Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan

I am still feeling a need to revitalize the strength of the Belle Isle Branch. That said, I have become discouraged about Detroit's failed fight on blight. To me the surest sign of this is the forgotten promises of demolition. About a week ago I was going down a street where I had last been in Detroit back in December. Back then there were several houses with signs prosising soon the houses would be down. Those same houses had the same signs three to four months later. In other neighborhoods the city has abandoned putting any date on the signs. The worst example I know is a house in the 7 Mile and Evergreen area that has had up the sign promising demolition since 2014. Yesterday I was driving through the area south of McNichols east of Van Dyke. This area has blocks where probably 5 out of 50 past houses are left. Still, of those 5 remaining houses only maybe 2 are lived in. In fact there is at least one block in that area where the only think left are maybe three foundatio...

My long standing disagreement with some editors on Wikipedia has reached a boiling point. The article on Benjamin de Hoyos has been nominated for deletion. I am very frustrated about this. I am even more frustrated at what other articles may be deleted if this deletion is successful. I still think all the general authority seventies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are default notable, but even a lower level cut off seems not to gain much support. The article on Benjamin de Hoyos was not only supported by reference to the well researched Ensign and Church News articles. It was supported by coverage of actions of de Hoyos in such publications as the Salt Lake Tribune. This is a new throwing down of a guantlet. Indepth article coverage is now being claimed to have to have the person per se as the main subject, even when the person's actions are clearly the main focus. Area Presidents take clear and unequivocal actions, and yet the situation is ignored. I am tire...

'''Benjamín De Hoyos Estrada''' (born 20 February 1953) has been a [[general authority]] of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) since 2005. De Hoyos was born in [[Monterrey]], [[Nuevo León]], [[Mexico]], and grew up in northern Mexico. As a young man, he served a [[Mormon missionary|mission]] in the Mexico [[Hermosillo]] [[Mission (LDS Church)|Mission]], where he first met his wife Evelia Genesta Mendivil, who is a native of [[Ciudad Obregón]], [[Sonora]]. Mendivil had converted to the LDS Church while a teenager and was then serving as a [[Stake missionary]]. Benjamín and Evelia renewed their acquaintance later when he was working as a [[Church Educational System|seminary]] teacher at [[Benemerito De Las Americas]], an LDS Church-owned prep school in [[Mexico City]], and Evelia was working there as a secretary. They were married on 4 June 1975 and are the parents of six children. De Hoyos received a [[bachelor's degree]] f...

I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living Church on the face of the earth. I know that Jesus Christ is our saviour and redeemer, and it is only through him we can overcome sin. Only His atonement pays the price for our sins. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know it was written anciently and translated by the gift and power of God. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I know Russell M. Nelson is the prophet of God today. He is a man called, prepared and chosen to lead the Church at this moment in time.

With several missions having clear sub-regions, the past reasons to support specific missions are not as clear in the present. Also, missions are one place where calling more than 2 counselors to the presidency is a generally allowed practice. So if the number of missionaries does not justify a seperate mission, there are various ways to appraoch the issue. It should also be born in mind that the logistics of finding enough Church members willing to committ 3 years to leading a mission, with a couple where both meet the full worthiness and sportual maturity requirements and such is not easy. Leaving for 3 years is a big burden in some cases, and I have known people who were in academia and told if they accepted a call as mission president by other they knew there that these other people would make sure they never returned to the academic world. So these logistics do mitigate against creating more missions than needed. Other issues to consider. Many of the reasons to have unfied...

Well the main reform of 2018 in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2018 were the move to 2-hour church and the connected more home centered curriculum combined with the move to one Melchizedek Priesthood quorum in each ward and the move to ministering. Changes in mission calls include one system for full-time and church service calls for young people, sending them electronically and a shift to using smart phones by missionaries, although the last may pre-date 2018. A year ending one was the move to cohorts for youth and allowing people to start in Aaronic priesthood, young women and temple attendance when they are still 11 is they will turn 12 that year. Also the year has seen clear statements against abuse, policies allowing women and youth to have a second adult present during interviews, and clear publication of interview questions. The second one seems not so much a full change as more publication of an already existing but little known policy. The final set...

I am old enough to remember some of the early debates about including individuals with various homosexual tendencies and actions in fiction. Specifcally I remember that from the beginning those justifying it argued that fiction was meant to reflect reality, not an idealized goal. I have also been around long enough to realize that by and large this is a lie. The key reason I can say this is because the "fiction is meant to reflect reailty" group very heavily corresponds with those who used boycott and other anti-literary freedom means to stop DC from publishing Superman works written by Orson Scott Card. Why did they object to Card as a writter? A little because Card had been bold enough to support Proposition 8, and they objected to anyone who disagrreed with them having a say about public policy. However it was mainly because Orson Scott Card told the unvarnished truth about the lived experiences of interactions that infleunced many to have homosexual tendencies. Howeve...