In The News

I realize it's already been discussed in quite a bit of detail, but I'd just like to add my two cents to the mormon "vandalism" story. A quick search at Google News pulls up 144 articles on the event. I'm not sure why I wasted my time, but I did end up reading more than one of them.

"Photos posted on the Internet showed three Mormon missionaries mocking a Catholic shrine and holding the broken head of a statue of a saint there, a church official said." (San Luis, CO, USA)

I certainly acknowledge that it was offensive for those Elders to do the things they did and especially to post those pictures on a public photo sharing website. But I feel like some things may be exaggerated. Most of the articles I read mention that "Mormons" were accused of "vandalizing" a catholic shrine. I haven't read one article that says there's any evidence that the missionaries vandalized anything. One picture features a missionary with the head of a statue in his hand which wasn't even noticed as being broken until almost 2 years later. It seems to me if could have easily been broken before they took that photograph.I think it's really too bad this blew up into something so big. Especially when the same days there was news from the other side of the globe about members helping clean up in New Zealand. One missionary, Elder R. Thompson was sent home and apologized while the other two were already home and are apparently facing "church discipline." The sheriff's department from the town is also investigating the incident but I really don't see how they'll be able to find any evidence. It's really sad this had to happen and it's a blow to the church especially in that region where the missionaries have been pull for some time. I guess all we can do is keep on preachin'. Haha.

Miracles?

Sometimes things happen that just make a person wonder. Perhaps it's even happened to many of us personally. You hesitate just a split second as a car zooms past on the street your attempting to cross. Or perhaps you felt the urge to get a medical check-up and identified an issue that would have been fatal if not attended to immediately.

I suppose instances like these could be simply coincidences or subtle promptings from the Holy Ghost, but what about bigger things like a baby being thrown in a tornado and surviving with minimal injuries. I think one must ask at some point is there some divine intervention going on here? And do "miracles" really occur?

My inspiration for this post came from this article:
- Pregnant woman uses train toilet, baby slips out