Which is your favorite song from “The Book of Mormon”?survey software Chino put a link to the cast recording of God’s Favorite Musical in our sidebar a while ago, but I didn’t take the time to listen to the songs until people here started discussing them. My new advice: don’t wait!! Listen first and vote, ...
This post was inspired by A teenager speaks on new movie standards. In her recent discussion of the current state of movies, and particularly award winning movies, Camila B. states that she is concerned about “movies throughout the decades and the negative changes that I have noticed.” She then goes on to lament that “the ...
On a sunny winter day of 1985 or 86, I was waiting in the entrance of the Nuremberg train station when an elderly gentlemen with an Austrian accent addressed me: “When I see how beautifully Nuremberg has been rebuild, I feel encouraged that one day our Germany will be united again too.” That was an ...
Wherever people talk about Mormonism, you always hear about the fundamentalist Mormons: the polygamists. On the LDS-interest Internet there’s tons of discussion of modern-day polygamy – usually in a hand-wringing “what should be done about them” kind of way. Naturally, I was glad when I finally got the opportunity to meet some real-life fundamentalist Mormons, ...
My mother Gudrun Bachmann was born on June 9, 1939. When World War II begun with the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, she was less than three months old. When Germany surrendered on May 9, 1945, she was one month shy of her sixth birthday. Besides a treasure trove of family stories from ...
A while back another blogger asked me to submit an essay about my Mormon experience. Probably, for good reasons he changed his mind and never published it. Since it is already written and might shed some light on my argument at Times and Seasons, I might as well publish it myself. It might help some ...
Some of you might enjoy a virtual tour of the city of Saarbrücken, my last home before I came to the United States: Max Ophuels Preis_Trailer_2009 from LICHTFAKTOR on Vimeo. Located at the French border, my father’s house was literally five minutes walking distance, and the high and low German language border, Saarbrücken has had ...
There is a reason why retention approaches zero. There is a reason why people can study their way out of the Church. There is a reason why a large percentage of non-American return missionaries seem to leave Mormonism. There is a reason why the United States remains the only western democracy that does not grant ...
I don’t watch a lot of t.v. When I do watch t.v., I don’t watch a lot of reality shows. In fact, the only one I watch with any regularity is The Biggest Loser on NBC. American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother–can’t stomach any of those. Lately, though, I’ve started watching snippets of Dancing with the ...
I know this image was posted on here earlier. But I had to use it again. I don’t know why, but this image spoke to me as I thought of my post for today. It takes the edge off of the nostalgic ennui that I feel in the fall when I think about the upcoming ...
More than a year ago, someone raised the question why Europeans joined the LDS Church. Faraday’s answer was perfect: Because the church was a breath of fresh air. For Faraday and all unlikely Mormons, here is a breath of fresh air by Wir Sind Helden Views: 565 ...
Here in blogger land, people say the darndest things. And that’s just the comments. Recently I was lambasted for a post about a church meeting I had attended. The experience got under my skin, so I blogged about it. I was called, by several people, “shrill, unhealthy and bitter.” Views: 1198 ...
I couldn’t believe I was finally old enough to attend my first church dance! I had waited months for this! I’d turned twelve in May, and the first dance after that happened to be a stake Halloween dance. I decided I’d go as a gypsy that year. My mom helped me to apply dark skin ...
My mother is 77 (let’s say it all together..) “bless her heart”. She has severe senile dementia, congestive heart failure and is a breast cancer survivor. She is, in a nutshell, A Survivor. She has also reverted back to that state of a child where she’s lost certain social proprieties that have heretofore been an ...
I can’t sleep again. I got home late (10:30 LOL) and I was so exhausted I thought I was going to pass out. Well, I did, relishing the thoughts of sleeping in until…6 or 7 or something. But no. Four am on the dot. I keep thinking of the eulogy I’m to give on Friday ...