The Strength of Any Nation is Rooted in the Walls of its Homes

On September 23, 1995 "The Family" was proclaimed to the world by Gordon B. Hinckley. This came at the end of an address to the world's largest organization of women, the Relief Society. He followed the reading of this inspired document with the statement, "The strength of any nation is rooted within the walls of its homes," which I chose to title this post. These ideas are not new, but they are forgotten by many. Listening to Pres. Obama's state of the union address one would think that the strength of the nation is dependent on the wealth of both individuals and families. Of the several times Obama mentioned families, only once was it not in reference to their financial standing, If the nation is in distress, it is not (only) a policy problem, but I'm willing to bet it's a problem in following the Lord's commands. And the root of a generation forgetting how merciful the Lord hath been can be found in errant families. Fathers and mothers not fulfilling their responsibilities, young children not being taught, the youth of a nation not being held accountable--these are the events which lead to national tribulation. They are what lead us to make those policy decisions and sleazy business moves. If we were a stronger nation, we would be more concerned about what happens in the walls of the home. And I don't know about you, but I'm all for making 'Merca a stronger country. I have included the proclamation at the end of my post because it is always a good idea to review the truths taught therein.

That's me at six weeks. From my very birth I was part of a family. That alone is a blessing that is all to often taken for granted. I was born within the bonds of matrimony to a father and mother who followed the tenets of this proclamation before it was even issued (Then again, nothing much had changed in 1995 as far as church doctrine goes, it was simply necessary to send this message to the world to warn all of the eternal nature of and responsibilities of members in families in order to protect from the ensuing onslaught of offenses to the idea of family, which we have witnessed at various times, in various ways over the past 15 years). I owe who I am today to the parents who fulfilled their divine calling as father and mother and provided me with opportunities to learn about the gospel and choose for myself my path in life.

A little over two years ago I got married in a ceremony binding me, Courtney and our future children together for all time and eternity. This week we celebrate that long awaited time when the 'future' becomes 'now' Our little girl was born a day before Thanksgiving, healthy and happy. This past week has opened my eyes to my new role as a father. The first night I waltzed around the hospital room bouncing my baby to get her to go to sleep I looked at her small face and I thought about the potential she has. One day she will have all the opportunities her mother and I have had, but only if we respect the responsibility of parenthood given us, just as our parents before us. I really believe that it is the family that keeps communities and nations going. When the family loses sight of its purposes and responsibilities, the children don't become the upstanding citizens this country (or any country, for that matter) needs--or in certain circumstances, there are no children at all! I just don't understand that. Having our little girl stare back into my eyes I can't think of why anyone wouldn't want to bring one of God's spirit children into this beautiful world. And now we'll do the best we can to raise her up right and prepare her to be a good mother that she may experience the lasting joy a family brings, just like we have.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

"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.

“All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

“In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally. UAdd a Note

“The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

“We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

“The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

“We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

“We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.”

Holidays and Hospitals

For those of you who didn't know, last Christmas didn't go too well. The greatest Christmas gift we recieved was an answer for the week and a half of supersonic migraines Courtney was having. Unfortunately the answer itself was viral meningitis, as we found out when the meninges-swelling symptoms peaked the night before Christmas, and Courtney and I spent the next day and a half in a Twin Falls hospital room. But that all ended and we were in good shape after that.
This Thanksgiving we celebrate yet another holiday from the confines of a hospital-this time in the maternity ward. Our little girl was born the day before Thanksgiving, and we're all in here until after dinner (only because we'd rather not leave at 4:00AM Friday morning, when our time is up). She is adorable. We are so thankful for our family and for the fine health care professionals who spend their holidays in hospitals to make things better for people like us. And we are thankful for our bundle of Thanksgiving joy (and that she does not look like a turkey like my brother did when he was born on Thanksgiving Day 20 years ago).

Boo!

So last month my friends and I were watching a couple of youtube videos by a group called mega64 including this and this. We came up with the idea that for Halloween we should be the ghosts from Mario and follow people around on campus, hiding our faces when they looked at us. Steve, Hyrum and I brainstormed about it and Steve and I worked on the boxes from Wednesday to Friday morning, and they looked awesome. We went all over campus, including the law library, Wilkinson center, and the Eyring, Clyde and Benson buildings. Here's a look at what went down.

Sometimes we chased friends

Sometimes we chased strangers

The Fire in the Dragon's Belly

I want to make sure everybody's aware of a great man who won the Nobel Peace Prize today for his outstanding fight for freedoms in a country hell-bent on keeping them from the people. This man would be Liu Xiaobo. He is preceded in winning this award by others like him who were defamed by their own country as terrorists and criminals (Yassar Arafat and Nelson Mandela). In 1989 he was in the United States when students began gathering at Tienanmen square. He decided to go back to join the movement. While in the airport a man asked him, "What do you think you'll do to help?" He didn't know, but he knew he had to go, and he came out of the incident as one of the leading figures of the movement, which earned him international acclaim but also a two year prison sentence. Nearly 20 years and two prison sentences later he authored Charter 08, which is a document addressing grievances to the Chinese government for human rights. This earned Liu an eleven year prison sentance, yet even greater international acclaim. I'm really happy he was honored as a Nobel Laureate today-I think it will make the human rights problems in China more of an issue on the international scale. Yet at the same time, the Dragon has become a monster of sorts. Their economic power has made them such a worldwide power player that other economies are dependent upon them to the point that there is no leverage that could pressure them to allow their people greater freedom. Whatever change occurs in China will have to be internal. Not some college professor at the University of Beijing, not some peasant's lawyer with a multi-billion dollar class action suit, and not religious following of a hundred million Chinese, but only a persuasive voice inside the party, that will only come to power, probably by Godfather-type action taken against the leaders of the party. Whatever does end up happening in the future, Liu Xiabo will be heralded as a hero for freedom.
On a separate not, when people like Liu win the award it really puts to shame certain laureates who win the award after doing jack squat for freedom, peace, or fraternity between nations (see 2007 and 2009).

Student Teaching

I'm two weeks into student teaching. I'm absolutely loving it. I teach two periods of junior high health alone and team teach another with another student teaching. At times I feel like I don't want to collaborate at all and I'd much rather just do the whole thing myself. But then I realize how blessed I am to have so much prep time and I think about what a different experience this is from other student teachers'.
First of all, my mentor teacher is great. She's been teaching for 12 years and never had a student teacher. For 11 years she taught science and has only taught health for 1 year, so she's just beginning to be a health teacher and is still open to new ideas. Lots of student teachers are stuck with mentor teachers who are totally stuck on doing things the same way they've been doing them for the past 25 years. My mentor teacher is awesome. She lets us come up with our own unit outlines and is fine with everything as long as we follow the state standards. It's really a liberating experience as opposed to what I've heard some of my friends going through. And even though we are her first student teachers, she's been a mentor teacher for quite some time, now, and is always willing to give advice and observe and help us become better teachers.
Second of all, It's SO NICE having so much time to prepare lessons, grade papers, evaluate how certain lessons went, and make the appropriate changes so I can do better next time (when I'm on my own). What this really feels like is a 'test run' sort of semester, where I have an idea of what I want to do as a teacher and I get to test it out in the classroom every day to see if it works. I feel like this should all be part of some grand thesis or disertation and that I should be collecting data and running regressions and getting a grad degree. To tell the truth, it's actually part of the only assignment that I have to turn in for the course, called the Teacher Work Sample. Basically I have to prove that I can do what I'm doing by putting it all on paper. I just happen to be in a position where I have the time and resources to put a lot of time into improving what I've done while bringing minimal work home. Quite the blessing, really.
Third, I'm not nearly as tired as I would be if I was standing up teaching 6 lessons a day. Wow, what a piece of work I'd be coming home from that. Instead, I'm teaching just half of that at the most, and I still have energy when I come home. That's really nice.
Lastly, my fellow student teacher has had different experiences and has different ideas than I do about how to teach. At some times, I feel like this is exactly why I don't want to team teach, but in all reality I should be greatful for the different ideas that she brings to the table. I'm only one man, and I'm willing to see good ideas of how I can help kids learn the material.
Other than those things, I really can't think of another reason I wouldn't want to do it myself. But if for nothing else, those four reasons are enough to make me grateful for the experience of team teaching. Overall I can't complain. I really enjoy all the free time, especially since I'll be needing it to study for my next two Praxis exams--Biology and Social Studies.

The Stole of Gratitude

I didn't even know this existed, and once I did know I didn't know what it was. When Courtney graduated she showed me this as she was buying her cap and gown:

"A stole is not a symbol of academic honor. It is an optional accessory that is worn during the commencement ceremony. After the ceremony, the new graduate presents the Stole of Gratitude to someone who provided extraordinary help or support, i.e. parents, relatives, or mentors who have helped with wisdom, words of support or financial assistance. Immediately after graduation, the graduate may take the stole from around his/her neck and place it around the neck of the recipient. More than one stole may be worn during commencement, symbolizing that there are multiple persons destined to receive a Stole of Gratitude."

She gave the stole to her father in a very emotional scene following the immensely boring graduation ceremony. Her father had a great deal to do with her academic pursuits and eventual graduation, and it was clear that before we knew what a Stole of Gratitude was, that he was destined to receive the Stole of Gratitude.

As I prepare to walk across the stage and receive my empty diploma cover from an aged professor dressed in the robes of the false priesthood it is not as clear to me to whom I would bestow a Stole of Gratitude. There have been a number of people to whom I feel indebted for the contribution they have made to my education, and no clear recipient of the Stole. Since I cannot clearly determine who should receive a Stole and I have no intention of spending $19 each a stole for each person I think of, I thought of recognizing those who have given their wisdom and words of support. These include professors, family, and maybe a friend or two.

Ray Desagun--High school economics and government teacher. At this age I was naive enough to think Libertarianism was pretty cool and that I wanted to be a speechwriter. What I gained from that class was more than just TINSTAFL, supply and demand and that Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein were both Jews, but I learned that I would enjoy teaching government.

Prof. Ray Christensen--Three years ago I was writing a personal statement in his PoliSci 200 class and he and I were discussing what subject I was passionate about in political science to figure out some topics I should write about, or what I would do after I graduated or something like that. I told him that I wasn't passionate about politics or the law, but about education. He then asked me why I was majoring in PS, and I said I was interested in politics and I liked learning about it, but that I didn't like writing about it (something I got over--but not easily). That discussion stuck with me as I continued to ponder on what I would ever do with my degree. I credit my decision to teach to this one conversation, to his questioning of my plans for the future.

Prof. Legrand Richards--I took the class "Foundations of Education" at the advice of my advisor when I told her I wanted to go into education. By luck of the draw, I picked this class. We read some excellent literature and related it to education, and more importantly, teaching. The elementary education majors in this class with me were less than interested in the material, but for me it made a great impact. After going through the weekly readings I absolutely fell in love with the idea of being an educator.

Cougar Hall--He's the advisor for school health education majors, and taught the first health class I took: Sexual Education in the Curriculum. It was in the practicum class, though, that I took from him I got really excited to teach. I will be forever grateful for being introduced to The Education of Little Bear, and for the example he showed of the excitement he had for teaching. Not long ago he was a high school health teacher, and I was recently told by one of the individuals responsible for hiring him at BYU that he was the best teacher the principal at Timp High had ever seen in his 30+ years of experience. That really isn't that hard to believe. I hope I can do somewhere near as good a job as he has done in my years ahead.

Coach--My first inspiration to teach came from my dad, who has taught math for just over 20 years now. His worthiness of the Stole can be traced to his simple instruction to me as a child, "Be smart, don't fart." Such wisdom cannot be found in the lines of textbooks or even scripture. He always showed interest in my college education when I was studying political science, but since my switch to education, I've really had some good discussions about the wants and needs of the system. He has brought up many things that I want to look at and evaluate on a policy level and he has helped me grow even more interested in my ventures into education.

Courtney--When I didn't get an internship with the Utah State Legislature I looked long and hard at what I was going to do with my life and degree. I wanted to go into education policy, but after I had taken The Sociology of Education, I decided that I couldn't do so without teaching. Courtney, who had changed her graduation plans to meet mine so we would be done at the same time, was very supportive and even found the shortest teaching major for me to complete. She has been hard at work for the past year, allowing me to go to school without necessarily needing to work, and take 51 credits over the last year. I am so grateful for Courtney's help in coming to where I am today.

I guess this really turned into a 'who influenced me to be a teacher,' but that has been the motive of my education for the last two years. The work I have done in school is directly related to me wanting to teach and improve education, so anyone who influenced me in my desire to go into education is hereby a recipient of this blogStole.

A Few Random Rants

This may seem a little out of place given the subjects of my previous posts, but these are some things I've thought quite a bit about recently and think they need to be said.

• Skinny Jeans--I hate skinny jeans. They aren't just unflattering (on everybody), they're absolutely disgusting. It's like girls spray paint their legs in blue denim (or purple or pink, the other two most popular colors) and walk outside. The worst part of this is that you can't tell people that they don't look good in skinny jeans because it will prompt the response, "You think my body's ugly?" like I'm telling Rosanne Barr to please not wear a halter top and low riders. It's totally different, your body is not ugly, I just don't want to see every nook and curve when I see people on the street. Seriously, it's like living in a nudist colony where people spray paint their body below their abdomens and wear really baggy shirts (who comes up with these trends, anyways?). And boys--No, I'm sick of not knowing your gender until I hear you talk, and even that's not a dead giveaway. This annoys me to no end. I've never anxiously awaited the next new fad as much as I do now.
• Frosted Shredded Wheat--for the record, I buy the Malt-O-Meal brand bag of Frosted Mini Scooters. I really like these things-possibly my favorite cereal. They're whole grain, they're fortified with vitamins, and one side of each mini is frosted so I feel at least half adult-half kid eating them. As you may have noticed, many products have gotten smaller over the years: McDonalds hamburgers the amount of frosting in an Oreo, and Beto's Burritto. Other products have gotten bigger: movie popcorn, pop cans, and a small order of french fries. The latter happened to frosted mini wheats. In the bag I just bought, they're all frosted like crazy! Before it was just a spattering of sugar, you know, where you can still see the wheat, but now it's fully loaded. This had terribly disrupted the half adult-half kid balance. I feel like I'm six again, drooling over a bowl of Lucky Charms or Cookie Crisp (which my mom would never buy me, and I've still never had. I think I like her cookies better anyways). It pains me to say that I may be in search of a new cereal...but there's no harm in trying one more bag.
• The three conditions of bike riders riding when they aren's supposed to--under these three conditions I feel like totally broad-siding the rider. Hope you're wearing a helmet.
  

1. On campus during the ten minutes before the hour: I admit, this rule is not as known as it should be. I have seen people get ticketed, but I want to see more. People should know that if I ever, EVER, get hit by a cyclist on campus, I will take you out, then take off your front tire (as long as you have quick release locks) and throw it on the roof of the nearest building on campus (unless it's the SWKT, in which case I will roll it down the RB hill).
2. On the sidewalk: Taxpayers have paid for bike lanes or wide streets everywhere in this city. I know the hustle and bustle of traffic is tough, but if you'd like to use the sideWALK I suggest you WALK, not ride.
3. In the dark without a light: You know the worst part about this one? It's when people say excuse me to pass you on their bike on the sidewalk at night when there's a bike lane marked and you don't know they're even there because they don't have a light. And please make sure you have reflectors; I really don't want to run you over.

• Cell Phones going off in class--So yesterday this cell phone went off in my class and I thought it was right next to me, but no, it was all the way across the classroom, it was just so loud Gene Simmons would even ask him to turn it down a bit. I look across and it's the really annoying kid in the class who thinks he's the professor's favorite and going to Med school, yada yada yada. Well, not only does he take forever (because he's HUGE) to realize it's his phone and get up, but as he's walking to the back of the class, he ANSWERS HIS PHONE AND STARTS TALKING. I was so mad. If I was the girl who was making her presentation I would be so offended. Heck, I was offended and I wasn't even listening to the presentation. Then he comes back in the class and starts explaining to the professor what the phone call was about, which brings me to my next point-
• Useless comments in class--I absolutely hate this class because really annoying guy and a slew of others think that stories about exceptionalist chronic diseases in their families are important enough for the rest of the class to suffer through. If the doctor didn't have an answer, our professor likely won't either. So much time is wasted in this class, I feel like I'm in a Three Stooges cartoon with 37 stooges.
• Overtime in school--I love overtime in sports. Unlike most people I really don't mind overtime in sacrament meeting (shorter sharing time and singing time in primary). But school is no place for overtime. If you are giving a presentation, keep it to the time allotted for it. In the class with really annoying guy, we generally have four presentations a day (because the professor insists that someone else do her job). We are each allotted 5 minutes for our presentation. Each class how long do we spend on presentations? Close to an hour and a half. Needless to say, we are two class periods behind in material and only have three left.

That's all I'm going to write now because I have to go to a nutrition class where people make comments like unto those of RAG. Luckily I have a book to read.