The Angel "Gabe"

Recent story about a young man who listened to the Spirit in order to help someone in need:

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/56349/Boy-Scout-hero-follows-the-Spirit.html

"It's a wonderful feeling to know that you served the Lord and that you really helped save these people's lives," Gabe said. "It's a feeling like none other. It's a really tremendous feeling."

Christmas Parlor Games

Here are some fun parlor games published by Carma Wadley in the Deseret News. Great for when everyone gets together!

There are writing games, a reindeer word scramble, a drawing game, and many more!

Joy to Everyone this Christmas

Here's a great little slideshow created by the BYU Department of Fine Arts:

Vocal artists are Jenny Jordan Frogley and David Osmond.

This is found at http://www.joytoeveryone.com and the movie and/or soundtracks can also be downloaded at http://www.joytoeveryone.com/en/download.htm

The Family and Proposition 8

Proposition 8, the proposal in California to define marriage in the state's constitution as limited to a man and a woman, has been a very hot topic as of late.

In late November I read an interesting article from the LDS Newsroom on Proposition 8. It includes pleas from individuals on both sides of the issue to maintain civility and clarity. Especially awesome are two letters written by Catholic Bishops from the Sacramento and Salt Lake Diocese, both of which are linked from the above article. I would recommend reading the article and both of the letters.

CLERGYMAN: Mahwage. Mawage is wot bwings us togevah tooday. Mahwage, that bwessed awangement, that dweam wifin a dweam ... And wuv, twu wuv, will fowow you foweva. So twesa your wuv –

PRINCE HUMPERDINCK (interrupting): Skip to the end!

CLERGYMAN: Have you the wing?


I feel that it is important for each of us to ask ourselves and study out in our own minds why we believe what we believe. The following thoughts probably began as a teenager, evolved as I served an LDS mission, attended college at Utah State, and continue as the battle rages regarding the definition of marriage and family:

After every argument is heard regarding the definition of marriage, etc., I always come back to one very simple set of ideas:

• We (people) are important. You and I are more important than we can even fathom. We tend to love our freedom, or agency (most do, anyway). Many individuals have both lived and died to grant and protect freedom.
• We (people) are the product of a man and a woman. Regardless of your parents' level of commitment to each other, it was a man and woman that are the source from which you and I sprang. Due to these origins, it is natural for me to promote this idea of family, for it is within this idea of family- the traditional family- that people come. This idea of family is powerful, it creates life, and generates the opportunity of "freedom" for another generation. How wonderful it is when parents are committed to one another and their children!
  
• Any idea, lifestyle, choice, or organization that denies, limits, or minimizes the traditional family, or opportunity for children (like you and I) to be born and enjoy the opportunities of life, liberty, and happiness, must be questioned. Does it not make sense that if an individual truly loved their own freedom, their very existence, and was truly grateful for it, that they would need to acknowledge the man and woman who made this gift and opportunity possible for them? Is it not true that pursuing or supporting any idea, lifestyle, choice, or organization that limits, minimizes, or neglects the idea of children is contrary to the nature of freedom, giving, and life itself? Is it not true that if we seek a relationship that does not generate what we were given- life- that we essentially deny it to others?
  

On the surface it is clear why individuals view same-sex marriage as a "right." Almost any choice could fit into that category of being one's "right", although we could quickly rule out choices that infringe upon the freedoms of others (theft, violence, murder, etc.). But it is this very idea- the idea that our choice restricts the freedom of others, that is the reason that same-sex marriage is a poor choice. It does not preserve freedom, but just seeks its own, and as it is pursued- becomes the end of that very idea.

More thoughts...
It is interesting to see individuals promote same-sex marriage, civil unions, etc. They perceive that others have "rights" that they are denied. They act as if they are being overlooked, neglected, or robbed of privileges that should be available to them. The truth is that those opportunities are available to them and can be theirs if they choose. They seek to change the rules, redefine marriage for everyone, as if the definition of the marriage relationship or "gender" are now ours to define and change, regardless of how things work naturally in the real world. Hello! People are born to men and women! Not only are men and women unique and necessary to produce life, but they are also unique and complementary as they fulfill their roles as parents as they raise their children. Traditional marriage is pro-choice, pro-life and pro-freedom, is it not? Choose what you may for a relationship, but don't redefine it for others!

Lifestyles other than traditional marriage, whatever they may be, tend to be selfish in nature in that they exclude or delay a future generation from the life and liberties that we now have. Those actively pursuing or promoting "alternative" lifestyles need to understand that if their forbears had espoused- and lived- by these same ideas of rights and freedom- that they, the following generation, probably would not exist.

Love gives and does not take. It seeks the benefit of others and not self.

Why do individuals defend the traditional definition of marriage? That's easy- they are FOR people. They are FOR children. They are for the freedom of OTHERS. Others like you and I will not continue to exist without the idea of traditional marriage.

Choosing to pursue or support anything other than the traditional marriage relationship is an end in and of itself. What makes it even more significant for those that believe is the fact that marriage relationships can be eternal.


On another note...
How should "The Princess Bride" been different? Wesley, under his guise of the Black Pirate Roberts, should have swallowed his pride and simply asked Buttercup why she had not waited to marry her true love, instead of accusing her of what he perceived to be "bailing out" on her. But of course if this had happened we would have skipped out on all of the adventures that followed- falling down the hill, the fire-swamp, ROUS's, etc. :) I guess I am wont to run through fire-swamps and battle rats of unusual size instead of just getting to the point of love and marriage as well. :) I apologize if there are any typos in this post or any incomplete sentences, etc.

Financial Wisdom

I have not read his book, Crash Proof, but it sounds like Mr. Peter Schiff could see what many of us could see coming. I really felt like the home prices around me here in Utah, as well as my own was a false, blown-up bubble that would pop. It was unhealthy, unsupported growth.

I can remember practicing in a combined choir with Brian Weston and Lynn (I can't remember his last name) when a guy next to me was asking what I thought of the government's deficit spending. I remember telling him something to the effect that anybody or any organization who continues to go into debt further and further will one day have to pay the consequences. I can remember being discouraged at the fact that the government was not balancing its budget. I am not a financial wizard, nor the world's greatest budget-keeper, but I know I feel better when I save my money and am able to make sound investments. Many of us in the U.S. have borrowed way too much and it is now coming back to bite us.

An address from President Gordon B. Hinckley has been a great guide to me in my life. It is entitled, To the Boys and To the Men, and was given in November of 1998. I include what is to me the most significant excerpt:

Now, brethren, I should like to talk to the older men, hoping that there will be some lesson for the younger men as well.

I wish to speak to you about temporal matters.

As a backdrop for what I wish to say, I read to you a few verses from the 41st chapter of Genesis.

Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, dreamed dreams which greatly troubled him. The wise men of his court could not give an interpretation. Joseph was then brought before him: “Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

“And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

“And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed. …

“And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: …

“And I saw in my dream … seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:

“And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

“And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: …

“And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, … God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

“The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. …

“… What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

“Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

“And there shall arise after them seven years of famine;

“… And God will shortly bring it to pass” (Gen. 41:17–20, 22–26, 28–30, 32).

Now, brethren, I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of famine in the future. But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order.

So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings.

We have witnessed in recent weeks wide and fearsome swings in the markets of the world. The economy is a fragile thing. A stumble in the economy in Jakarta or Moscow can immediately affect the entire world. It can eventually reach down to each of us as individuals. There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.

This counsel has guided me in many decisions. I am thankful for a prophet who just simply wanted us to live wisely, both spiritually and financially.

And now, just for fun, here is an excerpt worth watching that my brother Andrew showed me today. Note how Mr. Schiff is almost mocked by some of the other investment advisors because of his opinion:

Sweet!