Even though there are a lot of Polynesians in our Ward, I don't find myself very often at a luau. This week however, I went to two. 40 pounds later, it was a tight fit putting on my church pants today. One was for a graduation party, and the other was for a baptism. The food was great, but trying a side of everything at a luau is a herculean effort. I can say that I liked pretty much everything except the pig skin. Apparently, it's supposed to be good. Oh well.
Grades came out. I finished off my community college career with a 4.0 which is cool. Cal Poly should get my transcripts soon and then I'll be all set for the Fall. My welding class doesn't start until next week. That should be fancy.
Mer and I are getting ready for the move down to SLO. We went down there for a job interview a week or so ago. She didn't get the job, but we did see a one-bedroom and probably will get the unit. The issue is the move-in date. We were offered a move-in date for July 18th. Our lease is up at the end of July so we'll have to see if we can get out two weeks early because we don't want to double pay.
Today for Father's day, I wore my dad's Tasmanian Devil (Taz from Looney Tunes) tie. I was expecting my class to make fun of me for it and then I could blame my dad for continuing to embarrass me from the grave. I ended up getting not one, not two, but three compliments from my students, which has never happened before. Oh well. I always thought that my dad's tastes were out of style but it appears they're back in.
Besides teaching Sunday School, I also had the Elder's Quorum lesson. I thought the topics for the lessons had pretty interesting timing with current events. I don't know if you've heard about it, not all the people I've talked to about it have, but there's been some recent news this past week about two members of the church facing disciplinary action from the church for apostasy. The lessons were on the priesthood and priesthood keys, which was interesting because one of the members in the news was the founder of a website and organization that apparently wanted women to hold the priesthood and had even held demonstrations in SLC where women tried to enter the general priesthood session of general conference.
In class we of course talked about it, but it didn't occupy the whole discussion which was good. I really hope the media doesn't give this much more attention. From the comments I've seen on Facebook and news websites, there's definitely a lot of different opinions about if and why women should hold the priesthood. I don't think it's worth much energy to engage others in the internet debate since those arguing for it seem to have very secular views of the church and don't believe in following the counsel of the Lord's anointed. Trying to do so would be like trying to play tennis on a volleyball court with a baseball bat against a stick of deodorant. It just doesn't make any sense, there's too much going on, and the discussion isn't on the right playing field.
Those with a Gospel perspective see priesthood ordination selection as God's decision communicated solely through his servants, the leaders of the church, whereas others see the issue as a women's rights cause to be settled through protest, coercion, and/or legal action. I don't see how someone can claim to be a faithful member of the LDS church after "fighting" the church, trying to harm it, and leading other members astray after receiving direct counsel to stop. In my opinion, you're either a liar, or you have no idea who you are or what you believe. It's not for any man or woman to say who gets to be ordained to the priesthood. As far as I know, that day when women are ordained could very well come. If it does, it will be through revelation to the Lord's anointed, not from any other person(s) or organization. 'Nuff said.
In class we of course talked about it, but it didn't occupy the whole discussion which was good. I really hope the media doesn't give this much more attention. From the comments I've seen on Facebook and news websites, there's definitely a lot of different opinions about if and why women should hold the priesthood. I don't think it's worth much energy to engage others in the internet debate since those arguing for it seem to have very secular views of the church and don't believe in following the counsel of the Lord's anointed. Trying to do so would be like trying to play tennis on a volleyball court with a baseball bat against a stick of deodorant. It just doesn't make any sense, there's too much going on, and the discussion isn't on the right playing field.Those with a Gospel perspective see priesthood ordination selection as God's decision communicated solely through his servants, the leaders of the church, whereas others see the issue as a women's rights cause to be settled through protest, coercion, and/or legal action. I don't see how someone can claim to be a faithful member of the LDS church after "fighting" the church, trying to harm it, and leading other members astray after receiving direct counsel to stop. In my opinion, you're either a liar, or you have no idea who you are or what you believe. It's not for any man or woman to say who gets to be ordained to the priesthood. As far as I know, that day when women are ordained could very well come. If it does, it will be through revelation to the Lord's anointed, not from any other person(s) or organization. 'Nuff said.
The following was typed up by my wonderful wife while I was in the bathroom. I didn't delete it because it's all true. I just try to hold myself back sometimes from saying all this stuff because I didn't want this to be come the weekly "Charles loves Merilee" blog and then all of you would just skip it. Anyways, here it is:
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| Old Picture of Merilee at 3 weeks. So cute. |
I love my whole life. It's a special life. A wonderful, spectacular, and fantastic existence. I couldn't ask for more. My wife is not a goat. Nor will she ever be like unto a goat. Nor a rooster. Nor a newt.
