I haven't posted anything in a long, long time and saw this around, so I decided to steal it. I'll post something about life later. This was fun.

President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.

President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.

The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from causes incident to age. Members of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley's funeral within the next few days.

President Hinckley was known, even at the age of 97, as a tireless leader who always put in a full day at the office and traveled extensively around the world to mix with Church members, now numbering 13 million in 171 nations.

His quick wit and humor, combined with an eloquent style at the pulpit, made him one of the most loved of modern Church leaders. A profoundly spiritual man, he had a great fondness for history and often peppered his sermons with stories from the Church's pioneer past.

He was a popular interview subject with journalists, appearing on 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace and on CNN's Larry King Live, as well as being quoted and featured in hundreds of newspapers and magazines over the years. During the Salt Lake Olympics of 2002, his request that the Church refrain from proselytizing visitors was credited by media with generating much of the goodwill that flowed to the Church from the international event.

In recent years, a number of major developments in the Church reflected President Hinckley's personal drive and direction. In calling for 100 temples to be in operation before the end of the year 2000, the Church president committed the Church to a massive temple-building program.

In 1999 — 169 years after the Church was organized by its founder, Joseph Smith — the Church had 56 operating temples. Three years later that number had doubled, largely because of a smaller, highly practical temple architectural plan that delivered these sacred buildings to Church members in far-flung parts of the world. Many more Church members can now experience the sacred ceremonies that occur only in temples, including marriages for eternity and the sealing of families in eternal units.

President Hinckley was the most traveled president in the Church's history. His duties took him around the world many times to meet with Latter-day Saints in more than 60 countries. He was the first Church president to travel to Spain, where in 1996 he broke ground for a temple in Madrid; and to the African nations of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Cape Verde, where he met with thousands of Latter-day Saints in 1998. In 2005, he traveled nearly 25,000 miles on a seven-nation, nine-day tour to Russia, South Korea, China, Taiwan, India, Kenya, and Nigeria.

At a general conference of Church members in April 2001, President Hinckley initiated the Perpetual Education Fund — an ambitious program to help young members of the Church (mainly returning missionaries from developing countries) receive higher education and work-related training that they would otherwise likely never receive.

Closer to his Salt Lake City home, President Hinckley announced the construction of a new Conference Center in 1996 and dedicated it four years later. Seating 21,000 people, it is believed to be the largest religious and theater auditorium in the world and has become the hub for the Church's general conference messages to the world, broadcast in 91 languages.

Even before his term as president, President Hinckley's extensive Church service included 14 years as a counselor in the First Presidency, the highest presiding body in the government of the Church, and 20 years before that as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

President Hinckley was born 23 June 1910 in Salt Lake City, a son of Bryant Stringham and Ada Bitner Hinckley. One of his forebears, Stephen Hopkins, came to America on the Mayflower. Another, Thomas Hinckley, served as governor of the Plymouth Colony from 1680 to 1692.

President Hinckley's first job was as a newspaper carrier for the Deseret News, a Salt Lake City daily. After attending public schools in Salt Lake City, he earned a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Utah and then served two years as a full-time missionary for the Church in Great Britain. He served with distinction and ultimately was appointed as an assistant to the Church apostle who presided over all the European missions.

Upon successfully completing his missionary service in the mid-1930s, he was asked by Heber J. Grant, then president of the Church, to organize what has become the Church's Public Affairs Department.

President Hinckley began serving as a member of the Sunday School general board in 1937, two years after returning home from missionary service in Great Britain. For 20 years he directed all Church public communications. In 1951 he was named executive secretary of the General Missionary Committee, managing the entire missionary program of the Church, and served in this capacity for seven years.

On 6 April 1958, while serving as president of the East Millcreek Stake in Salt Lake City (a stake is similar to a diocese), President Hinckley was appointed as a general authority, or senior full-time leader of the Church. In this capacity he served as an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles before being appointed to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on 5 October 1961.

President Hinckley received a number of educational honors, including the Distinguished Citizen Award from Southern Utah University; the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Utah; and honorary doctorates from Westminster College, Utah State University, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Southern Utah University, Utah Valley State College and Salt Lake Community College. The Gordon B. Hinckley Endowment for British Studies, a program focused on the arts, literature and history of the United Kingdom, was established at the University of Utah.

President Hinckley was awarded the Silver Buffalo Award by the Boy Scouts of America; was honored by the National Conference for Community and Justice (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews) for his contributions to tolerance and understanding in the world; and received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 2004, President Hinckley was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in the White House.

In March 2000 President Hinckley addressed the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. He also addressed the Religion Newswriters Association and the U.S. Conference of Mayors and twice addressed the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

President Hinckley wrote and edited several books and numerous manuals, pamphlets and scripts, including a best-selling book, Standing for Something, aimed at a general audience. In it he championed the virtues of love, honesty, morality, civility, learning, forgiveness, mercy, thrift and industry, gratitude, optimism and faith. He also testified of what he called the "guardians of virtue," namely traditional marriage and family.

President Hinckley married Marjorie Pay in the Salt Lake Temple in 1937. They have five children and 25 grandchildren. Sister Hinckley passed away 6 April 2004.

Gordon B. Hinckley, the longest-serving president of the Mormon church who presided over one of the greatest periods of expansion in its history, died Sunday, a church spokesman said. He was 97.

Hinckley, the 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died because of complications from age and was surrounded by his family.

"His life was a true testament of service, and he had an abiding love for others," said U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican and fellow Mormon. "His wit, wisdom, and exemplary leadership will be missed by not only members of our faith, but by people of all faiths throughout the world."

Hinckley had been diagnosed with diabetes and was hospitalized in January 2006 for the removal of a cancerous growth in his large intestine. In April 2006, he told a church conference he was in the "sunset of my life" and "totally in the hands of the Lord."

By unfailing tradition, at a church president's death, the church's most senior apostle is ordained within days on a unanimous vote of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. The most long-serving apostle now is Thomas S. Monson.

The church presidency is a lifetime position. Before Hinckley, the oldest church president was David O. McKay who was 96 when he died in 1970.

Hinckley, a grandson of Mormon pioneers, was president for nearly 13 years. He took over as president and prophet on March 12, 1995 and oversaw one of the greatest periods of expansion in church history. The number of temples worldwide more than doubled, from 49 to more than 120 and church membership grew from about 9 million to more than 12 million.

Well-traveled leader
Like his contemporary, Pope John Paul II, he became by far his church's most traveled leader in history. And the number of Mormons outside the United States surpassed that of American Mormons for the first time since the church, the most successful faith born in the United States, was founded in 1830.

Hinckley began his leadership role in 1995 by holding a rare news conference, citing growth and spreading the Mormon message as the church's main challenge heading into the 21st century.

"We are dedicated ... to teaching the gospel of peace, to the promotion of civility and mutual respect among people everywhere, to bearing witness to the living reality of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the practice of his teachings in our daily lives," Hinckley said.

Over the years, Hinckley labored long to burnish the faith's image as a world religion far removed from its peculiar and polygamous roots. Still, during his tenure the Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention and United Methodist Church — the three largest U.S. denominations — each declared that Mormon doctrines depart from mainstream Christianity.

"We are not a weird people," Hinckley told Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes" in 1996.

"The more people come to know us, the better they will understand us," Hinckley said in an interview with The Associated Press in late 2005. "We're a little different. We don't smoke. We don't drink. We do things in a little different way. That's not dishonorable. I believe that's to our credit."

Church became his life's work
Hinckley's grandfather knew church founder Joseph Smith and followed Brigham Young west to the Great Salt Lake Basin. He often spoke of the Mormon heritage of pioneer sacrifice and its importance as a model for the modern church.

"I think as long as history lasts there will be an interest in the roots of this work, a very deep interest," Hinckley said in a 1994 interview with the AP.

"Because insofar as the people of the church are concerned, without a knowledge of those roots and faith in the validity of those roots, we don't have anything," he said.

In 1997, Hinckley seemed to drive that point home in his orchestration of the lavish sesquicentennial celebration of the Mormons' arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. The yearlong festivities featured a TV-friendly reenactment of the dramatic Mormon exodus from the Midwest by handcart and covered wagon.

Born June 23, 1910, in Salt Lake City, Hinckley graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in arts and planned to attend graduate school in journalism. Instead, a church mission took him to the British Isles.

Upon his return, he became executive director of the newly formed Church Radio, Publicity, and Mission Literature Committee at $60 a month. Hinckley always worked for the church, except for a brief stint during World War II as a railroad agent.

Hinckley was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie Pay Hinckley, whom he married in 1937. She died April 6, 2004.

My mom has to go in for a biopsy on Wednesday. She found a lump a couple of months ago. As she is wont to do, she ignored it for as long as possible -- to the point that it hurt to raise her arm. She finally scheduled a mammogram, and they found that it's a solid mass, not just a fluid-filled cyst. Thus, the biopsy (which literally means the process of viewing life under a microscope).

This is pretty scary. Her father's mother and sister have both died from breast cancer. Well, actually, the liver or brain cancer is probably what killed them... but it started as breast cancer and metastasized. So, she is at an increased risk, because there is a family history. I think it's even tougher for her, because she watched both of them die. She was by their bedsides when they passed, and she saw the hell that this disease causes.

So she's in a pretty freaked out state right now. I'm trying to be as understanding as possible. But, sometimes, she just pisses me off. And then I foget that she's scared and she might have cancer and I just flip out.

I'm so annoyed with her though. She always pulls this crap. She finds something, worries about it for a while, finally makes a doctor's appointment, has to go in for extra tests which make her worry more, and then it's always nothing. Meanwhile, she probably increased her chances of heart disease by 200% because she spent so much needless time worrying. Ugh. It's just so frustrating. Especially now -- this time -- when there is a very real chance that this lump is malignant. If it is, it was probably detected fairly early. But if she'd gone to the doctor as soon as she had found it, it would have been found even earlier...

I guess we'll see what happens. I'm going with her to the biopsy, whether the doctor wants me there or not. If nothing else, I can count it as shadowing hours...

I'm finally finished sending in secondary applications. There are a few that I didn't complete, but they were for state schools who probably wouldn't accept me no matter how awesome my scores were. I completed and sent probably about 25 supplementals. The fees on these suckers ranged from $30 to $150. Outrageous, especially considering I already paid $1360 in AMCAS application fees. They charge you $150 for the first school and $30 for every additional school. Then, the individual schools send you their secondary application and you pay their individual application fee. Everything is by computer now, so why is it so expensive? I understand that they don't want Joe Blow applying to medical school and creating more work for them... but seriously? I'm not poor enough to qualify for fee waivers (although I might be next year, since I blew all my money on this years applications...), but I'm certainly not rich enough to fork out all that money.

Now that I've completed the applications (and my depressed attitude won't show through on any essays), I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I most likely will not be in medical school next fall. As soon as I've taken a little break from it all, I'll start studying for the MCAT again. Hopefully, I can take that by March. Then, I can start applying to schools in June, when the AMCAS application reopens. It will be nice to not be so rushed, like I was this year. I can take some time writing and revising my personal statement. Plus, I already have letters of recommendation, and I know that I can crank out supplemental essays quick.

So even if I don't get it, I guess I'm glad I did the process this year. Even though it was really stressful. And even though I wasted about $3000. It will only get better next year, right? As long as I score above a freaking 7 on physical sciences.

The spring semester started last week, and I am beyond frustrated about my stupid psychology internship. I am not getting any help whatsoever from my advisor or from the College career services. I applied for a volunteer position at the Community Health Center a month ago, and they have yet to call me back or return any of the five messages I've left for them. So I contacted the local clinic's psych ward, and they didn't return any calls. So I called the Community Mental Health Center, and I was led to believe that there would be no problem for me to complete an internship there. When I called to check on the progress, however, I was informed that it just wouldn't happen. Seriously, what the hell? I have unitl Thursday to complete the internship contract, or I don't graduate with my psych degree. How bogus is that?! I am doing everything that I possibly can to find something, and I would appreciate a little help from the College...beyond them giving me outdated contact names and phone numbers. I have one last resort. If this one doesn't pan out, I'll have to complete my internship in the summer, pay double the money for the credits, and get my diploma sometime in the fall. Ugh.

In other news, I get to go to the Brad Paisley concert tonight. I'm so excited! I miss him every time he comes to the fair here. This should be a fun concert.

I completely stole this from Rob Wells over at Six LDS Writers and A Frog.  But it's so funny, that I had to share it! He has a great sense of humor.



With the Iowa primaries just around the corner, I thought it would be a good public service to our readers if we offered them a little more education on the candidates and their platforms. Consequently, I've brought the top six contenders together in a townhall format to talk about the issues facing America right now.

Without further ado, I'd like to present our esteemed guests: Ebenezer Scrooge, The Grinch, Heat Miser, Hermey the Elf, Donna Reed, and Edward Cullen.


ROB: Our first question is for you, Mr. Heat Miser. It was emailed in by a viewer in Des Moines. It reads: "Heat Miser, in these troubled times, what's your stance on the War in Iraq."

HEAT MISER: That's a good question, and I'm glad you asked it. But I think we're a long way from answering that question. First, America needs to answer this: what's the deal with that stupid John Lennon Christmas Song? You know, "So This is Christmas"? What the heck?

SCROOGE: As the only British candidate in the room, I must say that I'm appalled by Heat Miser's hatin' on the Beatles.

HEAT MISER: But it wasn't the Beatles. It was stupid John Lennon. "So this is Christmas, and what have you done?" And they always play it during commercials showing starving kids in Indonesia. In other words: "So this is Christmas, and you suck, with your iPods and your Guitar Hero."

DONNA REED: Speaking of iPods… [Donna Reed subtley point over to the Grinch, who is looking at his video iPod.]

ROB: Uh, Mr. Grinch, this next question is for you. It's from Doris in Vermont. "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. I was wondering if you would use some of that meanness to kick out all the illegal aliens?"

GRINCH: [Looking up] Did you know that you can download whole TV shows on this thing? Last night I got the entire third season of The Office. What is Jim thinking dating Karen?! And what's the deal with Creed? SO. FUNNY.

SCROOGE: You know what Christmas song I hate? Barbra Streisand's "Jingle Bells". Seriously, if I'm elected, I'm going to outlaw that crap.

DONNA REED: Have you ever heard that Jingle Bells with the dogs barking? It is so adorable. Woof woof woof. Woof woof woof. Woof woof woof woof woof.

ROB: The next question is for you, Hermey. It was emailed from Chicago. "Hermey, what do you think of Mr. Scrooge's stance on healthcare? He was quoted as saying 'if they're going to die, they'd better do it and decrease the surplus population.'"

SCROOGE: Slander!

HERMEY: I was once the indentured servant of one S. Claus, before I threw off the chains of his capitalist sweatshops. If I'm elected, I'll ensure common ownership of the means of production. The elves will run the workshop now, Santa! A vote for Hermey is a vote for in-de-pen-dence!

DONNA REED: Woof woof woof, woof woof woof woof. Woof woof woof woof woof.

HEAT MISER: LOL, Donna!

ROB: I have another question for the Grinch. "What is your stance on capital punishment?"

GRINCH: I'd like to answer that question with a question: Remember in The Office when Dwight went behind Michael's back and tried to get promoted? And then Michael found out and disciplined him by making him do his laundry for a year? So, my question is: who's hotter: Pam or Karen?

HEAT MISER: The handbag girl.

GRINCH: Crap, I forgot about her. She was way hot.

DONNA REED: She was also the girl in Enchanted. And she was nominated for an Oscar for some artsy movie a couple years ago.

SCROOGE: And she was in Catch Me If You Can, with Leonardo DiCaprio.

HEAT MISER: Which leads me to my next question: why are people always making fun of Leo? He's actually a really good actor. I think that people just hate him because they think he's just a pretty face.

DONNA REED: I like George Clooney. Like, a lot.

GRINCH: Quick! Six degrees of separation: Donna Reed to George Clooney.

SCROOGE: Ooh… that's a hard one. Can we connect to Rosemary Clooney, since they're related?

GRINCH: Oh, come on. This is easy.

SCROOGE: So, we'll start with either Jimmy Stewart or Lionel Barrymore… I think they were the most famous people in It's a Wonderful Life.

DONNA REED: I was in 42 other movies, you know. And seven TV shows.

GRINCH: Got it! Jimmy Stewart (It's a Wonderful Life), was in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance with John Wayne, who was in El Dorado with James Caan, who was in The Godfather with Al Pacino, who was in Ocean's Thirteen with George Clooney.

DONNA REED: Awesome! Do any of you have his number?

ROB: Getting back to the debate, my next question is for Edward Cullen: "With test scores in America lower than many other western nations, what are you going to do about education?"

EDWARD: [You can see his perfectly sculpted muscles through his tight shirt.] Dear America, I want you to know how much I love you. Enough for forever.

DONNA REED: Oooh… maybe I'm voting for him.

HEAT MISER: Can we get back to the important issues? If I'm elected, I will abolish the BCS and implement a playoff.

SCROOGE: Oh, here we go again.

HEAT MISER: At the end of every season—but this season in particular—we realize how stupid this bowl system is. And yet we never do anything about it.

HERMEY: If I can interject something, let me just say that slaves are bought and sold only once, but the working man is bought and sold every hour of his life.

GRINCH: Who invited you? Okay guys, cage match: who would win in a fight between a ninja and a knight?

SCROOGE: Do you mean a literal cage match? Or a figurative one? Because a real cage match would go to the ninja.

EDWARD: [Edward's skin sparkles like a million diamonds.] Dear America, do you ever think that life would be easier if you weren't in love with me?

DONNA REED: Does the knight get his horse?

GRINCH: No, just his armor and his sword.

SCROOGE: What? A knight has to have his horse, or he isn't a knight.

GRINCH: The fact that you can imagine a knight with or without a horse implies that they are two separate things.

DONNA REED: This is lame. The ninja would win.

EDWARD: [His chiseled features draw you to him.] Dear America, if I could dream, it would be about you.

SCROOGE: Does anyone have any holy water? Because, seriously.

HERMEY: There you go again, oppressing the minorities.

SCROOGE: A vampire is not a minority. And does anyone have a small box? Elf sized?

ROB: I think we're running out of time.

HEAT MISER: You're so full of crap. This was only, like, five minutes long.

ROB: But I have the on/off switch for the microphones.

[Click!]

EDWARD: [Edward winks at you, and your legs turn to jelly.]

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)  And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

 
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Well, after many tears and chaning minds, I have finally submitted my AMCAS application.  My MCAT physics score was less than stellar (7), but verbal reasoning and biology were good (10s), and writing was okay-average (O).  Still, my advisor advised me not to apply because I wouldn't be competitive.  So I decided not to apply.  Then, a doctor friend told me that I should apply, because certainly somebody would want me.  He even offered to help me with my personal statement.  So, I decided to apply.  Then, I talked to my advisor again.  Without me even telling her that I thinking of applying, she had me thinking I was a loser that would never get in, so I decided to not apply.  Then, about 2 weeks ago, doctor friend came over and again convinced me to apply.  So, here I am.  1 day before the November 15th deadline (although I am ahead of the December 1st and 15th deadlines...).  Paying $1360 to apply to 41 medical schools (Thanks for the MasterCard dad. I promise I'll pay you back. Someday. When I'm a doctor.).  I basically applied to any school whose deadline hasn't passed.  Crazy?  Probably, but doctor told me to.  And, man...I cannot wait to see the look on my advisor's face when I ask her for a letter of recommendation for a medical school secondary application.  I should at least get that far, even if I'm not offered any interviews or places in the 2008 entering class.

In the meantime, I should probably study to retake the MCAT as soon as possible.  Like maybe March.  This time around, I know I can't use a calculator on the physics section.

My grandma passed away on September 20.  She was 91.  I took a week off from school and went down to Panguitch, Utah, with my dad for the funeral.  I'm glad I went, because I really needed the closure.  But it was tough, as funerals usually are.

She was a pretty amazing lady.  Stubborn as anything, which must be where I get it.  She's lived the last 10 years as a widow.  I think she was really lonely, but she didn't complain about it.  She just moved along.  I learned all sorts of things and heard some great stories while I was down there. She and Grandpa bought the lot their house sits on for $250, an outrageous price back in the day, and they built their house as they got the money.  They paid cash for everything; they never borrowed money.  They had 5 sons (6 counting a stillborn baby) and 1 daughter.  She was almost 45 years old when she had my dad and his twin in 1961.  They were premature babies and weighed less than a pound.  It's a miracle they both lived.  She apologized more than once to my dad for his parents being so old. 

I'm sad I hadn't seen her for years.  But, I'm happy she isn't suffering anymore.  We'll all miss her.