Taiyari is UNO!!

We had Taiyari's birthday on the 14th of December he had quite some fun with his pizza and his new toy I will have Carl post a picture of the toy and him playing with it later. He is now walking all the time and he is so much fun. He loves to growl as his way of communication, but he does say No, No! I guess that is what I get for telling him no so much :)

Learn to Laugh

I was reading the General Conference edition of the November Ensign and came across this quote from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. It made me laugh so hard I wanted to share it.

"Have you ever seen an angry driver who, when someone else makes a mistake, reacts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog, and his ancestors all the way back to Adam? Or have you had an encounter with an overhanging cupboard door left open at the wrong place and the wrong time which has been cursed, condemned, and avenged by a sore-headed victim? There is an antidote for times such as these: learn to laugh."

Elder Wirthlin has always reminded me of the good times I had as a primary kid in Mexico. When I was only 6 or 7 years old he came to visit our stake in Puebla. I can still remember the excitement we felt in knowing a member of the Quorum of the Twelve was coming to visit us. The joy Elder Wirthlin brought to us remains with me to this day. I was saddened to learn of his death, but have found great inspiration in his teachings these last few weeks. He was a humble servant of the Lord. May our Savior be with his family during this difficult time.

Giving Thanks to our Troops

Xerox has created this wonderful website where individuals, free of charge, can send cards to our overseas troops. Although, you cannot choose a specific recipient you can write a personalized message on a card of your choosing. Take the time to visit the site and let those serving our country know how much we appreciate them, especially during the holidays. After all its free.

Article: "Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy"

In her article, Lisa Miller argues the Bible has more passages supporting gay marriage than it does condemning it. Her misguided position is that a Christian must rely entirely on the Bible because it is all that God has given us. She misinterprets vague, incomplete, and possibly badly translated passages of the Bible to show the Savior accepts and even encourages gay marriage. She finishes her article quoting a Priest, “if Jesus were alive today he would reach out especially to the gays and lesbians among us, for Jesus does not want people to be lonely and sad."

Her article is convincing and if I had to rely entirely on the Bible I would be inclined to agree with her, there are passages which when read alone suggest gay marriage might be acceptable. Thankfully, we have more to guide us than just the Bible, namely the Book of Mormon and latter-day revelations. One can read The Family: A Proclamation to the World and know definitively that neither our Heavenly Father nor His Son support gay marriage. Having this knowledge prevents us from erroneously agreeing with misinterpretations of Bible passages. Our Father in Heaven loves us and He knew how difficult these last days would be. He knew how twisted society’s morality would become. Thus, he has given us latter-day prophets to ensure we will not be misguided. We are blessed that we do not have to rely solely on the ambiguities of the Bible, but have righteous men on the earth to whom our Savior continues to speak.

Lost Halloween Photo

We just found this photo of Taiyari's Halloween costume this year and realized we forgot to post it. He decided he wanted to be Grandpa Anderson for Halloween.

Anti-Christ

Marco, there are a handful of email hoaxes circulating which claim Barack is the Anti-Christ. Unfortunately, some people Ericka and I care deeply about have found some indicia of reliabilty to these hoaxes. If you are interested, here are a few of the ones we have received.

The Apostle John prophesied the Anti-Christ would have characteristics very similar to Barack.

Nostradamus prophesied Barack would destroy the Country after being elected through the power of Satan.

Ironically, this one happens to be true. Nonetheless, it does nothing to establish Barack is the Anti-Christ. The winning lottery numbers of Barack's home state the day after the election were 666.

Tired

I am so tired of people trying to convince me that Barack is the Anti-Christ. Please, please, please, do some research, which at the very least should be to read the Book of Revelation, before you assume that some illegitimate email prophecy, that does not exist in any book of scripture, is truth. By doing so you will avoid the embarassment of telling another individual, "the Apostle John wrote in the Book of Revelation that the Anti-Christ will be a man in his forties of Muslim descent who will decieve the nations with persuasive language and a massive Christ-like appeal that the people will flock to him as he promises false hope and world peace until when he is in power he will ultimately destroy everything," when in fact the Apostle John never wrote any such thing.

In fact the Apostle John never even used the word Anti-Christ when he wrote the Book of Revelation. The term Anti-Christ is only used six times in the LDS canon of scripture. A thorough reading of those six verses establish that in order for a person to qualify as an Anti-Christ they MUST preach that Jesus is not the Christ. Maybe I missed it, but I don't remember hearing Barack's "There is no Christ" stump speech.

Disagree with Barack's policies, disagree with those who support him, even take it as far as saying you think it is a mistake in judgment for someone to support Barack. But do not tell me that because I believe Barack Obama is better equipped to lead this country than John McCain that I have given my allegiance to an Anti-Christ. If you do, you also tell me, that I have denied my Savior, the True and Living Chirst. To that I take great offense, for I have NOT, nor will I in the future deny that Jesus is the Christ. Do not confuse your disagreements with the President of the United States with my faith and relationship with my Savior and Redeemer.

Día de los Muertos

Pues este fin de semana celebramos a escala el Día de los Muertos. Pusimos nuestra ofrenda en honor a mi abuelo Roque, mi abuelita Juanita, Grandpa Anderson y Grandma Roundy.
Esta muy chiquita la ofrenda y la verdad fue difícil encontrar todos los elementos de la ofrenda pero lo intentamos, los niños ayudaron a poner la fruta, las hojaldras, el pan y los tamales en la mesa y a pegar "el papel picado" que segun yo hize. Nos faltaron las calaveritas y las flores de a deveras. En ocasiones como estas es cuando me gustaria vivir mas cerca de la frontera para poder adquirir todo lo que necesito para ocasiones como esta. Ni modo. Pero si quieren ver una buena foto de una ofrenda bien tradicional aqui esta un ejemplo. Tambien una link para que puedan leer el significado de las ofrendas y los elementos de una ofrenda.

Christmas Music

Unfortunately, I have not found any lists of good Thanksgiving music. Therefore, you all get the wonderful opportunity to listen to Christmas music for the next two, maybe three, months while you visit our blog. If you have any favorites you would like to add let us know. If not, then please enjoy listening to our favorite music during our favorite time of year.

Here you go Grandma. Happy Halloween!