An Everyday Mormon

Recent demonstrations, protests, and petitions in the past month calling for solutions to systemic racism after George Floyd’s and thousands of others’ violent deaths by law enforcement has brought about some serious discussions on race in America. Never in my lifetime has any cause or call to action been so widely spoken about and seriously discussed by politicians and Americans alike. For perhaps the first time in the country’s history, a large portion of white Americans are acknowledging, confronting, and pushing to change systems of oppression that cater to and benefit the white community while discriminating people of color. This discussion and awareness has even reached my own predominantly white Latter-day Saint community in the United States. I’ve been encouraged by the reaction of many of my Latter-day Saint peers, sharing their own experiences and thoughts to stand up for our marginalized African American siblings. For example, my local congregation in Los Angeles hosted an...

This was originally posted on my personal Facebook account on June 2, 2020. Privilege is worrying about property damage instead of mourning the loss of thousands of lives to injustice. Privilege is fretting about riots during this past week instead of fearing for your life every time you raise your voice or encounter law enforcement in your everyday life. Privilege is feeling guilty for being silent or complicit in a system of racism instead of being victims of hundreds of years of systemic oppression and injustice. Nothing will change unless those with privilege and power start to listen to people of color, LGBTQ, and other marginalized groups. If we believe that #blacklivesmatter , then we must believe that black voices matter or else we are all talk, only caring about returning to the status quo that privileges us whites and not genuinely concerned with ending the injustice that people of color experience in our country every day. It’s important for me as a white, straight, male to ...

It feels like I haven’t written a blog post in a while.  I’ve been quite busy with a few things myself.  Whether it be the new workload I’m buried under called grad school or just winter malaise, although I can’t quite call this warm late-year LA weather winter.  It’s not that I don’t have the time to write, it’s more like the time when I don’t have something to do I’d rather just spend vegging and burning through another show on Hulu (after blazing through six seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore has become my new favorite in case you were wondering). I actually was reminded about my blog today while reading an article for class.  (Disclaimer: I still haven’t finished the article because I just jumped over to Word to type this bad boy out) The article was talking about archiving personal e-mails and blogs (notice a connection?).  You see, us everyday folks don’t really think about saving anything we create on the interwebs, whether that be emails, blo...

I originally gave this talk on June 9, 2019 in sacrament meeting of the Provo 42nd Young Single Adult Ward. After promising to unfold the mystery of the parable of the olive tree to us modern readers, Jacob admits that he fears that he might “get shaken from [his] firmness in the Spirit, and stumble because of [his] over anxiety for [his brethren]” [ Jacob 4:18 ].  I can relate to him as I stand in front of you all today.  When I give a talk, I usually prepare a few notes, a couple of quotes, and follow a loose outline; however, because of the importance and sensitivity of my topic today, I have written my talk out so that I will be able to share my complete thoughts and personal knowledge I have gained over the past several months through prayer and fasting on my chosen topic. In last year’s November General Conference, Elder Ulisses Soares taught us about how as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we can find greater strength in a dive...

Two archaeologists walk into a bar... This September I will be starting a Masters program in Information and Library Science with a Media Archival emphasis at UCLA.  Many of you are probably wondering: what the heck is that?  People who haven’t seen me in a while might be a little bit confused: weren’t you trying to become the next Indiana Jones?  For everybody interested, I thought I’d detail a little bit not only about what my master's program is about but my plan for the future and how I got to this point in my professional life. I enrolled in Brigham Young University as a freshman majoring in archaeology.  (Just so everyone’s on the same page, archaeology is the study of ancient civilizations and peoples, not dinosaurs which is paleontology.)  I really loved all my classes, professors, and fellow students in the program.  I had the opportunity as an undergraduate to do original research and even excavate in Petra, Jordan, three times!  Quite...

Recently I attended a Saturday night session of Stake Conference with members of my local congregation.  This meeting only happens once every six months, when a handful of close by congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meet together to hear direction and counsel from presiding church leaders in the area.  For the special occasion, I decided to deviate from the cultural norm of wearing a white button down shirt with a tie to church meetings, instead opting to wear a purple button down shirt with no tie. You would think this wouldn’t have any effect on me whatsoever.  After all it is just a shirt. Before I even talked to anybody, I felt a bit off.  I’ve always worn a white button down shirt to church events just like everybody else.  I had never worn anything else and rarely did other members of my local congregation here at BYU.  I felt unworthy to be there, matter out of place, and lacking in my faith. Later I had someone jokingly...

God isn’t a word we throw about much these days.  It still places a prominent place on the back of American currency and is occasionally seen on your religious friend’s Facebook post.  Maybe we can blame the ever decreasing number of religiously minded people. Many are worried about offending those that do not believe in a higher power and avoid the word, aiming to be more inclusive. While surveys have shown over the past fifty years Americans’ belief in God has declined, I think just as important is how people view God.  Our usage of the word “God” has changed because people’s view of God has diversified. God for one person might be a more traditional Christian one that gave Moses the Ten Commandments or may be an animistic, supernatural force.  Some may not be too concerned with who and what is God but belief in a vague higher power to provide hope for a better life. A Pew research poll conducted in April of 2018 showed that 56% of Americans believe in the God of t...