Halloween Half!

I did it! I ran (and walked!) my first half marathon this past Saturday. It is even more fun to have done a race that is so festive. I love Halloween and October, so it was fun to take on this endeavor at this time of year.
My weekend was crazy, I thought I would go to bed early, but I didn't. I was up till about 12 making salsa Thursday night (the night I was supposed to go to bed early; but I did wake at 7, so that was 7 hours, right???), I was working on my feet all day Friday (the day I was supposed to take it easy) and then I really wanted to get to bed at like 9 or 9:30 Friday night, but it was 10:20. Sort of. Let me say, that was early compared to the rest of the week (12, 1, 2... etc), and it might have been okay if I had actually slept okay. Everyone was loud, my husband who does not really get the meaning of sharing a bedroom and being quiet was so freaking loud. And Jake. I love him, he doesn't usually bother me, but he was making more noises than I was willing to hear. I got CRAPPY sleep. I woke at 3, thinking I know I am supposed to wake at three-something and I sat there for a few minutes trying to remember then I did- 3:55. Go.back.to.sleep.PLEASE. 3:55 rolled around and I was finally really sleeping (of course). But I made myself get out of bed. Why so early? Well I pee A LOT in the morning, so prior to a race, I like to get up, have a drink and something to eat and enough time to get it all out of me before the race starts.
We took some pics, I said goodbye to Jody (he flew out before I was home from the race), then off we were, just a little after 5. We stopped at Maverick, for a pee stop (so we did not have to wait in bad lines too many times!) then parked the car and hopped on the bus. That was THE WORST BUS RIDE IN MY LIFE. Remember how I said I eat and drink early? Well, one thing I drink is lots of caffeine (Crystal Light Energy, 120 mg, to be exact). That, my nerves, and a canyon bus ride combined to make me want to seriously vomit the.whole.ride.up. I am getting sick just thinking about it.
We arrived @ Aspen Grove, peed again (haha LOTS of peeing, tmi for some, but as a runner or a mom, you really can not escape these big realities), then headed to the tent- it was CHILLY out. We sat. And sat. And sat. My biggest complaint (I have two, actually) of the race was the waiting time. I was about to either vomit or pass out the entire time we were waiting to start. TWO HOURS.
My uncle Chris and his wife Debbie ran the race as well, and it was so nice to be able to see them up there and talk to them. Chris is such a calming person, helped me out a lot. I have really great uncles (aunts too, but this is about them), I just love my dad's brothers so much! Anyway I was so glad to be able to talk to him. He is so focused and calm! Wonder what is really going on in there! I think he should teach yoga, he can keep such a straight face! So zen. LOL.
We finally started at 9:10 or something, a really steep slope. I tried to keep my pace slower as to not use up all my energy while going down hill, and that gave me no one to run with :(  So, I flew solo for a little while, then a while later I was running and saw some girls walking, so I asked if I could join in. One was Jessie and I am braindead and can not remember the other name. They were great to hang with. They even waited for me at the bathroom! So I stuck with them for a while, but then I just could not run. I needed a walk break that lasted for a mile and not a minute, so I said sianara and walked. It was good timing though, cause we were together for the hardest part, I felt. I think we were together from the 3rd to the 8 or 9th mile. There was a lot of people walking, as I had suspected, and it was nice to not be alone. I thought I would maybe be the last one with the police right behind me (not an exciting thought). Anywho, I have a lot of thanks to dole out- Jenni for loading my music and letting me use her iPod, Desiree for offering hers (and cleaning it off and bringing it over!), Herriman High Cross Country for handing out water during race! Chris and Debbie, support of friends pre-race, Erica and Weston and Dakota for helping with the kids, Nikole, Susan and Natalie for running with me, Jody for picking me up after runs (I am a run away, not back, kind of gal!), Jenni & Erica for coming to the race (& taking pics!), friend Dani Hoagland for her hug after. I know there are more, so thanks everyone! 

Susan Bogenshutz, Natalie Jones, Nikole Moon, and me-- a fun group of girls to hang with!

This was not even 1/8th of the peeps there

Being funny at Maverick. Get it- Big Moon (Nikole Moon!)

Notice the pit sweat... I was sweating my guts out even before the race began!

The more I see myself in this tutu, the more I am not liking it. It is up a little high, it looks, but it was down on my hips.

Tell all those stupid people to get the freak out of the way! HELLO this is a race!

 Digi scrapped by Jenni

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

I Choose Wheat

The comments made by the ignorant never ceases to amaze me. Don't people get it? President Packer speaks for the LDS church. Nothing he said was out of line. We are all entitled to our own opinions, we all have our agency. I can relate stories from Book of Mormon times, Christ's times, Joseph Smith's times. Now it is our times. Where do you choose to stand? Honestly, many people choose to act like they know better, know what is right and wrong more than a man who has been called of God. I choose not to dispute these things; I fear God. I don't fear man. I choose to stick with the Prophet and His Apostles. If he (Pres Monson) did not stick with Pres Packer's words, he would have issued a statement by now.
I am going with a parable Christ taught-
Corliss Clayton, “The Wheat and the Tares,” Liahona, May 1995, 10

Jesus sometimes taught using parables. Parables are short stories that use familiar things to teach gospel truths.

One parable that Jesus taught while he was in Galilee was about wheat and tares (a kind of weed). Jesus said that a man who had a field planted good wheat seed in it. While he slept, someone came and planted tares, which look a lot like wheat as they grow, in the same field. All the seeds started to grow, and blades of wheat and tares broke through the ground.

A worker in the field noticed the tares growing with the wheat. He asked the owner, “Didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?” (Matt. 13:27).

The owner of the field said that an enemy must have planted the tares. When the worker asked if the tares should be pulled up and destroyed, the owner said no. If the tares were weeded out, he explained, a lot of the wheat would be destroyed, too, since they were growing side by side.

So the wheat and the tares were both allowed to grow until harvest time. Then the owner told the reapers to first gather and store the wheat safely in the barn. After that was finished, they were to gather the tares into bundles and burn them.

When Jesus’ disciples were alone with him, they asked him to explain the parable. Jesus said that the sower of the good seed represented himself and the Apostles. The field represented the world; the good seed, his righteous followers; and the tares, those who follow Satan. Satan was the sower of the tares. The harvest represented the end of the world, and the reapers represented angels. Right now good and bad people are allowed to “grow” together. But at the end of the world, angels will separate the righteous from the unrighteous. The unrighteous—those who have chosen to break the commandments—will be punished. However, the righteous—those who have chosen to keep the commandments—will “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43).

When we come to earth, we are given the freedom to choose between good and evil. It is up to us to choose whether we will be like the wheat or the tares.

(See Matt 13:24–30, Matt. 36–43; D&C 86:1–2, D&C 86:4–7.)
The parable of the sower is applicable as well. It is the beginning of Matthew 13.

18 ¶ ^aHear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

  19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and ^aunderstandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and ^bcatcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

  20 But he that received the seed into ^astony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

  21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when ^atribulation or ^bpersecution ariseth because of the word, by and by ^che is offended.

  22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this ^aworld, and the ^bdeceitfulness of ^criches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

  23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that ^aheareth the word, and ^bunderstandeth it; which also beareth ^cfruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

The things that have been happening the last few weeks have made me sad, I have shed many tears, etc. But I honestly can say that while everything has been difficult to deal with, my testimony has been strengthened. It was already in place, but I guess I can say it is now locked and loaded (haha). I am more motivated now to be a better person, treat others better, halt when I start to judge others, read my scriptures, be a better mom. I am trying to worry about things that matter and not focus on $200 jeans and spray on makeup. Nice things, just not my focus right now. I want to take better care of my body and do things in the interim, but all in all, I am really feeling a similar feeling to nesting (in pregnancy), only I feel that urge to better align myself with gospel teachings and prepare for the Second Coming.

I am so grateful for the great friends & family I have, you are irreplaceable :)

*And, in case anyone was wondering, it is not unheard of for talks to be edited a little from when they were given to being typed up and printed (or in this fast-info time, put on the website). Most of the time, it goes unnoticed.

Elder Packer

I am really tired, was asleep, but I feel strongly I should write concerning a leader of my church, who is currently under fire for a talk he gave last week in our church's Semi Annual General Conference. I have heard many people defend, complain, justify, condemn etc this man because of his words. I encourage anyone who wishes to pass judgement on him, or the church he is a leader of, to read his talk, then ponder his words. HERE is the link to it. I will also post it at the end of this post.
This insane persecution of this man has me so bothered, I am shaking. I have a different perspective to give to this whole crazy judgement that has been passed on words most who are doing the judging have not even read. A character reference, per se.  I have known this man my entire life. He may not know me on a first name basis, but he would know my last name, and the name of my father. His dear wife would maybe remember me because I lived next door and often missed the bus that took me to work, and so graciously accepted when I called her for a ride. I wanted to have him perform my wedding ceremony, but I did not dare call and ask- he is so very busy.  I have nothing but good to say about him. He is a very nice man, he is a painter, a writer, a teacher. He is kind and gentle. He is loving. I have been blessed to mingle in his posterity, while living with my Grandma Kenney, as well as during high school in American Fork. He has been a good example to me and many in my family. He has always been a friend of my grandmother.
I guess to someone who wants to be offended, nothing I could say would change that.  To someone willing to hear the truth, that is why I type this message at 2 am. He is a wonderful person who I have the utmost respect for. I listened to this talk last Sunday morning. My impression of what he said was that if I struggled from sexual sin, I have help and the choice to repent; Heavenly Father loves me, with the atonement, I can be made whole again; some stuff about pornography; marriage between a man and woman is natural, it is like gravity, can not be changed; etc.
If a person does not agree with that fact, fine.  That really is not the issue at hand. There is not one place in this talk where Elder Packer calls names, speaks with hatred, encourages his members to treat homosexual individuals, or anyone else, wrongly. There is not one ounce of malice in his words. Quite the contrary! His message is one of love and hope. I would hope that even if we (by "we" I am meaning people in general) disagree on different things, we will be able to live in peace amongst each other and stop creating wild accusations that are unfounded and based on... well, bad information.

The talk under fire, taken from LDS.org-

Cleansing the Inner Vessel

President Boyd K. Packer
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Nowhere are the generosity and the kindness and mercy of God more manifest than in repentance.

This general conference was convened at a time when there is such confusion and such danger that our young people hardly know which way they can walk. Having been warned through the revelations that it would be this way, the prophets and apostles have always been shown what to do.

The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith “that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world.”¹ When the keys were restored, they provided priesthood authority to be present in every home through the grandfathers, the fathers, and the sons.

Fifteen years ago, with the world in turmoil, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles issued “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” the fifth proclamation in the history of the Church. It is a guide that members of the Church would do well to read and to follow.

It states in part: “We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”²

“The Gods went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them.

“And the Gods said: We will bless them. And . . . we will cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.”³

This commandment has never been rescinded.

“And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.”⁴

It is intended that we be happy, for “men are, that they might have joy.”⁵

Lehi taught that men are free and must be “free . . . to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day.”⁶

The old saying “The Lord is voting for me, and Lucifer is voting against me, but it is my vote that counts” describes a doctrinal certainty that our agency is more powerful than the adversary’s will. Agency is precious. We can foolishly, blindly give it away, but it cannot be forcibly taken from us.

There is also an age-old excuse: “The devil made me do it.” Not so! He can deceive you and mislead you, but he does not have the power to force you or anyone else to transgress or to keep you in transgression.

To be entrusted with the power to create life carries with it the greatest of joys and dangerous temptations. The gift of mortal life and the capacity to kindle other lives is a supernal blessing. Through the righteous exercise of this power, as in nothing else, we may come close to our Father in Heaven and experience a fulness of joy. This power is not an incidental part of the plan of happiness. It is the key—the very key.

Whether we use this power as the eternal laws require or reject its divine purpose will forever determine what we will become. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”⁷

There is something very liberating when an individual determines of his or her own free will to be obedient to our Father and our God and expresses that willingness to Him in prayer.

When we obey, we can enjoy these powers in the covenant of marriage. From our fountains of life will spring our children, our family. Love between husband and wife can be constant and bring fulfillment and contentment all the days of our lives.

If one is denied these blessings in mortality, the promise is that they will be provided for in the world to come.

Pure love presupposes that only after a pledge of eternal fidelity, a legal and a lawful ceremony, and ideally after the sealing ordinance in the temple, are those life-giving powers released for the full expression of love. It is to be shared only and solely between man and woman, husband and wife, with that one who is our companion forever. On this the gospel is very plain.

We are free to ignore the commandments, but when the revelations speak in such blunt terms, such as “thou shalt not,” we had better pay attention.

The adversary is jealous toward all who have power to beget life. Satan cannot beget life; he is impotent. “He seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.”⁸ He seeks to degrade the righteous use of the life-giving powers by tempting you into immoral relationships.

The Lord used the expression “is like unto” to create an image His followers could understand, such as:

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man.”⁹

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.”¹⁰

In our day the dreadful influence of pornography is like unto a plague sweeping across the world, infecting one here and one there, relentlessly trying to invade every home, most frequently through the husband and father. The effect of this plague can be, unfortunately often is, spiritually fatal. Lucifer seeks to disrupt “the great plan of redemption,”¹¹ “the great plan of happiness.”¹²

Pornography will always repel the Spirit of Christ and will interrupt the communications between our Heavenly Father and His children and disrupt the tender relationship between husband and wife.

The priesthood holds consummate power. It can protect you from the plague of pornography—and it is a plague—if you are succumbing to its influence. If one is obedient, the priesthood can show how to break a habit and even erase an addiction. Holders of the priesthood have that authority and should employ it to combat evil influences.

We raise an alarm and warn members of the Church to wake up and understand what is going on. Parents, be alert, ever watchful that this wickedness might threaten your family circle.

We teach a standard of moral conduct that will protect us from Satan’s many substitutes or counterfeits for marriage. We must understand that any persuasion to enter into any relationship that is not in harmony with the principles of the gospel must be wrong. From the Book of Mormon we learn that “wickedness never was happiness.”¹³

Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn temptations toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Remember, God is our Heavenly Father.

Paul promised that “God . . . will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”¹⁴ You can, if you will, break the habits and conquer an addiction and come away from that which is not worthy of any member of the Church. As Alma cautioned, we must “watch and pray continually.”¹⁵

Isaiah warned, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”¹⁶

Years ago I visited a school in Albuquerque. The teacher told me about a youngster who brought a kitten to class. As you can imagine, that disrupted everything. She had him hold the kitten up in front of the children.

It went well until one of the children asked, “Is it a boy kitty or a girl kitty?”

Not wanting to get into that lesson, the teacher said, “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a kitty.”

But they persisted. Finally, one boy raised his hand and said, “I know how you can tell.”

Resigned to face it, the teacher said, “How can you tell?”

And the student answered, “You can vote on it!”

You may laugh at this story, but if we are not alert, there are those today who not only tolerate but advocate voting to change laws that would legalize immorality, as if a vote would somehow alter the designs of God’s laws and nature. A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. For instance, what good would a vote against the law of gravity do?

There are both moral and physical laws “irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world” that cannot be changed.¹⁷ History demonstrates over and over again that moral standards cannot be changed by battle and cannot be changed by ballot. To legalize that which is basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and penalties that will follow as surely as night follows day.

Regardless of the opposition, we are determined to stay on course. We will hold to the principles and laws and ordinances of the gospel. If they are misunderstood either innocently or willfully, so be it. We cannot change; we will not change the moral standard. We quickly lose our way when we disobey the laws of God. If we do not protect and foster the family, civilization and our liberties must needs perish.

“I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.”¹⁸

Every soul confined in a prison of sin, guilt, or perversion has a key to the gate. The key is labeled “repentance.” If you know how to use this key, the adversary cannot hold you. The twin principles of repentance and forgiveness exceed in strength the awesome power of the tempter. If you are bound by a habit or an addiction that is unworthy, you must stop conduct that is harmful. Angels will coach you,¹⁹ and priesthood leaders will guide you through those difficult times.

Nowhere are the generosity and the kindness and mercy of God more manifest than in repentance. Do you understand the consummate cleansing power of the Atonement made by the Son of God, our Savior, our Redeemer? He said, “I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent.”²⁰ In that supernal act of love, the Savior paid the penalties for our sins so that we might not have to pay.

For those who truly desire it, there is a way back. Repentance is like unto a detergent. Even ground-in stains of sin will come out.

Priesthood holders carry with them the antidote to remove the terrible images of pornography and to wash away guilt. The priesthood has the power to unlock the influence of our habits, even to unchain from addiction, however tight the grip. It can heal over the scars of past mistakes.

I know of no more beautiful and consoling words in all of revelation than these: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.”²¹

Sometimes, even after confession and paying penalties, the most difficult part of repentance is to forgive one’s self. You must come to know that forgiveness means forgiveness.

“As often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.”²²

President Joseph Fielding Smith told me of a repentant woman struggling to find her way out of a very immoral life. She asked him what she should do now.

In turn, he asked her to read to him from the Old Testament the account of Lot’s wife, who was turned to a pillar of salt.²³ Then he asked her, “What lesson do you gain from those verses?”

She answered, “The Lord will destroy the wicked.”

“Not so!” President Smith said that the lesson for this repentant woman and for you is “Don’t look back!”²⁴

Strangely enough, it may be that the simplest and most powerful prevention and cure for pornography, or any unclean act, is to ignore and avoid it. Delete from the mind any unworthy thought that tries to take root. Once you have decided to remain clean, you are asserting your God-given agency. And then, as President Smith counseled, “Don’t look back.”

I promise that ahead of you is peace and happiness for you and your family. The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is that a man and his wife and their children can be happy at home. And I invoke the blessings of the Lord upon you who are struggling against this terrible plague, to find the healing that is available to us in the priesthood of the Lord. I bear witness of that power in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes

1. Doctrine and Covenants 1:20.
2. “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Liahona, Oct. 2004, 49; Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102.
3. Abraham 4:27–28.
4. Abraham 3:25.
5. 2 Nephi 2:25.
6. 2 Nephi 2:26.
7. 1 Corinthians 3:16.
8. 2 Nephi 2:27.
9. Matthew 13:45.
10. Matthew 13:44.
11. Jacob 6:8; Alma 34:31.
12. Alma 42:8.
13. Alma 41:10.
14. 1 Corinthians 10:13.
15. Alma 13:28.
16. Isaiah 5:20.
17. Doctrine and Covenants 130:20.
18. Doctrine and Covenants 82:10.
19. See 2 Nephi 32:3.
20. Doctrine and Covenants 19:16.
21. Doctrine and Covenants 58:42.
22. Mosiah 26:30.
23. See Genesis 19:26.
24. See Boyd K. Packer, The Things of the Soul (1996), 116.

Here is an article just released by the Deseret News Editorial Staff; I highlighted some things that stuck out to me.

A call for civility following Mormon Apostle Boyd K. Packer’s address

Published: Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010 12:00 a.m. MDT

Deseret News editorial

In recent weeks, media sources across the country have covered several suicides by young people wrestling with same-gender attraction. These heartbreaking accounts have brought national attention to the anguished lives of youths confused by strong feelings that can put them at odds with the expectations of friends, family, community or church. What has made these stories particularly horrifying is the brutal and belittling behavior that preceded each suicide.

See both photos | Click to enlarge

Deseret News

Mormon Apostle Boyd K. Packer Addresses LDS General Conference on Sunday, October 3, 2010.

To any affected by such tragedy, we express sorrow and we condemn the incivility that violated the dignity of these youths.

This week, activists for the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) community have attempted to raise our community's consciousness about the challenges facing LGBT youths. This consciousness raising has been styled as a reaction to a talk by President Boyd K. Packer, president of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints, given at the church's 180th Semiannual General Conference last Sunday.

This focused attention on the LDS Church is deeply ironic given the church's shared condemnation of hate and violence toward gays and lesbians, its mutual support of anti-discrimination laws for gays and lesbians and its compassionate ministry to LDS Church members who have same-gender attraction.

This past week, the LDS Church re-emphasized "that there is no room in this discussion for hatred or mistreatment of anyone." This is not new — it mirrors, for example, how the LDS Church helped to champion a Salt Lake City ordinance banning discrimination of gays and lesbians in housing and employment. And it is consistent with how the LDS Church has ministered to members with same-gender attraction.

In a 2007 article in the LDS Church's Ensign magazine, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland relates a conversation with a self-described gay member of the LDS Church: "You are first and foremost a son of God, and He loves you. What's more, I love you. My Brethren among the General Authorities love you."

Interestingly, given the events of this week, Elder Holland spoke about other church leaders: "I'm reminded of a comment President Boyd K. Packer made in speaking to those with same-gender attraction. 'We do not reject you,' he said. '… We cannot reject you, for you are the sons and daughters of God. We will not reject you, because we love you.' "

Perhaps the focused attention has come because the LDS Church continues to assert principled opposition to same-sex marriage, a view shared by most Americans. Indeed, the majority of states have passed legislation clarifying that marriage is between a man and a woman. For activists in the LGBT community who reject what Latter-day Saints and members of other faith traditions believe to be the divine origins of marriage between man and woman, there may simply not be room for agreement on this important issue.

Click to enlarge

Tom Smart, Deseret News

The Salt Lake City Council deliberates anti-discrimination protection based on sexual orientation and gender in November 2009.

Because of our concern for civility and respect, we find common ground with those who, with dignity, wish to condemn hatred and violence against those who struggle with same-gender attraction.
Nonetheless, tactics used this week ostensibly to accomplish these purposes were counterproductive. Instead of seeking genuine common ground around issues of mutual concern, activists began this week with a grossly misguided caricature of the LDS Church's support of traditional morality.
The tactic is now all-too familiar: take a statement out of context, embellish it with selective interpretation, presume hostile intent, and then use the distortion to isolate an entire group, in this case a church.
We encourage all to read President Packer's talk rather than simply rely on the media interpretations and selective quotations. It stretches all credulity to find in President Packer's pastoral counsel what some are calling a hateful message "that can lead some kids to bully and others to commit suicide." Contrary to what some have written in provocative press releases, nothing in President Packer's talk says that "violence and/or discrimination against LGBT people is acceptable."
This distortion is not only misguided and political, it is dangerous. It frays trust that helps people of goodwill from different perspectives to constructively address the serious problems under consideration. By holding up a caricatured account of people's spiritual leaders, those in greatest need of pastoral care may be mistakenly alienated from the very people who can compassionately help them get access to professional resources and counseling.
The challenges facing the families and individuals affected by same-gender attraction are poignant and real. Religion provides a unique perspective on how these challenges can be addressed that has every right to be heard and evaluated on the merits. Indeed, religious organizations provide the vital infrastructure for the economy of care that undergirds our community. For the sake of our youths and the health of our communities, we call for thoughtful and civil dialogue on this and all difficult conversations. That dialogue should respect context, should not prejudge motive and must work to include instead of isolate.

I do want to add my personal testimony that I know, for a fact, that Elder Packer is a man who has been called of God. He is God's servant, here to help us on our journey to return to Him. I have complete faith in him as a friend, a neighbor and most importantly, a leader of my church. I love and respect him and honor him. I pray that we will all be better to receive all the information we can before we jump to conclusions, judge each other, other's or our own leaders harshly and quite possible wrongly. People, we need to stick together and stop tearing each other apart. Let good (as in whatever religion you may be) people all over the world unite and form a strong bond against evil, cause evil has one main goal- to divide us and make us weak, eventually conquering and winning out, if we let it. Let us not let evil win! 

Images are Greg Olsen, Liz Lemon Swindle, and Del Parsons creations.