So last night I voted again (of course) for David Archuleta on American Idol, not because hes a Mormon (LDS) but because that boy can freaking sing!! Out of all the singers last night he brought his “A” game to both performances. People are always talking about him singing the safe songs that are his style - well DUH! He’s not trying to be a David Cook rocker (thats not him), he is more like a John Mayer, or even Dave Matthews type singer and can have a HUGE successful career as the winner of American Idol!

I am still pretty bummed out to see Jason Castro (who is a horrible singer and performer) on the stage still because I think the other LDS contestant (Brooke White) who got voted off last week still deserves to be up there instead of him. She has made some mistakes, but she is such an amazing singer. I loved her version of “let it be” that she sang a few weeks back. Anyway, I was pretty happy to see how well David Archuleta did because this could be a good positive press for the LDS Church, and a good opportunity for him to educate those about the church who do not understand (remember my post from yesterday)!

If you are LDS who are you voting for? Are you enjoying the success of David Archuleta? Were you bummed about Brooke White getting voted out last week too? I would love to hear what other members of the LDS faith feel about the current American Idol. I would even love to hear what non-members feel about David Archuleta and how he is doing on American Idol, or even how he might do if he were to win American Idol?

I think there is no chance of him losing, even if David Cook may be a better fit as an “American Idol” because I think his age, his personality, he has got all the tweens, and teeny boppers voting for him. He has the majority of the votes because of who he is. He is a very humble person and seems genuine about his success on American Idol.

My predictions for tonight - Jason Castro is gone - and eventually it will come between the two Davids for the winner of American Idol!

The official name of the Temple that is coming to the Gila Valley (including Pima, Thatcher and Safford) is going to be Gila Valley Arizona Temple. That is a mouthful, but it is wonderful that all the saints in the Gila Valley are getting a Temple non-the-less!

I am really excited to see what the Temple is going to look like. I got sent a picture of the new Gilbert Arizona Temple from my Mom, but still nothing official. I am not sure when we will be seeing new “official” pictures released from the Church. I think a Temple is going to do wonders for the Gila Valley, and give it more beauty the you can imagine.

The Gila Valley Arizona Temple is the biggest news the faithful LDS members have had to talk about lately, at least since President Kimball growing up in Thatcher (which is still pretty cool news)!

Once again, I would just like to share how happy I am that the Gila Valley Arizona Temple is going to be constructed. It is such an amazing time to be a member of this Church, and I appreciate President Monson for all he has done, and is doing for us members of the Church!

If you find pictures, or artist renderings of The Gila Valley Arizona Temple, then please post the links to them in the comments!

This story first reported last night makes me sick, and I hope the individuals who did this get everything that that law can throw at them.  As members of the Church we always have faced a certain amount of persecution, but the last several years have been very good to us.  In the media they are kind, even when one of the Presidential candidates was a Mormon, we get good press about being the first on scene to a disaster area and many other situations where people could (if they wanted to) attack our faith.

It is one thing to not agree with the teachings of the LDS (Mormon) Church, but to get physical about it?  That is just coward, and like I said earlier, I hope those responsible feel the full extent of the law.

In Church on Sunday we had a very good priesthood meeting talking about some of the mis-conceptions of our faith, and we only have ourselves to blame for that.  If our neighbor does not understand why our Church use to practice polygamy, then it is up to us to teach them.  If we don’t teach them, someone who is not a member of the Church will teach them, and probably not the truth.  If we don’t let our neighbors and friends know that our Church is different from the cult (FLDS Chuch) in El Dorado Texas, then who will?  They will not learn that from the media! If people do not understand that our Church official name is “The Church Of Jesus Chris Of Latter Day Saints” and that “Mormons” is just a nickname, then who will?  An interesting story was told that in one of the latest disaster relief efforts the media describes only two Churches stepping in and helping out with relief; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint, and The Mormon Church.  Yes, it is funny, but if we do not do a better job at letting the world know our beliefs then this is going to continue to go on.

What does all this have to do with two of our own getting beat down in Gilbert last night?  I have a feeling if there was more knowledge about our faith in the general public, there would be much less hate, and more tolerance.  It is our duty as members of this Church to educate those who do not understand what our Church is about.  I served a full time mission, but my mission did not end when the State President released me. We can’t hate these people who did this crime, we have to forgive them, and do a better job at educating them.  Hate fuels hate, and we need to be the water that puts the fire of hate out.

I am going to admit, last night was a struggle. I was very tired from a very long and hard day of working for both business and personal. Also had kids baseball games to attend and I was flat worn out, and looking forward to a good nights sleep! Around 3 A.M. I woke up to the screaming of my little 20 month old. Sometimes he wakes up, and then goes right back to sleep so I give him a minute. I wake up almost an hour later (accidentally because like I said I am tired) to find him still screaming, and now my 5 year old has added in the mix.

I am tired, frustrated, and just want to sleep and feel better for a new day. My 5 year old is telling me his room is scaring him, and the 20 month old is screaming in my ear. Hope you get a good idea of the situation. My wife is doing her best to stay awake and console as best she can too.

I decide to say a prayer and use the power of Jesus Chris and give our home a blessing and prayer of calm, and almost instantly everyone calms down and goes back to sleep.

Jesus Chris has such an amazing power that he has bestowed upon us priesthood holders, and it comes with so much responsibility. It got me thinking about how many members take the time to dedicate their homes unto the Lord. Every time I move into a new home (hopefully not for a while now with this latest move) I always dedicate my home with a blessing from the priesthood.

Blessing and dedicating your home to the Lord and his work is probably one of the most powerful things you can do to be able to get the right spirit in your homes. Your kids will sleep better, you will be safer from the outside world and temptation will have a harder time finding its way in.

I would recommend to any LDS Church member that has not dedicated their home to do so. The power of the priesthood of Jesus Chris and Heavenly Father is amazing. Even though I have been up since 3 A.M. I have never felt better! I feel so good, so blessed and am very proud to be a member of this Church!

It’s a well known fact that the Boy Scouts of America are the official activity arm for the young men of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I currently am in the Young Men’s organization serving as the Second Councilor and this calling has given me a lot of opportunity to work in scouting as it requires me to concurrently fill the spot of Scout Master.  It’s very demanding and requires a lot of my time, but the reward of providing an example, teacher, and friend to many young men that don’t have many of those is worth the effort.

While growing up, I lacked examples, teachers, and friends as father figures and relied on my Young Men’s and Scout leaders to fill those holes.  Now, 13 years after I received my Eagle Scout Award I still have regular contact with many of those leaders and always look forward to spending time with them and their families.  They of course love to hear about my struggles with my Scouts and laugh as they look back and remember what a terror I was for them.  I have many fond memories of scouting activities including summer camps at Bear Lake, Lake Alexander, Camp Steiner, mid-week activities, basketball, camp-fire games, cook-outs, service projects, and many  more.  These memories are things I recall often as a man now and think of my goal being creating memories such as the ones I have for the scouts I now work with.

We recently took a trip down to Goblin Valley with the troop and hiked Little Wildhorse Canyon.  It was spectacular and I know I will always remember it.  Many of the boys have expressed that they really liked it as well and want to make it an annual event.  The canyon itself is a very narrow slot canyon.  You can hike up it about 3 miles to the back side of the mountains and then about 3 miles south to another slot that you can hike down to create a loop.  All said and done it’s about 9 miles from the parking lot, around, and back.

As I’ve been thinking about my scouting memories, I just thought I would share and invite you to share as well.  Please feel free to comment.

I am not a perfect parent by any means, I will be the first person to admit that.  I struggle from day to day to make sure my kids are doing everything they should including eating the right things, not watching to much TV, or playing to many video games and so on.  The one thing I have made sure my kids have always done every single night is reading the scriptures.

I find that the cartoon ones work really well.  You can explain them to your kids (because of the pictures) in a way that you couldn’t with normal scriptures, and it captivates them.  At first I was wondering if the kids were even paying attention, but as time goes on I find they get into the stories, and when we ask them what happened the night before, they tell us and are excited about whats going to happen tonight!

I have been blogging a lot lately about the power of example, and that is the main reason you need to be having daily scripture study with your kids.  How do you expect them to read like they should in college when they go, or be prepared for their mission.  Remember the standards are much higher nowadays, then they were when I went on a mission.  I am sad to say that I never read the Book Of Mormon from front to back before my mission.  I read it in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) and that really helped, but I wonder how much quicker my strong testimony would have came if I had it when I was 12 or 13 having read the BOM 4 or 5 times (probably) by then (at the pace I am going with my kids).

You need to make daily scripture study fun.  My kids look forward to their day of saying prayers, as well as picking a song each to sing.  You can set certain personal goals with your kids, and reward them with a CTR ring if you read it all in a certain time etc.  This is a normal tradition in our house, and its now a habit because we just do it no matter what, and the kids know that and look forward to it.  Now maybe I can start figuring out a way to get us all to kneel when we pray no matter how tired we are.  One thing at a time!

I have had some time to think the last few days about what the Church is worth to me based on some conversations I have had with my brother-in-law while I was down visiting him for his daughters baptism.  My brother-in-law was born and raised Catholic, then married a Mormon girl (my sister) and there is where this story really begins.

You know in the Church we always say to date those who have the same faith, and share the same beliefs.  It is not because we are stuck up, or do not believe anyone else out there is worthy of us, it is because of major problems that could be faced down the road if you want to be staying faithful to the LDS Church.

For example, the family members (and their faith) of the other person, what faith the kids will be raised, how the family interactions will be, which church functions will family members go to (like baptisms) etc.  Let me throw in another huge twist for you; what if your FIL (Father-in-law) was a Deacon at the Catholic Church, and was well known and respected.  Also one who had been serving for many many years.  These were some of the issues that my sister has faced over the years, and I mean just some of them.

I do not want to get into the specifics of what both her and my brother-in-law have had to go through, but it was pretty rough until recently, but I will share one thing.  My sister knew that she wanted to raise her kids Mormon, and get married in the Temple.  She got to the point (even though she loved her husband dearly, and I mean dearly) where she was ready to get a divorce because she feared that she would never get to enjoy all the blessings of the Church.  Because of this, my brother-in-law figured out how important her faith was to her, and took it upon himself to learn more about this “Church” that was about to end his marriage.

Many sets of missionaries later, prayer, fasting and many many trials he learned of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the LDS Church and got baptized.  I am giving you the cliff-notes as to what happened, but there were so many trials he and my sister faced together during those first few years of marriage.  My brother-in-law was pretty much dis-owned by his family at first.

They have come a long way since then, and that is the point in this post.  My sister, who was willing to give up the one she loved because of her faith was an example to her husband (a Catholic) who joined the Mormon Church, and (who probably could never see it happening at the time) last week saw his father (Catholic Deacon) step into a Mormon Church and watch his grandchild (my niece) get baptized (along with about 20 other of his family members - all Catholic).

My brother-in-law is such a powerful example to me in so many ways when it comes to sacrifices and the Church.  My sister as well, and what she almost had to give up because of her convictions.  Anything is possible with Jesus Chris, and this is proof as to his love for us, and awareness of our needs!

Safford Arizona Temple Announcement in the next Church News issue!

Yes, thats right all you Gila Valley-ers I said Safford Arizona Temple! As a person who lived in Safford for almost 10 years, attended EA, worked at Kat Kountry, Safford Unified School District, and held other various positions of service for the Church and valley I, (Matt Siltala) am so proud to be announcing on this blog that Safford Arizona is finally getting a Temple!

I am pretty dang excited to be able to blog about this, as most people probably don’t even know about it inside the Church right now. Over the weekend I attended a baptism for a niece of mine down in Safford Arizona and was told about it then! I was with my Mom who makes the dedicated trip to the Mesa Arizona temple 2 sometimes 3 times a month. I think she enjoys seeing her grandkids as well, but she is an avid Temple attender whose life will be fully benefited from this new Safford Arizona Temple!

I have never heard my Mom so excited about something in my life (since my mission call to Fiji) and she comes running in the room pretty much singing praises and jumping and exclaimed “Safford Is Getting A Temple, We Are Finally Getting A Temple!”

My heart is pretty full right now, and I am so excited for the people of the Gila Valley. I also received some good Temple news about where I live too! I live in the Queen Creek area of Phoenix Arizona and heard that Gilbert is going to be getting a Temple too. I am excited that there will be a Gilbert Arizona Temple that will be closer for my family to be able to attend! It will be nice to trade off baby sitting with my family, and have my parents watch the kids when I am visiting them (or when they are visiting us) to be able to attend the Temple!

Anyway this is pretty cool news, and gives all of us in Arizona reason to be joyful - especially for those in the Safford/Thatcher/Pima and Gilbert areas! I can’t wait to see pictures of what the Temples are going to look like!!

My heart has been pretty full as a Dad lately, and my kids have been doing an amazing job at teaching me about the power of example.  There are times when I am at Church, roaming the halls because of a screaming kid in sacrament, or because of my 20 month old refusing to go to nursery, and I wonder what the heck am I doing here?  It is probably one of the most frustrating feelings I have experienced Church wise (not wanting to be at Church because I know I am going to be roaming the halls).

So whats the point of even going?  Ok now, before I get hit with an onslaught of comments, I know the reasons, and importance of going (just take a look at the title).  Just by being there in Church, setting that example, feeling the spirit, and hopefully the kids feeling the spirit too, is the reason we go!  I do get frustrated with the little 20 month old, but he did something this week that made me realize its all worth it.

I recently shared a story about my 5 year old helping me realize the power of prayer and example, so I am pretty lucky to experience all this in the same week! Well this week my 20 month old has started to calm down during prayers, and has even folded his arm on a few occasions for the WHOLE prayer.  Any of you that have a 20 month old knows how big if a deal this really is!  So he is paying attention to what we are doing, and he is learning by example.  Even if he does not understand what prayer is, or why we do it - he knows we do it, and I hope that stays with him for the rest of his life because of how we raised him.

I have been setting a lot of personal goals lately, and one of the main ones is to start doing a better job showing my excitement for Church, and testimony with my kids.  Church has seemed like a “have to do” thing lately, and let me tell you, I have 3 kids ages 20 months to almost 8 years, so yea, I have been doing this hall walking for a while now.  It started to feel like the last 7 years my calling in Church has been “hall walker”.  I do not know how the typical Mormon family with 10 kids does it (ok that may not be typical anymore).  That has never been a want of mine, I am just fine with the number of kids I have thank you, but my hat does go off to you!

Do the right thing, set a good example, and your kids will follow you, and that is my point here!

Just had an interesting thought I wanted to pass along as I was reading a story in the Wall Street Journal about food storage.  Is anyone else as amazed as I am when it comes to the current food “scare” buzzing around in the new and on the Internet right now?  The talk about it like its amazing news, and that people should start to consider a food storage plan.

HELLO??  This is the prophet of the world talking … is anyone listening?

Our Prophets have been telling us for ages to be prepared and have a food storage.  I don’t even need to point out the current credit crisis in America and point out it is our Prophets who are encouraging everyone to get out of debt and stay out of debt.

It is recommended by our Church that we have at least a year food storage, and you can learn more about food storage by visiting the LDS website talking about food storage.  I can’t help you with your debt problems, but I can offer an amazing site I found that may be able to help you with your credit card debt.  Plastic Rewards website is a credit card comparison website that can help you put certain cards side by side and help you pick the best one for your current situation.  If you need a lower interest rate, balance transfer or 0% interest for a year, you will be able to find a card that can help you work on your debt.

The point here is to listen, and do the things the Prophets have been telling us to do for many many years now.  Get out of debt and food storage.  The world should not be so amazed that this information is all over the news right now about this topic.  LDS members are not alarmed, and I hope we are the most prepared!