Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Recall on Gold Candy Coins

I'm not sure if this is only in Canada, but thought it was worth passing along.

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/coins.asp

Thursday, October 23, 2008

"I Hope You Know We're Not Haters"

This is an article worth reading. I wish more people could understand and feel the message -- that we can stand for what we feel and believe and have compassion for those who disagree, and for those who are personally affected by this issue.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Party and Fundraiser for Nie Nie this Saturday!

WHAT: Book release party/fundraiser event for Stephanie Nielson, plane crash victim and nationwide blog celebrity

WHERE: University Mall Deseret Book Store, Orem, UT

WHEN: 2:00-4:00 p.m., Saturday, October 18, 2008

DETAILS

The editor and authors of The Mother in Me: Real-World Reflections on Growing into Motherhood (Deseret Book, 2008) will donate all royalties from book sales on October 18 to the Stephanie and Christian Nielson Recovery Fund.

Those who cannot attend the party can participate in the fundraiser by purchasing copies of The Mother in Me in any Deseret Bookstore nationwide or on Deseret Book's website anytime on Saturday, October 18. (Note: this fundraiser does not include purchases made through Amazon.com.)

Stephanie Nielson, sister of one of the book's contributing authors, and mother of four young children, was critically burned over 80% of her body in a private plane crash in the Arizona desert last August. Her husband, Christian, was badly injured as well. Both are residents of a burn center in Maricopa County. Stephanie has been in a medically induced coma ever since the crash. The couple's post-hospital rehabilitation will not be covered by insurance.

The couple's injury has sparked a nationwide fundraising effort. Media coverage has included national exposure on The Today Show and in People Magazine and The New York Times, as well as local exposure on KSL News and in The Daily Herald.

Stephanies' blog, The Nie Nie Dialogues, inspires tens of thousands of daily readers across the nation with her daily celebration of young motherhood.

The Mother in Me, a collection of prose and poetry written by 28 mothers of small children, also offers an uplifting perspective on life with little ones. The book was featured on Doug Wright's program, "Everyday Lives, Everyday Values," on KSL radio Sunday, October 12. The editor and a dozen contributing authors will be signing books at the fundraising party on 10-18.

(P.S. cjane will be there! If you haven't read either of these amazing women's blogs, it's worth your time.)

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Utah County Prop 8 Events This Week (+ Musings)

Young single adults (mostly students) in the area have organized some events this week for Prop 8. These are being held on BYU campus, but have no official association with the school -- they are all student-organized activities.

Every day: There will be a booth set up to get CA residents who are living in the area registered to vote and registered for an absentee ballot. The deadline is coming up VERY soon. The booth will be by the West doors of the Wilkinson Center from 11-2 every day. They will have absentee registration card and voter registration cards. If you know anyone in the area who is a CA resident in Utah County and needs to vote, this would be a great place to send them. People can also come help run the booth.

Tuesday (that would be today!): Blogging blitz. Meet in rooms 4824 and 4826 of the Lee library. The idea is to have groups get onto various sites, news stories, etc. and make comments to help people understand why we are supporting Prop 8. More information can be found here.

Wednesday: Speaker and phone banks. At 7pm in the Terrace of the Wilkinson Center (by the Cougareat), Beverly Rice, president-elect of United Families International (UFI), will be speaking. UFI has donated all the money we have needed for this effort. She will be talking about why Prop 8 is so important and monumental. Food and phone banks will follow her address.

Thursday: Phone bank from 7-10pm in room 3222 of the Wilk.

There are many ways we can each get involved in this grassroots campaign as our leaders have encouraged. Tell your friends about Prop 8. Share the new website the Church has created (one of the videos from that site is in my sidebar). Talk about it on Facebook. Write on your blogs. Encourage those you know in CA to vote to support Prop 8.

My musing for the day: I think something that is so important is to make is so very clear that we are not supporting Proposition 8 out of hate or a lack of love. We need to help people understand that we who support Proposition 8 love and care about our gay brothers and sisters. As the Church's website, preservingmarriage.org, states: "We can love someone while still maintaining and advocating our standards and beliefs."

One way we can help people know this is to vocalize our support of the Church's position AND our love and concern for our gay brothers and sisters and their families. Silence in either way can leave people wondering. Let's let our voices be heard, both in support of traditional marriage, but also in support of those who are gay. We *can* do both. And we need to. It's what the Savior would do. Our leaders have made this clear. The Savior always held up and defended and taught the truth, boldly and without apology. But He was there, loving and supporting and reaching out to those who were cast aside by others in society. Let us NEVER be someone who casts people aside. But let our unequivocal position about traditional marriage and morality NEVER be equated with a lack of love. And let us never give someone reason to make that association.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Church's new site on protecting marriage: preservingmarriage.org

I had the unique opportunity to listen to the broadcast of Elder Ballard, Elder Cook (both of the Quorum of the Twelve), and Elder Clayton (of the Presidency of the Seventy) tonight as they addressed the issue of protecting marriage in California with Prop 8. What a powerful, powerful meeting! They made it so very clear that it is an opportunity and a responsibility to defend and sustain marriage, and thus to defend and sustain the plan and kingdom of God.

Make no mistake; there is clarity and unity about this issue among the prophets of God. With all the recent (and intense and direct!) talk of the need for us to be unified as a Church, I wish there was a way to communicate how important I have felt it is for us as members of the Church to stand with our leaders and respond to their invitation however we can. Their position is unequivocal and very, very clear. This is a call to action, perhaps unprecedented, with the potential to impact generations to come.

We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.


As part of their desire to support us in defending traditional marriage however we can, they have created a new website, preservingmarriage.org. Take a look and spread the word!

Even if you are not of my faith, I invite you to consider this issue carefully. In my meager attempt to 'do what I can,' over the next while, I will share some of my thoughts on this topic and why I feel so strongly that marriage should remain between a man and a woman. There are many, many reasons beyond just my faith, even as that certainly has played a role in my position on this issue.

I have a renewed desire to do all I can to sustain, support, and protect marriage as it has always been -- between a man and a woman. I invite you to do the same.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

A poignant and powerful post about service, love, and the Relief Society

This post by Ardis Parshall is well worth a read. You might need a tissue.

Transcripts Available for Relief Society Meeting/Broadcast

Seriously, I love the Church. They got these transcripts up in a hurry. [Pres. Uchtdorf's was not up last nite when I posted this. It is now available and I have added the link below.)

Sister Julie B. Beck
Sister Silvia H. Allred
Sister Barbara B. Thompson
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

And, if you haven't already, you just have to check out the new and improved way they have consolidated all of the broadcast information, including audio and video streams, into one place.

And, to top it all off, we've got access to a new player that monitors your connection to give you the best streaming possible, and gives you other options, including instant access to talks that have been recently broadcast, and other video archives.

I love the blessing of the internet and how the Church is using it to bless us all.