Gospel Networks

One thing that's amazing about the church is that we have incredible networking ability. I have a friend whose husband has just been diagnosed with cancer. He will be on chemo and unable to work for a few months. He is the sole provider for the family, and his sick leave is almost all used up. They are asking for federal employees to donate any vacation time they can spare.

Please spread the word. The more people hear about this, the more people can help out. The words of the Savior in the 25th chapter of Matthew are appropriate here.

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

I've re-posted her message below.

***FEDERAL EMPLOYEES- PLEASE DONATE LEAVE TO RYAN HESS***

My name is Margie Hess, my husband Ryan was diagnosed on June 12, 2009 with a rare and aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Since this is an aggressive form of T-Cell Lymphoma, his doctor has put him on an aggressive chemo regimen that will result in him being unable to work for the next 4-6 months and possibly longer. At the time of diagnosis he was finishing up his 1st year as a Podiatry Resident at the V.A. in Tucson, AZ. Ryan is a devoted husband and father of two children, Hallie (5) and Max (2). By the end of this month (June 2009), Ryan will use up the last of his vacation and sick leave and will have to go on unpaid leave. Ryan is the sole provider for our family; I stay at home with both the kids. Without him working we have no income. I need to stay home to help care for him, so I cannot get a job right now, either. As difficult as it is for our family to have to ask for help, we have realized that we must do so at this time. We were told that any federal employee (ie: military, Border Patrol, DEA, FB I, Dept of Justice, EPA etc. EXCEPT Post Office employees) can donate vacation time to be used as sick leave for another Federal employee. We would be so thankful for any number of extra paid days we can accumulate. Thank you so much.

How can you help if you ARE a Federal Employee?

Go to your HR department and request to donate leave to Ryan Hess who works for the VA. (Your HR person will know the form that needs to be filled out- each Federal agency has their own form to donate leave)

Once filled out and signed, the HR person will then need to fax or e-mail the form to:

OLIVIA McCLURE - Benefits Specialist (TUCSON V.A.)
Phone #: (520) 792-1450 x 6076
Fax # : (520) 629-1849
E-Mail : olivia.mcclure@va.gov

ALSO, for those who are federal employees, please print out this message and post it in break/lunch rooms to help get the word out as well as emailing it to co-workers!

How to help if you are NOT a Federal Employee:

PASS this along to ANYONE and EVERYONE that you know and then ask them to pass the message along. Post it on blogs, Facebook...whatever you can think of.
Thanks again everyone- this will help SO much!
GO TEAM RYAN HESS!

Around the Bloggernacle - Volume 8

I just finished finals. I'm free! (Well, I suppose free is a relative term. I have a week to do my law review casenote and then I start summer school.)

Here's a list of interesting Bloggernacle posts lately:

Over at the Millennial Star, Tanya Spackman tries to debunk the myth that Utah drivers are bad. Apparently the Californians are to blame. (I'm a Californian, and I'm a perfectly fine driver, thankyouverymuch...)

Bookslinger has some tips on how to offer the Book of Mormon to other people.

On the lighter side, The 9th Ward has a comic explaining the Liahona.

Finally, here's an honorable mention. While it's not a Bloggernacle blog, there's a great post over at Everyday Narcissism about the cervical cancer vaccine and the law of chastity. Plus, I like to promote other blogs by SCU law students.

Imperfect People Doing God's Perfect Work

If there's one thing that the Old Testament makes clear, it's that God demands complete fidelity to the covenant relationship with Him. He has no tolerance for idolatry, even at times calling it "whoring after other gods".

Given that background, the story of Aaron and the golden calf (Exodus 32) confused me. Moses was up on the mountain talking to God, and the Israelites were starting to wonder what had become of him. They asked Aaron to make them new gods to go before them. Aaron collected all the gold and made a calf. He proclaimed to the people, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." He then built an altar, proclaimed a feast day, and led the people in offering burnt offerings before it.

God was understandably upset and sent Moses back down to the people to sort the situation out. There was some divine smiting of the people, but Aaron himself got off lightly. Although there is no textual evidence of Aaron's repentance, a few chapters later, he was called to serve in the temple. Even today in the church, we call the lesser priesthood after him.

A few years ago, it hit me. God uses imperfect people to do His perfect work. I've never made golden calves and led people in idolatrous worship, but I've definitely made mistakes in my life and in my service. Still, God needs me to serve. He needs you to serve.

This realization has helped me when church leaders haven't lived up to the standard one could expect someone in a position of trust to abide. The problem isn't with God or with the church. The gospel is still true even if the people aren't. The church is still authorized even when leaders do unauthorized things.

Around the Bloggernacle - Volume 7

I turned in my final paper for my writing and research class this evening. In true procrastinating form, I handed it in 45 minutes before the deadline. Needless to say, I'm tired.

There have been some great posts on the Bloggernacle lately.

Segullah has a post about various object lessons, the good, the bad, the ugly, that are or were presented to the youth of the church.

By Common Consent has a post about going to church in Iraq.

There has been a cross-blog debate about Ayn Rand's philosophy, especially as discussed in Atlas Shrugged. Here, here, here, and here.

I'm running on very little sleep, so more to come later. Have a great day!

Miscellaneous Updates

I'm going to be absent from my blog for about three weeks. My take-home final exam for my legal writing and research class was distributed last night, so most of my energy will be divided between that, my reading for my other classes, and my two jobs. I may or may not comment on other Bloggernacle blogs when I have time, but don't expect to see anything here.

I'm looking forward to General Conference this weekend. I may take a break from my blogging hiatus to post some quick thoughts afterward. I'm grateful for modern technology that allows me to watch it on my laptop in my free time or listen to it on my ipod during my commute.

I'm winding up on the home stretch for the semester, and I'm starting to get nervous. I know the material, but I'm concerned about my exams. I can't afford to mess it up this time, since I'm on my last chance. I'm going to keep working hard and exercising faith. I'm going to be praying and trusting God. Please include me in your prayers if you feel moved upon to do so.

Thanks for all of your comments on my recent posts. I'm glad people are finding this blog a helpful forum for discussion, and I enjoy virtually talking with you all. Have a great week!

Inviting the Single Saint to Stay in the Church

This is in response to a post on Keepapitchinin, where some commenters asked what to do about the widespread inactivity of single church members ages 18-30. I decided that it merited a response, but I didn't want to threadjack a lovely post by Ardis.

I'm 27 and single, and I've been active ever since I joined the church as a teenager. Prior to my mission, I held several YSA and institute callings where I saw up close and personal the issues faced with rampant inactivity among the YSA age range. (In my stake, we had about 1000 YSAs on the rolls, and there were between 3 and 10 who were active.)

There are a few issues at play here:

First: The late teens and early twenties are a naturally itinerant time in the life of an individual. He or she is embarking on adulthood and has to find out what he or she believes and wants to do in life. This is often accompanied by going off to college or otherwise moving away from parents. Sometimes people slip through the cracks. If someone isn't converted to the gospel, it's easy to stop going when you move.

Second: The church often doesn't know what to do with single people. We're a church of eternal families. This is a central doctrine. It's a beautiful and all-encompassing doctrine, and sometimes in our excitement to proclaim and discuss it, we leave out people who aren't married. When every Relief Society lesson consists of "and here's how we can teach this gospel principle to our children" or "and here's how we can support our husband as he does xyz", it makes things less relevant to unmarried, childless members. Although I haven't attended singles wards, my friends who do have remarked that the lessons seem to be geared toward "all marriage all the time".

Third: In many areas, there is a critical mass problem. There often aren't enough single people, so those who are there feel alienated. Some of this is solved by singles wards, but when the singles wards suck away some of the faithful (usually across stake boundaries), it makes it that much harder for those few of us who stay in the geographic wards. The singles wards contribute to the married members not knowing what to do about single people because they so rarely interact with single people, as they're conveniently quarantined in a social leper colony.

Now that I've laid out what I see to be the problem, I'll propose my solution. Of course, your mileage may vary.

First: Eliminate singles wards. This will powerfully show the single members that we are all a part of Christ's church. There isn't a separate church for married people and single people. Granted, there will be some wards where there still isn't critical mass. If that's the case, designate one ward in the stake as some sort of singles magnet ward. Basically, it's a regular geographic ward (I hate the term "family ward"; it sounds so exclusive) where all single members are invited to attend along with the members within the ward boundaries. There is a ward like that in my area for the 25-45 age group and it seems to work well. (I don't attend as it's not in my stake, but many of my friends are happy about it.)

Second: Give single members meaningful opportunities for service. I can't stress this enough. I've felt most engaged in the church when I have felt that I had something to contribute. I find it tragic that so many singles go without a calling. We can help. Use us! We can teach, we can provide compassionate service, we can be in presidencies, we can help with the music. My favorite calling was nursery leader, which is usually the calling that a single, childless career woman would never be offered, but it was great to be asked to serve.

Third: Ensure that the youth (i.e. YM/YW) are given ample assistance and training in the gospel so that they can develop a personal testimony before they reach the critical YSA years. Personal conversion to the gospel is essential. Someone is much less likely to fall away if he or she has a relationship with God and a burning witness that this is His church.

Fourth: Get to know the singles as people, not as projects. We're not broken. We're fellow saints walking the same path as you. Sure, our life experiences are different, but that's part of the fun. We know things that you don't, and you know things that we don't. We can learn and grow together. Don't pity or patronize us. Sure, I want to get married, but I'm quite happy in my single state. I feel blessed for all of the opportunities God has given me, and if I sat around wallowing in pity and sorrow, I would be guilty of the sin of ingratitude. Please don't make it any harder than it already is.

My Favorite Scriptures

I could regale you with a long tale on why I haven't blogged lately, but mostly it's because I'm just too lazy. School is going well, work is going well, life is going well. I can't complain.

I love the scriptures. When someone asks me what my favorite scripture is, it's hard for me to come up with a response because I have so many favorites. Today, I'm going to blog on my favorite scriptures, choosing two from each of the standard works.

Old Testament:

-Deuteronomy 6:3-12. This one shouldn't come as much of a surprise. After all, it's where I got the title of my blog from. I just love the reminder that we need to put God at the forefront of our lives, and that we need to remember Him in everything we do.

-Isaiah 1:18. I just love the promise of forgiveness in this verse. It's poetic and succinct all in one. The imagery of crimson sins being changed to pure white snow is profound.

New Testament:

-Matthew 11:28-30. When people ask me my favorite scripture, this is usually the one I respond with. In a very real way, I've come to know that Christ's yoke is easy and His burden is light.

-1 John 4:8. "He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love." I like this one because it's a concise reminder of the most essential attributes of God, and a reminder of how we need to be.

Book of Mormon:

-2 Nephi 25:26. I love the focus on Christ as the center of everything we do, and a reminder that He is the source of our salvation.

-Mosiah 18:8-11. This is a good explanation of the baptismal covenant. I especially like the reminder to mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who need comfort.

Doctrine and Covenants:

-D&C 6:34. This is a good reminder that the Lord sustains and upholds His followers.

-D&C 76:69. This is a portion of the description of those who inherit the Celestial Kingdom. I love this verse because it reminds us that we attain Celestial glory not by being perfect on our own, but by being perfected by the Atonement of Christ.

Pearl of Great Price:

-Moses 7:18. This is a good reminder that Zion is wherever the Lord's people are- that it's a state of mind, not a physical location. This fits in very well with last week's multi-stake conference for northern California. The speakers emphasized over and over that Zion was wherever the stakes are established, and that we don't need to go to Utah to be there.

-9th Article of Faith. I love the principle of continuing revelation. I love the promise that God will reveal many great and important things regarding His kingdom. I can't wait to see what's in store!

What are some of your favorite scriptures?