitude, and an eventual spiritual and emotional healing. Even though the tale is familiar, there is much to love in this book and I found it comforted and nourished me. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cheryl hiked a large portion of the Pacific Coast Trail after her life and marriage fell to pieces after the death of her mother. She was unprepared both physically and emotionally for the stresses and dangers of the trail. Cheryl had to decide very quickly whether to give into her fear and retreat or to face the fear and walk through it. And she walked. And walked. And walked. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I too, have faced times in my life when I realized that I was carrying things I would have thought impossible and found liberation in the realization. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. nothing could vanquish me. Insisting on this story was a form of mind control, but for the most part, it worked.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I was amazed that what I needed to survive could be carried on my back. And, most surprising of all, that I could carry it. That I could bear the unbearable. These realizations about my physical, material life couldn’t help but spill over into the emotional and spiritual realm. That my complicated life could be made so simple was astounding.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While I loved the book, there were times when the story wandered and I ended up skipping some pages to move things along. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vagabonding: An Uncommon Journey</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Rolf Potts</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Non-Fiction, Travel </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This book is difficult to explain until you read it. Half travel advice, half philosophy guide, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vagabonding</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is not easy to pin down. In this quick read, while quoting the likes of Thoreau, Whitman, and Muir, Potts endeavors to explain his approach to long term travel, teaching readers to view the experience “not as an escape, but as an adventure and a passion - a way of overcoming your fears and living life to the fullest.” Vagabonding is a way of engaging in low cost, long term travel with a minimum of planning. The goal is to take life as it comes, to travel slowly or quickly as the occasion permits and not be so caught up in checking experiences off a list or meeting schedules and expectations. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dan and I both loved this book and found ourselves longing to sell our belongings, pack up our little family and travel the world. It didn’t help that while we read this book, some of our best friends were doing just that. I hope that one day we can find the space in our lives to embrace the vagabonding lifestyle. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Sense of Wonder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Rachel Carson </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Non-Fiction, Nature, Relationships </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3hMzDyMbEhbJJo1VuRYrIq4SGgoHSLs3uRREX3YHN9C2PtN0bILpQSDTw0zBbdsD6unb3d7h5n7BF9rWcHP2Eyr-HDVnloP7WK6gjnJvSC-eoIseJ0bF7F8_iBC7NorMeHDDuiBOnPfo/s1600/51d3GSiGLpL._SX373_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3hMzDyMbEhbJJo1VuRYrIq4SGgoHSLs3uRREX3YHN9C2PtN0bILpQSDTw0zBbdsD6unb3d7h5n7BF9rWcHP2Eyr-HDVnloP7WK6gjnJvSC-eoIseJ0bF7F8_iBC7NorMeHDDuiBOnPfo/s320/51d3GSiGLpL._SX373_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rachel Carson, the celebrated marine biologist and conservationist and author of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Silent Spring</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, shares a new and stunning side of herself in these tender and personal essays. In The Sense of Wonder, Rachel relates stories of her adventures with her nephew Roger as he explores the natural world of her home on the coast of Maine.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rachel uses these stories to instruct adults about the importance of encouraging wonder in the lives of the children under our care. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a beautiful book, a quick and soul-nourishing read. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Marie Kondo </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Cleaning </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZzuTPbe043ZZBbN3h1D3yQZ5hyphenhyphenkp05zijAV-v80_3YmwQdhTwyLavf5w2PYpxPQITTJy_ZewaPHRpeYRrJ-1ZTXDCY9diVicYK1TyyGOtiOuFDvuJl4tNri-SY1iKVSDhTcmsqb1NHkk/s1600/9781494578947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZzuTPbe043ZZBbN3h1D3yQZ5hyphenhyphenkp05zijAV-v80_3YmwQdhTwyLavf5w2PYpxPQITTJy_ZewaPHRpeYRrJ-1ZTXDCY9diVicYK1TyyGOtiOuFDvuJl4tNri-SY1iKVSDhTcmsqb1NHkk/s320/9781494578947.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life.” </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many people wonder if reading another book about organizing is worth the time. After all, how much can you say about “tidying” and can you really claim that it is life-changing? Truly, the method Marie Kondo describes is incredibly simple: 1) Imagine, in detail, the life you desire. 2) Choose a category such as clothes or books and gather every article you own in that category. 3) Pick each item up and ask yourself, “Does this spark joy?” while paying attention to how you feel. If the item does, keep it. If not, get rid of it. The result, if you truly follow the method, is life changing. When you only keep or buy those things that truly bring joy into your life, your life cannot help but change. You shed excess, clutter, and the need to have more things and the results transfer over mentally and spiritually as well. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not everyone will find it necessary to read the whole book, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the narration while I was cleaning. Although, the notion may seem silly to some people, I appreciated her respect for possessions and how she wrote about our clothes and books having feelings. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her advice for saying thank you to things that no longer brought joy was especially helpful: </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“When you come across something that you cannot part with, think carefully about its true purpose in your life. You’ll be surprised at how many of the things you possess have already fulfilled their role. By acknowledging their contribution and letting them go with gratitude, you will be able to truly put the things you own, and your life, in order. In the end, all that will remain are the things that you really treasure. To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By learning to acknowledge the purpose that the item had served, I was able to let go of several things that I had kept out of obligation and not because I loved or used them. I am still working through our things and haven’t come to the point where we only have joy-sparking items. But, we are a lot closer than we were and I feel better already! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Sheryl Sandberg </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Non-Fiction, Women & Business </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPM7fd15unLbptWGNLchjiTW5trMLIlgYi38917j5S1naIJMfAVqIrrbTpQQaOQdbmppqfdfSVa-T8J7UaRZy4BYBLo1LoNXUpUx7dt5R2cCpcpGUpBC8v_EroUjJHNCbG-0b12acn4wg/s1600/16071764.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPM7fd15unLbptWGNLchjiTW5trMLIlgYi38917j5S1naIJMfAVqIrrbTpQQaOQdbmppqfdfSVa-T8J7UaRZy4BYBLo1LoNXUpUx7dt5R2cCpcpGUpBC8v_EroUjJHNCbG-0b12acn4wg/s320/16071764.jpg" width="194" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guilt. That feeling when we know we have compromised our standards and bear significant responsibility. Guilt can be helpful, motivating us to do make amends for mistakes and do better in the future. However, excessively dwelling on perceived weaknesses and moral failings can lead to depression and resentment. I come from a place where an interesting mix of cultural forces leads many to carry excessive guilt. I fall victim to this mindset more than I’d like to admit. I don’t live up to my parent’s expectations, my religion’s ideals, or my own standards. I have made mistakes that will continue to affect my life for years to come. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have also made choices that I felt were right for me, but don’t fit a cultural mold that is reiterated regularly. Most glaring, I choose to work full time and enjoy the benefits of full time employment. I felt inspired to take the employment opportunities that were places before me and yet I struggle with guilt and worry about falling short as a mother and as a member of the LDS Church. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reading </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lean In</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> helped me examine my guilt, evaluating what was healthy and signaled needed changes and what I could let go of. The experience was transformative and I felt a great spiritual peace, an inner voice affirming my worth and the path that I have chosen. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of my fears were eased by listening to Sheryl Sandberg relate study after study showing that my choice to work wouldn’t lead directly to the destruction of my family. For example, she shared evidence that, “When women work outside the home and share breadwinning duties, couples are more likely to stay together. In fact, the risk of divorce reduces by about half when a wife earns half the income and a husband does half the housework.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her advice to “lean in” came at the perfect time for me, when I was praying about a possible career change. I was unsure of what to do with this opportunity to transfer to a more technical role in my company’s IT department and overwhelmed at the prospect. I wasn’t sure I was up to the challenges of the new position and was inclined to stay in a position where I had become comfortable. When I read these words, I knew that I needed to take a leap in the darkness and trust that I could grow and adapt to new challenges: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“There is no perfect fit when you're looking for the next big thing to do. You have to take opportunities and make an opportunity fit for you, rather than the other way around. The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have.”</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is packed full of information, suggestions, and motivation. Sheryl Sandberg is a passionate, intelligent woman. While she doesn’t demand that all women enter the workforce or work toward high level leadership positions, she does want to empower women who are capable and motivated to work toward those goals. She doesn’t want our insecurities or societal barriers to get in the way of women who have the drive to succeed in the business world. She also has a deep conviction that more women in leadership will make businesses and ultimately the world a better place. </span></div>
MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-74642099427627164932016-02-03T14:02:00.000-07:002016-02-03T14:02:06.488-07:00"Doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me?"<div class="MsoNormal">
Speaking for the LDS Church at an interfaith dialogue in
2008, Elder Marlin K. Jensen, stated “Immigration questions are questions
dealing with God’s children. I believe a more thoughtful and factual, not to
mention humane approach is warranted, and urge those responsible for enactment
of immigration policy to measure twice before they cut. Meet an undocumented
person. Come to know their family. If there is a church that owes debt to the
immigrant and the principle of immigration it is the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>”
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_YUBEUbMaYhpg9LiG0G0omOMsxkR1jHBrQx2uuPgb9QECCpe0qjLpL56flF2x1M0HMWL6kNLk3SSk9AU2-yzNcfoChT5tXX3pjo35DeAPY4yMFh_d-mRPX8vEt_uBLIgewl9L4d6Xmg/s1600/690302736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_YUBEUbMaYhpg9LiG0G0omOMsxkR1jHBrQx2uuPgb9QECCpe0qjLpL56flF2x1M0HMWL6kNLk3SSk9AU2-yzNcfoChT5tXX3pjo35DeAPY4yMFh_d-mRPX8vEt_uBLIgewl9L4d6Xmg/s320/690302736.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>photo credit: Mike Terry, Deseret Morning News</i></span></div>
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Elder Jensen’s remarks were made in the context of several
measures dealing with immigration were being considered in the Utah House and
Senate and were specifically directed to state legislators and other government
officials. His comments are in line with a 2011 official church statement on
immigration. This statement, while discouraging illegal immigration, also
stressed that “The bedrock moral issue for The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints is how we treat each other as children of God” and warned
against mass expulsion, targeting specific groups, and enforcement only
legislation<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I felt Elder Jensen's’ statement summed up my feelings on
the matter and I recently posted his quote on my Facebook wall. As a moderate
liberal in a family of political and religious conservatives, I expected some
pushback. I am a peacemaker at heart and generally go to great lengths to avoid
conflict, especially on political matters. The issue of how to deal with both
legal and illegal immigration transcends politics, though, and cuts to the very
heart of my religious faith and what I believe the purpose of this country to
be. <o:p></o:p></div>
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One family member responded to my post with the following
comment, “There's an assumption here that people who oppose immigration do so
because they are not "humane." If you get to know them, you'll change
your mind. First of all, I don't like being called not "humane" based
on this person's assumption that I don't know any immigrants. Well he's wrong.
I probably know more immigrants than he does. This isn't an argument. It's an
insult.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’d first like to say that neither Elder Jensen nor I called
out any specific person or group as inhumane. There is a difference between
saying that our laws and practices dealing with immigration could be more
humane, which is having compassion or benevolence, and calling a particular
person not humane. It is entirely possible for good, well-meaning people, who
are generally humane, to enact or enforce laws in ways that do not result in
the expression of the virtues of compassion or benevolence. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Frankly, I am surprised that such a non-specific call for
more thought, facts, and compassion in immigration legislation could be
construed as insulting. Any important national decision should be made only
after taking time to consider facts, history, and the potential impact the
decision could have in people’s lives. Many Americans are jumping to
conclusions and reactions based on fear, as we have seen recently in the public
support for political figures like Donald Trump with his inflammatory remarks
that Mexican immigrants were “rapists,” bringing drugs and crime<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>
and calling for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United
States.<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>”
Another well publicized example is Tennessee state Rep. Glen Casada, the
chairman of the House Republican Caucus in the state Legislature, who called
for the National Guard to round up Syrian refugees<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Othering,” is a term used describe the natural human
tendency to view or treat a person or group of people as intrinsically
different from and alien to oneself. This inclination can lead people to
dismiss the “other” as being in some way less human, and less worthy of respect
and dignity in both overt and subtle ways. Truth be told, while still worrying,
I am less concerned about individual politicians than I am about those I
respect and love espousing views that categorically put large groups of people
in the “other camp.” For example, I had someone very dear to me confide their
fear that “White people aren’t having enough babies. All the Muslims and the
Mexicans are going to keep having babies and soon we’ll be in the minority.” A
different family member recently commented on Facebook that if Utah admitted
any Syrian refugees he would be happy to use his extensive gun collection to
forcibly remove them.</div>
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This reaction to immigrants is older than the country
itself. Benjamin Franklin, writing in 1751, complained of the German immigrants
in Pennsylvania, arguing that their politics, language, and culture, and even
darker complexion (as compared to English settlers), was distasteful and
incompatible. Others of the time objected to the Germans, labeling them as a
lazy and illiterate group whose Catholicism and “excessive fertility” threatened
their Anglo-Saxon way of life<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>.
Other examples of anti-immigration sentiment litter our history: The Chinese
Exclusion Act, the Know Nothing political party and more. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The United States is a country of immigrants and each wave
of immigration has raised the same types of opposition in the native born
population. This opposition can be generally divided into three categories:
concern for personal and national safety, economic concerns, and fear of
cultural change. Take, for example, a 2014 Reuters poll which “showed that 70
percent of Americans — including 86 percent of Republicans — say illegal
immigrants threaten traditional U.S. beliefs and customs, as well as jeopardize
the economy.<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>”
While othering and the fears that fuel the propensity may be a natural and
evolutionarily important reaction to the unknown, it can be intensified in
unhealthy and unhelpful ways by media, political, and religious figures. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On the other hand, the negative effects of othering can be
balanced by facts and empathy. Facts about the history of immigration, current
levels, the contributions of immigrants to our society, and security threats
can facilitate better immigration legislation that accurately meets the needs
of citizens while respecting the human dignity of those seeking to enter this
country. For example, understanding that, “Numerous studies by independent
researchers and government commissions over the past 100 years repeatedly and
consistently have found that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes or be behind
bars than the native-born,<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[8]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>”
or understanding the process for vetting refugees may help alleviate fear about
immigration. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Neither I nor Elder Jensen assumed that particular people on
my Facebook friend list held political views because they did or did not know
immigrants. What I was asserting and will stand by is that it is important for
lawmakers to recognize their own biases and work to correct them. One of the
most effective tools to do this is to develop meaningful relationships and
contacts with a diverse group of people.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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At the conclusion of her well-researched book on the state
of free speech in America and the consequences of silencing opposing
viewpoints, Kirsten Powers told the story of a law school admissions board that
chose to reject the application of an otherwise acceptable candidate, a young
man from a religious college. They wrote that they don’t want a “Bible-thumping
student.” One of the members of that committee reminded his colleagues that his
background was similar to the young man’s. Ultimately, the admission committee
decided to admit the student. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Powers uses this story to illustrate how personal connection
can work to overcome deeply ingrained biases. She notes: “We should all make
efforts to invite people who hold different views into our worlds. Contrary to
popular thought, familiarity doesn’t breed contempt. It breeds understanding
and tolerance.<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[9]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>”
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of
another, is a necessary component of a harmonious society because it motivates
individuals to act in ways that are good not only for themselves, but for the
group as a whole. Most people, no matter their religious affiliation, can
remember times when they almost seemed to feel another's’ physical or emotional
pain. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Humans seem wired, whether by evolution or by a divine hand,
to empathize most with those they are close to. Mirror neurons react to the
emotions we view in others and then reproduce them, in essence allowing us to
feel what others feel. It is natural to experience empathy for those closest to
us, our family and friends, those who are like us. As Christians, we have an
added obligation to seek after empathy, also called in the scriptures
compassion, mercy, or charity. We are called to emulate the example of Jesus,
who seemed particularly attuned to the emotions of those around him. Recall
these touching verses from 3 Nephi, when Jesus told the people he would be
leaving them:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he
cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in
tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a
little longer with them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And he said unto
them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Have ye any that are
sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or
halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that
are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have
compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMQOT3etlOicndAR7ZM9K9W5WXAu3O6pZCRuk6D85z3WNzXCqnoP-ggIHSEmCtEn7IEWm1UbJH1hVyJtbUVedZsLWrMXeDqzm-a99z7kXVZL19CZ94R-QGfFrYfrgp0agcAqfdsv8oVc/s1600/One-by-One.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMQOT3etlOicndAR7ZM9K9W5WXAu3O6pZCRuk6D85z3WNzXCqnoP-ggIHSEmCtEn7IEWm1UbJH1hVyJtbUVedZsLWrMXeDqzm-a99z7kXVZL19CZ94R-QGfFrYfrgp0agcAqfdsv8oVc/s320/One-by-One.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><a href="http://www.walterraneprints.com/prints/one-by-one">One By One, Walter Rane</a></i></div>
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As baptized members of the Christ’s church, we are under
covenant to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those who stand in need of
comfort<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[10]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>,
in essence to have empathy, not just with those we love, but also our enemies,
those who hate us<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[11]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>,
and those we consider the least worthy<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[12]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a> of our empathy. This is a
covenant we renew weekly when we take the sacrament and great promises of
spiritual strength are attached to keeping this covenant. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As a friend of mine recently said, "Compassion, not contempt is the source of life that so many of us need. it is the font of living water from which we all can drink and sustain life. That is what I am advocating for. I'm not arguing for or against a particular policy. I'm not advocating lawlessness. I do believe that in order to create a just and virtuous society our most important Christian virtue, without which we are like sounding brass, must be evident in our lives and flow into our laws.<br />
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
Buckley, Deborah. “Have compassion for immigrants, lawmakers urged.” Deseret
News. Feb 14 2008. </span><a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695253048/Have-compassion-for-immigrants-lawmakers-urged.html?pg=all"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695253048/Have-compassion-for-immigrants-lawmakers-urged.html?pg=all</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
“Immigration: Church Issues New Statement.” Mormon Newsroom. The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jun 10 2011. </span><a href="http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/immigration-church-issues-new-statement"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/immigration-church-issues-new-statement</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Ye Hee Lee, Michelle. “Donald Trump's false comments connecting Mexican
immigrants and crime. The Washington Post: Fact Checker. July 8 2015. </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/08/donald-trumps-false-comments-connecting-mexican-immigrants-and-crime/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.0pt;">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/08/donald-trumps-false-comments-connecting-mexican-immigrants-and-crime/</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Trump, Donald J. “Donald J. Trump Statement on Preventing Muslim Immigration.”
Trump: Make America Great Again. Dec 07 2015. </span><a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/donald-j.-trump-statement-on-preventing-muslim-immigration"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.0pt;">https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/donald-j.-trump-statement-on-preventing-muslim-immigration</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/u0395798/Documents/Immigration.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
Sisk, Chas. “Tennessee Lawmaker Calls for national Guard to Round UP Syrian
Refugees.” NPR Politics. Nashville Public Radio. Nov 19 2015. </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/11/19/456502693/tennessee-lawmaker-calls-for-national-guard-to-round-up-syrian-refugees"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.npr.org/2015/11/19/456502693/tennessee-lawmaker-calls-for-national-guard-to-round-up-syrian-refugees</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Baron, Dennis. “Official American: English Only.” PBS.org. 2005. </span><a href="http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/officialamerican/englishonly/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/officialamerican/englishonly/</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bell, Alistair. “Americans worry that illegal migrants threaten way of life,
economy.” Reuters. Aug 7 2014. </span><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-worries-idUSKBN0G70BE20140807"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-worries-idUSKBN0G70BE20140807</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Immigration Policy Center. “Immigrants and Crime: Are They Connected?” American
Immigration Council. Oct 25 2008. </span><a href="http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/immigrants-and-crime-are-they-connected-century-research-finds-crime-rates-immigrants-are"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/immigrants-and-crime-are-they-connected-century-research-finds-crime-rates-immigrants-are</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Powers, Kirsten, <i>The Silencing: How the
Left is Killing Free Speech.</i> Regnery Publishing. 2015 </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-4289965035969051822016-01-19T13:43:00.000-07:002016-01-19T13:43:16.872-07:00Am I a Racist?<b style="font-weight: normal;"><div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2d649abe-5b96-d7b7-0a0b-d41816f2cdff" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I wipe the fog from the bathroom mirror and look at my white body. My skin is so white I can see the blue veins, like a strange spider web on my stomach and chest and neck. This is the only body I’ve ever known, handed down through generations of Northern European mothers. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I remember the stories my mother used to tell, how as children, she and her little friend would sneak down to the stream behind their Utah homes. They would cover their bodies in thick, dark mud and pretend to be negroes, something they had never seen. Then the little girls would lay down in the stream and let the mud wash off, revealing again their white little bodies. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Later, as a nurse, my mom saw a black man for the first time. He was her patient and she diligently cared for him. She washed his skin and almost rubbed him raw because she couldn’t tell if he was clean. “Things were different then,” she told me, “when people were racist.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My childhood was different, growing up outside of Los Angeles. Everywhere I looked there were people of every color, speaking every language you could imagine. We lived in a white neighborhood and went to a white church, but there were other colors, always there, in the periphery of my memory. I do remember the riots, on the news, when I was eight. I didn’t understand, but I was afraid of those men. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I grew up as a millennial, the generation that values diversity, tolerance, and social justice. As a group, we’re not racist anymore, right? We studied Dr. King in our college classes. We elected a black president and are appalled when our grandmothers loudly suggest that President Obama is “nigger-rich.” We claim we don’t see color and nod when our partners say they’ve never seen racism. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A newly born feminist, I read the words women of color have written because I know so few in real life. Terrified of being labeled a white feminist, I try to listen, try to understand a world that I have lived in all my life and yet have never known. I learn words like “intersectionality” and “systems of oppression.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As the supervisor of a racially diverse team, my whiteness is always on my mind. When an employee accuses me of policing her tone, I try to calmly explain that three other women have come to me crying because of her rude words. She tells me they just can’t handle a strong black woman in the office. I don’t tell her the hours I have spent trying to decide how to handle this because I’m afraid of her myself. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I drive home and I listen to white voices on the radio tell me about more riots, more protests, angry black men and women like the ones I remember from my youth. Another black man. Another white officer. My mind churns with names and places that I try to keep straight: Ferguson, Tamir, Sandra, Mother Emanuel. I come home to my white neighborhood, my white church, and my white family and all of that seems so far away. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But, I know that for so many of those who I claim are brothers and sisters, these events are not far away. And I don’t know what to do. So for one Sunday we take a break from our church, to sit in unfamiliar pews and listen to a black woman teach us what she learned from Dr. King. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Yesterday my six year old son, with the same blue-white skin and my own bright blue eyes staring back at me, told me how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made everything fair. “He was a great man, Mom. His father taught him that things should be fair and when he grew up he was brave and he made it all fair. He got all the black people to stop riding the buses. Then the white people got angry and shot him.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As we listen to the words of "I have a dream," my son draws pictures of Dr. King with a dove on his shoulder, of black and white people eating at restaurants together and drinking from the same fountains. He searches his crayons for the right colors and carefully completes the caption, "Martin Loother Cing Made Peece." </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Then I take a deep breath and we talk about privilege. I just learned this word and it sounds strange on my tongue. I’m not really sure what it means, but I feel like it is important to say out loud. “We have privilege. We have a responsibility to listen to others who don’t have our privilege because they are the only ones who can tell us what that is like.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In these few moments before I start my day, in the time before commutes, homework, laundry, and the never ending stream of things to do take over my thoughts, I pause. And the thought comes back, the one I always push away, tuck back in, and try to forget. A question, really, “Am I a racist?” For once I take it out and look at the question, turn it over in my mind. I don’t know the answer and I’m not sure how to find out. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But for now, I’m listening. I'm listening not only to the easy, soothing words of Dr. King that are passed around on meme after meme between my white friends, but also those that are hard for white ears to hear. I'm listening to the words of those today who feel like they are unheard. </span></div>
</b><br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-82625188918352435222016-01-15T13:00:00.005-07:002016-01-15T13:00:43.803-07:00My Year In Books, Part Two: Memoirs <b style="font-weight: normal;"><div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-dbb47641-46db-d12b-9a0f-016cc2930f6a" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ghost Boy: The Miraculous Escape of a Misdiagnosed Boy Trapped Inside His Own Body</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Non-Fiction, Biographies & Memoir, Special Needs </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Last January I listened to an episode on Invisibilia called, “</span><a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/01/09/375928581/locked-in-man" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">The Locked In Man</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.” I was so fascinated by the true story of Martin Pistorius that I immediately purchased this book on my Kindle and started reading. Martin’s body and mind began to shut down when he was 12 years old. Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him and eventually he entered a time when he has no memories. Then one day, he woke up. At least his mind did. He could not control even the most basic functions like talking and spent years like that. Since he has written a book, I’m not spoiling anything by telling you that eventually he regained some functions. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This is a short but powerful and heart wrenching book about hope, despair, faith and what it means to be human. If you do nothing else, listen to the podcast episode I linked above! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you do read the book be aware that some parts are difficult to read and not appropriate for children as they deal with abuse Martin experienced. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">By Katie Davis </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1r-dQ0EpvpbDleXlzC1MQjFe1gqPbEJs6fBJav01de4at62GrwoakpMa3KsghAHvJkCj12XcudXEllLtwFNdibSk8BNCHr7CcqXmTDkVwxAjUCFPWMeLkxjRK9R-15PQERlGVE9SnbEA/s1600/Kisses-from-Katie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1r-dQ0EpvpbDleXlzC1MQjFe1gqPbEJs6fBJav01de4at62GrwoakpMa3KsghAHvJkCj12XcudXEllLtwFNdibSk8BNCHr7CcqXmTDkVwxAjUCFPWMeLkxjRK9R-15PQERlGVE9SnbEA/s320/Kisses-from-Katie.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I also heard about Katie Davis on a podcast, this time from her interview with Dave Ramsey, which you can listen to </span><a href="https://www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com/?event=dspAskDave&intContentItemID=121868" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. I was just blown away by her story of love and faith. Katie is younger than me, but I want to be like her one day. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When Katie was 18 years old she visited Uganda. The next summer she went back and never really came home. You see, Katie could hear God calling her to his work. Kisses from Katie follows her story as she figures out what it is that God wanted her to do in Uganda. Ultimately, it was to found an organization that sponsors the education of over 700 impoverished children, feeds 1,200 children daily and provides a vocational program to poor women so they can feed their own children and send them to school. Additionally, Katie has legally adopted 13 Ugandan children.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Her book is a powerful testament to what can happen when we follow God’s path for us without fear. Katie said, “People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep, do unto the least of His people.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You can visit her organization, </span><a href="https://amazima.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Amazima Ministries</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, and learn more. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">By Loung Ung </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Many of the books I read last year were difficult to read. This was one of the most difficult. Loung Ung was 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge forced her family out of their home in Phnom Penh and into the countryside. In the bloody civil war, genocide and starvation that followed about 2 out of every 7 Cambodians died. In this book Ung details how she survived and eventually escaped Cambodia. Read it with a box of tissues. And don’t try to read it on the train to work like I did. Stories like this one are important so we remember and never forget the horror that humans can inflict on one another and the power of the spirit to rise above horror. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m looking forward to the Netflix adaption of this book which will be directed by Angelina Jolie and is set to be released later this year. </span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Also, please check out Girl Rising, another project Loung Ung is involved in. She helped write some of the script for the film of the same name, Girl Rising. You can see the trailer and get involved </span><a href="http://girlrising.com/see-the-film/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. </span></b><br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-24991186021220489742016-01-08T10:59:00.001-07:002016-01-08T12:36:51.627-07:00My Year In Books, Part One: I'm a Mormon Girl <b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One of my goals in 2015 was to read more books. I am very happy to report that I finished a total of 18 books and read portions of many more. Considering I read maybe two or three books the previous year, I certainly achieved my goal. This was in large part due to a wonderful Christmas gift I received last year: a Kindle. This allowed me to read much more than I might have otherwise. It also allowed me to purchase many more books that I would have otherwise, leading to one of my New Year's resolutions this year: to not buy any books. I am committing to only reading books I already own or that I check out from the library. Hopefully this resolution will contribute to other goals of simplifying and staying in a budget without restricting my reading too much! </span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Each book has become part of me and influenced me in some way and I also intended to write blog posts reviewing each of the books and my reactions, but that didn’t happen. I would still like to record the list and some of my thoughts. I will try to organize the books into broad categories. I hope you enjoy this year in review and decide to pick up some of these books! </span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible’s View of Women</span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>“Many of the seminal social issues of our time - poverty, lack of education, human trafficking, war and torture, domestic abuse - can track their way to our theology of, or beliefs about, women, which has its roots in what we believe about the nature, purposes, and character of God.”</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sarah Bessey's claim is simple, yet radical: Jesus was a feminist. </span><br /><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sarah uses her own faith journey to explain who she learned to find Christ in what she calls "our walking around life." In that process she came to believe that her feminism stemmed from her faith, from Jesus' message. Much of what she said rang true in my Mormon upbringing as well. I believe in the equality of men and women, not as a reaction against my faith, but because of it. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes people ask me why I feel the need to identify as a feminist. The word is divisive, especially in my faith tradition, where its use conjures up images of women who forsake or even attempt to tear down everything we hold dear. Why focus on women, if I claim that feminism means that men and women should have the same rights and opportunities? Sarah Bessey’s answer is a beautiful encapsulation of my strong feelings about using that word and why I feel the need to couple it with my faith and proclaim that I’m a Mormon Feminist. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“One needn't identify as a feminist to participate in the redemptive movement of God for women in the world, The gospel is more than enough. Of course it is! But as long as I know how important maternal health is to Haiti's future, and as long as I know that women are being abused and raped, as long as I know girls are being denied life itself through selective abortion, abandonment, and abuse, as long as brave little girls in Afghanistan are attacked with acid for the crime of going to school, and until being a Christian is synonymous with doing something about these things, you can also call me a feminist.”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sarah Bessey’s words read like a gloriously joyful song, sung with arms and heart wide open. I was completely drawn in, overwhelmed with Jesus’ grace and love. I felt myself filling up with desire to serve him, not out of fear of any punishment or hope of any reward, but just as the natural consequence of being lavished with so much love. This is a book I plan to read again and again and allow Sarah’s words to bring me closer to my Savior and Friend.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Women At Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact</span></h3>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">By Neylan McBaine </span></b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Non-Fiction, Religion & Spirituality, Women’s Issues, LDS </span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Deseret Book describes Women at Church as a “practical and faithful guide to improving the way men and women work together at church.” Neylan McBaine has the enviable talent of being able to see and understand why some people feel pain with the way the LDS church is administered while also being able to speak the language of the faithful, traditional membership. In the first half of the book, she explains why some women (and men) struggle with gender in the church. In the second half, she offers suggestions for relieving some of that pain. All of her suggestions are carefully chosen to work within the current guidelines in church handbooks, so leaders can feel comfortable using the ideas they feel inspired to implement. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There are some who don’t think it is our collective responsibility to try to help those who are struggling. There are others who want to call those they don’t agree with apostates or hypocrites. Neylan acknowledges the tense emotions that can come with discussion of gender issues and invites us to try to do more: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Because we are working in the art of redemption, we all care very deeply. If we were simply trying to offer an amusing social outlet or after-school youth program, we might not care quite so much … But our relationship with the Church is a reflection of our relationship to our faith; although we might cognitively separate the two when it is convenient or needful, the reality is that the way we feel at church impacts the way we feel about our faith."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Faith, at least the way Mormons approach it, is neither practiced nor cultivated in isolation, and the communal relationships and interactions are the road on which faith finds its way. Despite the fact that we already have dedicated and good-hearted leaders, don’t we want to make the Church experience even better if it is in our power to do so?” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I think everyone in positions of leadership in the LDS church should read this book. If you have ever wondered why some women don’t “feel equal,” you should read this book. If you have ever wondered what you can do to help women who struggle with our gender practices, you should read this book. It is a door-opener, a conversation-starter, and a bridge-builder. What this book is not is the end; it is only the beginning. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While I loved many parts of this book and think it fills a need in our community, I could not shake the feeling that there was more Neylan McBaine could have said, but that she was being very careful to not alienate those the position to make changes. I firmly believe that we (as a church) need more revelation, not more policies, direct from the source (God) concerning women in particular and gender in general. This book is a great stop-gap, a practical, on the ground manual for how to do things now to ease suffering while we are waiting for further light and knowledge. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For a more complete and thorough review, see “</span><a href="http://www.the-exponent.com/women-exit-quietly-a-review-of-neylan-mcbaines-women-at-church/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Women Exit Quietly</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,” at the Exponent blog. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith</span></h3>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">By Joanna Brooks</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>“You see that? That big messy spiral of people, moving, trying to find God? I ask them, as the exodus unfolds once again on screen. That right there is Zion. Get there however you can.”</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For a long time I hated Joanna Brooks. Really. I’m embarrassed about it now, but I did. In my mind she represented a threat to my nice, comfortable religious tradition. I remember a conversation with a friend where we just let loose how much we disliked and even pitied Joanna Brooks. She wasn’t really an insider, we told each other. She hasn’t been through the temple, how could she claim to be a voice for Mormonism? And if there were parts of our culture and tradition that were so painful for her, why didn’t she just leave? Why does she have to try to destroy what the rest of us love so dearly? If she really understood the divinity of womanhood … </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I owe Joanna Brooks a big fat apology. You see, just a few short months after that conversation, my shelf came crashing down. The shelf where I had stored polygamy and all it’s ugly implications, the “patriarchal order” of heaven, my hurt from being excluded from leadership, the promise I made to obey my husband, all the million microaggressions that come with being a woman in this church, and most of all, way there in the back, the empty hole in my soul where my Heavenly Mother wasn’t. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And then I understood what Joanna had been saying all along. I still waited over a year to read her book, refusing to listen to her podcasts or look at her blog. Then my book club announced that we would be reading Book of Mormon Girl. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I was hooked by the first page. I had been so wrong. What I read could have been my story in places. Joanna’s words perfectly captured the beauty and mystery of being raised Mormon. All the things I loved were there. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And the pain too. The confusion, the heartache, the loneliness, they were all there on the page. I found something else familiar there too, a determination and dedication that came with the evolution of faith. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“I am not the same kind of Mormon girl I was when I was seven, eight, or eighteen years old. I am not an orthodox Mormon woman like my mother. I am an unorthodox Mormon woman with a fierce and hungry faith. ” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I know what it is like to have a “fierce and hungry faith.” Like Joanna, I am not the same kind of Mormon I was. My faith, or what I thought of as my faith was consumed in a fire, until only the really truly permanent things were left. And so when people ask me, “If this or that causes you pain, why do you stay?” I stay, because in the end, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>“(Mormonism) "it is my first language, my mother tongue, my family, my people, my home; it is my heart, my heart, my heart." No one says any of these things. But they should.”</strong> </span></div>
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<br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-35558014825012281592015-11-02T07:39:00.000-07:002015-11-02T11:44:47.427-07:00Crying for my Mother<div class="MsoNormal">
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The words ring empty, empty, empty, <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the hollow chambers of my soul. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We have a Mother there. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But where? <o:p></o:p></div>
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My body shakes, the tears come fast. <o:p></o:p></div>
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To know the Father is life eternal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But the Mother: nameless, faceless, and voiceless <o:p></o:p></div>
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Is too sacred, too protected for her daughters to know. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“You just don’t understand” <o:p></o:p></div>
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The answer comes fast, <o:p></o:p></div>
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With a pat on the head by a well-meaning hand. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You’re right. I don’t understand. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I don’t understand a Father<o:p></o:p></div>
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Who forbids a Mother to run to my aid,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Who keeps her in some hidden chamber,<o:p></o:p></div>
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And withholds her very name. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So I wrestle and plead and cry and hunger<o:p></o:p></div>
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For some answer, some balm to soothe<o:p></o:p></div>
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The aching, the longing, the gaping hole <o:p></o:p></div>
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The hole in my soul. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh, Mother, where art thou? <o:p></o:p></div>
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And where is the pavilion that covers the place where you
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I stand at the door and knock. </div>
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But this veil is like looking through a glass, so dark, so dark.</div>
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I sought for you in divine words, scouring the pages, <o:p></o:p></div>
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And couldn’t find your name. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I sought for you in holy places, surely you would be there. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And in those lovely, quiet corridors I was empty and alone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I am hurt and alone and weak, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Like a child after a bad dream, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Crying for my Mother,</div>
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For a glimpse of a divinity that looks like me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-53867060357876129282015-10-24T08:20:00.002-06:002015-10-24T08:20:40.530-06:00I Love This Old HouseRecently on my Facebook wall I shared a short blog post from the Exponent titled, "<a href="http://www.the-exponent.com/why-i-am-a-mormon-feminist-and-why-i-wont-tell-you-to-be-one-too/">Why I'm a Mormon Feminist and Why I Won't Tell You to be One Too.</a>" I felt like Jess' words expressed my feelings as well when she described what it is like to live between two worlds, constantly asking yourself, "How can I be a feminist in this church?" and simultaneously wondering, "How can I stay in this church?" Every day is an act of faith, an expression of of my <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/heb/11?lang=eng">hope </a>for things unseen.<br />
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I stay for many of the same reasons outlined in the post: community, values, and heritage. My ward is absolutely fabulous my interactions with the members of my ward fuels my hope and faith. I have a deep Mormon heritage that goes down into my bones and pervades all of my soul. But, ultimately I stay for one reason: I know that this is where God wants me.<br />
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I have hard questions. Soul wrenching questions that aren't going away. They can't be prayed away or answered by reading more scriptures. If that was the case they would have been gone long ago. When I ask these questions in prayer, heaven is generally silent. But when I ask, "Do you want me in this church? Even with all the pain and frustration?" I feel an overwhelming sense that my Father and Mother in Heaven love me and are present, and their joint answer is, "Yes. Stay. Continue holding on to your hope for things you can't see."<br />
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So, I like Jess, choose to stay. But, she says, she would probably not encourage others to join. This statement wouldn't sit well with most members. One of my family members responded to the post in part with the following: <br />
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<i>"In my opinion to be truly converted to the gospel you could never make the following statement: '</i><i>But would I ever encourage any one else to join the church? If I’m being honest, the answer is no, probably not.'</i></div>
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<i>Her statement is like saying 'I enjoy living in a safe and comfortable house, but I would never recommend it to my friends who's houses are on fire. After all, they have their agency.'"</i></div>
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I like the image of the church as a house: a place that offers shelter, room for family to gather, a place that feels like home. I'd like to expand on that idea and perhaps give you a better idea of how I see things.<br /><br />As a child I loved watching <a href="http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/">This Old House</a>, a program that showed beautiful old houses being restored. I see many of these types of houses in the Avenues in Salt Lake City near the hospital where I work. I marvel at their beauty and grandeur. <br />
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In many ways the church is like one of these grand old homes. Built by our pioneer ancestors, the house of the church is solid, built on a firm foundation. The architecture is lofty and inspiring. There is also much sense of history here. I can see the pictures of my parents, grandparents, generations of love in this home. This is where the people I love gather, sit around the table and share a hearty meal. There is true Christian service. There is joy in this house and I love it dearly. </div>
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But, if I look closely I can see some of the paint is peeling. There's a leaky sink here, a drafty window there. Our family has expanded over the years too. We've opened our doors, not just to our family but now to our neighbors and friends. It's wonderful to share the goodness, but we've got people sleeping on the couch and on the floor. And only half the family has a key to the place that is supposed to be home to all. </div>
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I loved watching the workers on This Old House transform old homes. When you repair and improve an old home it is called restoration. Now there's a word we are familiar with. Recently President Uchtdorf reminded the members that the restoration of the church is an on going process. I believe wholeheartedly in his <a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/are-you-sleeping-through-the-restoration?lang=eng">words</a>: </div>
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<i style="text-align: center;">"Sometimes we think of the Restoration of the gospel as something that is complete, already behind us—Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, he received priesthood keys, the Church was organized. In reality, the Restoration is an ongoing process; we are living in it right now. It includes “all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal,” and the “many great and important things” that “He will yet reveal.”"</i> </div>
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When some of us try to speak up and suggest that maybe the leaky window in the back upstairs bedroom needs to be repaired we are met with exclamations of surprise, "My bedroom window is fine! You're just looking to complain." or "Why can't you just focus on the good?" Well, my room's so cold and night and I'm getting sick. When we suggest that maybe it's time to build an addition so we can fit all those who want to join us, we are told, "You should be happy with the house the way it is. It's perfect. If you don't like it, why don't you just leave?" </div>
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I won't leave because I also believe these words from President Uchtdorf: </div>
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<i>"There is too much at stake for us as individuals, as families, and as Christ’s Church to give only a halfhearted effort to this sacred work.</i></div>
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<i>Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not an effort of once a week or once a day. It is an effort of once and for all."</i></div>
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I am committed to this church. But I won't be one to be lulled into security and <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/28.21?lang=eng">say</a>, "All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well." </div>
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I'm not leaving because this is my home and I love it. The plans are divine, but the construction is mortal. We have some work to do; we can fix some of our leaks, finish washing and putting away our laundry and replace our windows with the new Energy Star version. And, like a good Mormon girl I'm going to be humming a <a href="https://www.lds.org/music/text/hymns/put-your-shoulder-to-the-wheel?lang=eng">hymn </a>while I work, because I'll "help the good work move along, and put my shoulder to the wheel." </div>
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MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-56621623660854585602015-05-27T17:23:00.001-06:002015-05-27T17:23:34.148-06:00For The Momma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Mh-MgWIko8K9XhjhO3fZ5rostrUX0lHsdKU4ugfnnIZK153dlTVjzjAdYWCrz1jzqd7XCeFOUvB8zJK9cMxn1CmEbIMeG6g0VZ1u4FUK6frEk_11j_1hxBC3n0XXw0QBYikNQfCs-Rw/s1600/lord_teach_us_to_pray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Mh-MgWIko8K9XhjhO3fZ5rostrUX0lHsdKU4ugfnnIZK153dlTVjzjAdYWCrz1jzqd7XCeFOUvB8zJK9cMxn1CmEbIMeG6g0VZ1u4FUK6frEk_11j_1hxBC3n0XXw0QBYikNQfCs-Rw/s1600/lord_teach_us_to_pray.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.christcenteredmall.com/stores/art/dicianni/lord_teach_us_to_pray.htm"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Lord, Teach Us to Pray by Ron DiCianni</i></span></a></div>
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<i>These words are not mine, but they are just what I needed today. </i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Adapted from a post titled: "<a href="http://wearethatfamily.com/2015/05/for-the-momma-of-the-strong-willed-child/">For The Momma of the Strong Willed Child</a>," on We Are That Family. </span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You will survive this hard place.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And most
importantly, one day, </span><b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">you will thank God for it.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve
learned strong-willed toddlers grow up to be strong-willed teens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And that’s
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Even when saying no means tempers flare or make the meanest mom. I’ll take it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Listen, I
know these strong-willed children are challenging. They push our buttons; they
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But they are used by God to
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">They show
us our humanity, our weakness and mostly how much we need Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We want our
determined, fierce kids to stand up first to us so someday they can stand up
against the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The beauty of strong-willed children is that they are strong.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">They will
try and lead and manipulate us; starve and dress themselves and win every
argument. Their determination will embarrass and thrill us all in the same day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We will beg
and barter and bribe. We will question every move we make and cringe at every
fit. But we will remember that their fierce determination is channeled into
velvet strength and these kids who won’t give up their will, also will not give
in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yes, they
chase hard after what they want, but they also chase hard after what’s right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, Momma
of the strong-willed child pulling out your hair, wondering if you’ll ever be
able to eat in public again, be encouraged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That little one will change the
world.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But first, he
will change you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-40277507556555232572015-04-27T18:24:00.000-06:002015-04-27T18:24:00.105-06:00Event: BYU Women's Conference April 30 - May 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For More Information: <a href="http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/registration.php">BYU Women's Conference Webpage</a></div>
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<br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-91609162785195351342015-04-19T09:52:00.000-06:002015-04-19T09:52:34.786-06:00Youth Sunday School April "Apostasy and Resoration"<i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">“What does Joseph Smith’s example teach me about learning the gospel?" </span></b></i><br />
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<i>“Joseph Smith sought spiritual knowledge while acting as the Lord’s instrument in restoring the gospel. He pondered the scriptures, asked inspired question, and acted upon what he learned. As we follow the Prophet’s example, we can receive answers to our questions and inspiration to guide our own lives.” <a href="https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/ss/apostasy-restoration/example?lang=eng#d">Come Follow Me</a></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<b>Objective</b><br />
Help class members apply Joseph Smith’s example of seeking gospel knowledge. We will focus on pondering the scriptures and asking inspired questions.<br />
<br />
<b>Gospel Study Skills </b><br />
Searching for principles.<br />
<br />
<b>Introduction </b><br />
Today will discuss the events that led up to Joseph Smith’s First Vision and how we can apply them to our lives. As we talk, I want you to pay attention to principles. A principle is a truth that guides our actions. Sometimes principles are stated plainly in the scriptures or words of the prophets, and other times they are implied in a story.<br />
<br />
As we discuss, think about the following questions:<br />
<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What principles do I learn from this passage?<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Are they different from what I thought or learned in the past?<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Do they inspire me to change anything in my life?<br />
<br />
<i>(Write questions on the board or have word strips and put them on the board)</i><br />
<br />
<b><i>Can someone summarize for us what was going on in Joseph Smith’s life when he was 14? </i></b><br />
<br />
Joseph had a gospel question. Talk about questions. Some questions are more important than others.<br />
<br />
Read <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1?lang=eng">JS-H 1:8-10</a>, looking for words and phrases that show how important this question was for Joseph Smith.<br />
<br />
<b><i>How did Joseph Smith feel? </i></b><br />
<br />
“My mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness”<br />
“My feelings were deep and poignant”<br />
“My mind at times was greatly excited”<br />
“I often said to myself, ‘What is to be done?’<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.josephbrickey.com/product129.html">An Obscure Boy </a>by Joseph Brickey </span></i></div>
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Notice that Joseph Smith didn't immediately pray and receive the First Vision. <b><i>What kinds of things did Joseph do in these verses? </i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Ask yourself: <b><i>Is it OK to have gospel questions? Is there room in this church for questions?</i></b><br />
<br />
As you think about those questions, read the following quotes:<br />
<br />
QUOTE #1<br />
“In this Church that honors personal agency so strongly, that was restored by a young man who asked questions and sought answers, we respect those who honestly search for truth … It’s natural to have questions—the acorn of honest inquiry has often sprouted and matured into a great oak of understanding. There are few members of the Church who, at one time or another, have not wrestled with serious or sensitive questions. One of the purposes of the Church is to nurture and cultivate the seed of faith—even in the sometimes sandy soil of doubt and uncertainty. Faith is to hope for things which are not seen but which are true.”<br />
(Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, “<a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/come-join-with-us?lang=eng">Come, Join with Us</a>,” General Conference, October 2013)<br />
<br />
QUOTE #2<br />
“In this Church there is an enormous amount of room—and scriptural commandment—for studying and learning, for comparing and considering, for discussion and awaiting further revelation. We all learn ‘line upon line, precept upon precept,’ with the goal being authentic religious faith informing genuine Christlike living.”<br />
(Jeffrey R. Holland, “<a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2003/04/a-prayer-for-the-children?lang=eng">A Prayer for the Children</a>,” General Conference, April 2003)<br />
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<br />
One day Joseph was reading in the Bible and read a scripture we are all familiar with. I want to you put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. Imagine that you felt what he felt and then imagine you are reading this scripture for the first time.<br />
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Have a class member read <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/james/1.5?lang=eng#4">James 1:5</a>:<br />
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”<br />
<br />
Read <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1?lang=eng">JS-H 1:12</a><br />
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Joseph said, “Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know…”<br />
<br />
<b><i>Have you ever felt a scripture or gospel teaching reinforced to you like this? </i></b><br />
<b><i>How did Joseph apply this scripture to himself?</i></b><br />
<br />
Read <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1?lang=eng">JS-H 1:13</a><br />
“At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.”<br />
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Trust in this scripture is what led Joseph to the Sacred Grove and to the First Vision. There he learned that Go would indeed give liberally. We are each blessed by the light, knowledge and power that flowed down from Heaven through Joseph Smith. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://www.lds.org/new-era/2012/11/joseph-smiths-key-of-knowledge?lang=eng">Joseph Smith</a> by Walter Rane </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<b><i>What would have happened if Joseph Smith had thought, “Well, I’m sure the preacher at my mother’s church knows best, I should just follow him?”</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
As you read the following quotations ponder these questions:<br />
<br />
<b><i>Why is it important that we ask gospel questions? </i></b><br />
<b><i>Why is it important to search for our own answers? </i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
QUOTE #3<br />
“Sometimes we think we can do it by ourselves, that it will make us strong to struggle through a problem alone. Or sometimes we think that no one can help us, no one can understand us. The Savior can and will do both. James 1:5 is that wonderful scripture that gave the boy Joseph Smith courage to go out into the Sacred Grove. Let’s paraphrase it so that it applies to us more directly: “When we lack wisdom, we should ask God. God will give us wisdom generously, without scolding and finding fault. Wisdom will be given to us.” I think that God is waiting for us to ask him. He wants to give to us and give generously, and he will not scold or reproach us. He doesn’t say, “Can’t you figure this out on your own?” or “You, again! Didn’t I just see you this morning?” No, he’s anxious to fill our souls with his goodness and his love. Our questions are just as important to us as Joseph Smith’s question was to him. And who knows, maybe the Lord has an answer for us that turns out to be as important to the world as Joseph Smith’s answer was to us today!”<br />
(Chieko N. Okazaki, former 1st Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cats-Cradle-Chieko-N-Okazaki/dp/0884949044">Cat’s Cradle</a>, pg 87)<br />
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QUOTE #4<br />
“As a means of coming to truth, people in the Church are encouraged by their leaders to think and find out for themselves. They are encouraged to ponder, to search, to evaluate, and thereby to come to such knowledge of the truth as their own consciences, assisted by the Spirit of God, lead them to discover. Brigham Young said: ‘I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security. … Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not’ (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1941], 135). In this manner no one need be deceived.”<br />
(James E. Faust, Former Second Counselor in the First Presidency, “<a href="https://www.lds.org/ensign/1998/09/the-truth-shall-make-you-free?lang=eng">The Truth Shall Make You Free</a>,” Ensign, September 1998)<br />
<br />
QUOTE #5<br />
“Unfortunately, we sometimes don’t seek revelation or answers from the scriptures or the handbooks because we think we know the answers already.<br />
Brothers and sisters, as good as our previous experience may be, if we stop asking questions, stop thinking, stop pondering, we can thwart the revelations of the Spirit. Remember, it was the questions young Joseph asked that opened the door for the restoration of all things. We can block the growth and knowledge our Heavenly Father intends for us. How often has the Holy Spirit tried to tell us something we needed to know but couldn’t get past the massive iron gate of what we thought we already knew?”<br />
(Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, “<a href="https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/worldwide-leadership-training/2012/01/acting-on-the-truths-of-the-gospel-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng">Acting on the Truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ</a>,” Worldwide Leadership Training 2012)<br />
<br />
Watch Mormon Messages video, “<a href="https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages-for-youth/origin-1">Origin</a>”<br />
<br />
<b><i>How to you feel after viewing this video? </i></b><br />
<br />
We can learn from Joseph that God is aware of us and our lives. Like Joseph, we can feel confident that our questions are important to God. He will answer them in his own way and time. Like Joseph, we must put forward effort to study, ponder and pray for guidance. Then God can use our humility and diligence to reveal knowledge to bless our lives and the lives of those around us.<br />
<br />
QUOTE #6<br />
“Can you imagine how 14-year-old Joseph must have felt to see God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and to hear Heavenly Father call him by his name?<br />
When I visited the Sacred Grove, I tried to imagine what it must have been like to have been Joseph Smith. In those quiet moments, the Spirit whispered to my beating heart that I was standing on holy ground and that all that the Prophet Joseph Smith had said was true. Then came the powerful realization that we are all the beneficiaries of his faith, courage, and steadfast desire to obey God. He had received an answer to his humble prayer. He had seen the Father and His Beloved Son. There in the Sacred Grove, I knew that Heavenly Father not only knew Joseph Smith by name, but He also knows each of us by name. And just as Joseph Smith had an important part to play in this great and marvelous work, we too have an important part to play in these latter days.<br />
Did you know that Heavenly Father knows you personally—by name? The scriptures teach us that this is true … You may not have heard the Lord call you by name, but He knows each one of you and He knows your name … Each of us will play an important part if we follow the pattern established by Joseph Smith. The Lord strengthened Joseph Smith for his divine mission. He will strengthen you for yours.”<br />
(Elaine S. Dalton, Former 2nd Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, “<a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/he-knows-you-by-name?lang=eng">He Knows You by Name</a>,” General Conference, April 2005)<br />
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MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-26267712368255241712015-04-15T17:58:00.000-06:002015-04-15T17:58:00.111-06:00Event: <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For More Information: <a href="http://utaheconomicsummit.com/">UtahEconomicSummit.com</a> </div>
<br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-70017062594159818322015-03-24T18:01:00.000-06:002015-03-24T18:01:00.113-06:00Event: Caring Economy Conversation <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEO9_FwHbXNn_-HjZjIiyUvO2OiFUjt9UbaTBqXxi8Y1cgYiY41dsvJtQ_2nX4TFHwBl_zyICLMcJu1qWpybLOuFzI8Jovnqc1E-EYJIyPcTf0OLxLPDGMEd-ruOv7ix65_0glyiAQFQk/s1600/11010960_10205591740048223_824887716121072904_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEO9_FwHbXNn_-HjZjIiyUvO2OiFUjt9UbaTBqXxi8Y1cgYiY41dsvJtQ_2nX4TFHwBl_zyICLMcJu1qWpybLOuFzI8Jovnqc1E-EYJIyPcTf0OLxLPDGMEd-ruOv7ix65_0glyiAQFQk/s1600/11010960_10205591740048223_824887716121072904_n.jpg" height="640" width="449" /></a></div>
<br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-78655463429450743692015-03-16T17:59:00.000-06:002015-03-16T17:59:00.104-06:00Event: You Were Born to Lead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicjGlREKoIeRRkQcnVzKUSfa9K_MN3yzN3P0A_yS8Uu3MkYi7EkrY7zH84J8V0V53OEqhbYAtDWbOWMOQrLHoZ3oNyHn5n6cVXm-HsyidSbPIaxXDafJynrYr5udiEYtmAiStk1iYzW8/s1600/1262358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicjGlREKoIeRRkQcnVzKUSfa9K_MN3yzN3P0A_yS8Uu3MkYi7EkrY7zH84J8V0V53OEqhbYAtDWbOWMOQrLHoZ3oNyHn5n6cVXm-HsyidSbPIaxXDafJynrYr5udiEYtmAiStk1iYzW8/s1600/1262358.jpg" height="207" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"You Were Born to Lead!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sheri Dew (CEO of Deseret Book)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">March 18, 2015 (6:30-8:30 pm)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxpBln0K_u3MPzjACBvZZBsPilvNarjz9sWjBzvLd-Y-Rxo-Z57Szhvd2Vip6_nT96y3Rdghiy9KWKb2kzHZ5oz7yrxOwQa634ccvLvApOqBNb19uvODViwz_0sJSJHFBNGMx2ghLWd4/s1600/uwlplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxpBln0K_u3MPzjACBvZZBsPilvNarjz9sWjBzvLd-Y-Rxo-Z57Szhvd2Vip6_nT96y3Rdghiy9KWKb2kzHZ5oz7yrxOwQa634ccvLvApOqBNb19uvODViwz_0sJSJHFBNGMx2ghLWd4/s1600/uwlplogo.jpg" height="188" width="320" /></a></div>
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For More Information: <a href="http://www.uvu.edu/uwlp/">Utah Women and Leadership Project</a></div>
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To Register on <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/you-were-born-to-lead-speaker-sheri-dew-tickets-15451792728">Eventbrite</a></div>
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<br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-58040861925409956152015-03-13T17:55:00.002-06:002015-03-13T17:55:41.285-06:00Quote: Apology <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIS3EiKbMgE6UHOsUYMSMABcON66cP67LWWKLDPL8V3QgqKTKwgRTwS6ZWoIB1sLaJbwSEPsewNO_lOgn4XJ7qBdV653-FwMYB7HSca0oDX3fygo4zY4U7PnAvTJCWdDwaL9MzXPrIf_A/s1600/i-want-to-apologize-to-all-the-women.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIS3EiKbMgE6UHOsUYMSMABcON66cP67LWWKLDPL8V3QgqKTKwgRTwS6ZWoIB1sLaJbwSEPsewNO_lOgn4XJ7qBdV653-FwMYB7HSca0oDX3fygo4zY4U7PnAvTJCWdDwaL9MzXPrIf_A/s1600/i-want-to-apologize-to-all-the-women.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-15078745537012652682015-03-13T15:51:00.000-06:002015-03-13T15:51:00.126-06:00Event: SheTech Explorer 03/15/15<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMOHzzefMH-_v83TqhvYomj1NDLeSnlhKBIBHaQrAWnP2de9Wq8f8H3XXI-RCjDhuoYkILhRl0F4EWQh3hWFqScSC8KJUTHKM-a94sjQx5tlKc4F2bgEZXkHJdZ1MuUVAYl73PVl511g/s1600/shetechlogo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMOHzzefMH-_v83TqhvYomj1NDLeSnlhKBIBHaQrAWnP2de9Wq8f8H3XXI-RCjDhuoYkILhRl0F4EWQh3hWFqScSC8KJUTHKM-a94sjQx5tlKc4F2bgEZXkHJdZ1MuUVAYl73PVl511g/s1600/shetechlogo2.jpg" height="105" width="400" /></a></div>
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SheTech Explorer Day is a conference for high school girls 9th through 12th grade. This day-long event will include hands-on workshops in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Our ultimate goal is to expose girls to technology in a fun atmosphere as well as meet STEM role models to learn more about opportunities in those fields.</div>
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For More Information: <a href="http://www.shetechexplorer.com/">SheTech Explorer</a> </div>
<br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-66275251331170219232015-03-04T14:05:00.003-07:002015-03-04T14:06:12.130-07:00Quote: Beautiful People<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhglk4KjwLLkkJ6SPvf8w_GMXtTlovSTMTBirNQgBQvSyKXngKfffx9ttazsk6CGuF6IBko_ww3oJGzsMNQUPywg5m4r5EqWsICxVzhu9g0PV3bR4dTsdHJnq5UFSRInF6L84JHndZjrno/s1600/5052a726d936de5a20c772092ba2ee0f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhglk4KjwLLkkJ6SPvf8w_GMXtTlovSTMTBirNQgBQvSyKXngKfffx9ttazsk6CGuF6IBko_ww3oJGzsMNQUPywg5m4r5EqWsICxVzhu9g0PV3bR4dTsdHJnq5UFSRInF6L84JHndZjrno/s1600/5052a726d936de5a20c772092ba2ee0f.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="http://www.saatchiart.com/art/Drawing-elements/284005/1511999/view">Elements</a> by Loui Jover</i></span></div>
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<i>“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross</i></div>
MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-16354486590775914842015-03-03T13:43:00.000-07:002015-03-03T13:43:00.171-07:00Event: Muslim Professional Women in the Modern Near East 03/05/15<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PyJZa5qnxdt6bR4DyKgfIsoIHR48PEG0bJjQx8TPVSrj1wClMzbDltSaCwToYdNBeMEdTKBDu9VX09FGjlKZhK8yBd_QM0mxrbAVd1Cw6DWJQQ-lBqP3zIk74eU-GZSn2z_vunlYC7s/s1600/10980726_859030857473577_7999485448897894382_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PyJZa5qnxdt6bR4DyKgfIsoIHR48PEG0bJjQx8TPVSrj1wClMzbDltSaCwToYdNBeMEdTKBDu9VX09FGjlKZhK8yBd_QM0mxrbAVd1Cw6DWJQQ-lBqP3zIk74eU-GZSn2z_vunlYC7s/s1600/10980726_859030857473577_7999485448897894382_n.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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For More Information: <a href="http://womensstudies.byu.edu/">BYU Women's Studies</a></div>
<br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-84031480845753512892015-03-03T07:52:00.000-07:002015-03-03T07:52:00.533-07:00Event:Women of the World Fashion Show 03/05/15<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOT7_u3AhPI3uoeJ2ToaYqDqhEPOwGuVOjvuo6iWsUgSZku48EXWBQ39Kek9NtBw_VKB_yET_RLqGadneDqaC1rOdESKEMRrZlxLdi2k-wwZIiPCOogUtFTjYCiDj_1gLWP8SJMDByhWY/s1600/10277374_10152751260738282_5385731653286684997_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOT7_u3AhPI3uoeJ2ToaYqDqhEPOwGuVOjvuo6iWsUgSZku48EXWBQ39Kek9NtBw_VKB_yET_RLqGadneDqaC1rOdESKEMRrZlxLdi2k-wwZIiPCOogUtFTjYCiDj_1gLWP8SJMDByhWY/s1600/10277374_10152751260738282_5385731653286684997_n.jpg" height="400" width="307" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8m69q6vuqLiQ9ddvYu_TAHIWMYL9x2ibrTvFLIie163I0DFJDN2YAWt_CqN6cNfix9VSOYRs4-j7IBZULyevxBZ5vamcTSWbGradYpujmfEnEaxbz-anL0PNg2Yv4QD6o15AngV5dsY/s1600/10952142_904193312954879_8877470752559802229_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8m69q6vuqLiQ9ddvYu_TAHIWMYL9x2ibrTvFLIie163I0DFJDN2YAWt_CqN6cNfix9VSOYRs4-j7IBZULyevxBZ5vamcTSWbGradYpujmfEnEaxbz-anL0PNg2Yv4QD6o15AngV5dsY/s1600/10952142_904193312954879_8877470752559802229_o.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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"Kate Kopischke is a professional mediator who works with communities and companies who are in conflict over the impacts of large-scale development projects such as oil & gas development, mining and mineral extraction, large commercial agriculture, and infrastructure projects like dams, and highways."<br />
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For Tickets: <a href="http://wowfashionshow.brownpapertickets.com/">Click Here</a></div>
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For More Information: <a href="http://womenofworld.org/">Women of the World Website</a></div>
MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-91167134952339396252015-02-25T16:51:00.000-07:002015-02-25T16:51:00.441-07:00Event: BYU Women in Business Conference February 27-28<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbhU6aB6u13DAW71wj0C3Iy4lMZwbPNCG8BvbzAd_vXAxqKRn3fMukNo4us8Y922phvnzl4EVdlCHyrGr83iPm-cQzmjWxZtUB4ec5V-th2pQcdAonaCHGeGZxLLF8TCW2UbQvMGDP2M/s1600/10172804_268756379914760_579467969633602562_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbhU6aB6u13DAW71wj0C3Iy4lMZwbPNCG8BvbzAd_vXAxqKRn3fMukNo4us8Y922phvnzl4EVdlCHyrGr83iPm-cQzmjWxZtUB4ec5V-th2pQcdAonaCHGeGZxLLF8TCW2UbQvMGDP2M/s1600/10172804_268756379914760_579467969633602562_n.jpg" height="640" width="492" /></a></div>
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For More Information: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/byuwib?ref=stream">Facebook Page</a></div>
<br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562459859241776350.post-8730252715688957742015-02-25T15:14:00.000-07:002015-02-25T15:14:00.732-07:00Event: The Improvables Ladies' Night<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUEFDnL3iCxHNxqoZVA6uj-T6SK_mtbGchWE31rFz_mt4_AeTJivswXUqqeXjPI8SFw3qdecRMP2pJ350r3ajeqqwuQjqWGVQBmvDRKAfrkdrb54rqDBKkgTG1tkkxWEjO1tcWOcRpUCk/s1600/1513769_868600076531786_6337896661283625205_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUEFDnL3iCxHNxqoZVA6uj-T6SK_mtbGchWE31rFz_mt4_AeTJivswXUqqeXjPI8SFw3qdecRMP2pJ350r3ajeqqwuQjqWGVQBmvDRKAfrkdrb54rqDBKkgTG1tkkxWEjO1tcWOcRpUCk/s1600/1513769_868600076531786_6337896661283625205_n.jpg" height="320" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; text-align: left;">This Friday the Improvables are presenting an all-girls line up with female improvisors from all over the state! This show be one of the most memorable improv events of 2015 and all proceeds go to charity</span></div>
<br />MWildehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829003771319737978noreply@blogger.com0