by janm | Dec 30, 2012 | Meet Some Mormons
Manti Malietau Louis Te’o, (born January 26, 1991) a linebacker for the University of Notre Dame, is the son of Brian and Ottilia Te’o. Siblings include sisters BrieAnne, Tiare, Eden and Maya and one brother, Manasseh. He is of Samoan descent but grew up on the island of Oahu Hawaii, where he was one of the most decorated high school athletes in Hawaii’s history. In 2008, Te’o won the inaugural high school Butkus Award, while also being named Sporting News High School Athlete of the Year.
Te’o has been outspoken about the important role of faith in his life. As an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon or LDS), he has openly explained how he depended on prayer to select the right college from the 29 college football teams trying to recruit him. Much to his surprise, he received the answer that he should choose Notre Dame University. (more…)
by janm | Dec 26, 2012 | About Mormons
Grief is an individual thing. It must have its deep days; it will not be short-changed and it cannot be designed by another. It takes up residence and is resistant to leave.
Letting go is the hardest part. How do you let go of that last goodbye or unrealized dreams of the future?
How do you return to normal when nothing will ever feel normal again?
When someone you love dies unexpectedly, you wonder why the sun is shining. How dare the world move on when it has come to a halt for you? (more…)
by Terrie Lynn Bittner | Dec 20, 2012 | Mormons in the News
Paul Lamarr, also known as Cactus Jack, has created a Christmas musical that is capturing hearts in Utah. “A Time of Forgiving” is a musical about a man who has left his family. It is Christmas Eve, their anniversary and their daughter’s birthday. The wife depends on everyone thinking her life is perfect—and it’s about to become obvious it isn’t. Their daughter is going to learn about forgiveness whether or not there is a happy ending. And the husband will learn that he has to take responsibility for his own problems. Despite all the programs this family faces, the musical is uplifting and warm.
Many aspects of the program come from Cactus Jack’s own life. He was born in Utah, but moved to Australia in 1988, where many feel he became entirely Australian. Two years ago, he decided to sell everything he owned, return to Utah, and start carrying out his dream of writing and performing music. He rented a cabin in Park City and created a music studio for his guitar, grand piano, and violin, all of which he had taught himself to play long ago. On December 1, 2011, he took his first CD, a Christmas album to Deseret Book, which is Mormon owned. Lamarr is also a Mormon. They gently explained that it was too late to start selling his Christmas music this year. It took too long to get into the system, distributed, and promoted. He went to nearby Temple Square, the home of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah, to sooth his sorrow and to reflect on what to do next. While there, he received a call from executive Debbie Simmons, an executive at Deseret Book. She had just listened to his CD and fallen in love with it. She asked for 2000 copies of it immediately. The CD became a Deseret Book best-seller, topping the chart in the number one position. They happily purchased his next CD as well and he began touring. (more…)
by Gale | Dec 18, 2012 | About Mormons
During the years of the U.S. presidential campaign and especially during 2012 Mormons and Mormonism were constantly in the news, for better or for worse. Certainly, Mitt Romney was (and is) a stellar example of what Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) can produce — he is a devoted and faithful husband and father, who gives generously to charity, and who has spent countless hours (in spite of a demanding and successful career) in direct service to his church. In his church service he has been the equivalent of a pastor or priest, but all this was done without remuneration. Romney came in only a few hundred thousand votes behind Barak Obama and fared especially well with white Christian voters. These seemed to read some articles about Mormons and Mormonism, and their opinions tended to take a turn toward viewing Mormonism with a favorable eye. “Roughly 4-in-10 (42 percent) now see the Mormon religion and their own beliefs as having a lot in common, up 14 points from 28 percent in November 2011.” But the rest of the American population seems not to have paid much attention. A new, post-election study performed by the Pew Forum, albeit very small (only about 1,500 respondents), shows most people know no more about Mormonism now than they did before the campaign. (Read more here….)
“More Americans mention positive terms such as ‘good people,’ ‘dedicated’ and ‘honest’ than did so one year ago (24 percent today vs. 18 percent in 2011),” the report indicated. “Impressions of Mormonism using positive descriptors is up among several religious groups, including white evangelical Protestants, white mainline Protestants and white Catholics — all groups that favored Romney in the election.”
The study showed that about the same amount of people as in 2011 think Mormonism is not a Christian religion. “Romney was the subject of about twice as much religion-related media coverage as Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential campaign, according to a separate analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Pew Forum.” [1] (more…)
by Keith L. Brown | Dec 9, 2012 | About Mormons
The Master taught the following as recorded in the Holy Bible, in the New Testament, in John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
A student of the Greek language (the original language of the New Testament) knows and understands that there are different words used to express love in the Greek language. 
The Greek word that is used in these verses is a form of the Greek verb “agape” (ah-gah-pay) which is understood in Christian theology to be an expression of God’s unconditional love. In other words, what the Savior was teaching His disciples, and the lesson that applies to us today, is that we are to love everyone even as the Savior loves each of us – unconditionally. W. E. Vine, a great scholar of the New Testament Greek language, said of the word agape:
It expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential love in them towards the Giver, and a practical love towards those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others to seek the Giver. (more…)
