State of Mind

One of my nerdy habits is to make random music playlists with a theme. I have my "Manuary" list with ballads sung by and about men, "Happy Happy Joy Joy" with songs about happy things, and "Time Flies on Wings of Lightening" with tunes about the seconds, hours and minutes that fill our lives. In that spirit, I thought I would create a "Tax Return" playlist, because after all, I'm a tax accountant. I've spent a lot of time over the past few months looking at federal, state, and local income tax returns.

So, without further ado, here is a Federal and 50-state playlist for you, along with some explanations of why I choose certain songs. Admittedly, some of the connections are a little tenuous, but this is hard. If any of you have better suggestions, I'm all ears.

The Feds - "Taxman," The Beatles; "Born in the USA," Bruce Springsteen; "I am a Patriot," The Burns Sisters; and of course this gem:


"50 State Song," Animaniacs

Alabama - "Sweet Home Alabama," Lynyrd Skynyrd (If you haven't seen it, there is a most excellent documentary that will explain the lines about Muscle Shoals and Swampers!)
Alaska - "Frozen" movie soundtrack (because this is true of Alaska very often)
Arizona - "It's Too Darn Hot," from the Kiss Me Kate soundtrack (because this is true of Arizona very often!)
Arkansas - "I'm a Bad, Bad Man," from Annie Get Your Gun ("There's a girl in Arkansas/The Sheriff is her brother in law" - we're talking quality rhymes here)
California - Beach Boys (all their songs sound the same, so there's a bunch of options)
Colorado - "High Flying, Adored," Evita (because they have high mountains. And legal weed)
Connecticut - "Rain in Spain," My Fair Lady ("In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire"...Hartford is in CT!)
Delaware - "Long Way," Antje Duvekot (this one mentions several states but Delaware is slim pickings!)
District of Columbia - Okay, this one I don't own, but it makes me laugh: "Washington, D.C.," The Magnetic Fields. Also, AC/DC.
Florida - Disney, Disney, and more Disney
Georgia - "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," The Charlie Daniels Band (honorable mention: "Georgia on my Mind," Ray Charles)
Hawaii - Jack Johnson (he was raised in Hawaii and a lot of his songs are about surfing)
Idaho - "Hello, Little Girl," Into the Woods (Idaho has wolves, this song is sung by a wolf)
Illinois - "Chicago" soundtrack (If I track down the CD, which I have somewhere, could also use "Illinoise" by Sufjan Stevens)
Indiana - "Gary, Indiana" from The Music Man
Iowa - "Iowa Stuborn" also from The Music Man
Kansas - "Over the Rainbow" - of the many versions of this Wizard of Oz classic, I love Eva Cassidy's (even if you're not in Kansas anymore, this is a great song)
Kentucky - "Fugue for the Tinhorns," Guys and Dolls ("I got the horse right here" - Kentucky derby, anyone?)
Louisiana - The Princess and the Frog soundtrack (honorable mention: "Down at the Twist and Shout," Mary Chapin Carpenter)
Maine - "Carrying the Banner," Newsies Soundtrack ("Remember the Maine!" was the battle cry of Hearst, one of the newspaper publishers mentioned in Newsies)
Maryland - "Good Morning, Baltimore" from Hairspray
Massachusetts - "Sweet Caroline," Glee version because it's better than Neil Diamond (this is sort of a theme song for the one and only Boston Red Sox)
Michigan - Dreamgirls soundtrack, or anything Mo-town
Minnesota - When I think of Minnesota, I always think of the radio show A Prairie Home Companion.  If you don't listen to it, you should. One of my current favorite groups from the show is the Wailin Jennys, and while they're technically from Canada, I associate them with Minnesota.
Mississippi - O, Brother, Where Art Thou (honorable mention: "Mississippi," Sheryl Crow - because doesn't everyone stay in Mississippi a day too long?)
Missouri - "Kansas City," Oklahoma
Montana - "Sweet Baby James," James Taylor (somehow, this song evokes cowboys and open space, which is my stereotype of Montana)
Nebraska - "Fields of Gold," Eva Cassidy (there's a lot of corn, fields, and cornfields)
Nevada - "Luck be a Lady," Guys and Dolls soundtrack
New Hampshire - "My Girl," The Temptations (did you know that NH is the only state to have an all female congressional delegation AND a woman governor? Guess it's easier if you have only two representatives in Congress)
New Jersey - Bruce Springsteen, obviously. "Born to Run" or "Atlantic City" seem appropriate.
New Mexico - "Santa Fe," Rent soundtrack (or the Santa Fe song from Newsies)
New York - this state overflows with options - you got your "Empire State of Mind," "NYC" from Annie,  the entire soundtrack of Guys and Dolls and 42nd Street, so much more.  Unfortunately I don't have a recording of it, but Hugh Jackman sings a dreamy version of "I Happen to Like New York."
North Carolina - "Carolina On My Mind," James Taylor (the wording could be North or South, but since Mr. Taylor was raised in North Carolina, I went with North)
North Dakota - "Rocky Racoon," The Beatles (Rocky lived in the black hills of Dakota!)
Ohio - Annie Get Your Gun (did you know Annie Oakley was from Ohio?)
Oklahoma - "Oklahoma," Oklahoma (duh! this song actually inspired this whole playlist idea, because I like to sing this song to myself when I review Oklahoma tax returns)
Oregon - "Citywide Rodeo," The Weepies (For whatever reason, I had a lot of friends and roommates in college from eastern Oregon. Pendleton, OR has a big rodeo so I weirdly associate rodeos with Oregon)
Pennsylvania - 1776 soundtrack
Rhode Island - Dan in Real Life soundtrack (it takes place partially in Rhode Island)
South Carolina - "Time," Hootie and the Blowfish (a little research turned up the fact that this band was organized at the University of South Carolina!)
South Dakota - "Train Going South," Peter Breinholt (because if you're in North Dakota, why would you not want to go south? Also, speaking of the Dakotas, there's a great clip about the Dakotas from The West Wing (yes, it always comes back to that show) - watch the episode "We Killed Yamamoto" because I can't find it on Youtube)
Tennessee - "Walking in Memphis," Marc Cohen
Texas - "Wide Open Spaces," The Dixie Chicks
Utah - Mormon Tabernacle Choir and/or BYU singing groups
Vermont - Sound of Music soundtrack (Did you know the Von Trapp family settled in Vermont and established a lodge?)
Virginia - "The Lees of Old Virginia," 1776 (and of course, "Meet Virginia" by Train is a solid choice as well)
Washington - "I Love the Rain the Most," Joe Purdy (It rains in Washington, a lot apparently)
West Virginia - "Coal," Kathy Mattea
Wisconsin - "Tire Swing," Kimya Dawson (there's a fleeting reference to Madison, WI)
Wyoming - "Why Do I?" by Joe Purdy is a song about loneliness (because WY is the least populated state per square mile in the lower 48, seems legit), and I always want to say "WHY?-oming"

So there you have it, the jams to listen to while you review tax returns late at night in a windowless office. Can you tell I listen to a lot of Broadway? Happy End of Busy Season to me, and to all the tax accountants who are still sober enough to read this!

This Is My Jam

Ah, I'm not even 1/3 of the way through NaBloPoMo and I am already failing to come up with post ideas. It's been a long day, so I'm going to leave you with "my jam" - which is a Disney song, because I'm hard core like that.  I like this song, even though I have no idea which Disney movie it's from.

"I'll Try"

The Craftiness of Women: DC Edition

What, you may rightfully ask, has this Molly Mormon Democrat been doing with herself?  Tax accounting busy season was over September 16th, and we've only had one measly post since then!  Shocking and Shameful Shirking!  I know I have neglected this blog dreadfully over the past couple of weeks, but I have an excuse.  It's not even related to the government shutdown (speaking of which, aren't you tired of this ridiculousness?  and aren't you glad this blog post is NOT about that?).

For the past several weeks I have been busy getting my craft on.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Every once in a while, I dream up an overlarge vision of a craft that I need to make.  As we all know, I work best on a deadline (otherwise the craft project can drag on for years).  My friend is just about to have her baby, so I made it my goal to finish this project in time for his birth.  Although Baby Boy wouldn't be able to use his gift immediately, I need to have a set time frame to complete, otherwise I just procraftinate.

My friend was super excited that her baby would be born in D.C. because she is from the west, so I decided to make a D.C. themed Quiet Book.  If you don't know what a quiet book is, it's basically for a toddler to keep him/her quiet and teach motor skills and other educational concepts in a fun way.  So without further ado, here is evidence that I sometimes do things which don't involve a computer!

The Cover!

Page 1 - teaches how to tie your shoes - you can also move the flag up and down!

Washington Monument Page - teaches how to match shapes for the kites.

As a bonus, there's a little elevator inside the monument :)

The National Zoo - full of finger puppets

This is my favorite page - the Jefferson Memorial holds all the cherry blossoms to button on the trees.

See the fishies swimming in the Tidal Basin!

Union Station - basically just an excuse to make trains.

Choo Choo train, plus the DC metro, of course

Baseball at Nat's stadium (playing the Mariners, my friend's husband's team).  Teaches number matching for the number of innings.

This is just because I love food - you match the color scoop to the cone.

A lot of the Quiet Book examples I found online said one of the kid's favorite pages is a notepad one, so this page is to hold a notebook for drawing.

While it didn't turn out as neat or tidy as I planned, I'm still proud of it.  I promise to not neglect this blog so much - maybe I will actually get back to posting every Monday.

Origins of The Blog

Sometimes I wonder why politics and religion are so intertwined for me.  Most of the time I think it's probably because they are both rooted in my beliefs about justice and mercy, and how important kindness and love should be in our society.

But, my twin interests may have had a more prosaic beginning.  This blog may stem from the fact that, as a child, I often confused Wilford Woodruff (4th President of the Mormon church) and Woodrow Wilson (28th President of the United States).  They have almost nothing in common except that both their names start with "W."  So maybe some deep part of my subconscious still associates politics and religion because of this. 

Am I the only one afflicted with this confusion?  To this day, I still have to think about it when I refer to either of these men to make sure I say the correct name!

My Most Irrational Fear

Lately I feel like I haven't had much new to say about politics or religion, so I haven't been posting much. I feel like everything I want to do or say has already been done 38 times before (giving me more in common with the House Republicans than anyone would have ever thought - zing!*).  Perhaps it's second term blues, looming work craziness, or any other various reasons, but I feel off kilter.

So tonight, I wish to share with you my most irrational fear.  And it is this:



That's right, I have a serious problem, folks.  I have a fear of dropping things in gutters.  For realsies.  Constantly, I have a paranoia that I am about to drop something valuable into the sewer, never to see it again.  It manifests itself in strange ways.  If I have my keys or purse with me, I will literally move these items to the other side of my body to shield them from falling into the sewer.  Even if I am several feet away from the gutter opening.  This probably stems from me dropping a Peter Rabbit movie into the rain gutter (ACCIDENTALLY!) when I was younger than 5 years old.  But since then, it has simply become one of my irrational quirks of personality.  It's why I sometimes think of myself like Jane Austen's Mr. Bennet: "...so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humor, reserve, and caprice..." that the experience of (slightly more than) three and twenty years would be insufficient to understand my character.

Now please, could someone suggest a good blogging topic?

*Seriously, the House has voted 38 times to repeal Obamacare.  If someone can explain to me what the point of that is, I will gladly pack up my pencils and go home from blogging forever.

Recommended Reading

You know, because I am too lazy for an actual post - here are some things I found interesting over the past couple days:

Steven Pearlstein of The Washington Post asks: Is Capitalism Moral?  (Reminds me of this blog post of the good old days)

The Good Folks at the Tax Policy Center talk about Corporate Welfare.

An awesome Mormon blog tackles faith and not having all the answers.

And, I'mma let you finish, but Google Reader was the best of all time, and this was a great tribute piece.  I shall miss Google Reader!

Finally, this is why I like Pinterest:


I realize it makes me a terrible person, but I don't like talking to people.

Why Are We Changing Maps?

One of the funniest moments in West Wing TV.  I love this clip.

On Indecision

So, I love Anne of Green Gables, and have probably read all the books in the series multiple times.  In one of the books, Anne makes a friend during her college years named Phillipa.  Anyway, Phillipa is very indecisive.  This comes into play because Phillipa has many suitors, being, of course, extremely beautiful.  It sticks in my head only because the two guys she whittles it down to are Alec and Alonzo (alliteration!).  She can't decide between them - both are handsome and rich, of course.  Phillipa is not just indecisive about love, she is indecisive about other, smaller decisions.  She can't decide which hat to wear when she leaves the house, etc. (about now, all the boys are going, why do you like these books?).  On the hats, she eventually has to close her eyes and stick a pin in the hat.  

Eventually, Phillipa meets a friend who tells her "just do whatever you will wish you did when you are seventy."  In other words, pretend you are 70 years old and looking back on your life - what will you wish you had done in that moment?  It works for Phillipa but I don't think it really works for me.

One of my main personality traits is indecision - I have trouble making decisions ranging from choosing something to eat to choosing a job to choosing a car, etc. etc. etc.  And now, having spent hours on the following dilemma, I am no closer to a solution.  We are turning a spare room* into a guest room and I have to buy a bed.  I've researched the options and prices and finishes until I'm blue in the face but I am no closer to deciding between the two of these daybeds.  I know I want something that can double as a couch when it's not being used as a bed.  So here are the options:

Option #1:

Option #2:

This is a ridiculous "first world problem," I know.  But it is not making me happy to worry about it.  Eventually I'm just going to have to pick one, especially as we have a guest staying with us in February who will need to use it!

*And yes, in Anne's (and Miss Barry's) honor, 'twill be the sparest of spare rooms.

ISMS!

I may have blogged, like, a few billion times about how much I love West Wing.  Aaron Sorkin is the screenwriter behind a lot of the greatest episodes.  I was reminded of this video below tonight, which combines the brilliant Sorkin's many riffs on himself.  Enjoy!

"Sorkinisms"

Just Another Manic Molly Monday

Mondays are not my favorite day.  I mean, c'mon - it's the start of the work week!  But I've decided to do something to make them better, and commit to doing a blog post every Monday.  This doesn't necessarily mean that it will be a long one, but at least it will be consistent.  I will also try to include a picture or video to make my blog more visually interesting (I did not include a picture in my blog post on Saturday, because I did not want to know what would come up on a google image search about sex education!).

So, to begin: Jeopardy.  Specifically, the nerd-tastic show that features this guy:

I just found out that my co-worker got tickets to a local taping of Jeopardy and she's letting me go with her!!!  I have been a fan of this show for a looooong time.  This is mostly thanks to my maternal grandparents, who ALWAYS watched Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.  When they stayed with us, or we stayed with them, every night, without fail, would bring the delights of "spin that wheel"!, daily doubles, buying vowels, corny facts about the contestants, and double Jeopardy.  

In high school, I joined the Quiz Bowl team (true, I was second string).  While I dreamed of appearing on "College Jeopardy" that never quite worked out.  I did try out a couple of years ago for real Jeopardy, but never got called up.  I would probably get overly excited and lose big time, so I guess the show's producers saved me personal embarrassment!

For some reason I love Jeopardy much more than Wheel of Fortune.  Jeopardy is much harder, so maybe that's why it's my favorite.  I think the reason that I enjoy it is that I don't know everything on the show.  It's good "brain floss" to remember quirky facts or do fun word puzzles.  I'll end with a scene from one of my favorite movies involving Jeopardy:

A Political Parable

Two people went up to the National Archive in Washington, D.C. to view the constitution, the one a Democrat, the other a (re)publican.

The Democrat stood and looked at the constitution and she said to herself, I am thankful that I am not as other men, voodoo economists, despisers of undocumented immigrants, haters of the EPA, or even a global warming denier, as this (re)publican is.  I protest twice in the week, and pay taxes of all I possess.

And the (re)publican, standing afar off, would not so much lift up his eyes to the constitution, but said to himself, Oh founding fathers, in your wisdom, be merciful and guide me to your original intent.  I say unto you, this (re)publican went down to his house a truer American than the other, for everyone who is overly certain of themselves should be voted out of office.

The above is a political version of one of my favorite parables in the New Testament, that of the Pharisee and the Publican, told in Luke 18:9-14:
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

It would be easy to glean from this a lesson I have talked about on this blog before, that we need to respect one another and not look down on those who disagree with us.  I think that is a good message, and a valid way to look at this parable in a political setting.  However, I think there is more political moral to this story.

If you look at the Pharisee (the democrat in the above version), he is actually doing the right things - he is not participating in extortion, being unjust, or committing adultery.  In politics, this is akin the the rare "valid point" - when you are technically correct about something and have the facts on your side.  Note that for each of us, this probably occurs less often than we think it does - we tend to believe we are absolutely "right" about many things for which there is a compelling argument to be made on the opposite side.  But, even in the cases where we are--objectively speaking--right, we still can't be arrogant and mean-spirited.  There is an essential element of humility missing from our ego-charged political punditocracy.

I may have plenty of data to show that the earth is warming, but if I am an arrogant jerk about it, I have gone too far.  I may be able to point to many great things the EPA is doing, but if I am unwilling to admit that it is an organization run by imperfect humans, I may miss ways to make it a better steward of our national resources.  So, my point is this: humility in politics is a good thing.  Even when you're right, be gracious to those who are wrong about something.  So, I guess this does go back to my original moral after all: we need to respect one another and be civil in our political discourse.

Thievery!

The New York Times stole my headline from my Jan 1st post!  They have an article called "Be It Resolved."  I am going to sue them for intellectual thievery!

Actually their article is very good, also about New Year's resolutions and how to make them more effective.  Read it here.

Wiki! Pedia!

This one's for you - you know who you are.  Donate to Wikipedia, the world's online dictionary.  If you've ever used it, stop being a freeloader and contribute.

Read more here.

Navigating Charity

As your friendly neighborhood tax accountant, let me inform you that you have only six days left to donate to charity and deduct it on your 2011 tax return!  In honor of that, I'm going to feature some of my favorite charities over the next few days.  Even if you don't itemize deductions (and therefore don't get a tax benefit from charitable donations), you can still donate to awesome charities and help save the world.

Before we begin, here are some tips from the IRS about gift giving.  Also, I generally like to make sure that my charity dollars are effective.  I like to donate to charities that spend a small percentage of their money on administrative tasks like fundraising, etc.  I personally don't like to donate to charities that pay a bloated salary to their CEO.  Sites like Charity Navigator, GiveWell, and GuideStar provide information about charities and ratings to help you donate to the most effective charity for your dollar.  Over the next couple of days I'll feature charities I like and provide links to their sites.

Let There Be Christmas Lights

I'm going to share with you some pictures from that series-of-tubes known as the interwebs (or is it internets?). Click on the links to see the Christmas craziness.

I like this picture of Christmas lights!  And this one and this one.  This one is also cool.  And if you think that you've seen a house with too many Christmas lights, you should see this, I bet it's worse.  Enjoy!

P.S.  Don't tell my brother (who's a computer engineering major and therefore gadget geek), but I am getting him this for Christmas.

Decorate!

So...our office is having an office decorating contest, and I may have decided to get creative.  Here are the pictures of my decorations.

Charlie Brown (in case you couldn't tell)

Snoopy, rocking the Santa hat!

Lucy!

I will also have a branch from my Christmas tree as the tree from the Charlie Brown Christmas special with some lights on it and blue fabric wrapped around the bottom to be Linus' blanket.  I want to add Schroeder and piano, Snoopy's dog house, and Woodstock, but the contest is Monday so I don't know if I'll have time.  We now know that I am dorky enough to make these decorations.  The question remains: am I dorky enough to put them up?  Should I be dorky enough?  I do want the people I work with to take me seriously.  What are your thoughts?

Be Thou Humble

I have never been a science geek.   Let's just say that I took the minimum requirements for science classes in both high school and college, struggled with all of them, and never even considered a science-based major.  One thing that I do manage to find fascinating about science is the science of light.  Since Aristotle, scientists have debated the nature of light - is a wave or does it have substance as a set of particles?  Okay I'm now going to oversimplify the whole debate.

Scientists in the 19th century thought they had it figured out through a set of experiments that proved that light had wave properties.  But then another set of scientists proved that light ALSO exhibited properties associated with particles.  These discoveries led to what is called the "wave-particle duality" theory of light.  This means that light is both a wave and a particle.  I like this story because it shows that scientific pursuits contain an essential element of humility - you have to be willing to be proved wrong.  You have to be open to new ideas that partially or completely negate ideas or tenets you have held your entire life.  I also like the dual nature of light - it isn't necessarily one side or the other, it is both!  We tend to think in black and white too much - so often life is not in the neat little boxes we like to think it is.  So, be thou humble in thy lightness - be willing to accept new ideas :)

Elections

It's my 100th blog post!  Cue the confetti!  I know, two blog posts in one day, no less!  For this special post I thought I'd share with you some random memories about elections, as this week was election day in Virginia.

Also, I wanted to share a random quirk I have: I hate it when people, Republican or Democrat, run unopposed.  It's antithetical to the democratic process when people don't have an opponent.  So, if someone is running unopposed, I write someone in.  Just so they don't get 100%.  This year, I wrote in my dad for county district attorney, my roommate for delegate, and my other roommate for school board.  I think healthy opposition is important!

The first memory I ever have related to elections is 1992, when my dad was surprised to learn that my mom had voted for George H.W. Bush.  Both my parents are Democrats, so it was surprising that she would vote for Bush.  He obviously voted for Clinton.  I don't remember my dad being angry, as he doesn't really get angry.  I just remember that it was somewhat of a bone of contention between them.

In 1997, I remember that my mom took me to the inaugural parade for Clinton's second term.  Sadly, I don't remember *anything* about it, other than getting on and off the bus at the bus stop near my house.  I guess I also do remember getting some sweet campaign buttons, which I think I still have lying around somewhere.

In 2000, I was in high school government class and so I remember paying attention to the debates and election with a seriousness I had never had before.  While watching the debates, I remember thinking that George W. Bush was such a lightweight, there was no way he'd be elected.  I stayed up late on election night as the results poured in.  I remember the aftermath - battles over hanging chads and voting machine malfunctions.  My favorite memory related to this was camping out in DC at the Supreme Court for a chance to hear the arguments in Bush v. Gore - it was crazy fun and I was glad I had a spontaneous mom who was up for it!  Unfortunately we didn't get to go in for the whole time, but my brother did.  We did get to go in and observe for 10-15 minutes, it was pretty awesome to see the Supreme Court in session.  I've always meant to go back, it would be neat to see a whole case presented there.  I've often wondered since then if the Supreme Court had it to do over again, would they make the same decision?  Of course, there was some great election related humor that year - the SNL debates with Bush and Gore are classic.

In 2004, I missed much of the campaign hoopla because I was in the MTC.  I did vote absentee (my first presidential vote!).  The day I flew out of Utah to my mission was election day, and I can't say I was very successful at tuning out CNN in the airport - I was hungry for the news I had been missing.  Looking back, it may have been a tender mercy that I got to learn a little bit about current events.  It was a sad day when we were sitting down to breakfast with my mission president and he informed all of us (gleefully) that President Bush had been reelected.

2008 was a much better year - I attended a day-before-election-day rally with then-candidate Obama, which was an amazing and inspiring experience.  I got to vote on election day for the first time, it was so cool to be in a "swing state" where my vote actually could turn the tide of the election.  My mom had a "soup kitchen" party to watch the election results roll in, and it was FANTASTIC to see President Obama win it all - looking back, we were so full of hope and excitement, it seems almost naive.  Then I got to attend the inauguration, and hear the President Obama expound on his vision for our future.  It's been hard to watch the slow progress and process that has followed, but I still think that President Obama is the best choice for 2012.

And, I just wanted to say I'm grateful for this blog.  It's part journal, part political therapy, and part bloviation, and mostly randomness, but I do like doing it!  Here's to the first 100 posts, and more to come!

3 Things I Didn't Share in My Relief Society Lesson

In case you didn't already know this about me, I'm a history nerd.  I love reading and learning about different time periods in history!  Which is one of several reasons why I loved teaching a Relief Society Lesson about Relief Society history, specifically about Daughters in My Kingdom, a new book put out by the church about the history and purposes of Relief Society.  For those of you who don't know, Relief Society is the woman's organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Every woman in the church, 18 and older, automatically becomes a member of Relief Society, which seeks to teach the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was organized in 1842 and has since been involved in many great endeavors of service (and a few endeavors of politics, like women's suffrage).

On balance, I like the book, even though it is "history lite" in that it's not a rigorous examination of Relief Society history, it is more of a broad overview.  There are a lot of great and inspiring quotes in the book that built my testimony about this great organization.  I also started reading Women of Covenant, a more thorough book covering the history of Relief Society in a lot more detail.  However, I didn't get to share EVERYTHING I learned, as the lesson was short.  So I decided to talk about three things that I didn't talk about in my lesson, for various reasons.

The Gift of Healing
Although not included in Daughters in My Kingdom, sisters in the church have a history of exercising spiritual gifts such as the gift of healing.  At times this was done by the laying on of hands, such as the case of Persis Young, who laid her hands on Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, suffering an infection after childbirth in Winter Quarters, after the Mormons' difficult trek from Nauvoo, Illinois.  Sister Whitney said of Sister Young: "She had been impressed by the Spirit to come and administer to me, and I would be healed...she laid her hands upon my head with my mother.  She rebuked my weakness, and every disease that had been, or was then, afflicting me, and commanded me to be made whole, pronouncing health and many other blessings upon me. ...From that morning I went about to work as though nothing had been the matter.  Thus did the Lord remember one of his unworthy handmaidens and fulfill the promise that had been given by the gift of the Holy Ghost."  (Women of Covenant, pages 67-68)

And in 1914, the First Presidency wrote a letter stating that “Any good sister, full of faith in God and in the efficacy of prayer” could administer to the sick.  Sisters “have the same right to administer to sick children as adults, and may anoint and lay hands upon them in faith."  And, as late as the 1920s and 1930s, reports circulated of women anointing and blessing other women in preparation for childbirth (See Women of Covenant, pages 220-221).

To me these stories are very empowering, but I think we don't talk about them because we are afraid that these blessings will be confused with the Priesthood, which also administers to the sick by the laying on of hands.  But I think we are smart enough to realize the difference while still celebrating the power of a prayer of faith by faith-filled women of the Church.  I wonder if any of this still goes on in the church, but just isn't talked about in public?

Polygamy 
I didn't talk about this subject because I didn't want to.  To say the least, I am very ambivalent in my attitude about polygamy.  It's an uncomfortable subject for a lot of reasons, and I didn't want to get into it.  In fact, I was surprised that Sister Tanner, who wrote Daughters in My Kingdom, put in a few paragraphs about this period in church history.  I have polygamous ancestors (so I guess it's thanks to them that I'm even writing these words), but I still think this is a very difficult period in history and I have so many unanswered questions about it that I didn't even have the courage to bring it up.

Ducks
Yep, bet you weren't expecting this subject.  I liked this quirky little story from Women of Covenant, from a time when Relief Society was trying to standardize its accounting books.  One Relief Society received a contribution of two ducks from a poor member in the early 1900's.  This was in a time when the Relief Society received contributions in goods from its members and every member was expected to contribute something.  The ducks ended up running away or getting killed, and the local Relief Society president felt terrible about it.  The stake president wrote: "Now she feels that this woman and the books should have credit but she doesn't feel that she could dig up with $3 or whatever it is to pay for the ducks.  Hard to fix this on the books, both for the credit of the ducks and then the money received in the disposal of them" (Women of Covenant, pg. 196).

It seems silly but I liked this story - so often in the drive for standardization we lose sight of individuals.  Sometimes I feel like all I have to offer is a metaphorical "pair of ducks" - I am poor in spirit and don't have the offerings others have the ability to give.  But what's important is that we recognize the value of each individual's contributions.  It's part of why I love Relief Society: women coming together to worship God, each woman bringing her fears, faith, and personality - in short, bringing herself.  As we come together in a worldwide sisterhood, we learn from each other and grow together in love.  We struggle, but we have each other to lean on.  We learn of our enormous potential as Daughters of God.  I'll close with my favorite quote from Daughters in My Kingdom expressing that potential.  It's from Joseph Fielding Smith, 10th President of the church:

“It is within the privilege of the sisters of this Church to receive exaltation in the kingdom of God and receive authority and power as queens and priestesses.” (Daughters in My Kingdom, pg. 133)


Bibliography
Derr, Jill Mulvay., Janath Russell Cannon, and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher. Women of Covenant: the Story of Relief Society. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1992. 

Tanner, Susan W.  Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society.  Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2011.

Never No Never

Just to be clear: I have never called anyone a "Gentile" in my life.  Having spent almost three decades in the church, I also don't recall anyone else using this term in reference to people of other faiths.  It's semi-hilarious (and/or silly) when serious articles about Mormonism attempt to tell me that Mormons call people who aren't Mormon "gentiles."  Nope.