MMM Movies: Once I Was A Beehive

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by Seattle Jon:

I was never a beehive, nor have I ever been to Girls Camp, but neither stopped me from enjoying Once I Was A Beehive. The movie, which stars a number of former MMM contributors (Hailey Smith AKA May Jones, Brett Merritt, Ken Craig), tells the story of Lane Speer, a 16 year-old girl dealing with the loss of her father who is dragged off to Girls Camp with a bunch of young Mormon girls.

I knew going in Hailey had helped write and produce the film, so was less skeptical of being entertained by new mormon cinema than I might otherwise have been. I'm no movie critic, but I found most of the characters engaging, the writing and pacing good and the humor humorous. I even snorted out-loud twice - once when Lane's dad mentions he got a "killer Groupon" for the honeymoon and then again when the bishop listens to the Hunger Games on audiobook in his tent.

I watched the movie with my 15 year-old daughter (who herself has just returned from Girls Camp) and my mother. Here is what they had to say.

My mom: This light-hearted story will bring nostalgic laughs to any female lucky enough to have ever attended an LDS Girls camp. Unique personalities thrown together for a week in nature create both hilarious situations and tension along the way as they are forced to work together as a team. As a result, Lane, her cousin, and all the other participants learn valuable life lessons and Lane, herself, begins to see that peace is possible amongst her new family and friends. Get some popcorn, sit down with your family, and enjoy 119 minutes of laughter and fun.

My daughter: Last night I watched a new movie called Once I Was a Beehive with my family. As I sat down, what I expected to be a cheesy Mormon movie was actually a well-written and humorous film that I related to a LOT. I recently got back from my fourth and last year as a camper at girls camp, and in the ending of the movie the main character Lane says that when her mom asked her how it went she couldn't describe it. I realized how true this was, because unless the one asking was there you can't really tell people what it was like. There are no words for the bonds of friendship and the feeling of complete acceptance I always feel during camp. There were so many scenes in the movie where I would laugh and say, "Oh my gosh that's so true!" During the testimony meeting in the movie, they showed two of the girls hugging each other and crying uncontrollably on the bench with a pile of tissues, which is a pretty good reenactment of what happens during testimony meetings in real girls camps. This year at camp, I grew closer to a number of girls I hadn't really talked to before, and since next year I'm going to be a YCL (Youth Camp Leader) I thought that getting to know as many girls as I could would help in case I get to look after them for the week. In the movie, the two YCLs were a little clicky and really struggled with their pride when the younger girls would have to help them. At the end, though, the two YCLs realized that all of their fellow campers could teach them something and had helped their testimonies and spirits grow more than they could have imagined. I would definitely recommend Once I Was a Beehive as an excellent family movie for anyone, not just those in the Mormon religion. This movie provides good explanations of some of the Mormon traditions and also a good laugh for the girls who have been to camp because of how hilariously relatable it is.

Check out the trailer below and go see the movie in your local theater!




Seattle Jon is a family man, little league coach, urban farmer and businessman living in Seattle. He currently gets up early with the markets to trade bonds for a living. In his spare time he enjoys movies, thrifting and is an avid reader. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and the Japan Fukuoka mission field. He has one wife, four kids, two cats and four chickens.

Just ... Do It

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by Seattle Jon:

Perhaps you've seen this epic video. And because Shia was filmed in front of a green screen, perhaps you've seen some of the hilarious backgrounds Mr. LaBeouf has been dropped into (a few of my favorites here, here and here). His mantra to "just ... do it!" also couples nicely with Spencer Kimball's famous phrase to "Do It." If there are any editing wizards who read the blog, we'd love to see some LDS backgrounds - send em in and we'll post.




Seattle Jon is a family man, little league coach, urban farmer and businessman living in Seattle. He currently gets up early with the markets to trade bonds for a living. In his spare time he enjoys movies, thrifting and is an avid reader. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and the Japan Fukuoka mission field. He has one wife, four kids, two cats and four chickens (now dead).

The Story Behind the Upcoming Movie About Girls Camp

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by Hailey Smith:

In August of 2013, I received a phone call from my good friend Maclain Nelson. “I want to make a movie about girls camp,” he said, “but I definitely need your help.”

"Girls camp," I thought to myself at first, "that could be super lame."

What immediately came to mind were a few goofy LDS genre films that were out there, and I shuddered at the thought. However, my friend Lisa Valentine Clark and I HAD been looking for a creative project to do together. She had recently finished up her award winning web series, Pretty Darn Funny, and I had recently survived living in Manhattan for three years with four kids with all my wits intact (mostly.) Plus, if a girls camp movie was going to be made by someone, it should probably be us. Mainly because I didn’t want someone to make a stupid movie on the subject, mocking or belittling the institution, especially since it is such an important spiritual rite of passage for so many LDS teens.

Flash forward ten months. Maclain had been kept very busy promoting a little movie that he had starred in and produced called The Saratov Approach, and so we hadn’t touched base in a while. He called me up out of the blue one day:

"OK. Ready to write the Girls camp movie now?"

Freetown Movie: More Reviews

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MMM Note: Freetown could be playing in a theater near you - if so check it out!

by Pete Codella:

Freetown delivers a miraculous missionary story with cinematography and music that transport you to Africa. If you enjoy faith-based movies, you’ll enjoy Freetown. I found the story remarkable, watching as the group of six missionaries make their way in a small sedan, driven by a local church member on unpredictable dirt roads, through several rebel-held check-points, across Liberia to Freetown, Sierra Leone. A mix of quick thinking and divine protection help them escape danger and safely make their way to the mission president’s home amid a civil war. Much of the story takes place as they travel in the car, making the film seem a bit claustrophobic, even though wide-angled countryside shots give you a good sense of the beautiful African landscape. I felt like some of the acting could have been stronger, and my nine year-old son asked a couple of times for a translation of what was being said due to the strong African English accents. Still, the film is well-made and the message of good Christian living is certainly worth two hours.

by Pete Busche:

The film Freetown tackled intense subject matter and relayed important messages about faith, doubt, and race. It's encouraging to see filmmakers seek to create or recreate authentic Mormon stories, of which Freetown was a great example. The story in this case was an important history, probably wholly unfamiliar to the audience who will see the film (American Mormons?). The acting was certainly amateur and leaves one wanting for more believe-ability at times. However, it is felt far more genuine to have African actors in a believable setting (hopefully gone are the "Testament" days of "dark-skinned" people being played by white actors with too much tanning-oil) which felt overall more "real" than the run-of-the-mill Mollywood film.

The film presented the theme of cognitive dissonance as relating to the tribal violence in Liberia, as well as within the LDS Church's history. With the recent surge of membership in Africa, the Church's Priesthood ban for African descendants will have to be addressed. One of the missionaries in the film provided this explanation: we all make mistakes; even prophets and institutions, and all have need of Christ's Atonement: God rejoices in our repentance, regardless of who we are or what we did in the past.

As one who listens to more soundtracks than movies, I was disappointed in Robert Elliot's work in this film. I enjoy his style: he fits in with the major prolific contemporaries like Hans Zimmer, Alexander Desplat etc. and worked wonders with creating the anxious, unsettling mood in The Saratov Approach. Freetown required a much different tempo, style, and mood-based on the subject matter. Elliot relied in similar musical patterns (even used redundant chord progressions from The Saratov Approach), and didn't quite make the necessary change I would've hoped for.

by Theric Jepson:

I expected to be more thrilled than moved by Freetown. In fact, I was more moved than thrilled. The thriller aspects of the film are competent but not extraordinary. What is extraordinary is the sense of hope and joy the film imparts in balance to the despair and danger. And make no mistake: even though we expect the miracles the missionaries promise and all bloodletting is done offscreen, the reality of the violence and death and finality that was Liberia's civil war is utterly plain. One of the smart choices of the script is making the protagonist someone other than a missionary. Henry Adofo who plays Philip Abubakar is a powerful lead. He teeters between being a nobody and a hero---or, in other words, he's fully human and accepting of that. Something about being twenty and wearing a black tag that Broadway doesn't understand is the attendant joy of being nothing, and how being nothing leads to complete reliance on God and the ability to see all things as possible. Abubakar doesn't have the luxury of a black tag to render him nothing. Sure, death is no more real to him than it is for the missionaries, but he feels the weight of death differently, being the only adult in the car (which may be why, in the end, it will be his faith that's necessary if they are to survive). The film presents language intelligently, as we should expect when the words are penned by AML Award-winning playwright Melissa Leilani Larson. The film's score by Robert Allen Elliott is likewise suitable and intelligent. The problem is that these two strengths can bump into each other. Sometimes, what Freetown really needs, is some more faith in silence. That said, I think the best way to enjoy the film is to take a crowd to the theater. If it makes it to the East Bay, I plan to invite a lot of people. This is a movie that should be experienced communally.

by Scott Hales:

The story FREETOWN tells is compelling. While it is based on true events, I admit that I have no clue where it takes liberties with history. Were the missionaries really hunted by a vengeful rebel? Did the ending really happen the way it's portrayed in the film? I don't know and I don't think it matters. Freetown is a story that could happen. The characters are realistically drawn and the situations they find themselves in--including the miracles they encounter along the way--seem wholly plausible. It's an excellent follow-up to The Saratov Approach.

by Carrie Stroud:

I watched Freetown with my husband and 13 year old daughter. I would say that this film could be watched by those ages 10 and up, simply because it was a violent situation and although not gory, could trouble a younger child with so many guns. Although I hesitate to write this aspect, my family had a very hard time understanding the accent and in retrospect I think subtitles would have been helpful. It made it difficult to feel emotion when we were struggling so hard to understand each sentence. I felt like the character development was definitely lacking. The story itself is very powerful and it would have been nice to understand more background into their lives. With that said, my family agrees that the overall acting was well done and we felt great empathy for each person and situation.

Freetown Movie: A Review

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by Melissa Condie:

MMM Note: Freetown could be playing in a theater near you - if so check it out!

Freetown was successful in that it took me on a journey.

When it comes to movie-watching, I am not known for being able to stomach a lot when it come to violence or suspense. I can get pretty hyped up when characters are in danger.

As I started watching Freetown, my insides were all sorts of tangled and edgy. I had a pretty constant sense of "What-Is-Going-to-Happen?" at every turn. "Oh-My-Goodness!" and "Are-They-Going-To-Die?" also stormed my thoughts.

But, as the movie progressed, my mind started to settle, which, though I first attributed the feeling to poor pacing, I realized it was how I was supposed to feel. With each act of faith the movie portrays, with each act of courage, with each instance of coincidence, with each mark of divine protection, I realized that the sense of fear and alarm I had felt at the beginning of the movie was dissipating because the makers of the movie had intended to dissipate those gnarly feelings.

Sure, there were a few weak moments. In the scene where a missionary and a father are trying to gather food, I was sort of confused by what happened to all of the items they had gathered, and the seemingly random demise of the father. It was confusing. Truth. But the confusion added hype to the moment, I guess.

The hellbent, vengeance-filled enemy did not seem as evil as he could have been; the missionary sympathizer only seemed brave when his life was not in ultimate peril. BUT, you absolutely fall in love with the "good guys." The man who drives the elders around. The rebels who do not really have a heart in it, and are only looking for beer. The women at church wearing the cutest dresses I have ever seen in my life. [I want one.] The adorable, smiling, happy, affable Mormon missionaries.

And, when you remember and realize that these characters are all real people, portraying a real story, it makes you love them that much more.

I mostly enjoyed the background music, especially the tracks with African voices, also the music that propelled the action in running scenes, but there were some parts, especially in quieter scenes, where I felt, "Yeah, this music is totally going to date this movie." [Sort of like when you watch a movie blazing with synthesizers, knowing that it has the 1980s written all over it.]

But, I loved how the movie tackled issues that are oh-so very important. It is good to bring awareness to civil war. It is good to point out that hatred only breeds hatred. It is good to say that you can move past "cognitive dissonance." You cannot change the past, you can only change the future. You can learn to forgive and move on. Stuff like that. Love it.

Kudos to the persons who decided to bring this story to light, instead of letting it remain forgotten or unknown to the LDS masses.

The overall theme I took from the movie is that, even when a gun is held to your head, you can still feel peace and trust in the Father of us all. Even when you do not know what is coming next, you do not have to worry, because the Lord will provide. And this theme is worth sharing over the cinema. Bravo, Three Coin Productions, bravo.

I have walked away from this movie with an honest-to-goodness strengthening of my personal faith.

"It just doesn't make sense to doubt anymore."

I can repeat those words in recognition of events in my own life, and I hope all that watch this movie can leave the theater and proceed in such faith.


Melissa Condie is a middle school orchestra teacher in Houston, Texas. She loves jalapeño chips, passion fruit smoothies, MS Paint, and the smell of desert rain. She also has a blog: Tacky Galoshes.

Introducing Kolob Kitsch!

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by Scott Heffernan:

I'm excited to announce a new website I've been working on—Kolob Kitsch! Celebrating the weird and the wonderful of Mormon culture, humor, and arts. I created Kolob Kitsch as an outlet to share the oddly charming and overlooked treasures of Mormondom. I’m a lifelong and faithful member of the LDS church, but also have a bit of a twisted sense of humor.

Kitsch refers to items that are considered to be distasteful, garish, or overly sentimental, but are appreciated in an ironic or knowing way. I’ve always had a fascination with Mormon and religious kitsch, and plenty will be featured here. Many of the themes on the site will go beyond the scope of kitsch, but I chose that word because I like the tone it sets.

Mormon life is endlessly beautiful, inspiring, peculiar, and absurd. Kolob Kitsch is irreverent, but good-natured. I hope you enjoy this collection of paraphernalia I’ll be creating and curating.

Till We Meet Again, Bravermans

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by Eliana:

Talking about television is a bit tacky but I’m doing it anyway. The NBC show Parenthood has just ended a five year run. I’m in mourning. For those of you not in the know, Parenthood is about the Braverman family—two parents, four grown children, and their families. Problems ensue. Happy things happen as well as challenges. It is the most realistic depiction of family that I think I’ve ever seen on television.

Before I open this up to comments about what we each love about the show or different characters, let me get into some of my reasons. I am not going to list characters, though I’m tempted. Wikipedia is helpful for that sort of thing. I’m not going to tell you to watch it, though you should. Everyone has a different comfort level and sometimes people on Parenthood do not follow all the standards in the For the Strength of the Youth pamphlet. One of the reasons I like the show is because there is follow through: actions generally have consequences. Kind of like real life.

• Forgiveness: People hurt us. We can move on. In the show, as life, this doesn’t have to be fast or simple but in order to move forward in our relationships, we have to do it.
• Family: The people who know us best, at our best and our worst. And they love us anyway.
• Plans: Go ahead and make them. Maybe life will work accordingly but maybe (probably) not. You have to roll with it and not give up.
• Love: Such a complicated thing. Loving people who are jerks. Learning to love. Allowing someone back into your heart. Loving at different stages. Love, sweet love.

I hope I’m not the only Parenthood fan out there. That would make me sad. I should be offering t-shirts for commenters but I’m just not up for it right now. I want to hear about your favorite moments that spoke to you, like a very accurate portrayal of how it feels to be a sibling to someone on the autism spectrum, for example.

We’ll miss you crazy Braverman clan. I know a way your family can be together forever, if you’d like to learn more.


Eliana Osborn was raised on cold weather and wild animals in Anchorage, Alaska, setting the stage for her adult life in the Sunniest Place on Earth in Arizona. She grew up in the church and didn't know there were places where conformity was preached. She has degrees. She writes. She teaches. She has some kids. She even has a husband. She's trying to do her best. Twitter: Eliana0Eliana. Website: elianaosborn.com.

My Thoughts on New Temple Clothing & Garments Video

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by Seattle Jon:

(1) Surprise at seeing actual temple clothing and garments on video.
(2) Surprise at hearing the words "magic underwear" in a church video!
(3) Surprise at hearing the church state there is nothing "magical or mystical" about temple garments.
(4) Not surprised at how well done the video was, the church makes good videos!

What are your thoughts?




Seattle Jon is a family man, little league coach, urban farmer and businessman living in Seattle. He currently gets up early with the markets to trade bonds for a living. In his spare time he enjoys movies, thrifting and is an avid reader. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and the Japan Fukuoka mission field. He has one wife, four kids and three chickens.

Low Expectations

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by Reid:

From The Simpsons Episode 72 "Selma's Choice" (Jan-21-93)

I recently watched an excerpt of Charlie Rose's interview of Bill Maher in which they discussed the looming threat of terrorism sponsored by radical Islam. Maher said something so provocative that I had to listen to it several times and then review the transcript:

"Now if they were beheading people in Vatican City, which is the equivalent of Mecca, don't you think there would be a bigger outcry about it? So this is the soft bigotry of low expectations with Muslim people. When they do crazy things and believe crazy things, somehow it's not talked about nearly as much (source; emphasis mine)."

It was just one of those phrases that struck a cord with me. And, although Maher has used this line before (here), it seems he's borrowed it from an unlikely source: his avowed archenemy President George W. Bush.* Talk about irony!

Now you may think this post will go on to rant about the scourge of radical Islam. Not today. Instead, I'm struck with how universal the soft bigotry of low expectations has become in our everyday world. President Bush originally used this phrase in his 2000 speech to the NAACP shortly after assuming office. He was illustrating the need for the Republican Party to mend fences with the NAACP and address issues of discrimination and racism that still exist in this country. But this example is just the tip of an iceberg of scenarios in which this rhetoric could be applied.

Think about society's current expectations for restraining profanity, immodesty and overtly sexual imagery and messaging. The expectation of respectful or courteous treatment by others, trustworthiness of strangers and the public sense of common decency is almost non-existent. We are programmed to expect tantrums from children that don't get their way and infidelity from spouses. We expect dishonesty and corruption from politicians and the media who cover them. After all, its just politics, right? We are told that the key to personal happiness is to lower our expectations of ourselves and others. If you don't, you'll just be disappointed. It all begs the question: when will it end?

In contrast, take a look at how our Church has revised expectations of its members. Start by taking another look at The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Review how the Church's expectations regarding chastity and moral cleanliness have changed since the sexual revolution. Finally, consider the changes in levels of commitment in terms of time, money and heart that is required of members of the Church. In the face of society's rush to the bottom, we find our Church clinging to standards that are increasing old-fashioned.

Legitimate problems arise from unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others--there's just no getting around this. We have to expect that on our best day we all will still fall short. But the answer, contrary to popular belief, is not just lowering the bar. When every kid gets a trophy, it's all smiles at first. But it doesn't take long for everyone to recognize the devaluation of trophies that this practice creates. It is refreshing to spend time with people that honestly believe and teach that we are capable of much, much more.

Undoubtedly, there will be days when we have our share of disappointments from dashed expectations. The essence of the Gospel is the ability to love and nurture those that fall short of lofty standards. The things that make this possible are faith in the Lord and hope in the power of His atonement to lift us over a bar that is set very high.

__________________

* George W. Bush's speechwriter at this time was Michael Gerson and he is generally credited with coming up with this phrase.


Reid is an endocrinologist from Henderson, Nevada. He's blessed with wonderful wife and three great kids. His interests are charitably characterized as eclectic: cycling, fly-fishing, history, travel and the coinage of the Flavian dynasty of Imperial Rome. With a deep-seated belief that people habitually do dumb things, he's trying really hard to keep things positive. People are not making it any easier these days. The gospel has helped a lot. Blog: reidlitchfield.com.
Image credit: WikiSimpsons.

These Aren't the Droids You're Looking For

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by Reid:

I recently saw a friend deploy a Jedi mind trick in an attempt to evade being 'volunteered' for an assignment at a church function. He waved his hand and said "these aren't the droids you're looking for." Genius! Though a relatively new convert, he demonstrated maturity well beyond his years in the Church in that moment. Even though he was only joking around, his bold move really got me thinking about the Jedi mind trick.

For those that need a refresher on how the mind trick is played to perfection, review the dialogue from this scene in Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope here.*

Obi-Wan Kanobi uses the Jedi mind trick on stormtroopers

at a checkpoint at Mos Eisley spaceport on Tatooine.

Obi-Wan Kanobi assured young Luke Skywalker that the mind trick could be employed to good effect since "the force can have a strong influence on the weak minded." My friend had no other options. Tactically speaking it was a brilliant move. But it didn't work for him. He and his wife were 'volunteered' anyways. They took it all in stride. You win some and lose some, right?

There's actually a number of other examples in which the Jedi mind trick didn't work--even for a Jedi. Luke had it working pretty well with Bib Fortuna, but things got sideways in a hurry when he tried it on Jabba the Hutt** (here to watch Luke's strikeout). In Qui-Gon Jinn's attempted use of the mind trick, things went poorly from the outset.

Dream Jobs

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by Eliana:

A few days ago I caught the end of a story on the NPR program All Things Considered. Apparently there's been some confusion about the North Carolina/South Carolina state line. You can probably imagine the bureaucratic nightmare of having your home or business in a different jurisdiction than you thought. 

The five second transition after the story is what caught my attention: a music clip of the Robin Thicke song Blurred Lines. See? The story is about lines and they aren't clear … which is another way to say blurred? Genius.

My dream job is to be the NPR music person—not doing stories about celebrities or albums. I just want to be in charge of the sneaky snippets of music serving as an inside joke if you can place the song and figure out it's connection to the story. When done well, these brief moments elevate my enjoyment of a piece to a whole new level.

Other dream jobs:

• The one I already have, teaching community college without dealing with politics, but in my fantasy there's an entirely different pay structure involved.
• Back-up dancer for a big concert act. 
• Researcher, primarily for a quirky billionaire with flexible deadlines.

And you? What's your dream job? 

*It goes without saying that if you have influence regarding hiring for any of my dream jobs, I fully expect you to pull some strings for me.


Eliana Osborn was raised on cold weather and wild animals in Anchorage, Alaska, setting the stage for her adult life in the Sunniest Place on Earth in Arizona. She grew up in the church and didn't know there were places where conformity was preached. She has degrees. She writes. She teaches. She has some kids. She even has a husband. She's trying to do her best.
Image credit: Atsuke (used with permission).

More Mormon TV

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by ldsbishop:

Previous installment can be found here.

Summer is almost over, the days are getting colder and the nights are getting longer. Lock your kids in their bedrooms, put your snuggie on and settle down to watch the latest and best Mormon TV shows.

Stake of Thrones
Fantasy drama following the many stories of the members of the Westeros 2nd Stake. Stories include that of Brother Robb Stark, out to get Stake President Joffrey who had Robb's father released as the Stake Executive Secretary. Also see Sister Daenerys Targaryen get lost on a YW camp hike.

24
Brother Bauer is a veteran member of the High Council. His talks seem to go on all day and make people want to commit acts of extreme violence.

Food Storage Wars
When the local supermarket goes out of business, members of the Relief Society engage in physical fights to get a good deal on a case-lot of kidney beans.

50 Shades of Grey
Lengthy review of the suits worn by your favourite General Authorities. This week, Dark Charcoal #18 as worn by President Henry B. Eyring during the April 2010 General Conference.

Elder Pythons Flying Stake Roadshow
Wacky revue featuring your favourite sketches. Includes "Nobody expects the Stake Disciplinary Council" and "The Quorum of Silly Walks."

Man vs. Food
After recent employment problems, Brother Richman is inundated with meals provided by his local Relief Society. He feels obliged to eat them all, in spite of gaining 300lbs over the last three months. The latest episode sees him attempt to eat 5lbs of Sister Jensen's famous "all beef" lasagne in one sitting.

Swagger Wagons

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Good news to all readers on the fence about buying a mini-van because you think they're not cool.

MMM Library: The Six TV Shows That Make Me a Better Man

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by brettmerritt:

Of the 25 or so shows listed as "Season Series" on our family's DVR, a few are shows that only I like to watch. I got thinking as I looked at my list of shows. I started wondering which ones I could let go. I started asking, "Do the shows I like do anything to make me a better man? Do they teach me anything? Or are they just filler, a means to escape for a few hours a night?" If they were only filler, I deleted them.

Of the shows that were left, I could honestly say each one meant something to me personally. Some are shows I watch not only because they entertain but specifically because I like what a specific character shows about being a man in today's society. Here they are:

1. Friday Night Lights - Coach Taylor

I only started watching FNL this year. I had heard how great the show was from a number of friends and so when the entire series -- minus the final/current season -- became available on Netflix Instant, I started watching. I was instantly hooked for one reason: Coach Taylor. I could do an entire post on this guy. I watched this character and wanted to be just like him. I can say that I have never felt that way about a fictional TV character before in my life. Here are some qualities Coach Taylor has that every man should admire and emulate: totally faithful to his wife, leads his home, loves his job, works hard, makes time for his family, is a consistent father, has principles he will not back down from, keeps his word, picks his battles, admits his mistakes, preaches and practices honor and humility.

Quote: "Listen to me. I said you need to strive to better than everyone else. I didn't say you needed to be better than everyone else. But you gotta try. That's what character is. It's in the try."

2. Modern Family - Phil Dunphy

He often takes things too far (it's a comedy, after all) but Phil Dunphy is a well-meaning, lovable, earnest goof. He isn't afraid to risk and try something silly. We all shouldn't take ourselves so seriously. When we screw up, we should admit it, apologize and move on. He also loves the hell out of his wife and kids.

Quote: "I am brave. Roller coasters? Love 'em. Scary movies? I've seen Ghostbusters like seven times. I regularly drive through neighborhoods that have only recently been gentrified. So yeah I am pretty much not afraid of anything. Except clowns … I am not really sure where the fear comes from, my mother says it's cause when I was a kid I found a dead clown in the woods. But who knows?"

Guest Post: Far Between, A Documentary About Gay Mormons

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A few years ago, Kendall Wilcox called me and asked if I’d like to help him produce a documentary about gay Mormons. Being an accountant and having absolutely no experience in documentary filmmaking, of course I said yes. A short time later, he flew up to Portland and we set to work with post-it notes and a couple of sharpies, littering a bare wall in my condo with notes about all the people we should talk to, the organizations we should talk about, the tone we should strike, etc.

After laying the groundwork, I traveled quite a bit that summer with Kendall, helping out with interviews in the Bay Area; Kirtland, OH; Utah; New York City and the Pacific Northwest. It was an incredible experience. It became a process of Kendall working through his own reconciliation between his sexuality and his spirituality by talking to others in various stages of that same reconciliation and on various and diverse paths. It also became a process for me of reconciliation, learning to listen to stories much different than my own and learning to sit with the tension of placing my story alongside those that contradicted my own.

Sitting with that tension was probably the most important thing I could learn. It helped me explore important questions about myself and my place in the world and my responsibility to others. Kendall is a fiercely curious person and also incredibly respectful of each person’s story. He very conscientiously creates a space that invites in a range and multiplicity of voices. This shows in the diversity of stories he has collected; everything from a Boy George lookalike writer of horror fiction who spent 30 years outside of the church to more traditionally Mormon, temple married couples.

In listening to all these assorted stories, I developed more of an understanding of and respect for why people make choices different than my own. At the same time, it helped me flesh out my own understanding of why I have made the choices I did. I learned to sort through important questions like how do I resolve differences between my beliefs and how others choose to live their life? How do I form my values? How do I process conflicts between internal and external forces? How attracted am I to the same sex versus opposite sex and in what ways? What role does religion play in my life? How much of my overall identity is bound up in my religious identity? What happens when someone else thoughtfully and conscientiously arrives at different answers to these questions?

I’m certainly not the only one who has been faced with important questions. During the past few years the national conversation about homosexuality and gay marriage has exploded. In that time, the number of states where marriage is legal for same-sex couples has more than tripled, with dozens of challenges to state gay marriage bans advancing through the federal legal system. Some states have pushed back by attempting to pass and enact laws protecting discrimination based on religious beliefs. Religious leaders have pushed back and asked for religious freedom protections. The Boy Scouts of America changed their membership rules to allow gay youth and continues to face pressure to also allow gay leaders. The problem is the questions around the role of religion and sexuality too often play out in the political realm, which too often polarizes and fails to empower individuals to address some of the questions I mentioned above in a way that brings greater understanding of self and therefore more peace and respect for the process and decisions of others.

I don’t have a crystal ball and don’t know for sure where the gay marriage debate will end, but I do know that whether gay marriage becomes the law of the land or is abolished completely, the polarization is frustrating for people on all sides of the issue. I also know there will still continue to be religiously oriented individuals who also experience a strong orientation of attraction to their own gender. There will still be a segment of the population (both inside and outside Mormonism) who have to wrestle with the tough questions that bubble to the surface as a result of the at times seemingly irreconcilable conflict between their religious and spiritual identities. This is why I got involved with the documentary film project (titled Far Between) and why I think it’s so important. These questions don’t just affect those who are gay and Mormon. These are questions that affect all of us: gay, straight, transgender, religiously affiliated, non-religiously affiliated, etc.

We currently have hundreds of hours of footage, encompassing over 180 interviews, loads of research and a detailed outline (a script of sorts) to guide us to completion. We now need to assemble a postproduction team, including editors, colorists, sound designers, etc. to create the final product. Our goal is to enter the final product in the Sundance Film Festival so that we can take the ongoing conversation to a broad audience. If this conversation is important to you, or if these are questions you’d like to explore yourself, please donate to Far Between, like our facebook page, or share our Kickstarter page with your friends and family in order to keep the conversation going.


Jon Hastings lives in Portland, Oregon and is an accountant by day and by night and on occasional weekends is an associate producer for Far Between, a documentary that explores the experience of being homosexual and Mormon.

This Post is Pretty Brilliant Too

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by Seattle Jon:

Amidst all the recent divisive discussion and debate about the role of women in the church, one thing is certain, at least in my mind - our young women will someday benefit from many great and important things not yet revealed that pertain specifically to them. So to those of us raising daughters, and to those of us crossing paths with young women in this church, let's be aware of the messages they receive at church and not forget our responsibility to remind them that they're "pretty brilliant too." Who knows, one of us might be raising the next Kate Kelly and she needs to be ready for a different response from god.

Opulence ... We Has It

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by Reid:

During our recent trip to Lithuania I discovered that Vilnius has more churches than Thailand has Buddas (… not really). The beauty of these churches was truly impressive. Their sheer opulence, along with the unmistakable Russian accent that you hear everywhere, made me think of this classic commercial from a few years ago.



Let's face it, there is a noticeable contrast between the interior of the LDS chapel in Vilnius with the interior of even a second-rate Lithuanian church. To compare our little chapel with something like St Anne's Church wasn’t even close. But what our chapel lacked in opulence, we had in spirit. You can keep the gold-encrusted religious icons, the candles, the works of art and the elaborate altarpieces. I'll stick with the feeling I got while hearing a Lithuanian Branch President with a strong Russian accent testify of the truthfulness of the restored gospel. So when it comes to real opulence, I can confidently say: we has it.

St Anne’s Church - Vilnius, Lithuania
Easily my favorite (Catholic) church

The Vilnius, Lithuania LDS chapel on the left vs. St Anne’s Church on the right

Reid is an endocrinologist from Henderson, Nevada. He's blessed with wonderful wife and three great kids. His interests are charitably characterized as eclectic: cycling, fly-fishing, history, travel and the coinage of the Flavian dynasty of Imperial Rome. With a deep-seated belief that people habitually do dumb things, he's trying really hard to keep things positive. People are not making it any easier these days. The gospel has helped a lot. Blog: stunnedbanana.blogspot.com.
Image credits: Reid (used with permission).

Would You Donate?

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by Seattle Jon:

Looks like the church's marketing department has not only been tasked with boosting conversions but with boosting donations as well - who else thinks this Deseret Industries ad is pretty slick?

Seattle Jon is a family man, little league coach, urban farmer and businessman living in Seattle. He currently gets up early with the markets to trade bonds for a living. In his spare time he enjoys movies, thrifting and is an avid reader. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and the Japan Fukuoka mission field. He has one wife, four kids and three chickens.

Brother Jake Explains: Tithing

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by Brother Jake:



Brother Jake is the caboose of a big Mormon family. He enjoys playing video games and making silly videos. After serving a mission in Peru, he married a violinist, transferred schools, and finished his undergrad at Indiana University. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in analytics (a dumb word for "statistics") at NC State. He has extremely stretchy elbow skin.

Brother Jake Defends Modesty

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by Brother Jake:



Brother Jake is the caboose of a big Mormon family. He enjoys playing video games and making silly videos. After serving a mission in Peru, he married a violinist, transferred schools, and finished his undergrad at Indiana University. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in analytics (a dumb word for "statistics") at NC State. He has extremely stretchy elbow skin.