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1 May 2012
Measles Vaccinations by Mormons, Others “News Worth Celebrating”
April 30, 2012
Since 2003, the Church has donated several million dollars to support a worldwide initiative that would provide measles vaccinations to children in 40 countries. The Church has worked with the American Red Cross, United Nations Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Since the Church joined the Measles Initiative and Partnership in 2003, thousands of Church members have helped in the effort to eliminate the disease. Approximately 56,000 Church members around the world have provided more than 600,000 hours of service in 32 countries in Africa, Asia and Central and South America.
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/measles-vaccinations-mormons-others
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Lost hiker credits Mormon faith for survival
May 1, 2012
Standard Examiner (Utah)
A veteran outdoor enthusiast who survived four days with a broken leg in the Southern Utah wilderness says she relied on her Mormon faith, played mind games and recited poetry to help pass the time until rescuers arrived.
“I prayed a lot and derived comfort from it,” said Victoria Grover, who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I thought God would do everything possible to help me overcome my stupidity. I learned from my mother that things can always be worse.”
http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/05/01/lost-hiker-credits-mormon-faith-survival
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Injured Hiker Survives 4 Days in Utah’s Wilds With No Food
April 30, 2012
ABC News
A physician’s assistant, Grover made a splint from her walking stick and pulled herself to a nearby creek for water. She had hiked the same area nearly four decades before on a Brigham Young University survival course and said she used that experience, along with her Mormon faith, to keep her alive.
“I had faith that I would be found,” she said. “I had faith that whatever happened would be OK.”
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Hiker survives 4 days in Utah desert without food
May 1, 2012
CBS News
“I prayed a lot and derived comfort from it,” the Mormon church member told reporters on Sunday. “I thought God would do everything possible to help me overcome my stupidity. I learned from my mother that things can always be worse.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501363_162-57424653/hiker-survives-4-days-in-utah-desert-without-food/
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Mormons, volunteers spruce up the region on Mormon Helping Hands day
April 30, 2012
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (California)
Armed with paint rollers, brushes and hedge clippers, volunteers in yellow vests hit the city’s streets and parks Saturday for the annual Mormon Helping Hands cleanup day.
The event was organized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and drew roughly 60,000 volunteers for cleanup projects throughout California.
Additional volunteers participated in Hawaii. About 500 people worked in Rancho Cucamonga.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_20516958/mormons-volunteers-spruce-up-region-mormon-helping-hands
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Program on Mormon Trail to be presented in St. Charles
May 1, 2012
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
The St. Louis Mormon Historical Society will present a program, “The Mormon Trail Through St. Charles County,” at 7 p.m. May 4 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2245 Old Highway 94 South in St. Charles. The presenter will be William Popp, an historian and member of the St. Charles County Historical Society.
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Meet the Preppers… and the Mormons (Part 1)
May 1, 2012
Broward Palm Beach New Times (Florida)
I called some Mormon community leaders for more information about this little-discussed segment of their practice that seems to be rooted in the faith’s pioneer past. They didn’t know about the manual, and seemed caught off-guard by the speculations of violence contained in the book, but they did invite me down to the LDS Bishop’s Storehouse and Cannery in Davie, just off State Road 7. And thus I entered a whole other facet of preparedness.
I was met by Elder Mark Brown, who runs the local storehouse that covers the whole South Florida Region. This is more about seeing church members through tough times than it is about preparing for the future. The kitchen smelled like dough and cooking, and I saw big walk-in refrigerators full of meat, cheese, and vegetables. Grocery items like dish detergent and toilet paper were stacked neatly on shelves, and ready-made food items sat in broken-open cardboard boxes.
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2012/05/mormon_preppers_bishops_storehouse.php
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Vigil Planned in Wake of Suicide by Seventeen-Year-Old Gay Mormon
April 30, 2012
Religion Dispatches
In the wake of another gay Mormon suicide, this time by a seventeen year-old boy in the town of Mountain Green, Utah, more than three hundred people are expected to attend a May 1 community speak-out and vigil against bullying and suicide at the Ogden, Utah amphitheater. Sources are reporting seventeen year-old Jack Denton Reese ended his life on Sunday, April 22. He had been bullied at school. After his death, students at his Ogden-area high school wore their Sunday best to school to remember him.
A local United Church of Christ is donating the candles for the vigil. Organizer Marian Edmonds, pastor of City of Hope Church in Salt Lake City and organizer of the OUTReach resource center in Ogden, will staff a table at the event to recruit mentors to help work with LGBT young people to prevent suicide. And Mormons are volunteering to speak, including Bonnie Flint, an LDS mother and educator. “It is especially important that member of the LDS faith stand up against discrimination and bigotry,” she writes. “Others are watching us. In the most recent LDS General Conference, President Dieter Uchtdorf [of the LDS Church's First Presidency] reminded us that we are to love, forgive, and avoid judging others. Like the family of Lehi in the Book of Mormon, we are each in our own wilderness, wandering and hoping to find the best path back to God. We must all learn to love, support, and accept our brothers and sisters as they travel
through their wildernesses.”
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After doubts, some evangelical leaders put faith in Romney
April 30, 2012
Chicago Tribune (Illinois)
In October, Texas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress ignited a firestorm by calling Mormonism a “cult” and telling Republicans not to vote for Mitt Romney because the presidential aspirant was not a “competent Christian.”
Today, Jeffress is endorsing Romney.
He is just one of many evangelical Christian leaders putting aside their suspicion of the former Massachusetts governor, a Mormon, to support him against President Barack Obama ahead of this November’s election.
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Mitt Romney, evangelicals seek marriage of convenience
April 30, 2012
Mitt Romney and the Republican Party’s sizable bloc of evangelical voters are about to engage in a marriage of political convenience.
The presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s march to the nomination proceeded largely without strong backing from the conservative Christian community.
Instead, it helped propel Rick Santorum to victories in 11 states. It’s long regarded Romney as too moderate and too willing to change his views for political expedience. And his Mormon religion is off-putting to many.
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/04/30/3583937/mitt-romney-evangelicals-seek.html
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Is Romney Going to Make Peace With Evangelicals in Liberty Commencement Speech?
April 28, 2012
Christian Post
Just like Liberty students who live a more traditional student lifestyle, Bankole feels the school is as much her university as others. Yet because of her displeasure with the decision to invite Romney given the Baptist school’s huge differences with the foundational teachings of Mormonism, she is choosing to propose walking across the stage May 2013 even though she is graduating this year.
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Political Left or Right – Can America Lean Toward Politics and Stand Up Straight for God?
May 1, 2012
Albany Times-Union (New York)
When it comes to the evening news the term ‘Christian’ is batted about like the term ‘Conservative’, or ‘Left-leaning Liberal’. The specific term, ‘Mormon’ however, can bring more Americans to the edge of their seats. Andrew Jackson takes on the Mormon Faith of Mitt Romney (Faith Works, 2012), and lands some heavy punches with respect to the LDS; asking questions like, How deeply involved is he in the LDS?, and How deeply effected is he by that involvement? and finally, How can the most public of all leaders in the world make decisions based upon one of the most secretive religions in the world?
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Southern Utah: Home Of Spectacular National Parks (PHOTOS)
May 1, 2012
Huffington Post
This place got its name, meaning “place of refuge,” from Mormon pioneers who sought sanctuary after being kicked out of Illinois, Ohio and Missouri because of their “strange” religious beliefs. The Children of Israel are an “Old Testament people,” says author Wallace Stegner, “inheritors of the blessings of the tribe of Joseph.” Inspired by their prophet, Joseph Smith, and led by Brigham Young in 1846, they moved and settled in this “land that nobody wanted.”
The biblical names in the park reflect the Mormon influence: Court of the Patriarchs, the grotto at Angels Landing, Watchman Trail, Mt. Carmel Highway. But whatever your religion, you’ll marvel at the wondrously high cliffs and deep valleys which have been cut by the slow-moving Virgin River — and God’s hand in nature.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/olga-bonfiglio/southern-utah-home-of-spe_b_1464685.html
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Federal Trade Commission Attorney Refuses to Retract Anti-Mormon Comments
May 1, 2012
RushPR
During a break in a deposition, Ms. Guerard questioned Mr. Jeremy Johnson about how many people in Saint George, Utah are Mormon. Ms. Guerard went on to tell Mr. Johnson that she is a “real Christian” and that she goes to church with ex-Mormons, who are also now “real Christians”. Ryan Riddle Spokesman for www.EvilFTC.com, contends that Ms. Guerard referred to Mr. Johnson as a member of the “Mormon Mafia” when speaking with others about his case.
Mr. Riddle also contends that Mr. Johnson was subjected to additional questioning about his religious beliefs from FTC Chairman, Jon Leibowitz, prior to the Chairman voting to sue Mr. Johnson and to put his companies out of business.
During the hour-long interview, Chairman Leibowitz wanted to know if Mr. Johnson had served a mission for the Mormon Church. Chairman Leibowitz, who was appointed to head the FTC by President Obama in 2009, inquired into Mr. Johnson’s personal religious beliefs and demanded to know if Johnson and his family were actively involved with the Mormon Church. Shortly thereafter, Chairman Leibowitz ordered his staff to file a lawsuit against Johnson and his companies and freeze his assets.
“Why would a government agency be so obsessed with the Mormon religion?” asked Ryan Riddle spokesperson for the website. “Why would the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission demand to know about a person’s religious beliefs before making a decision on whether or not an agency of the Federal Government decided to sue that person? Is there a predisposed religious prejudice on the part of the FTC contributing to an obstruction of justice?”
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As governor, Romney faced challenge on gay marriage
May 1, 2012
Bellingham Herald (Washington)
Allies believe Romney’s ultimately unsuccessful efforts to stop gay marriages in Massachusetts were driven in part by a personal conviction shaped by his faith as a devout Mormon.
“It’s not just a political issue – he stands for something he believes in, his wife believes in,” said Kris Mineau, head of the conservative Massachusetts Family Institute, a group that worked closely with Romney on the citizens’ amendment to ban gay marriage. (The measure failed in the Legislature after Romney left office.)
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/05/01/2503883/as-governor-romney-faced-challenge.html
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