Acting With Christian Courage

This past week I was blessed with an opportunity to act with Christian Courage. One morning I was downstairs getting ready for my economics class when my sister, Kimberlee, came into the bathroom and told me that she needed help with something. Thinking that it had to do with our faulty printer, I followed her upstairs without asking questions. Upon reaching the office I was surprised to learn that it was not a technical problem, but rather a spiritual problem.

While my sister was on Facebook, an aquaintance that she had met on a recent cruise had begun to instant message her. Her aquaintance, who lived in an obscure European country, started to question her about what 'LDS' meant on her profile. When Kim explained that she belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that we were sometimes called Mormons, the girl began to harrass her with rude questions and proclaim that she had heard all about us. She said that her father, who was a Baptist preacher, told her that the Mormons didn't believe in Christ the same way that we did and that we weren't a Christian sect. (She also twisted a few other common Mormon stereotypes that I won't go into). As I sat down at the keyboard to answer her questions, I felt a spirit of peace come over me and I knew exactly what to say.

Although it's not like I converted her, I know that by calmly and politely answering her questions I may have overcome a few of her misconceptions regarding the Gospel. I'm grateful for the Spirit in my life and for the fact that it helped me to act with Christian Courage.

Save the Children: Kill Cookie Monster

I'm glad it's not just me who finds the fact that Sesame Street ditched Cookie Monster for "Vegetable Monster" (pictured here as Tofu Monster) absolutley ridiculous. When will people realized that they have taken things too far?

Cookie Monster was a well-beloved character and was so popular that he was featured in many games, toys and pinatas for children. Then all of a sudden the media comes up with this idea that kids are getting too fat. Obviously the best way to encourage them to eat healthier is to kill a fun, loveable character and replace him with a green imposter...Not. I don't know a single child who is more excited to eat vegetables now that there is a character devoted to their leafy-green consumption. What I do know however is that now Sesame Street's ratings are down and I'm glad.

Perhaps they will eventually achieve their goal of transforming all children into health-conscious freaks. So far they are just one step closer to their goal: more children are now willing and more excited to play outside, rather than watch a boring television show.