Here is a great look at economics. The booklet by the same name is even better:
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Friday, November 7, 2014
Flag info
here is an amazing site about the evolution of the American Flag. --Ashlie Jackson
http://www.ushistory.org/
http://www.ushistory.org/
Producing a Play tips
Here is an email I sent to a friend who had asked me advice on what I have learned after doing plays over the years:
I have been seeking more and more to bring strong principles into plays: what they practice becomes a part of who they are. The play becomes a part of them, and even if they are playing the villain, they feel the message during rehearsal as the evil plays opposition to the good.
I have not had a lot of luck finding plays. I have written practically all the plays I have directed. The only one that I did not adapt or write was "The Very Best Christmas Pageant Ever." I was new back to the community, was told what a wonderful play it was, and took it on without reading it. (I would have changed it...there was a lot of rudeness and sarcasm that I didn't like.)
I have taken "classics" (personal choice) and adapted them to plays. A good source of inspirational stories is the Book of Virtues. Perhaps you could google play adaptations of those stories?
I have mixed feelings on Shakespeare. There are great messages and questions posed through some of his works. I feel that he also often strongly presents the negative effects of bad morals and leaves it for the audience to interpret. Many of the adaptations of his plays tend to emphasize the secular/relationship part of his works, leaving out the great one-liners that are so often quoted in conference. If you can find parts of his plays that bring these great moral dilemmas to the front and where the characters stand up for what is good, that is where I would start. I feel some of his plays are pretty trivial (the comedies) and are funny, but really don't do more than entertain. However, perhaps that is because I need to read them more deeply. I do not claim to be any type of expert in that area. :)
Just a re-cap/checklist of what I learned doing plays:
1) What do I want my youth to come away feeling? (William Tell: courage in standing up for what is right; strong family connections)
2) Try to know the actors and actresses: some are great at memorizing but not great at expressing themselves or speak quietly; some are fantastic at acting things out but really struggle to memorize...things like that. Then give them appropriate parts. It is fine to have a lead role who has a lot of short lines :).
3) I wrote William Tell knowing the actors I would have. I could picture them saying their lines, fitting timidity with inherent shyness and solid character with steady personalities, etc. I wasn't perfect at it, but felt I was able to allow their natural personalities to accentuate their parts.
4) Make most lines just one sentence. Try not to have duplicate seeming sequences (like I accidentally did with the "family telling the story" out front. They had a hard time remembering which similar line to speak :)...).
5) Don't have long stretches when people are just standing around. Try to think of actions that "background people" could be doing while perhaps some of the dialogue is not on them.
6) Simple scenery
7) Have the parents commit up front to help in different areas: many hands make light work! I have attached the areas where people helped me.
8) Give them the scripts at least a month before the first rehearsal. Be clear that they have to have their lines memorized by a certain time (I had it the second rehearsal, using the first one as a dry run to give them the feel of it for the next week). Just tell them that you may have to have someone else take some of their lines or just take them out. It may seem harsh, but if you do not, you will spend the entire seasons with scripts in their faces and not be able to work on the presentation or acting skills. Memorization is do-able at home. If you do it this way, you can have the play done, start to finish in 8 weeks (we did 9 and then took a week off). Even then, I think we could have cut out a week of rehearsals and done 7 weeks. If you rehearse for too long, they get bored with it and cannot keep up their energy and enthusiasm for it and the rehearsals feel like a waste of time.
9) We put together that little audio cd for them to listen to, which also helped (and was surprisingly fun to put together!).
10) Have the building for performing reserved up front and the schedule to the parents along with the script. There is nothing worse than having to send out "last minute changes" and hoping everyone can make it happen! (And you, as a parent, know how frustrating it is on the other end, I am sure!)
Anyway,
hope this helps. It was so fun to spend our rehearsals working on
facing the audience, developing personality into their characters, work
on volume and diction, and just give them a change to make the
transitions smooth. Another thing I learned was to try and get the
props there a little earlier for them to practice with so it is not so
awkward come stage time.
I have been seeking more and more to bring strong principles into plays: what they practice becomes a part of who they are. The play becomes a part of them, and even if they are playing the villain, they feel the message during rehearsal as the evil plays opposition to the good.
I have not had a lot of luck finding plays. I have written practically all the plays I have directed. The only one that I did not adapt or write was "The Very Best Christmas Pageant Ever." I was new back to the community, was told what a wonderful play it was, and took it on without reading it. (I would have changed it...there was a lot of rudeness and sarcasm that I didn't like.)
I have taken "classics" (personal choice) and adapted them to plays. A good source of inspirational stories is the Book of Virtues. Perhaps you could google play adaptations of those stories?
I have mixed feelings on Shakespeare. There are great messages and questions posed through some of his works. I feel that he also often strongly presents the negative effects of bad morals and leaves it for the audience to interpret. Many of the adaptations of his plays tend to emphasize the secular/relationship part of his works, leaving out the great one-liners that are so often quoted in conference. If you can find parts of his plays that bring these great moral dilemmas to the front and where the characters stand up for what is good, that is where I would start. I feel some of his plays are pretty trivial (the comedies) and are funny, but really don't do more than entertain. However, perhaps that is because I need to read them more deeply. I do not claim to be any type of expert in that area. :)
Just a re-cap/checklist of what I learned doing plays:
1) What do I want my youth to come away feeling? (William Tell: courage in standing up for what is right; strong family connections)
2) Try to know the actors and actresses: some are great at memorizing but not great at expressing themselves or speak quietly; some are fantastic at acting things out but really struggle to memorize...things like that. Then give them appropriate parts. It is fine to have a lead role who has a lot of short lines :).
3) I wrote William Tell knowing the actors I would have. I could picture them saying their lines, fitting timidity with inherent shyness and solid character with steady personalities, etc. I wasn't perfect at it, but felt I was able to allow their natural personalities to accentuate their parts.
4) Make most lines just one sentence. Try not to have duplicate seeming sequences (like I accidentally did with the "family telling the story" out front. They had a hard time remembering which similar line to speak :)...).
5) Don't have long stretches when people are just standing around. Try to think of actions that "background people" could be doing while perhaps some of the dialogue is not on them.
6) Simple scenery
7) Have the parents commit up front to help in different areas: many hands make light work! I have attached the areas where people helped me.
8) Give them the scripts at least a month before the first rehearsal. Be clear that they have to have their lines memorized by a certain time (I had it the second rehearsal, using the first one as a dry run to give them the feel of it for the next week). Just tell them that you may have to have someone else take some of their lines or just take them out. It may seem harsh, but if you do not, you will spend the entire seasons with scripts in their faces and not be able to work on the presentation or acting skills. Memorization is do-able at home. If you do it this way, you can have the play done, start to finish in 8 weeks (we did 9 and then took a week off). Even then, I think we could have cut out a week of rehearsals and done 7 weeks. If you rehearse for too long, they get bored with it and cannot keep up their energy and enthusiasm for it and the rehearsals feel like a waste of time.
9) We put together that little audio cd for them to listen to, which also helped (and was surprisingly fun to put together!).
10) Have the building for performing reserved up front and the schedule to the parents along with the script. There is nothing worse than having to send out "last minute changes" and hoping everyone can make it happen! (And you, as a parent, know how frustrating it is on the other end, I am sure!)
11) I reserved 3 hours for performance at
the library to accomodate set-up and take down, although the 2 hours
for the last one wasn't bad. I liked the length of 30 minutes for this
age. 45 minutes should be the limit. They simply cannot keep the
energy up for a full hour, I feel, at this age.
Depression insights
Even
though some of yu may or may not suffer from severe depression this is
just an important thing to know. People out there love you and want you
to succeed and if you ever meet someone who may want to take their life,
just let them know this message and try to show your love to them.
http://www.mormonchannel.org/
http://www.mormonchannel.org/
Kel
Quotes on Education
John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, p.275
You will see the day that Zion will be as far
ahead of the outside world in everything pertaining to learning of every kind
as we are today in regard to religious matters. You mark my words, and write
them down, and see if they do not come to pass. We are not dependent upon them,
but we are upon the Lord. We did not get our priesthood nor our information in
regard to his law from them. It came from God. . . .
I remember talking with some celebrated
scientists from Europe some time ago, and I explained to them some of the
principles relative to the heavenly bodies that were revealed through the
Prophet Joseph Smith. They were astonished to know that ideas so grand could be
developed through one that was comparatively unlearned. One of them remarked
that they were the most magnificent principles he had ever heard of. Another
one said that he had read and studied a great deal, but he had a good deal more
yet to learn. We are, as the French would say, en rapport, with God; that is in
communication with God. Let us live so that we can keep that up, so that angels
can minister to us and the Holy Spirit dwell with us. -- JD, 21:100, April 13,
1879.
Discourses of Brigham Young, p.331-332
The Latter-day Saints realize that there is
no period of man's existence not incorporated with the plan of salvation, and
directly pointing to a future existence. Consequently, when we stand here to
speak to the people, let every man speak what is in his heart. If one of our
Elders is capable of giving us a lecture upon any of the sciences, let it be
delivered in the spirit of meekness -- in the spirit of the holy Gospel. If, on
the Sabbath day, when we are assembled here to worship the Lord, one of the
Elders should be prompted to give us a lecture on any branch of education with
which he is acquainted, is it outside the pale of our religion? I think not. If
any of the Elders are disposed to give a lecture to parents and children on
letters, on the rudiments of the English language, it is in my religion, it is
a part of my faith. Or if an Elder shall give us a lecture upon astronomy,
chemistry, or geology, our religion embraces it all. It matters not what the
subject be, if it tends to improve the mind, exalt the feelings, and enlarge
the capacity. The truth that is in all the arts and sciences forms a part of
our religion. Faith is no more a part of it than any other true principle of
philosophy. Were I to give you a lecture today upon farming, would I be
speaking upon a matter that transcends the bounds of our religion? Agriculture
is a part of it as well as any other truth. Were I to lecture on business
principles of any kind, our religion embraces it; and what it does not
circumscribe, it would be well for us to dispense with at once and forever.
1:334.
“True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and
behavior.
“The study of the doctrines of the gospel will
improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior
will improve behavior. … That is why we stress so
forcefully the study of the doctrines of the gospel”
Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
(“Little Children,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 17).
"Material
objectives consume too much of our attention. The struggle for what we
need or for more than we need exhausts our time and energy. We pursue
pleasure or entertainment, or become overinvolved in associations or
civic matters. Of course, people need recreation, need to be achieving,
need to contribute; but if these come at the cost of friendship with
Christ, the price is much too high.
“For
my people have committed two evils,” said the Lord to Israel; “they
have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out
cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jer. 2:13.)
The
substitutions we fashion to take the place of God in our lives truly
hold no water. To the measure we thus refuse the “living water,” we miss
the joy we could have."
- Marion D. Hanks , Joy through Christ
“A man may possess a profound knowledge of history and
mathematics; he may be an authority in psychology, biology, or astronomy; he
may know all the discovered truths pertaining to geology and natural science;
but if he has not with this knowledge that nobility of soul which prompts him
to deal justly with his fellow men, to practice virtue and holiness in personal
life, he is not a truly educated man. "Character is the aim of true
education; and science, history, and literature are but means used to accomplish
the desired end. Character is not the result of chance work but of continuous
right thinking and right acting."True education seeks, then, to make men and women not only good mathematicians, proficient linguists, profound scientists, or brilliant literary lights, but also honest men, combined with virtue, temperance, and brotherly love-men and women who prize truth, justice, wisdom, benevolence, and self-control as the choicest acquisitions of a successful life.”
Quotes on Evolution and God in Science
John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, p.52
If we take man, he is said to have been made
in the image of God, for the simple reason that he is a son of God, and being
his son, he is, of course, his offspring, an emanation from God, in whose
likeness, we are told, he is made. He did not originate from a chaotic mass of
matter, moving or inert, but came forth possessing, in an embryonic state, all
the faculties and powers of a God. And when he shall be perfected, and have
progressed to maturity, he will be like his Father -- a God, being indeed his
offspring. As the horse, the ox, the sheep, and every living creature,
including man, propagates its own species and perpetuates its own kind, so does
God perpetuate his. -- MA, 164-165.
Man is a dual being, possessed of body and
spirit, made in the image of God, and connected with him and with eternity. He
is a God in embryo and will live and progress throughout the eternal ages, if
obedient to the laws of the Godhead, as the Gods progress throughout the
eternal ages. -- JD, 23:65, April 9, 1882.
When we study science we are studying a testimony that there is a God!
All creations testify of Him.
We are learning about and admiring His artwork, His handiwork, His gallery.
By studying scientific laws we are studying His tools.
All things testify God is!
Please watch the following clip:
We Lived With God (4:00) | Gods Plan
A
renowned scientist testifies of our premortal life, our divine Creator, and the
limitless perspective of eternal life.
“The universe is God’s handiwork. Therefore if the scriptures are God’s
handiwork and the universe is God’s handiwork, then science and religion represent
two independent witnesses of God’s creation.
And we are told throughout the Old Testament that two or
more independent witnesses are required in order to certify the truth.
They are not opposites, but they are like the vision seen
from your two eyes. If you close one eye
then close the other, alternate back and forth, you don’t see the same thing
from those two eyes.
But, it is the combination of those two views that gives you
three dimensional perception and shows you a lot of things that neither eye by
itself sees. ”
******************
Jordan Housholder shared this insight:
******************
Jordan Housholder shared this insight:
"Following our evolution discussion yesterday, I remembered an article that my boss, Delose, wrote about Darwin. It is titled, Darwin Was for Intelligent Design.
I would recommend reading it. He's very to the point, and he cites the part of Origin of Species that discusses his belief in a creator. I thought some of you might appreciate it!"
***************************
***************************
“We have
enough and to spare, at present in these mountains, of schools where young
infidels are made because the teachers are so tender-footed that they dare not
mention the principles of the gospel to their pupils, but have no hesitancy in
introducing into the classroom the theories of Huxley, of Darwin, or of Miall,
and the false political economy which contends against co-operation and the
United Order. This course I am resolutely and uncompromisingly opposed to, and
I hope to see the day when the doctrines of the gospel will be taught in all
our schools, when the revelation of the Lord will be our texts, and our books
will be written and manufactured by ourselves and in our own midst. As a
beginning in this direction I have endowed the Brigham Young Academy at Provo.”
-Brigham Young
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