From the News

2.27.2014  Today as I was drying my hair I let my mind wander. I remembered the day I went to the store and bought my hair dryer. I remember wanting just he 'right one'. I wanted it to dry my thick hair efficiently. I looked at the wattage of each dryer. I looked at size and durability. I wanted to make a good decision so I wouldn't have to buy another dryer for a long time. It has been a few years and I was happy with my dryer...until I used my daughter in law's hair dryer. She has the best hair dryer I have ever used. It works fast, it is easy to hold, I think it is smaller the one I have. I want a hair dryer like hers. Then I started thinking about my reading and the lecture this week. I thought about Jesus coming to fulfill the law, not destroy the law. He isn't saying I can't use a hair dryer anymore, he is offering the best hair dryer ever invented. I want his hair dryer. He wants me to live a higher law. He wants me to show mercy. He wants me to be a peacemaker. He wants me to chose his way.

23.1.2014  I have been trying to resolve a political issue all week long and I believe I found my answer this morning. First I prayed before I started to study and second I noted a page number in the student manual so I would remember something that impressed me at the time. This morning I went back to the page and didn't remember what I was impressed by, but scanning the page found it. It is my answer to the political situation in Arizona this week. A bill passed this week which would protect business owners from lawsuits allowing them to refuse service based on religious beliefs. Although passed through our legislature it had not been signed by the governor. So much debate and drama. The spin on this bill has been that if this bill was signed it would be open discrimination on gay people everywhere. All the heavy hitters came to the party. Arizona is hosting the Super Bowl next year, that organization threatened to pull out if the bill passed. A restaurant owner posted a sign that his establishment would refuse service to legislators that voted in favor of the bill. The governor was out of town and the hype continued to escalate and the tension grew as the people weighed in on whether or not the bill would be vetoed this Saturday. Governor Jan Brewer arrived back in town on Wednesday and by Thursday morning I learned she had vetoed the bill on Wednesday night and put an end to the debate. In my opinion it is another win for the dark side. I do not believe we should discriminate, but I do not believe we should retaliate. I believe we are giving up our rights and freedom to a godless government. This law was intended to protect business owners that have been bullied out of business because they stood up for their beliefs. A photographer in Texas said they did not want to photograph a gay wedding, homosexuality is against their religious beliefs. A baker in Colorado, his business now closed and facing possible jail time, did not want to bake a cake for a gay couple...homosexuality is against his religious beliefs. All week I have been struggling with this. I believe the pendulum has swung in favor of homosexuality because it is no longer considered a sin by main stream America. Therefore, those who believe it is as sin, no longer have a leg to stand on. We are considered bigots and discriminators. I want to remember this message from Elder Russel M Nelson. For me it explains why I feel the way I do and why I believe Governor Brewer should not have vetoed the bill. "Jesus taught the golden rule, saying, 'all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you , do ye even so to them, Matt 7:12. This principle is found in nearly every religion. Others such as Confucius and Aristotle have also taught it. After all the gospel did not begin with the birth of the Babe in Bethlehem. It is everlasting. It was proclaimed in the beginning to Adam and Eve. Wherever it is found and however it is expressed the golden rule encompasses the moral code of the kingdom of God. it forbids interference by one with the rights of another. It is equally binding on nations, associations, and individuals with compassion and forbearance, it replaces the retaliatory reactions of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' Matt 5:38. My concern is that my religious freedom is being redefined by a minority of individuals that do not live by the golden rule.