Thus far, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has:

• Blocked and shut down transit bridges in Portland, Chicago and Seattle.
• Injured dozens of police officers.
• Littered the lawns of universities, public parks and churches with trash, abandoned tents, drug paraphernalia and blocked countless roads and byways.
• Interrupted the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of everyday employed people.

What have they accomplished? Better yet, what are their goals? Are they united or are they a group of people whining about their lives without doing anything to actually change that direction? Thus far, all I have seen is the interruption of regular, everyday hardworking people’s lives in OWS’s attempts to make somebody pay. These employed people have to leave home hours early and arrive home hours late, taking away from valuable time with their families, just to get through the crowds.

Believe me, I want a full-time job that provides for my needs, with a little extra to put away for rainy day. I want affordable healthcare. I want affordable rates for home and student loans. I want to be able to provide for myself and (someday) a family.

But what satisfaction would come in life if all of that were handed to me on a silver platter? If I have learned one thing from reading about my family history (Mormon and proud!), it is that my ancestors worked hard; they labored hard all day, every day to provide a roof and food for eachother. They didn’t have much, but they appreciated and loved what they had. Some of them worked two and three jobs to make ends meet.

Am I frustrated with how the banks have been operated by their boards? Yes, absolutely. Do I want, hope for and welcome a change? Yes, absolutely. Does their “movement” have any chance of making positive change in a good direction? No, I don’t believe it does. If they want to change the way the banks operate, they get to VOTE their current elected officials out of Congress! The existing laws that can help the situation aren’t enforced and any new laws that might help willl not be passed by those in office now.

These OWS people want jobs? McDonalds in North Dakota has a starting wage of $15 and hour. They want healthcare? They want an education? Go work hard. Don’t expect somebody else to pay for it, and don’t punish everyone in the town or city you live in who is trying to work just as hard as you claim to be.

Since the early days of the Church’s foundings, the leaders have pressed for the membership to marry young (18-21 is preferable). But in recent years, members have been putting marriage off, waiting for a more financially solvent time to begin such a daunting commitment as a family.

With this new approach to marriage, many have speculated that the Church will soon return to it’s original practice of prophetically arranged marriages; in which the President of the Church decides who will marry whom.

It is not yet apparent how the general membership of the Church will receive this news.

*This is a JOKE. Please, do not think any less of the good ol’ Mormons just because I like to poke fun at them… ’cause I am one!

While studying this morning, I read a passage in a teacher’s manual that is used to teach children in my Church. This is a simple, beautiful description of why our Savior, Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemane, was nailed to a cross at Golgotha, died and was raised up again three days later.

“Shortly before Jesus Christ died on the cross, he and his Apostles went to a garden called Gethsemane. Three of the Apostles—Peter, James, and John—went into the garden with him. They waited a short distance away while Jesus went farther into the garden and prayed to Heavenly Father. Jesus knew that he would have to suffer for us so that we could repent and be forgiven of our sins. In the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, Jesus suffered great pain for us. He suffered for our sins, or the wrong things we do…

The Atonement means that Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins so that we could repent and be forgiven. He did this because he loves us and because he wanted to make it possible for us to repent and be clean. We say that he atoned for our sins and wrong choices…

Heavenly Father loves us, too, and wants each one of us to repent and live with him again. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven for sins and wrong choices we make…”

Source: http://lds.org/manual/primary-3-choose-the-right-b/lesson-22-the-atonement-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng

I also enjoyed reading the 3rd Article of Faith of the Church:

“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”

Source: http://lds.org/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1.3?lang=eng#2

What a wonderful message! Jesus Christ, the Creator, Savior and Redeemer of all came here to perform a singular task. A task that is matched by no action, word or deed that has ever happened or ever will; He came to save us all from our sins. “For all have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

This eternally saving, binding power is available to us all! Each struggle, temptation and threat to our spiritual (and often physical) safety and success can be overcome through the power of the Atonement of Christ.

I love being part of a work that acknowledges the weakness of everyone, and honors our ability to rise from the depths of the deepest, darkest pits of living hell on earth to transform ourselves (through Christ) into beings of Light, Love and Hope.

No other message offers such strength, joy and change than that of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This power is incalculable, and yet exists in abundance for each of us to participate. My church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is one of love! We invite everyone, everywhere to listen to the message of Christ and be saved through Him!

“For in him we live, and move, and have our being…for we are also his offspring.” (Acts 17:28)
For more information about Jesus Christ, visit http://JesusChrist.lds.org/.

Glory be to God!

Yet still I feel her. Upon laying my head down to sleep, I have felt Mother tucking me in. While sitting in the House of the Lord, I heard her speaking words of Love and comfort to me; words that only she could have said to uplift my spirit. While talking with my Father and brother, I have felt her sitting there with us; telling us that she Loves us.

So often I have heard that upon our departure from this mortal life, we are done. That’s it! No more living. There are few greater fallacies than the claim that this life is all there is! I know from sacred, personal experiences that the “dead” from this world do live on; they are intimately aware of us and our needs. They are positioned to assist us with our greatest fears, struggles and trials, far more than they could have in this life.

Such experiences have solidified my faith in Heavenly Father’s plan; that great Plan of Happiness. Though taught in various forms worldwide, I cannot express my gratitude to know the full extend of that plan. We are eternal beings! Our lives neither began upon our birth in this mortal world, no do they end upon leaving it! Our Savior, Christ, has atoned for the sins, weakness, pain and sickness of all humanity; such that we have full right to the gift of salvation, and full access to exhalation, should we choose it.

I wish that I could adequately relate how grateful I am that my Mother is no longer suffering physical pain, as well as her ability to influence and guide me with great power, as the Lord deems necessary. I am also grateful for the closeness, care and concern that has grown even deeper between Dad, my brother, nephew, sister-in-law and I. Though we miss our Matriarch, we have come to depend our each other and the Lord so much more.

What a great and Loving God we have!

Say your Hail Mary’s, praise Allah and feed the poor: your prayers have been answered!

Verizon Wireless announced today that the Apple iPhone 4 will be coming to the Nation’s Most Reliable Network. Pre-orders for existing customers can be made online staring Feb. 3rd, 2011, with general orders opening up on Feb. 10th. (Perhaps Verizon/Apple will put out some awesome commercials during the Superbowl, reminiscent of Apple’s infamous release of Macintosh in 1984.)

While details of the data plans and tethering charges have not yet been released, the cost of the phone is as follows:

• 16GB – $199 w/ 2-year contract
• 32GB – $299 w/ 2-year contract

Verizon declined to comment on pricing plans, utilization of data during calls, download speed and tethering pricing. Though not uncommon for Verizon to be nearly as secretive as Apple, it would have been beneficial to offer existing AT&T customers a great incentive to switch.

A quick review of Verizon’s Getting Ready Guide for existing customers reveals one big hiccup for me; all existing voicemail’s will be lost upon transfer to the iPhone. While everyone else may not be the virtual pack-rat that I am; there must be more than a few people out there that hoard their voicemails with the same fervor of Scrat in Ice Age.

Don’t get me wrong, though; I am stoked for the iPhone to come to my favorite network. Perhaps the biggest point to consider though– is it worth extending a contract now with the iPhone 4, or is it best to wait until June when they will probably release the iPhone 5?

Source: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/iphone.jsp

Eulogy: Written by Jann Peterson, and given by Wanda Cox.

Charlene Gayle Whitaker was born on January 8, 1950 to Winnifred Elizabeth Corson and James Darrel Slayden in Cedar City, Utah. At only a few days old, she moved to Southern California where she lived most of her life, except for the last several years living here in Utah. She grew up in Chino, El Monte and Covina, California where she graduated from Northeastern High School. She also attended Chaffey College and Beauty School, where she received her Cosmetology License. She married Howard (Bud) Whitaker on February 5, 1977 in Pico Rivera, CA and their marriage was later solemnized in the Los Angeles temple for time and all eternity. They moved to Alta Loma where they raised two sons, Chad and Derek.

Charlene worked out of her home doing nails while in California and more recently in utah, she worked at JoAnn Fabric where she was the manager of the Viking Sewing Department. As early as two months ago, she still had a desire to go back to work. Charlene had a work ethic that included being honest, arriving at her job early and staying late. She loved to do machine embroidery and was able to each others while she worked.

Charlene could make anything. She was particularly skilled at sewing, toll painting and handcraft. She was so creative and it showed in every aspect of her life, from painting her nails to coordinate with a particular holiday to wearing colorful clothes and hats. She turned objects that didn’t look so good into something that looked like a million dollars and made gift that she would give away to her friends and neighbors. She loved serving and making things for others and recently made bookmarks for people in her ward when they had a birthday. These are just some examples of her creativity at work.

Their friends, Brenda and Terry of 35 yrs, told of the time when Bud and Charlene had invited them to go square dancing but they didn’t want to do it. They were very persistent about going and finally the couple said,”let’s just do it once and then tell Bud and Charlene we don’t like it and then we won’t have to do it again.” They went the first time and loved it and continued to do it for many years.

Charlene had a good sense of humor and enjoyed joking with her family and they in turn joked around with her. Chad tells of the time when he was about 12 and had hung a bucket of water just inside his bedroom door. He called to Derek to come back to the bedroom. Derek wouldn’t come so Chad just kept calling out for him to come. Finally, Charlene had had enough of the yelling back and forth so she went to Chad’s room to tell him to knock it off. Chad was surprised to see him Mom and tried to tell her not to come any further and at the same time he looked up at the bucket. Charlene looked up and for some reason the bucket was balancing on the door instead of dumping all over her. She turned and walked out and Chad followed to apologize and found his Mom leaning over with her head in the kitchen sink and he thought she was crying. As he leaned over to apologize, he saw mascara running down her cheeks because she was laughing so hard. She said to Chad, “That was funny – don’t do it again.”

She served her family in many ways, especially when the boys were younger, as team Mom to their ball teams. The banners she made for the teams were hand drawn and painted. When they moved to Utah it was hard for her to be so far away from her grandsons because she loved having them around. She and Bud would drive to California and pick them up and bring them back to Utah so she could keep “Grandmothering” them. And then she had Kayden to keep her going. Derek tells of the time when he had just started his first semester of college and he was struggling with the adjustment of school. Things were not going well one night, and he decided to just get in his car and drive the three hours it takes to get home. When he got there, he and Charlene sat on the kitchen floor and talked through the night. She helped him and said only the things that Mom can say. He went back to school the next day.

Charlene and Bud’s home was open to all who needed a place to stay. her brother, Jim, tells of when he and his brother were young and Charlene was older and had moved away from home, she would always make a point of inviting them over to her place to spend time with them. Many family and friends have been welcomed where Charlene could care for them.

Charlene struggled with health issues throughout her life, specifically diabetes from a young age and then later with cancerous lung and brain tumors. She was a fighter and did everything possible to beat it. She was appreciative of the help that was given to her and especially the priests for bringing the sacrament each Sunday. She has a love for her Savior and wasn’t afraid to die.

Of all the traits that can be said of Charlene; her creativity or sense of humor, her willingness to do things for others or welcome them into her home; the most important attribute that emerges, as we speak of this special woman, is that she was very devoted to her family and friends.

We pay tribute Today to Charlene Whitaker; a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, a friend. She is survived by her loving husband, Howard (Bud); two sons, Chad and Derek; two brothers, James and Michael Slayden; and three loving grandsons.

On the flip side, I have experienced some conversations with other friends that were, for lack of a better term, a complete waste of good air. It seemed that regardless of what my views were, or how much I listened to and respected their views, unless they were in direct correlation with what the other person said or thought, I was chastised and mocked for my beliefs. I was called “old-fashioned,” “ill-informed,” and my personal favorite, “ignorant.”

It seems that the current definition of “discussion” is, “Give me my Truth, or I will give you my Hate.”

When did society come to a point that an opposing view, by nature of it being different from one’s own view, is wrong and ignorant? Haven’t some of the most rewarding ideas in our history come from open discourse of opposing views? (Think about it.. the Magna Carta, the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, etc.)

I do not have much to say other than the questions posed in the previous paragraph. I enjoy open discourse and encourage others to listen to the views of those with whom they completely disagree. There might just be more in common than previously recognized.

My mind has been widened and my spirit has been uplifted by hearing beliefs and philosophies that are not my own.
For that perspective I am ever-thankful to Father in Heaven!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Since I was in the 6th grade, she has struggled with cancer in various forms. The past two years have been especially bad given that the cancer in her brain has grown, despite various surgeries and treatments. As this has happened, I have seen this beautiful woman slowly decay physically. Her speech began to slur, eventually leading to an inability to communicate at all. She lost her appetite, which left her unable to maintain body strength; leaving my Father, Brother and I to assist her with every facet of her life.

It has been our honor to assist her through all of this. Times have been tough; though I have constantly felt the Love of Jesus Christ resting upon our home.

Today we had one such moment that I will always treasure.

A lady from my Mom’s local church came by to visit with Mom and give her a beautiful necklace made just for her. We had the usual difficulty communicating with Mom, though she did seem to understand a little more clearly today than before. After her visit, I helped Mom finish her lunch and then helped her into bed.

Usually, it is quite a laborious task to get her into bed. With her unable to help, she is pretty much “dead weight”. But today, she helped quite a lot. Almost instantly though, she seemed to “wake up” from months of incoherence. She looked at me and said, “I love you so darn much, Derek!” I almost could not believe my ears! Not only had she said a full sentence, but she was able to put emphasis clearly on each word. I immediately sat down beside her and said, “I Love You too, Mama.”

..I should back up for a moment. You see, Mom’s ability to speak lapsed the most while I was in California this last July. Because I was gone then, I haven’t had the opportunity to converse with her since before I left. That made today all the more special to me.

We proceeded to have a conversation for several minutes. She expressed her Love for me, as well as how proud to have me as her son (though I jokingly say that second part was her medication talking!). I took a brief recess to call my Dad and Brother (they were at the store and work, respectively) to tell them to come home asap. I returned back to Mom to continue the conversation. She told me how she felt worried about us boys; wondering how we are doing. I assured her that though it has been hard, we Love her and are honored to care for her. I assured her that my Brother, Dad and I are well. She shared that she didn’t know what she wanted to do; to live with the pain or to pass on to our Father above. I promised her that as long as she wanted to stay, we would care for her and keep her comfortable; but when her time comes, I invited her to go home to Heaven.

Mom asked me to give her a priesthood blessing (as an Elder in the LDS Church I have the ability to do so). It was an uplifting and beautiful moment; being able to lay my hands on my Mother’s head and offer a blessing from her God meant just for her. Both of us had faces strewn with tears of joy and peace.

As our discourse continued, her speech began to lapse. Though there was the occasional word that gave hint to what she wanted to say. When my Dad and Brother arrived, we gathered around her and had a nice time talking and joking together as a family.

My Mother expressed well over two-dozen times today her great Love for all of us. Even when she was going to bed this evening she told my Dad how worried she was about my Brother and I. She is truly a magnificent Mother. During our discourse, we talked about family trips, conversations and even a few fights that we’d had. It gave me the opportunity to apologize, as her the same (though she didn’t have need to.)

Words cannot accurately express how I am feeling currently. The spirit of God has filled my heart and our home today. Whatever the future holds, I know that God is in it. That gives me great comfort. God is truly Good.

Today I just want to say that I Love my Mother. She has done so much for myself and my family and asked for near-to-nothing in return. It is an honor to be the son of Charlene Whitaker.

I Love You, Mommy.