Mormonopia

“The Mormon way of business”

Graham — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:00:33 +0000

I generally try to keep up with news items in the “big” mainstream media when the Church is mentioned. The May 5, 2012 print edition of The Economist had a pretty decent one-page article about the Church and how we may have an disproportionately large number of successful business people. The article talks off by talking about the “I’m a Mormon” campaign, and then says:

The snag is, not everyone will buy the idea that Mormons are just like the rest of us. They don’t get drunk. They have large families, stable marriages and a three-month supply of food in the larder in case of Armageddon. They are usually clean-cut and neatly dressed (the facial hair in the “I’m a Mormon” ads is thankfully atypical). And they have a passion for business.

Less than 2% of Americans are Mormons, yet their commercial prominence belies their numbers. Mitt Romney founded Bain Capital, a private-equity powerhouse. Jon Huntsman senior (the father of Mr Romney’s rival for the Republican crown) founded Huntsman Corporation, an $11 billion chemicals giant. David Neeleman has founded two cut-price airlines: JetBlue in America and Azul in Brazil. Ralph Atkin started a third: SkyWest Airlines. Eric Varvel is the boss of Credit Suisse’s investment bank, Harris Simmons heads Zions Bancorporation, a more local bank, and Allan O’Bryant runs the Japanese arm of Reinsurance Group of America. J.W. Marriott runs the hotel chain his father created. Had Max Weber lived a century later, he might have made sweeping generalisations about the “Mormon work ethic”.

There obviously isn’t really a spiritual slant to the article, but I always find it interesting to read what others think about us and how we are perceived.

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Parental Hypocrisy

Graham — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:10 +0000

In meetings when I was bishop, and with my wife, I have occasionally made comments about parents doing things that they don’t want their kids to do. I’m obviously not talking about parents driving and not letting their pre-teens drive. That is obviously against the law. I’m talking about parents who may say, look at, or participate in inappropriate things. Because they are “adults”, they say it’s ok, but they don’t want their kids to do it. Perhaps it is certain movies, or certain words they say, or things they see. There are some things that I don’t want my kids to see, not because they are inappropriate, but because they just don’t need to be exposed to certain things at their age. I hope you understand the difference in what I’m talking about. I guess it is kind of the “do as I say, not as I do” attitude.

Anyway, this past Sunday the concluding speaker was speaking about the role of parents (tied into Mother’s Day) and he shared a quote from President Faust. I called what I described above as “parental hypocrisy”:

When parents try to teach their children to avoid danger, it is no answer for parents to say to their children, “We are experienced and wise in the ways of the world, and we can get closer to the edge of the cliff than you.” Parental hypocrisy can make children cynical and unbelieving of what they are taught in the home. For instance, when parents attend movies they forbid their children to see, parental credibility is diminished. If children are expected to be honest, parents must be honest. If children are expected to be virtuous, parents must be virtuous. If you expect your children to be honorable, you must be honorable.

James E. Faust, “The Greatest Challenge in the World—Good Parenting,” Ensign, Nov 1990, 32

As is often the case, someone else comes up with a better way to explain the way that I feel. We really do need to practice what we preach. Our kids know when we are genuinely concerned about their exposure to something, and when we are just making excuses. If we want our children to trust us and our decisions, we need to be honorable in all things. It isn’t always easy, but it will make a different in the long run.

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Using our time wisely

Graham — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:55 +0000

I don’t have any quotes from a General Authority to share, but I do have a quote to share from my wife (who in my life carries as much or more influence as the GAs). A couple of weeks ago in Sunday School we were talking about King Benjamin and his admonition to serve others. The teacher got a discussion going about having time for service, and how hard it can be. Among the comments made, my wife said the following:

“If we use our time properly, the things that don’t matter will fall out of the way or we’ll find a way to get things done. We won’t feel like we’re busy. If we find that we are busy, it is because we are focusing on the wrong things.”

I think that is one of the most profound things she has ever said, and I totally agree. If I feel myself getting bogged down with things, it is almost always because I am focused on things that don’t really matter. On the other hand, I can have a really “busy” week of Church things (my wife out on a Tuesday for a Relief Society activity, my wife out Wednesday for a YW activity, my teaching Institute on Wednesday, Ward Temple Night on a Thursday, etc), but it doesn’t feel busy. It just feels like life, and it is a good life.

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Star Wars Family Tree

Graham — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:00:15 +0000

Some people aren’t that interested in genealogy/family history or they say they don’t have enough time to do it. Well, as you can see, family history really is for everyone!

Note: This image has a copyright from Lucasfilm, but I can’t find it on their site to link to. I found this recently on my hard drive as I was cleaning up.

Teaching the Doctrine of the Family by Julie B Beck Back in 2009, Sister Julie B Beck (the RS General...

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“The greatest guarantor of inward peace”

Graham — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:00:48 +0000

For a short spring semester of Institute we are doing “The Gospel and the Productive Life” course. There are 15 lessons and we are only doing it for 8 weeks, so we need to do 2 a week. This past Wednesday we covered The Plan of Salvation for Heavenly Father’s Children and The Guidance of the Spirit. There is nothing “new” in these lessons, but it is nice to have a good discussion about some of these important principles/doctrines.

My favourite quote from this week was one from President Faust about the Holy Ghost:

“The Spirit of the Holy Ghost is the greatest guarantor of inward peace in our unstable world. It can be more mind-expanding and can make us have a better sense of well-being than any chemical or other earthly substance. It will calm nerves; it will breathe peace to our souls. This Comforter can be with us as we seek to improve. It can function as a source of revelation to warn us of impending danger and also help keep us from making mistakes. It can enhance our natural senses so that we can see more clearly, hear more keenly, and remember what we should remember. It is a way of maximizing our happiness”

James E. Faust in Conference Report, Apr. 1989, 41; or Ensign, May 1989, 32–33

What a powerful statement! I haven’t wasted my life in “riotous living”, but I certainly can tell the difference between having the Spirit with me and being left alone. I can definitely testify that the Holy Ghost is indeed the greatest guarantor of inward peace. The enlightenment and pure intelligence it bestows are worth any sacrifice it takes to live worthy of His companionship.

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Teaching the Doctrine of the Family by Julie B Beck

Graham — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:00:36 +0000

Back in 2009, Sister Julie B Beck (the RS General President at the time) spoke to seminary and institute teachers. Her talk was called Teaching the Doctrine of the Family. I watched the video for the first time the other day, and have since skimmed over the talk. I need to make some more thorough notes, but here is what I have so far (I used my notes to find the exact quotes in the talk):

When we speak of qualifying for the blessings of eternal life, we mean qualifying for the blessings of eternal families. This was Christ’s doctrine, and this is some of what was restored that had been lost—understanding and clarity about family. Without these blessings, the earth is wasted…
The promises of the children made to the fathers was that their hearts would turn to their fathers. Their hearts would be turned to the blessings of eternal life that they could have. This is talking about temple blessings—temple ordinances and covenants without which “the whole earth [is] utterly wasted.”
So, if we teach about what is in every section of the Doctrine and Covenants, if we teach so that our students know all the rivers in the Book of Mormon, if they can name all the prophets of the Old Testament, if they can describe to you the pioneer trek and the history of the Latter-day Saints in the restored times but they don’t understand the promises made to the fathers and their part in it, it is “utterly wasted.” I would submit that all of our teaching is utterly wasted if they don’t understand the context that all of this is taught within.
Korihor was an anti-Christ. Anti-Christ is antifamily. Any doctrine or principle our youth hear from the world that is antifamily is also anti-Christ. It’s that clear. They need to know
that if it’s antifamily, it’s anti-Christ. An anti- Christ is antifamily.
Teach the students so that they don’t misunderstand (3 times she used the phrase)

Let’s go to the question “What is it we hope this rising generation will understand and do because of what you will teach them?” Teach so they don’t misunderstand that every doctrine, every principle, everything you’re teaching leads them to the fulness of the gospel.
So, what I submit to you as one of your responsibilities—besides teaching those doctrines so your students don’t misunderstand
Your role in this is to teach them so they don’t misunderstand, to be very clear on key points of doctrine, which you find in the proclamation on the family.

When speaking of Isaac and Rebekah, she said: She needed to see that her righteous son got the blessings. Rebekah used her influence to see that the priesthood blessings and keys passed to the righteous son. It’s a perfect example of the man who has the keys and the woman who has the influence working together to ensure their blessings.

Powerful, but great, stuff!

Note: If you would like to read the talk, you can download a PDF of the talk here.

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The noisy world we live in

Graham — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:00:17 +0000

As we finished studying the Book of Mormon in Institute in April, we read Moroni 9:18–20. Here, Mormon has written a letter to Moroni and is describing the wickedness of the people:

O the depravity of my people! They are without order and without mercy. Behold, I am but a man, and I have but the strength of a man, and I cannot any longer enforce my commands.

And they have become strong in their perversion; and they are alike brutal, sparing none, neither old nor young; and they delight in everything save that which is good; and the suffering of our women and our children upon all the face of this land doth exceed everything; yea, tongue cannot tell, neither can it be written.

And now, my son, I dwell no longer upon this horrible scene. Behold, thou knowest the wickedness of this people; thou knowest that they are without principle, and past feeling; and their wickedness doth exceed that of the Lamanites.

That line “past feeling” reminds us of what Nephi said to his brothers in 1 Nephi 17: 45:

Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.

That phrase “past feeling” is great. You can look at it in so many ways. The student manual for the Book of Mormon institute course had a great quote about this from President Packer:

“The world grows increasingly noisy. Clothing and grooming and conduct are looser and sloppier and more disheveled. Raucous music, with obscene lyrics blasted through amplifiers while lights flash psychedelic colors, characterizes the drug culture. Variations of these things are gaining wide acceptance and influence over our youth. . . .

“This trend to more noise, more excitement, more contention, less restraint, less dignity, less formality is not coincidental nor innocent nor harmless.

“The first order issued by a commander mounting a military invasion is the jamming of the channels of communication of those he intends to conquer.

“Irreverence suits the purposes of the adversary by obstructing the delicate channels of revelation in both mind and spirit”

President Boyd K Packer in Conference Report, Oct. 1991, 28; or Ensign, Nov. 1991, 22

When I read that, it totally made me think of the Internet. The Internet is so distracting for people. There is definitely “less restraint” and “less dignity” in the way many people communicate with each other. It can definitely be a tool of Satan to distract us from better things. I found it interesting that the quote is from the fall of 1991, about 3 years before the Internet started to be accessible by vast numbers of people. I guess that is yet another reason why we need prophets, seers and revelators!

“Satan stirreth them up continually to anger one with another” As I’ve posted before, since being released as a bishop,...

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Dick and Ricky Hoyt

Graham — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:00:21 +0000

Some of you may have heard of them, but until last Thursday I had never heard of Dick and Ricky Holt. This is a father/son marathon/triathlon team. Ricky has cerebral palsy, and his father has been taking him into competitions for 30 years. He’ll pull him in a dinghy while swimming, push him in a cart when running, and has a special bike for when they ride.

A good (and inspirational) video that will introduce you to them is on YouTube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This video served as a good reminder that there are lots of good people in the world doing very good things.

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Scriptures that make you think of mothers

Graham — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:00:18 +0000

I’ve mentioned before that I am a Stake Institute Teacher right now. I went to an in-service meeting last Thursday, and the area Seminaries & Institutes guy asked us (there were only 4 of us) each to share our favourite scripture that makes us think about mothers. Here is what was shared:

Jeremiah 18 – the potter made something that wasn’t good, and tried again. We are like this in the Lord’s hands. We are also like this in our mother’s hands. They build us and shape us and help us become who we are
No particular verse was given, but one person talked about the women in Christ’s life
1 Nephi 1: 1 – hopefully we can all say we were born of goodly parents
Joseph Smith – History 1: 20 – after having the First Vision, Joseph Smith went home. As Elder Bednar said, Joseph’s mother was in the right place at the right time asking the right questions

I thought it was interesting that no one mentioned the strippling warriors and how their mothers had taught them.

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LDS Printables

Graham — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:00:35 +0000

My wife loves to have little sayings/phrases printed up and put around the house. I recently came across the Mormon Mommy Blogs web site. They have a tag called “free lds printables” that has all sorts of neat things to print. There are some phrases from General Conference, things for visiting teaching, and more. As I type this, my wife isn’t home, so I’ve emailed her the link. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled

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