Well, we woke up to news this morning that Tropical Storm Ernesto is likely to turn back into a hurricane by tonight and that it is heading straight for my house in Miami. Yikes! Veteran hurricane watchers will note that it could remain a tropical storm, in which case we get a few blown down branches and lots of rain but no other serious problems, it could veer off in one direction or the other or it could become a Category 3 hurricane by the time it hits sometime Tuesday night. Category 3 means serious damage throughout Miami. We’ve been spending a lot of time preparing — standing in line at the grocery store and at gas stations. Now it’s time to put up the shutters and hunker down. I hope to send updates until the lights go out sometime Tuesday night.

This interview on the Church web site is extraordinary. Church public affairs interviewed Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church, and Elder Lance B. Wickman, a member of the Seventy, at length and asked just about every imaginable question on the issue of same-gender attraction. This interview is extraordinary because of the timing and the repeated statements from the Church making absolutely crystal clear its position on this issue.

Some highlights:

Continue reading →

I love this quotation from Joseph Smith:

Gems from the Teachings of Church Leaders
Love and Missionary Work
—————————————————

October 19, 1840
Nauvoo, Illinois
Joseph Smith

“Love is one of the chief characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons of God. A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race. This has been your feeling, and caused you to forego the pleasures of home, that you might be a blessing to others, who are candidates for immortality, but strangers to truth; and for so doing, I pray that heaven’s choicest blessings may rest upon you.”
( History of the Church, 4:227)

If you are interested in having “Gems” (quotations from Church leaders) sent to your e-mail, you can sign up here.

Governor Romney recently vetoed a bill in Massachusetts that would have provided state-sponsored preschool. He said the cost would be in excess of $1 billion and that the benefits of universal preschool (for 2-4 year olds) are unproven. His stance earned him plaudits from the conservative National Review and Evangelicals for Mitt. Note that the bill passed both houses in Massachusetts unanimously, so Mitt’s stance is likely to be pretty unpopular in the Bay State.

I’m not sure how I feel about this issue.

Continue reading →

Very interesting story on Steve Young, former BYU QB and 49ers star, in the Deseret News over the weekend. To summarize: Young is living in Palo Alto, where he is working at an investment company. He regularly travels to Utah, where most of his family now lives (having moved from CT). He is happily married to Barb and has three kids and appears active in his Palo Alto ward, where he is teaching the teachers. For all you fellow 49ers fans out there from the 1980s and early 1990s, I often see Bart Oates at the Manhattan temple, where he regularly volunteers. It seems the mind is turning toward football in August…