You may have heard that TLC is planning on running a show on Mormons with same-sex attraction, some of whom are happily married to somebody of the opposite sex. As anybody could have predicted, some champions of “tolerance” are intolerantly calling for the cancellation of this show, which simply has these people telling their stories. The show is called “My Husband’s Not Gay.”

I would urge M* readers to visit this post, which has a great summary of the situation. I would also urge charity and compassion for these brave Mormons trying to balance their sexual desires with prophetic guidance. These people truly are modern-day heroes.

Here is the teaser for the show on TLC:

I want to tell you about my friend Tom. Tom went to college but graduated a few years ago and could not find a good job. After months of searching, he ended up working as a bartender. He worked five days a week from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Tom didn’t like the hours of his job and he didn’t like working in a bar. But it was a job and he did his best. After tips, he made about $35k per year.

Six months ago, Tom got offered a job by an oil company. It just so happens that I live in northern Colorado, where there is an oil and gas boom of epic proportions. Tom’s starting salary? $50k per year, with the potential to make $70k within a year or so. Tom’s working hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and his company gave him a brand new truck to drive on the work site.

Tom’s story is not unique. I know literally a dozen people who are either working for an oil company or working for a company that provides services to an oil company. They all tell the same story: starting salaries are great, working conditions are great, and they feel part of something that is growing and has a future.

In Tom’s case, he recently got married, and he says one of the reasons he was able to make the commitment of marriage is that he now has a stable job making more money. He plans on buying a house soon. Importantly, he feels his marriage will be more stable if he is not working at a bar until 2 a.m. but instead is home for dinner every night.

People seem to forget that good jobs make for good families and for stable communities. From a Gospel perspective, it seems obvious to me that we should favor policies that allow the creation of new high-paying jobs in the private sector.

Unfortunately, many people seem to favor the latest left-wing cause rather than having compassion for the American worker. Make no mistake: most of these causes are favored by people who work in academia or government. Most of these causes claim to want to “save” one thing or another. But the proponents of these causes could care less about Tom and the literally millions of other people who need a good job today.

Continue reading →

10 years ago a group of Mormon bloggers founded The Millennial Star, a Mormon blog dedicated to building up and sustaining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is surprising to many that we are still around.

A few thoughts:

–Finding a name for a new blog is always an adventure. I can now reveal that one of the names that was considered is “Laban’s Neck.”
–Most of the early founders of the blog no longer write here, but those of us who remain love them and welcome them.
–The blog went through some tough times in its second year, but I am happy to report that readership is higher than ever and that 2014 was a banner year for The Millenial Star. We are at record levels in terms of readership, number of posts and number of comments.

All is all, it is likely we will continue to be around for a while longer. Happy 2015 everyone!

The Church has very quietly been growing in Communist Cuba. There are now two branches in the capital, Havana. Elder Bednar dedicated the country for preaching the Gospel in February 2012, and Elder Holland visited again this summer. The Church News quoted Elder Holland as saying: “Although we are small in number, each member is precious to us, and Cuba is precious to us.”

Elder Holland visited the site of Elder Bednar’s dedication, which overlooks Havana, and said, “the promises of the dedicatory blessing are unfolding.”

President Obama’s announcement Wednesday that he would seek the normalization of relations with Cuba seems to be coming right on schedule. It is easy to imagine that increased travel and trade with the United States would very soon lead to missionaries and strong growth of the Church in the coming years.

This story from the Deseret News has some interesting tidbits.

Though it is not registered, the Cuban department of religious affairs welcomed the church in 2004, when the first branch was established, and it and other faiths have helped the church find locations for worship.

Elder Holland also met with government officials in June.

That doesn’t mean missionary work is likely to happen quickly, Martinich added. In recent decades, the church generally has moved meticulously before opening a mission in a country where it hasn’t had one before.

“I wouldn’t imagine a mission there for a few years,” Martinich said. “What’s more likely to happen is that, when and if Cuba gives the church official recognition, missionaries would be reassigned from another mission,” such as one in the Dominican Republic.

One first already happened three years ago: A Cuban native from the Havana Branch served an LDS mission in the United States beginning in 2011.

Continue reading →

This is a guest post by Daniel Ortner.

If you would like to share a story, please e-mail it to me at dortner1@gmail.com, or continue to post in the comments.

After my conversion in front of the Boston Temple, I faced a great amount of family opposition as a result of my conversion and my desire to be baptized. Because of the opposition of my father in particular, I waited ten long months before his heart was finally softened in regard to my decision to be baptized. In that time, the temple again stood as anchor to my soul. When I felt down, I would often drive to the temple and read scriptures in front of it. I deeply longed to enter into the temple and to be able to perform the sacred ordinances on behalf of my mother who had died when I was 18.

As a studied abroad in London, I was also able to visit the London Temple grounds several times and loved the incredible peace that I experienced there.

After my baptism, my attachment to the temple only intensified. The weekend after my baptism, I went to the New York temple and performed baptisms for the dead. As I entered the temple and stood in the font, the spirit again strongly testified to me that I was in the House of Lord. Each time I went to the temple, I felt transformed, and empowered to overcome trials and challenges.

Soon, I faced the challenge of deciding whether I should serve a mission. I knew that I would face strong family opposition if I decided to go. As I struggled, I spent many hours in the baptistry and on temple grounds praying. Three experiences at the temple stand out.

First, in the coldest months of winter, I had a job going door to door fundraising for non-profit organizations. As part of that job, we were working in the Belmont area. I knew the temple was nearby, but for the first couple of days did not see it. Finally, on one of the days, I walked up a small hill and in the distance saw the temple. The Angel Moroni seemed to me such an incredible beacon of light and hope that pierced through the cold New England weather.

Second, during a particularly dark and difficult period for me, we had a stake conference in the chapel by the Boston Temple. Stephen Wood, the Boston Temple President, gave an incredible talk where he talked about the story of Peter walking on Water and emphasized that all of us must face moments in our life when we must walk in darkness and beyond our comfort zone. His talk made a deep impression of me and I felt that I should try talking to him, but could not get to him during the conference. The next day, I felt strongly that I should go the temple grounds. As I walked around, I felt prompted to walk on a path that I usually did not walk on. As I did so, I ran into President Wood. I spoke to him and expressed my appreciation for his remarks. As I told him about my conversion and my dilemma, he invited me to his house and gave me a priesthood blessing to help me make the right decision.

Finally, as the deadline for me to decide whether to put my papers in fast approached, I was still deeply conflicted. One morning, I felt inspired to fast and to go visit the temple grounds. I went early in the morning as the sun was just rising. As I looked at the sun rising above the temple, I felt a feeling like fire fill my bosom. I knew that heavenly father would take care of me if I chose to serve and that serving was the thing I could do that would do the most good.

I am so grateful for the power of the temple in helping me to overcome trials and receive reassurance in times of need.