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LDS Church among largest, growing U.S. churches

Deseret News - The nation's 10 largest churches remained the same, and churches that have in recent years increased in membership continued their growth while others with declining numbers continued to fall. So says the National Council of Churches' 2011 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, released earlier this week. But before you pass it off as simply the same ol' same ol' of religious trends in North America, consider the fact that total church membership declined by 1.05 percent over the past year. And that 1.05 percent figures out to nearly 1,550,000 fewer members in the 227 national church bodies tracked by the...

2278

'Tapestry of God's hand' is evidenced in life of Joseph Smith

LDS Church News - God's hand wove together a tapestry of prophets and reformers who prepared the world for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, said Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve during the Joseph Smith Memorial Fireside in Logan, Utah, on Feb. 13. "Tonight I want to explain to you that our Heavenly Father had His eye on the Joseph Smith family from the beginning of time up to 1820 when He and His Beloved Son visited Joseph and began the preparation for Joseph to become the Prophet of the Restoration of the fullness of the gospel in...

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Church handbooks: 'A treasure for all who read'

LDS Church News - For the second time in four months, the Church broadcast a worldwide leadership training meeting to assist local priesthood and auxiliary leaders as they use the new administrative handbooks. The handbooks were introduced on Nov. 13, 2010. Handbook 1 is used primarily by bishops and stake presidents and has relatively few changes from earlier versions. Handbook 2, which includes the chapters necessary to administer the Church in bishoprics, branch presidencies, quorums and auxiliary organizations, contains the vast majority of revisions. It is posted online at lds.org. Following are highlights of the direction and counsel offered during the Feb. 12 broadcast: ...

2277

BYU lecture focuses on children's emotional health

LDS Church News - A child's early emotional development has a large impact on overall health, morality and lifelong achievement, said Ross A. Thompson, professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis during the seventh annual Marjorie Pay Hinckley lecture at Brigham Young University on Feb. 10. "We are moving to a place of new understanding of the importance of early childhood for life span, health and development," Dr. Thompson said. "We will never go back to the days in which we used to think that nothing much of importance happens in the early years that makes a difference for the rest of life."...

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LDS stakes join in job search for those in need

Las Vegas Sun - As 58-year-old Harley Walker details his work experience to the small gathering inside a gymnasium at a northwest valley church, his story is a reminder that for some people the Great Recession has only just begun. He tells how less than a month ago, he lost a job he held for more than 20 years, supervising construction projects and managing facilities. On his first day of work all those years ago, he told his employer he would retire there. That was still the plan when his boss told Walker he was being laid off. Walker said he had been reassured his...

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{A&E} Two TV Shows that Made Me Want to Be a Better Person

Kate Ensign-Lewis - Last Friday morning as I walked into work, I heard a familiar strain playing over the lobby speakers. It was a slow, melancholy piano strain—the one that played in all those poignant or heart-wrenching scenes in the legendary show Lost . Hearing it made me remember just how much I loved the show—which always makes me want to talk about it.  I know some people who were disappointed with the show’s finale, but it spoke to me of eternity and of just how important the most difficult, or most wayward, or most frustrating parts of our lives are. The show wasn’t...

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Weekend Craft: It's a Bling Thing

Oh My Crafts - Glue on a few knobs, cut some vinyl to match your décor and before you know it, you have a designer jewelry frame. Supplies Needed: Sizzix: Eclips machine, Happi Shapes & Alphabet cartridge Adams & Co: Oatmeal rectangle frame Oh My Crafts Vinyl: Violet flake, black, transfer tape Tim Holtz: Curio knobs Adhesive: E6000 (Use coupon code LDS10 to get 10% off supplies needed at ohmycrafts.com .) Frame:    1. Evenly space 5 knobs across the frame; mark lightly with a pencil.    2. Arrange knobs in order and set above marking.    3. Follow the directions on the E6000 package...

2219

Happening Upon Success

Jamie Cline - There are many roads to success, a fact that Jonathan Johnson, current president of Overstock.com, knows all too well. He did not plan to be a businessman; he wanted to be a successful lawyer like his father, whom he is named after. So, following a bachelor’s in Japanese from Brigham Young University, he attended BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, graduating with his juris doctorate in 1993. “After graduation, I joined a practice in L.A. working for Japanese clients, having served my mission in Japan,” he says. Johnson was content as a lawyer. But things began to change when he joined...

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Winter enrollment shows BYU-Idaho continues to expand

LDS Church News - Enrollment statistics released for Winter Semester 2011 show Brigham Young University-Idaho continues to grow. According to data from the BYU-Idaho Student Records and Registration Office, the number of full-time students increased by 5.1 percent from last Winter Semester, and total enrollment grew by 5.4 percent. Total enrollment now stands at 14,100 students compared to 13,375 one year ago. In addition, students are taking 13 credit hours on average. The increase comes as a result of an enrollment expansion plan the university began implementing Fall Semester 2010. ...

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Polynesian culture offers barriers, blessings

Deseret News - Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series exploring the cultural barriers and blessings in the Polynesian culture. Taboo. It is Tonga's sole contribution to the English language. Taken from the Tongan word "Tapu," meaning "restricted" or "sacred." Technically, we could also claim "tattoo," though it's an amalgamation of a Polynesian word — Tahitians called it "tattau," Samoans' "tatau" and Tongans' "ta ta tau," all meaning "to mark." I think it's interesting that both words, taboo and tattoo, apply to our bodies. We view the human body as sacred, to be restricted from others and even ourselves, from sexual...