Announcing Mormon-themed restaurants! (funny)

There is an idea floating around Utah, Arizona, Idaho and California for a chain of non-pretentious Mormon-themed restaurants called "The Steak Center" (Where There's Never a Dry, Boring Meating!).

• Each Steak Center will have one enormous dining area with basketball hoops at both end and folding metal chairs and long tables covered plastic tablecloths.
• The Steak Centers will not have hostesses, but greeters -- men in their seventies will meet you at the door and talk like they have known you all your life.

The main menu items for lunch and dinner will be:

Porterhouse Rockwell Steak

Primary Rib

Poor Wayfaring Pan of Beef

Parsley P. Pratt Funeral Potatoes

Eliza R. Snow crab (in season)

And It Came to Pasta

Kraft MacaMoroni and Cheese.

Breakfast items will include:

Pearls of Great Rice

Frosted Minivans

Adam-ondi-Omelettes

Also available

In Our Lovely Desserts

Fast Sundaes

Gadianton Cobbler

Laman Meringue Pie (just sinful!)

• The waiters will be 12- and 13-year-old boys wearing white shirts and their fathers' ties...
• At the end of the night the customers will be asked to help fold up the chairs and tables and vacuum the floor.

Franchises are selling faster than Sunbeams on Skittles! Get yours

while they last!

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Inspirational Quotes

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Dating Q&A

Here are just a few of the questions from the Q&A section at: http://www.lds.org/youth/dating/atoq.html

What is the purpose of dating as teenagers? If we aren’t “looking for someone” during high school, why bother dating at all?

For the Strength of Youth says, “Dating can help you develop lasting friendships and eventually find an eternal companion” ([2001], 24). Your ultimate goal is to spend eternity with Heavenly Father, and in His kingdom we will live as eternal families. So the ultimate goal of dating is to find an eternal companion you can make and keep temple covenants with. When you’re a teen, dating helps you learn how to interact with others, make friends, have fun, and learn and practice respect and courtesy. These skills will be helpful in your social interactions and then later in courtship and marriage.

“When you are old enough [age 16], you ought to start dating. It is good for young men and young women to learn to know and to appreciate one another. It is good for you to go to games and dances and picnics, to do all of the young things. We encourage our young people to date. We encourage you to set high standards of dating.”
President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “You’re in the Driver’s Seat,” New Era, June 2004, 5.
Other resources: Matthew and Janine Clarke, “Why Date?” New Era, Aug. 2006, 38.

Why do we wait to date until we’re 16?

Modern prophets have counseled us to follow this standard because they know that it will protect us and help us to be happy. Turning 16 isn’t necessarily a magical event that makes you suddenly ready to date. The counsel against dating before you’re 16 is based on principles of physical, emotional, and spiritual safety.

Don’t get stuck in the racetrack mentality—“ready, set, date!” It isn’t about dating as fast and furiously as you can the moment you turn 16. The age of 16 simply means you can now begin dating when you feel ready, starting with group dates.

Should guys really have to pay for every date?

Not necessarily, but if the young man is the one who asked the young woman out, he ought to pay. However, don’t fall into the bad habit of taking advantage of the one most willing or able to pay.

Dates don’t always have to cost money. With a little planning, ordinary activities can become dates, such as going for walks or playing games. Most teens don’t have enough money to go out to dinner and a movie regularly, so creative dating that doesn’t cost much is the thing to try. When two people enjoy each other’s company, then even simple activities can become fun and allow you to get to know each other better.

Should I date someone who is not LDS?

Possibly, but don’t date anyone (LDS or not) who, because of low standards, will drag you down. Including friends who share your standards in your group dating can build wonderful friendships and may create missionary opportunities.

How do you get out of a bad date?

If the group or activity makes you uncomfortable, ask your date to take you home or change the activity (such as leaving a bad movie). Let your parents know where you are going, and if you have a cell phone, use it when you need to. There is nothing wrong with standing up for yourself. If nothing inappropriate is going on and you’re just not having a good time, then consider how you can help the situation without being rude to your date.

"Dating for beginners" (and the intermediate)

Spiritual Assessment

“As you go through your dating and courting relationships, I would hope that you will assess the spiritual inclinations of the individuals you’re getting to know better. How is their testimony? How do they treat their parents? How do they treat their brothers and sisters? Do they respect authority? Do they love the Lord, His servants, and the scriptures? What plans do they have for their lives?

“It isn’t enough if they are handsome or beautiful, if they are rich or poor, what kind of car they drive, what kind of clothes they wear, what kind of athletic ability they have, or what kind of intellect they are. You should be seeking to understand the gifts they have that will be eternal in nature.”

Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Gifts of the Spirit,” Ensign, Feb. 2002, 19.

New LDS dating site! http://www.lds.org/youth/dating/

This site has dating ideas, stories from teens and apostles (from when they were dating), Q&A from teens, advice from general authorities, mormonads, cartoons, dating videos, etc. (Make sure to click on all the tabs at the top and under each section)

Dating: An Endangered Species

What has made dating an endangered species? I am not sure, but I can see some contributing factors:

1. The cultural tides in our world run strongly against commitments in family relationships. For example, divorce has been made legally easy, and childbearing has become unpopular. These pressures against commitments obviously serve the devil’s opposition to the Father’s plan for His children. That plan relies on covenants or commitments kept. Whatever draws us away from commitments weakens our capacity to participate in the plan. Dating involves commitments, if only for a few hours. Hanging out requires no commitments, at least not for the men if the women provide the food and shelter.

2. The leveling effect of the women’s movement has contributed to discourage dating. As women’s options have increased and some women have become more aggressive, some men have become reluctant to take traditional male initiatives, such as asking for dates, lest they be thought to qualify for the dreaded label “male chauvinist.”

3. Hanging out is glamorized on TV programs about singles.

4. The meaning and significance of a “date” has also changed in such a way as to price dating out of the market. I saw this trend beginning among our younger children. For whatever reason, high school boys felt they had to do something elaborate or bizarre to ask for a date, especially for an event like a prom, and girls felt they had to do likewise to accept. …

All of this made dating more difficult. And the more elaborate and expensive the date, the fewer the dates. As dates become fewer and more elaborate, this seems to create an expectation that a date implies seriousness or continuing commitment. That expectation discourages dating even more. Gone is the clumsy and inexpensive phone call your parents and grandparents and I used to make. That call went something like this: “What’re ya doin’ tonight? How about a movie?” Or, “How about taking a walk downtown?”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Dating versus Hanging Out,” Ensign,June 2006, 10.