Mormon Modesty blogs noted in UK newspaper.

The UK Daily Mail has an article on Mormon Modesty blogs and fashion.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2049283/High-necklines-low-hemlines-The-rise-Mormon-modesty-blogs--fashion-bang-trend.html


It was given a sidebar headline on both their UK and US main pages.

Indianapolis to be part of "I am a Mormon" ad campaign.

The Indianapolis Star Newspaper had an article on October 3, 2011 on Indianapolis being a market for the "I am a Mormon" ad campaign. Other Indiana cities include Fort Wayne and South Bend.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011110030324

One of the main goals of the campaign is to prompt non-members to visit www.mormon.org and learn about the church and the members.

Some profiles of Indianapolis-area Mormons are:

http://mormon.org/me/1P9G/StephenMcFarland/
http://mormon.org/me/4GZ8/BrentonTylerStumpf/
http://mormon.org/me/18ZP/Walter/
http://mormon.org/me/43W6/Kimberly/
http://mormon.org/me/50T1/Allison/
http://mormon.org/me/6VY3/Bill/
http://mormon.org/me/6Q0N/PaulGillSr/ (He appears in the DVD "Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons")
http://mormon.org/me/6HWK/MichaelFowler/
http://mormon.org/me/6RGR/Gary/
http://mormon.org/me/6Q91/BrookeVandegriff/
http://mormon.org/me/2K82/Ross/
http://mormon.org/me/6YV3/Douglas/
http://mormon.org/me/6KH6/DianaDReynolds/
http://mormon.org/me/73PZ/Claudia/
http://mormon.org/me/731T/AlexaNoelleHurley/
http://mormon.org/me/73PZ/Claudia/
http://mormon.org/me/70HC/Steve/
http://mormon.org/me/7BVC/AlexClark/
http://mormon.org/me/33W7/AdrianKatschke/
http://mormon.org/me/6ZZM/Bill/
http://mormon.org/me/74SM/Thom/
http://mormon.org/me/1N4T/MatthewDunahee/
http://mormon.org/me/7313/Gabe/
http://mormon.org/me/6YN4/DavidPitcher/
http://mormon.org/me/6X8J/Kevin/
http://mormon.org/me/6W7Q/SteveKeim/
http://mormon.org/me/5QBC/Mark/

There's no such thing as bad publicity.

Preview of "Book of Mormon Musical" from the irreverent and raunchy creators of South Park. Opens March 24, 2011 on Broadway in New York City. Web site.

Location of Indianapolis (Carmel) temple announced.

01/24/2010. Journal entry. The Indianapolis Star newspaper has an article announcing the location of the Indianapolis temple. It's actually to be located in Carmel, the suburb immediately North of Indianapolis, at the Southwest corner of intersection of 116th Street and Spring Mill Rd.

That location is four blocks West of Meridian Street. Meridian is the center N/S street running through Indianapolis and Carmel. According to the map, it's close to Clarian North Medical Center and some fancy hotels.

Official church announcement here.

Church's Google outline of the property here, showing it's on the Southwest quadrant of that intersection. Using Google's distance-measuring tool (under Settings), and measuring the boundaries of the property, it looks to be 1,937,100 square feet or 44.5 acres. (Assuming the whole pond is included as per the note, and the boundaries squared off.)

KSL.com of Salt Lake also carried the announcement.

Related web sites:
temples.lds.org (official web site),
indianapolismormontemple.org (official web site),
ldschurchtemples.com (unofficial web site),
indianapolistemple.com (unofficial web site),
indianapolismormontemple.com (unofficial web site),
mormontemples.com (unofficial web site).

Indianapolis to get a Temple.

It was announced at the last conference that the church will build a temple in the Indianapolis area. Other temples announced at the same time: Hartford, Connecticut; Tijuana, Mexico; Urdaneta, Philippines; and Lisbon, Portugal.

(Update, Jan 24, 2011: The location for the Indianapolis temple has been announced.)

The following is from the Indianapolis West Stake President. Carmel is the suburb directly North of and contiguous to Indianapolis.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On Sunday I was privileged to meet with our Area Authority 70, Elder Lansing, and the other stake presidents in Indiana. We learned the following about the new Indianapolis Indiana Temple:

• It will be located in Carmel. The property has been identified, the purchase price agreed but the sale has not yet closed, so they will not disclose the exact location at this time.
  
• It is anticipated to be 50% larger than the Louisville Temple, near the scale of the recently-dedicated Gila Valley Temple in Arizona.
  
• It takes about three years from property purchase to temple dedication, so this might be anticipated in the Fall of 2013.
  
• Groundbreaking ceremonies typically occur one year from property purchase, so anticipate this in Fall of 2011.
  
• There are anticipated to be only three dedicatory sessions, with attendance by special invitation. All members will be invited to attend a closed-circuit broadcast in their meetinghouses. This will be for all baptized members 8 years and older who receive a special recommend from their bishop or branch president.

With this wonderful news, we feel blessed that the Lord sees Indiana Saints as a temple-worthy people, ready to sustain the work that will proceed in a House of the Lord. Our focus as individuals and families should now be to fulfill this expectation of our Father and His Son by becoming and remaining temple-worthy and engaging in preparation of names for temple work by indexing or direct ancestor research.

I bear you my testimony that the Savior Jesus Christ lives and that He will be in His temple in Indiana. Let us all prepare to come and rejoice in obtaining the blessings of the temple in our collective very near future.

Sincerely,

President Cowley

PS--you may pass this information along to your families and organization members.

------------

Related web sites:
temples.lds.org (official web site),
indianapolismormontemple.org (official web site),
ldschurchtemples.com (unofficial web site),
indianapolistemple.com (unofficial web site),
indianapolismormontemple.com (unofficial web site),
mormontemples.com (unofficial web site).

More Bookslingers! Yippee!

Kelsey recently reported that she took this idea and replicated it a few times.

I had previously found out that taxi driver Bill Cortelyou in the Boston area was doing this with non-English editions long before I started. And Vearl McBride of the Roanoke Virginia area also gives/offers copies of the Book of Mormon faster than I do.

Are there any more Book-of-Mormon-slingers out there?

Update: Geoff B at Millennial Star blog is now a slinger of books.

Update: Tatiana is now a slinger of the Book of Mormon.
 

Bangladeshis are smart!

To save power, Bangladesh bans suits and ties among government employees.

Another smart Bangladeshi, Nobel prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who pioneered micro-credit loans.

I hope they read the Bengali Book of Mormon.

The Chipmans are blogging from Piura Peru.

Mission President John Chipman and his wife Karen are blogging from the Piura Peru Mission. He was formerly the Indianapolis North Stake President, and then our Area Authority.

Their blog is open only to invited readers, so you have to write or call the mission office to get on the list of invitees:

- Peru Piura Mission
- Calle Los Naranjos, Manzana H, Lote 4
- Urb. Los Geranios
- Piura
- Peru, South America.

Phone # (from the US): 011-51-73-310-172

"011" gets you international long distance. "51" is Peru's country code. "73" is the area code, "310-172" is their local phone number.

Hallo Henderson, Nevada! We has ur mishunary.

07/19/2009. Journal entry. On Thursday I went to pick up the ward's two full-time missionaries to take them to the home of the couple who just got baptized. The senior companion, who had been in the ward for at least 6 months was just transfered out the day before. I made small talk with the new guy, where you from, etc, where's your family originally from, etc, Phillipines, do you speak Tagalog, no, but I can understand Ilokano. He was born in the states, but his older siblings and parents were born in the Phillipines, and his home ward is in Henderson Nevada.

When we're in the car, he starts asking me questions, asking if I blog etc. And it turns out he heard of me before he went on his mission. When he received his mission call to the Indiana Indianapolis mission, one of his ward members told him about me and this blog. Small world!

So a shout-out to the reader(s) in Henderson who "warned" their outgoing elder about me. We's got 'im!

(I just got back from icanhascheezburger.com, so dat's why the LOLspeak.)

Also a shout-out to the regular readers in Denver Colorado, Dayton Ohio, and Swedish American Hospital in Rockford Illinois.

Now with DIGG-ability.

I've added "Digg" buttons to the posts. And a button in the side bar for the blog as a whole.

John Chipman called to Piura Peru as Mission President.

On February 14, 2009, it was announced in Church News that our Area Authority John J. Chipman was called to serve as a mission president starting in July 2009.

Then on March 7, 2009, it was announced in Church News that he was assigned to the Peru Piura mission. I think it was formerly called the "Chiclayo" mission.

He is currently our Area Authority Seventy, and before that was the Indianapolis North Stake President.

-Update-: The Piura Peru mission address is:

Calle Los Naranjos, Manzana H, Lote 4
Urb. Los Geranios
Piura
Peru, South America.

General Phone (from the US): 011-51-73-310-172

(Note: "011", from the US, gets you international long distance. "51" is Peru's country code. "73" is the area code for Piura, "310-172" is their local phone number.)

-Update-: The Chipmans are now blogging at: calledtoserveperu.blogspot.com.   However, they've made their blog "private," so you will have to write, call, or email them to get permission to access their blog. (And I don't know their email address. Sorry.)

Also see: http://perumissionmoms.blogspot.com/

New Chinese Book of Mormon in Simplified Script.

The Chinese Book of Mormon received a new translation last year.

First, it was available in Traditional Script. That makes sense since most Chinese-speaking members are in Taiwan and Hong Kong where they use Traditional Script.

That translation is now available in Simplified Script, which is the version of script (characters) that is used by people in China (mainland China) and by most Chinese immigrants in the United States.

In other words, your Chinese investigators here in the United States (actually, everywhere except Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Indonesia) will likely want to read the Simplified Script version. This is the version I give out at most Chinese restaurants. However, there are some exceptions.

The pictures of the cover have not been updated on the ldscatalog.com web site. Here's a pic of the two new covers, the traditional is above, and the simplified below. The traditional script is catalog # 34407265, and the simplified is catalog # 34407266.

This is not just a new type-setting, it is a new translation. Both have the new footnotes, and both have "Guide to the Scriptures" in the back.

The traditional script reads top-down, and right to left.

The simplified script reads left to right.

Both Mandarin and Cantonese use the same written characters. Only the spoken word is different. The writing is the same for all Chinese dialects. So you don't need to ask which dialect they speak, just where they are from (China versus Hong Kong/Taiwan) to know which edition to offer them.

church (B.o.M.) ads on Drudge!

I just saw an ad for the Book of Mormon on www.drudgereport.com

It was the tall skyscraper ad in the right-most column.

Ex-mormon threatens LDS blogger with legal action.

This is interesting. A vociferous ex-mormon threatens LDS blogger with legal action:
http://mormonmission.blogspot.com/2008/09/apology.html

I don't know what the LDS blogger said about him, but note all that "christian love" that the ex-mormon has in his threatening letter.

Said blogger's wife also knew the ex-mormon and his family several years ago.

I don't know what the blogger originally said about the ex-mormon to get him so riled up, or whether it may have constituted libel or not, because the post in question has been removed by the blogger.

Granted, the blogger in question has written some outlandish things in the past, plenty of stuff to make you roll your eyes. But I think the LDS blogger in this case behaved in a much more Christ-like manner than the so-called "born again Christian" ex-mo.

Update:
As pointed out by one commenter, the blog post that got the ex-mo riled up is in Google's cache, if you want to cut and paste the link. I don't want to "hot link" to it. The original post doesn't look like it's actionable. It's clearly one man's opinion, and no different than a zillion other personal opinions you read on blogs. And since the ex-mo is now a public figure, performing music publicly, and public speaking against the LDS church, he no longer has standing to demand others remain silent about him.

Update:
The blogger in question has removed the post containing the threatening letter that he received from the ex-mo. Here it is in Google's cache, if you're interested, but it won't stay there long:
http://74.125.95.104/search?q=cache:5S39QcMW-soJ:mormonmission.blogspot.com/2008/09/apology.html+micah+wilder+apology&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

140 million copies of Book of Mormon distributed.

From a church press release:

Book of Mormon Reaches 140 Million Milestone

SALT LAKE CITY 28 August 2008 The 140 millionth copy of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ was recently distributed, passing another milestone in the book’s history. Since it was first published in 1830, the Book of Mormon has been taken worldwide by over a million missionaries. It is currently available in 107 languages.

On 2003, Book magazine named the Book of Mormon one of the "20 Books That Changed America." In October 2007, late Church President Gordon B. Hinckley described its modern influence: “Through all of these years critics have tried to explain it. They have spoken against it. They have ridiculed it. But it has outlived them all, and its influence today is greater than at any time in its history.”

The Book of Mormon has been described as the “keystone” of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church members accept it as scripture and use it side by side with the Bible in their preaching and personal study.

---

Also see article in Deseret News here.

Internet addiction: Geeks and SAHMs.

From the British "Telegraph",

Internet addiction is a "clinical disorder."

By Andy Bloxham, Last Updated: 5:23PM BST 19/06/2008, REUTERS

Obsessive internet use is a public health problem which is so serious it should be officially recognised as a clinical disorder, according to a leading psychiatrist.

Sufferers spend unhealthy amounts of time playing online games, viewing pornography or emailing.

They suffer four symptoms: They forget to eat and sleep; they need more advanced technology or more hours online as they develop 'resistance' to the pleasure given by their current system; if they are deprived of their computer, they experience genuine withdrawal symptoms. And in common with other addictions, the victims also begin to have more arguments, to suffer fatigue, to get lower marks in tests and to feel isolated from society.

Early research into the subject found highly educated, socially awkward men were the most likely sufferers but more recent work suggests it is now more of a problem for middle-aged women who are spending hours at home on their computers.

Psychiatrist Dr. Jerald Block said some sufferers were so addicted to the Internet that they required medication or even hospital treatment to curb the time they spent on the web.

He said: "The relationship is with the computer. It becomes a significant other to them. They exhaust emotions that they could experience in the real world on the computer through any number of mechanisms: emailing, gaming, porn."

He added: "It's much more acceptable for kids to talk about game use, whereas adults keep it a secret. Rather than having sex, or arguing with their wife or husband, or feeding their children, these adults are playing games."

Dr. Block, of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, in the USA, first made the claims in an editorial for the American Journal of Psychiatry.

British psychiatrists have previously reported that between five and 10 per cent of online users are internet addicts.

New Urdu Book of Mormon is out! Jan, 9, 2008.

01/09/2008. I just received the new Urdu Book of Mormon. This is the new full-translation, not "selections of."

It is the new standard size, and includes the usual pictures, and is printed in double columns.

It also has the border printed around every page, which I think is a custom in that part of the world to indicate that it is a holy book.

There are book headings and chapter headings, but no footnotes.

It's copyrighted 2007, and printed 8/2007.

Softcover catalog #, 35607-434.
Hardcover catalog #, 35606-434.

It's not on the ldscatalog.com web site yet, but you can order it by calling 1-801-240-3800.

Book of Mormon price increase: $.50. Jan 9, 2008.

01/09/2008. The Book of Mormon has gone up 50 cents in price. Soft-cover editions are now $2.50, and hard-cover edtions are now $3.00. Shipping is still free. Order by phone at 801-240-3800 or 800-537-5971; or online at www.ldscatalog.com

Indianapolis North Stake Pres interviewed in newspaper.

Indpls North stake pres and lawyer Paul H. Sinclair was interviewed in the Indianapolis Star, July 7, 2007.