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Layton Utah Temple Likely

March 1, 2009 by rickety 19 Comments

Layton Utah Temple

According to Matt Martinich, one of the next temples to be announced will probably be built in Layton, Utah.

Matt has developed a quantitative method for identifying cities which are likely to have a new temple announced. His method considers these factors:

Long distances from an existing temple
Large number of stakes and districts
Stakes which have existed before 1981
Busy Saturday endowment schedule at the closest temple

Each potential temple is given a score called a Temple Likelihood Value (TLV). If the score is greater than 20, a future temple is likely. If the score is over 40, a future temple is almost certain. The Layton temple scores a TLV of 47. The Price Utah Temple is almost tied with a TLV of 46. But both are way behind the first place Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo Temple with a TLV of 60.5.

The Layton temple would be approximately six miles away from where I live in Kaysville, thus saving me a whole seven miles off the thirteen mile drive to the Bountiful temple. Now if we could just get a Kaysville Utah Temple…

Update

15 Mar 2009 Matt has updated his Temple Likelihood Value with a fifth element. Out of the 76 temples outside of the United States, only six exist in cities which do not have a mission based in them. The presence of a mission of the Church in a city increases the likelihood of a temple being announced in that city. He has not yet factored this in to his temple scale.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

February 28, 2009 by rickety 4 Comments

Bryson wishes me Happy Birthday

It was my birthday this week and in the email from Texas came a message from Bryson. Fortunately I was able to read it before it was eaten, or rather sucked to death.

Since Derek, Sarah, and Bryson moved to Texas we have kept in touch via webcam. For a week in March some of us will visit Texas, a trip we are looking forward to.
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What to Expect at a Mormon Church Service

February 25, 2009 by rickety Leave a Comment

A new website began in January 2009, Mormons Made Simple, has a mission to help set the record straight on what Mormons believe. It is not an official LDS Church website. The creators, Laurel and Doug, explain that with all the misinformation about Mormons on the web, they saw the need for plain and simple truth on the matter — YouTube style.

Laurel and Doug’s first foray into video production came during the campaign to pass Proposition 8 in California in 2008. They produced the video Proposition 8 — Made Simple over a weekend using a laptop, a Sharpie marker, and some photo slide-show software. They were pleasantly surprised when the video received over 350K views. That’s when they first began to realize the potential for simple, explanatory videos.

With the website being so new there are only two videos but more are promised. Embedded here is one of them called Attending a Mormon Church Service. It is accurate and helpful. I should point out that sometimes the meetings are in reverse order, in other words, Sacrament Meeting may be held last, as it is in my ward. If you want to see the other video, then go on right on over to Mormons Made Simple.

Missionary Dan Email #3 from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

February 23, 2009 by rickety 6 Comments

Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s third email from the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission.

;
Zaisan Hill, Mongolia. Daniel third from left.

Everyone looks great with the new baby! Congratulations!

Wow! Mongolia is truly incredible! The plane ride was really short — I was able to study a lot and also sleep. When we arrived at the mission home after some driving we instantly were thrown into the work here. It was a dream come true to see how organized this mission is. I feel like I have a million things to learn and it’s just what I’ve always wanted. Elder Weaver and I were even able to be in a new member lesson on Friday the day we got off the plane. We were so jet lagged — I love the feeling — it was such a challenge to pay attention. Reminded me of track. I was able to contribute a bit to the lesson.

The weather is warming up. We spent two hours in the Black market. It was freezing but I bought a coat and Mongolian traditional clothes. I am perfectly warm now. :) So far it’s has been amazing to see this country.

The people are incredible. We are allowed to walk up to people and talk to them about our church. Some missionaries said they don’t know what that one rule was about, the “they have to ask you why you are here” kind of thing. They are so, so receptive to the Gospel. The AP’s get 15 referrals for 20 contacted people. Our first day they took us out to start talking to people. I jumped at the opportunity. The Mongolians understand me! I just need to learn more words so I can talk more to them. I mostly said I came from America because Christ’s church helped my family and I know it can help yours. There is so much work to do here. The members are amazing, in the classes they teach about praying about the Book of Mormon and gaining a testimony.

[Read more…]

Utah Legislators Learn About Falcon Hill

February 22, 2009 by rickety 2 Comments

Falcon Hill October Groundbreaking. Photo credit: James Arrowood.

I work at Hill Air Force Base so I was interested to read about a presentation made to the Utah Legislature recently concerning Falcon Hill. This involves the construction of the largest Enhanced Use Lease project in the history of the Department of the Air Force. It officially began October 10, 2008 with a ground breaking ceremony held at the Hill Aerospace Museum.

I follow the blog of Becky Edwards, the incoming representative for Utah House District 20. She uses her site as a way to be communicative and accessible to her constituents. A recent post stated:

There was a great presentation to the legislators from Davis, Weber, and Cache counties from Falcon Hill, the National Aerospace Research Park at Hill Air Force Base. This is an exciting project with a tremendous economic growth potential for northern Davis County. In a nutshell it is an office park and high-technology research site, which will include hotel, restaurant and retail space. This project is estimated to eventually bring around 15,000 jobs to Davis County. An example of the type of job creation is the new Combat Search and Rescue (CSARX) program that will mean 1,250 military jobs with 6,250 additional supporting jobs for the mission, with a timeframe of 2013. The average salary of the supporting jobs for this project is $100K, an income 75% above the current state average. This really is an exciting one of a kind public-private collaborative effort that will benefit our area for years to come.

Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park is one of the first Enhanced Use Lease projects to reach the development phase.
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Email #2 from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

February 22, 2009 by rickety Leave a Comment

President and Sister Andersen very kindly sent these emails to update us on Daniel.

Daniel with President and Sister Andersen

Sister Andersen Email

After a long wait the “January Group” of foreign missionaries have arrived in Mongolia. You should have received an email from your son or daughter on Friday to let you know that they are here. In a meeting held Saturday morning the ten missionaries were paired with their trainers. Since then they have scattered to their various locations of service throughout Mongolia.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. You can use this email address or my husband’s.

Sister Andersen

President Andersen Email

22 February 2009

Dear Brother and Sister Willoughby,

I was excited to greet your son at the airport on February 19th. He looked tired after the long flight but was grateful to finally be here in Mongolia to begin his Mongolia missionary service. I know he has had excellent preparation in the MTC for his assignment here.

Your son will grow during his missionary service, both spiritually and emotionally. The Mongolian people are extremely kind and love to associate with our foreign missionaries. They have a deep desire to learn English. He will develop a taste for the local food and with reasonable care, it is safe to eat. He will develop a love for the Mongolian people and will develop a sincere desire to have them come unto Christ and be baptized into His Church. He will have many wonderful experiences to relate to you when he returns home at the end of his mission.

I had the opportunity of interviewing your son on February 20th. He was full of enthusiasm for the work. I feel assured that he will be an excellent representative of the Lord. We will do our best to ensure that your son has a fulfilling experience while serving here. Letters will be very important to him and I would encourage you to write weekly. You should also expect a weekly correspondence from him. Please let us know if you are not receiving regular mail.

Sister Andersen and I are committed to missionary service and have strong testimonies of the Restoration of the Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith. We love the Lord and we love these missionaries and our greatest desire is to see them succeed. Thank you for sharing your son with us and for your continued support in this great missionary effort. The attached photos were taken at Zaisan Hill overlooking Ulaanbaatar and the mission home on February 20th.

Sincerely,
President D. Allen Andersen

List of Daniel’s missionary posts.

Missionary Dan Email #1 from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

February 20, 2009 by rickety 2 Comments

Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s first email from the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission. Elder and Sister Hitchmough also write.

Zaisan Hill, Mongolia

Daniel’s Email

I made it to Mongolia perfectly fine. We are all safe and sound. I don’t have time right now to write more, we are talking to Mongolian people. I will have more time later.

Love, Elder Willoughby.

If anyone wishes to ask Daniel a question or to send him a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.

Hitchmough Email

Hello Brother and Sister Willoughby,

We are Elder and Sister Hitchmough, a senior couple serving as English Program Directors in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. We have just finished orienting Elder Willoughby and his companions.

Your son is a wonderful credit to you. He tells us that his dad is from Manchester. Sister Hitchmough was born in St. Helens and I was born in Liverpool. We have lived in Victoria, BC, Canada for the past 38 years but have retained our accents. We joined the Church in England in the early 60’s and left for Canada in 1971. Our recollection of Manchester is beating the Manchester Stake/District at a Regional basketball tournament. Were you around in the sixties?

We have attached a couple of photos taken the on Zaisan Hill the morning of the 20th. This is where Elder Maxwell dedicated Mongolia for the preaching of the gospel 15 years ago. It was about -25 Celsius this morning but everyone survived. Elder Willoughby will have a wonderful time here as the Mongolian people are tremendous.

Regards, Elder and Sister Hitchmough.

P.S. Elder Willoughby says you’re a City fan. I’m grateful for small mercies being a Liverpool supporter.

List of Daniel’s missionary posts.
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Senator Buttars says Homosexuality is a Perversion

February 18, 2009 by rickety 21 Comments

Senator Buttars

Today Senator Chris Buttars was in the news. Referring to homosexuality, he is reported to have said, among other things:

I believe the whole thing is immoral. What is the morals of a gay person? You can’t answer that, because anything goes. So now you’re moving toward a society that has no morals. [Homosexuality is] a perversion. They don’t want equality. They want superiority.

Predictably many were shocked and expressed their contempt. For example, there was this from homosexual rights activist Jacob Whipple:

It’s extremely offensive and inappropriate, especially for an elected official. It should not be tolerated.

And from Senator Scott McCoy, the only (thankfully) openly homosexual member of the Senate:

An apology is not going to do it at this point. I’m not sure I’d find an apology sincere anyway.