Here are some examples of Mormons and Mormon achievements recently highlighted in news venues across the United States.
- Orange County, California: Early morning seminary students in the Mission Viejo area were profiled in the Orange County Register on November 8. In a very complimentary article, 17-year-old seminary student Julia Knecht said, “I get a good feeling starting out my day here … If I ever miss a class I feel different; a little emptier.” Knecht sets several alarm clocks at night to make sure she wakes up in time for her early morning seminary class at 5:30.
Many Mormon students take a seminary class each year they are in high school. There are four one-year courses: Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants with church history. “Teaching these classes is one of the most difficult assignments in the church,” said Greg Briggs, former seminary supervisor, to the Orange County Register. “It’s a tremendous amount of work and sacrifice. We love those that can connect with the youth.”As a former early morning seminary teacher myself, I can vouch for the amount of work and sacrifice that the position takes. I can also vouch for the wonderful spirit it brings you that carries through your day, and the strength that this brings to the youth who participate. - University of Texas: A study about young adults and religion completed by Mark Regnerus, professor of sociology at the University of Texas, didn’t originally contain data on members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But after looking again at their research, Regnerus and his research team told the Deseret Morning News that “LDS young adults are much more likely than those of other faiths to attend as often as ever.”The study concerns whether young adults, newly on their own, continue to participate in the religion they were raised in. The Reverend Joel Nau, head of the Episcopal/Lutheran campus ministry at the University of Utah, told the Deseret Morning News that he admires the LDS Church for giving its young adults meaningful roles by sending them out to do missionary work. According to Nau, it sends them the message that “You are our future.”The LDS Church sends missionaries to teach the gospel throughout the world. Many of them are young men of ages nineteen to their early twenties. Many others are young women of similar ages. A recent article in a Michigan newspaper gives some insights into their lives and routines.
- Denver, Colorado: In a reprint of an article originally run in the Washington Post, roof gardens are discussed. Among those spotlighted is the garden on the roof of the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City Utah. The Conference Center is used for general conferences of the Church where the prophet and other leaders give counsel, as well as for other events. Joel M. Lerner, the author of the article, described it as “green on a monumental scale, with fountains, prairie, alpine meadow and woodland, including conifers and aspens. It is a landscape design on ground, vertical and overhead planes.” It’s always nice to receive a pat on the back for a job well done, and those who designed, planted, and maintain the garden at the Conference Center certainly deserve one.
- South Florida: A profile on Miami Dolphins rookie John Beck discloses that Beck has an action figure of Captain Moroni from the Book of Mormon. He takes the figure to each game with him. Readers of the Book of Mormon may remember that Captain Moroni was a great general who led the Nephite armies and inspired them to victory. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and is accepted as scripture by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
