UNITED WOMEN’S FORUM MINUTES – APRIL 9, 2008

Diane Prince welcomed everyone and introduced the program.

The prayer was offered by Linda Reeves.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Vicki Harbertson.

Presentation on “A Principle of Freedom” was given by Rebecca Bierwolf entitled, “All Men Are Created Equal”.

Rebecca gave an inspiring message of the ways we are and are not equal as a people. The ways we are equal are in the sight of God, under the law and by how the laws protect us. Some of the ways in which we are not equal are seen in our personal lives and within our families. We all are blessed with different talents and abilities, but in these ways we are not equal. She expressed that the breakdown of inequality happens through the minorities. Rebecca is in the minority in that she has been disabled since being hit by a car at 18 months of age. Her parents raised her with no barriers or boundaries. She was chosen to be Miss Wheelchair Utah and then Runner-up to National Miss Wheelchair. It was at the National competition that she realized that there are many who cannot do as much as she can do, and that she wanted to do something to protect their rights and make sure that they were being adequately helped and protected through the laws of our land. She discussed the ADA laws and has learned much about them. In doing so she has realized how important those laws are to those less abled. She encouraged us to celebrate our differences but in so doing, also be aware that inequality becomes exposed with the more freedom and differences that we share. We have a responsibility to protect the minorities, by making sure that the laws of our land that were made to enable them, are being upheld.

Debra Poulsen led us in a wonderful forum activity that helped us recognize the great accomplishments of The United Women’s Forum in this first year of organization. She shared a poem that in essence speaks of our efforts within the forum. It is as follows:

Written by Edward Everet Hale:

I am only one

But still I am one

I cannot do everything

But still I can do something

And because I cannot do everything

I will not refuse to do that something I can do

And what I can do

I ought to do,

And with god's help I will do.

Adrienne Buckley spoke of the efforts by Shelly Davies regarding inappropriate magazines being displayed at Barnes and Noble and the support of the forum in that endeavor, as well as the forums success in helping stop VIVID from recruiting young Utah girls into their pornographic movie industry. There will be a letter on our blog that we can cut, copy, sign and send to Barnes and Noble corporate offices to protest the material that they are unlawfully displaying.

Debra Poulsen made a special presentation to Linda Reeves for being a founder of The United Women’s Forum and for her great vision and efforts given in its behalf. We will miss her and wish her well as she serves with her husband for the next three years in California as Mission President. Lauralee Christensen was also recognized for her generosity in providing her home as the meeting place for forum meetings monthly during the past year.

Diane Prince introduced our guest speaker, Mr. Ike Ferguson. Along with his many academic accomplishments and honors, Marge Clayton said that the best way to describe him is as a “hands on person with a heart as big as the universe”.

Mr. Ferguson has been involved with welfare work throughout the world since the 1970’s as a profession and has spent most of his efforts focusing on the poor people of other continents as well here in the United States. In doing so, he has discovered that we in North America have a highly exaggerated expectation for our temporal lives as compared to most other people in the world; that humans are remarkably similar in their basic needs and wants and that though we all live in different settings, have similar challenges, opportunities and duties. Four questions have repeated themselves over and over in his work, both faith-based and in community settings.

l. Who do we help?

2. How do we help?

3. How and how much do we help?

4. When do we help?

He stated that for him the inner conflict has been – “the conflict of a tender, giving heart seeing need and wanting to fix it, struggling with the more objective issues of teaching correct principles and leading the needy person toward a greater level of self-reliance, security and personal peace in his/her life”. He shared five ideas that might be helpful in our coming to understand the needs of people, and how best to give aid to those less-secure in their lives. They are:

l. The sometimes misunderstood meaning of human equality;

2. The influence of Judeo-Christian ethics in the generosity of American society;

3. The role of government as a player in making us all equal;

4. Understanding the culture of poverty and its influence in peoples’ lives; and

5. How we as individuals evaluate inequality and act responsibly in doing our part to

help.

The following are remarks from his talk that were so poignant in helping us understand how we can most effectively help others.

Bill Bonner illustrated this notion of “discovering poverty” using a New England woodsman as an example. I readily relate to this scenario, particularly from my experience in Africa:

“The woodchopper from New Hampshire…discover[s]… that he lives not only in a "substandard" hovel, but that he is "poor." Poverty is always a relative measure, but relative to what? A man may be perfectly happy with his lot in life. He may have no running water, no central heat, and no money. Imagine him tending his garden, feeding his chickens, and fixing his tattered roof…. In fact, by all measures that matter to him, he could have a rich, comfortable and enjoyable life. But as the scale of comparison grows, the details that make his life so agreeable to him disappear in a flush of statistics. He finds that he is below the "poverty line." He discovers that he is "disadvantaged" and "under-privileged." He may even be delighted to realize that he has a "right" to "decent housing." Maybe he will qualify for food stamps.

“The idea of being "poor" may never have occurred to him before. He may live in a part of the world where everyone is about as poor as he is...and all perfectly happy in their poverty. But now that the spell is on him, it sits like a curse. Poverty seems like something he has to escape...something he has to get out of ...something that someone had better to do something about!

“His new scaled-up consciousness has turned him into a malcontent. The poor man, previously happy in his naïve particulars, is now miserable in his role as a poverty-stricken hick.”¹⁶

We who are prosperous often contribute to the woodsman’s woes because of our own thought processes. We eat store-bought processed food—everyone should. We sleep in comfortable bedrooms with carpeted floors and on beds with box springs and mattresses—everyone should. Our children are educated in modern, well-equipped schools—all children should. We have access to the latest in communication and technology—everyone should. The reality is, two-thirds of the world’s population have few, if any, of these luxuries, but are still relatively healthy and happy. These people have their challenges, often temporal; we have ours, as well, often social and/or spiritual. The moral: perhaps we should be less judgmental, sympathetic or pitying, and more interested in understanding the circumstances and priorities of others, from their perspective. I recall a high school educated school teacher in Liberia who walked two hours each way to his $30 per month classroom job at a rural orphanage. He had none of the above-named “basics.” Asked what would be his highest priority for improving life, he remarked that a second-hand bicycle would save him three hours walking each day, allowing him more time with his young family.

Mr. Ferguson encouraged us to understand the “hidden rules” of different of societies. They are the “unspoken cues and habits of a group, and in many cases denote what is most important to them” and how we can best help.

In his concluding remarks he referred to a “landmark” book written by David Landes entitled The Wealth and Poverty of Nations in which Mr. Landes writes:

“History tells us that most cures for poverty come from within. Foreign aid (or any other assistance for that matter) can help, but like windfall wealth, can also hurt. It can discourage effort and plant a crippling sense of incapacity…at bottom, no empowerment is so effective as self-empowerment.”

For Mr. Ferguson’s complete address please refer to the following link:

A special Birthday luncheon was held after the meeting.

Photos: April 9, 2008 "Ike Ferguson" First Annual Anniversay General Meeting

Recipes from First Annual Anniversary UWF General Meeting

Spinach, Chicken & Pasta Salad

16 ounces bowtie pasta, cooked al dente

Dressing:

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup bottled Teriyaki sauce

2/3 cup white wine vinegar

6 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 (10-ounce) bag fresh spinach

1 (6-ounce) bag craisins

3 (11-ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained

2 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained

½ cup parsley, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

½ cup sesame seeds, toasted

6 ounces honey roasted peanuts

2 cups cooked chicken, cut into small pieces

Blend dressing ingredients together in blender or food processor. Mix dressing and cooked pasta in medium bowl and marinate for two hours. (I marinate the cooked chicken, pasta and water chestnuts over night in refrigerator) Combine rest of salad ingredients in large salad bowl, add pasta and dressing and toss.

Orange Rolls

1 ½ cups hot water

1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter

½ cup shortening

2 T. Yeast (2 packets)

½ cup warm water (to dissolve yeast)

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking powder

6 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

Pour hot water over butter and shortening to melt, cool. Add eggs, sugar and dissolved yeast. Sift together baking powder, salt and flour. Add in and mix well. Let stand 1 hour (covered) or put in refrigerator overnight. Roll out 2 hours before baking. Bake at 375 about 12 min or browned. Makes 2 roll outs (24 rolls). Double for 4 dozen rolls (4 roll outs).

Inside; (for 2 roll outs)

½ cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. grated orange rind

1 tsp. orange extract

Glaze;

3 cups powdered sugar

6 Tbsp. Orange juice

First Annual Anniversary General Meeting : Wednesday, April 9, 2008

United Women's Forum is excited to invite you to attend our FIRST annual Anniversary General Meeting celebration on Wednesday, April 9, 2008. This event will hallmark our fantastic growth and development as an organization over the past year. We strive to keep our forum educated and involved on issues which affect the family, the community and the nation. Won't you join with us the second Wednesday of April, at 10:00 am at the Bountiful Public Library to hear what is going on in our Forum and with community issues?

Our guest speaker this month will be Ike Ferguson who is well known in the field of Humanitarian Service. For the past 7 years, Ike and his wife Gloria have lived in West Africa where Ike was responsible for multi-faceted community humanitarian relief and the development of programs in up to ten West African nations for the LDS Church. Additionally, he has had a lifetime of service in welfare and humanitarian related fields. The topic he will address is: "All Men are Created Equal" and he will help us understand what kind of service is most beneficial to those in need.

Because this is our Anniversary Meeting, we plan to serve a light lunch and also have a "donation" fund raiser to help with some of our expenses. We have not previously asked for any donations from the forum and guests but since our numbers are growing so quickly, our expenses are growing too. We have miscellaneous costs which have been funded by the Steering Committee but we intend to be a "not for profit" organization and spend out our expenses each year. Your "free-will" donation will be appreciated but is not mandatory for your attendance.

Please join us at this wonderful event!

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND

MEET THE CANDIDATE NIGHT

England Residence
2692 S. Grand Oaks Circle
Bountiful
Map: http://www.mapquest.com/mq/9-oovDq8m7
Wed, April 2nd 7:00pm to 9:00pm

All candidates running for Senate Seat 23 are invited and will be given 15 min each to talk, then you will have a chance to ask your own questions of each candidate.

The schedule for each candidate is as follows:
7:00 Dan Liljenquist
7:20 Jim Nielson
7:40 Beth Beck
8:00 Ron Mortensen
8:20 Lamont Peterson
8:40 Kent Parry
8:55 Lisa Watts Baski

Sponsored by Dalane England, local citizen and delegate.
Please call with any questions 298-5319.

United Women’s Forum Meeting – Minutes, March 19, 2008

Debra Poulsen welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the program.

Invocation was offered by Karen Tucker
Pledge of Allegiance led by Jennifer Bertin

Debra Poulsen introduced United Women’s Forum new board members: Janet Seamons, Becky Nelson, Jennifer Bertin and Diane Prince.

Presentation on “A Principle of Freedom” – Electing Virtuous Leaders: Diane Prince
Diane gave us an inspiring message with many thoughts taken from the book, “Learning From the 5000 Year Leap”. She said that in our Pledge of Allegiance we say “one nation under God” and that we must do all that we can to honor and serve that God for our nation to flourish. In doing so, we mush elect virtuous leaders. To be a virtuous leader one must be guided by the source of true virtue – God. She also quoted Proverbs 29:2 as the Founding Fathers favorite scripture:

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”

Diane reiterated that when the righteous are in authority great things happen. The Founding Fathers wanted leaders to be elected who:

1. Were not after office for the love of power or money.
2. To have modest pay or no pay at all, so that money was not the motivator.

Leaders who serve with all of their might, raise people to a higher level. We need to serve God with all of our hearts, might, mind and strength. Diane shared a wonderful personal experience, when as a young mother; she was called by a friend for help fighting a bill before the state legislature that would keep religious music referring to God out of the public schools. She attended the session the day this bill had come up for a vote and listened carefully to the opinions expressed by those supporting both sides of this bill. At the end of the debate there was time for one more opinion and Diane’s name was called. Courageously she spoke up and said that in supporting this bill we are in fact, “afraid of offending an atheist, and in the process we are offending our God.” At the conclusion of her remarks those present stood and applauded, including our state legislature. At that moment she knew that we had elected virtuous leaders.

Thank you Diane for a wonderful and inspiring presentation.

Debra Poulsen recognized Dalane England and Laura Bunker for their countless hours spent with the State Legislature during the Legislative Session.

Report on Utah’s 2008 Legislative Session: Laura Bunker and Dalane England

Laura Bunker enjoyed attending the State Legislative Session and learned so much. She encourages all of us to take the opportunity to attend next year and let our voices be heard. She mentioned a number of bills that were before the legislature including three bills that would forward the gay and lesbian lifestyle:

* B89 – an anti discrimination act that was put on hold and not voted on
*HB318 – allowing unmarried, co-habiting, homo-sexual and lesbian couples to adopt children. This bill did not pass.
*SB73 – Wrongful Death Amendment: allowing co-habiting or same sex partners to sue for death benefits if the partner were killed. This bill did not pass as well.
*SB299 was sponsored by Senator Greg Bell, in the last 4 days of the legislature, with the intent of prohibiting the Salt Lake Domestic Partnership Registry. It included a compromise so that it would pass, allowing adults who live together to name an “adult designee” on their insurance. This included mother-daughter relationships, sister-sister relationships, etc, but also had to include unmarried cohabitants and same-sex partners. However, it did strictly “prohibit a city or county registry from giving legal status or effect to a domestic partnership, civil union, or other domestic cohabitation other than marriage.” It protected the effect of our marriage amendment on all levels of government in Utah. It passed the Senate 21-7, passed the House 61-9, and was signed by the Governor last Friday, March 14

Laura invited us to sign up at unitedfamiliesutah.org to receive e-mails that will keep us informed on issues that affect the family.

Dalane England reported that there were 1100 bills presented during the Legislative Session and 463 were passed. This is during a period of 45 days. Our presence at the legislative session makes a difference and she encouraged us to make our presence known and to be heard. She reiterated that the bills from the gay and lesbian community will be back. They are a very strong force and will not give up. She touched on a number of the bills presented, including:

• A car seat law that means all children under the age of 8 must be in a car seat. This bill passed.
• ID theft – 96% of crimes have to do with ID theft. Many involved in these crimes are going after children.
• Human trafficking
• Waiver of immunity
• Transparency in Government Bill – How money is being spent
• Sex offenders bill
• Child Welfare Amendment - If a child is taken out of the home they must first be allowed to go to family or friends before being sent to foster care.
• Henry’s Law – regarding animal rights. Crimes intentionally torturing pets would be considered as serious as the rape/murder of a child.
• Home Schooling – a bill stating that if a parent does not have a teaching certificate they would not be allowed to teach, patterned after the State of California.

Dalane encouraged us to attend our Caucus meetings to be held this Tuesday, the 25th of March in our neighborhoods. Thank you Laura and Dalane for all of your work at the State Legislature and for educating and inspiring us in the process.

Debra Poulsen spotlighted Richard Wells of “National Write Your Congressman”. Richard mentioned that he could feel the passion present in the hall and applauded the efforts and goals of the United Women’s Forum. He emphasized that we have the potential as a nation to lose our freedom through legislation because of the darkness that we as a people are in. One of the goals of “National Write Your Congressman” is to empower people in every state to be heard by their leaders, that the leaders may know the voice of their constituents. The mission statement of this organization is:

“To encourage Responsible Americans to use their influence in government to preserve the freedoms set forth by our Founding Fathers.”

He encouraged us to communicate with our congressman regularly and to compare his voting record with what he tells you he will vote for.

Leslie Swartwood gave an announcement regarding the first anniversary of The United Women’s Forum coming up in April. We will celebrate with a fundraising event in which Ike Fergusen will be our speaker and a light buffet luncheon will be offered. This will be held at the Bountiful Library on April 9th at 10:15 AM. A donation of $10-15 is encouraged. Please come and contribute to this great organization.

Marge Clayton introduced our special guest and speaker Congressman Rob Bishop. He has spent most of his life in the Utah North area. He graduated from Davis High School and from the University of Utah. He is a resident of both Brigham City and Washington D.C. while he serves us in Congress. Congressman Bishop served 16 years in the State Legislature representing Brigham City and the last two of those years as Speaker of the House. He is currently serving on the House Rules Committee in Congress as well as the Arm Services Committee, Natural Resources, Education and Labor Committees. Marge stated that our political leaders can lift us to a higher level and Congressman Bishop is truly a virtuous leader.

Congressman Bishop began his remarks by stating that a virtuous electorate is necessary to put into office a virtuous leader. He said that the Constitution protects us from our own best intentions. In order for us to understand the Constitution we must understand the history of the time period in which it was written. He stated that there is an abundance of ignorance regarding our history when it comes to understanding the constitution and he strongly encouraged us to read and study the history of the men and the issues facing our government at the time the Constitution was written. There is a book written by Akhil Amir that is very good about the words used in the constitution and their history. He was not sure of the title, but it refers to the words of the constitution and is yellow!

There are some years that the state of Utah sends more money back to the Federal Government than we receive in return. This is money for federal mandates in return for state needs that has nothing to do with what the state needs in the first place. Congressman Bishop feels that we as a state do not need to send as much money to Washington just to get things back. The states are the laborers of the democracy. They have the ability to be creative and cost-effective and empowered to solve the local needs of the people. The federal government tends to be enamored with rules and procedures and to forget the very purpose of why they are there. He feels strongly that the Federal leaders should want to lose power to the states.

A virtuous leader was never intended to do everything for everyone. It starts at the local and state level. His goal as our elected official representing us in Congress is to come back after his service in Washington with less power in National government and more power for the State levels. It is a systemic form of government that he strongly advocates and feels that he has a few back in Washington that are catching on and supporting this as well. He recommended reading the book, “Rebirth of Federalism” by David Walker.

Congressman Bishop addressed many issues in a question and answer session following his speech. Some of these were as follows:

*Candidates for President: You are in good company if you have a problem with all three. Vote for one that will do the least amount of harm.

*Doomsday forecast for our Nation: This would happen only if the people allowed it to happen. A virtuous electorate keeps this from happening.

*Utah is the best state in the union for appropriating money. Congress wants to model this. We need to cut spending!

*Regarding Primary Elections: Congress needs to go to a regional Primary concept.

*Global Poverty Act: He has voted against any funding for the United Nation. The United Nations doesn’t work.

Some of Congressman Bishop’s favorite issues he is working on are a land conveyance issue regarding 1600 acres to be traded between Bountiful and the forest service and the Clean Water Act. He gave an example using the Clean Water Act of how good people are hurt inadvertently by the federal government. He strongly reiterated that an educated electorate needs to get the systemic form of government brought about. He will feel successful at the end of his term in Congress if he has been able to bring this power back to the states.

We appreciate Congressman Bishop for his very motivational speech and are grateful for the virtuous leadership and work that he is doing for his electorates.

PHOTOS FROM UWF 03/19/2008 MEETING

GUEST SPEAKER ROB BISHOP

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Read this doc on Scribd: ROB BISHOP

MINUTES FEB. 13TH 2008

United Women’s Forum Meeting – Minutes, Feb 13, 2008

Debra Poulsen welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the program.

Invocation was offered by Erin Perkins
Pledge of Allegiance led by Linda Hess

Debra reaffirmed the intent of UWF is to capture the “spirit of liberty which our Founding Fathers had.” She reminded us to check out the websites of Family Research Council and United Families, Community for Decency, and Lighted Candle Society. She encouraged us to “get up, put on our armor and get going!”

Debra introduced Lauralee Christensen who gave a brief presentation about the governing principles of the Constitution. Lauralee taught a principle from a book which was written by Cleon Skousen titled: The 5000 Year Leap – A Miracle That Changed the World. Principle #2, which she discussed, states that a free people must remain virtuous and morally strong to survive in a republican culture. She reminded us that the Founding Fathers began a moral revolution against arrogant views of wealth, leisure and waste which they saw in England. They saw that to have public virtue, people must stand on principle. Their efforts led to the Constitutional Convention and our guiding freedom documents. Principle #3 will be discussed next month and it is about electing virtuous leaders.

Kris Kimball shared her experience of working with the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney. She said that it was wonderful to learn how one person could make a difference. Kris included her children with the volunteer efforts and they enjoyed the experience too. They learned “how” to participate in an election and how a caucus works. Everyone contributed and did a lot of phoning to states which were having Primary elections.

Laura Bunker shared with us a “Letter to the Editor” which she has written to voice her personal concern for the Alcohol Variance which has been granted in Bountiful to El Matador Restaurant. Though the variance has been granted, it application is not yet complete. After the restaurant makes the legal application, there will be another public hearing where the public is invited to attend to make their feelings known. Laura stressed that she feels this is the first Variance given and opens the door to others in our city and state. It sets a precedent and would negatively impact the health, peace, safety and well being of our community. Watch for an email notice of the upcoming hearing and plan to attend. Attendance sends a message to our city council that we will not tolerate this variance acception.

Laura also encouraged us to contact our legislators to oppose the Salt Lake Registry (HB 267) – which registers domestic partners. This bill opens the door for alternative marriages? The Salt Lake City domestic partner registry was passed unanimously by the SL City Council. It gives a measure of legal recognition to domestic partners and cohabiting couples in Salt Lake City . At the very least, the registry sends an incorrect message that alternative relationships are good for society, and at most it could be in violation of the Utah Marriage Amendment.
SB267 prohibits cities from establishing domestic partner registries, and preserves the standing of marriage between a man and a woman as the only legally recognized partner-relationship in Utah .


Celestia Himstreet introduced us to the Bountiful opinion poll and results to determine if the residents of Bountiful are in favor of curbside recycling. She stated that Bountiful was the first city in Utah to have a recycling program and that it is estimated that Bountiful’s landfill has capacity for approximately the next 50 more years. What then? Why not extend it longer than that? Why fill our landfill with compostable and recyclable materials? We need to be better stewards of our land(fill) to make sure it lasts a lot longer than that. Bountiful garbage rates are close to half of what they are in all other Davis communities because we have a valuable asset in our landfill. Other cities in Davis County have to send their trash to a Burn Facility making their rates almost twice what we pay in Bountiful. We probably only have 5% of our community recycling. Currently, Bountiful has bins for residents to take their materials to recycle at the Streets Department 950 S. 200 W. Studies have shown that city wide curbside recycling programs increase the recycling activity of a community, and according to the EPA green waste represents up to 43% of the waste stream, which may be a good place to start when trying to reduce waste stream for community. Bountiful City has a website where we can still vote about a current proposal but there is still more we could do to change the proposal such as using current funds that are used for Bountiful Beautification projects. Go to: www.bountifulutah.gov. Look in the upper left hand corner to vote to have curbside recycling.

Adrian Buckley addressed us about community pornography issues and fighting decency in our community. She said that “to keep quiet is to *approve* and that we define our community by our tolerance.” We should voice our displeasure of pornography on all fronts. Adrian told us that Gov. Huntsman declared February as “White Ribbon Month” in the collective fight in our state against pornography. So far, no one in Bountiful has supported this effort on a group basis but she said that there is still time for us to sign a proclamation voicing our support for the effort against pornography. She will forward us an email with the proclamation to sign.

Debra introduced our guest speaker Davis County Attorney, Troy Rawlings. She said that Troy began his career wanting to be a Defense Attorney but changed his mind when he worked in the system for 5 years. He is now a Prosecuting Attorney and feels like he is contributing more to our society by doing justice to protect our communities from those who are criminals, sexual predators, or law breakers of any kind. He keeps a heavy and active case load.

Troy began his remarks by telling us that over the past 24 hours, he had taken a lot of heat with his aggressive efforts in obtaining a search warrant for the Layton store – Spencer’s. He said that we would be appalled to know of the obscene and pornographic things that were seized at the store which were openly displayed and available for purchase to minors. He has had mixed reaction from the community that his actions were improper. He is concerned about the affect he sees of this type of influence (pornography) in such other crimes as domestic violence and sexual abuse. His experience has taught him that pornography, drugs and alcohol contribute greatly to domestic violence - which destroys men, women and children both physically and psychologically. He stated that “love is replaced with lust and people are desensitized with pornography. This is an uphill battle.”

The subject of his talk was “Hope for America” and he told us that WE are the hope for America. “We were all created equally by a Creator. He gave us time and agency as well as a framework for freedom in the Constitution. We must make daily decisions which will maintain our freedoms.” Troy taught the New Testament story of Mary and Martha who were hosting Jesus at their home. Martha was busy preparing for the visit and Mary was sitting with the Savior – visiting and learning from him. Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen the better part and that Martha was busy with things that didn’t matter. We need to keep that example in mind and choose the “better part” when we decide when and how to be involved with preserving our freedoms.

Troy told us that we all have many rights such as: right to vote, to worship, to assemble, to have due process, to protest, to communicate freely, etc. To be effective, we must have integrity and be a moral people – just like we were taught earlier from Lauralee Christensen. This responsibility includes electing officials that reflect our lifestyle, getting judges and legislators, city council and school boards who are honest and moral people, who also carry the banner and hope for America. He reminded us that we have a Utah State Constitution which we are responsible for as well as our federal Constitution. We must be accountable for the abuse of these rights.

We should be aware of laws such as Free Speech Coalition vs. Ashcroft which struck down the Supreme Court argument to protect children from pornography. This law says that child pornography is protected by free speech. We have to become involved to protect our children and our free society from evils which will be destructive.

“There are many issues to deal with here in Davis County such as drugs, domestic violence, and pornographic text photos of juveniles – by juveniles – spreading around the community. Youth are becoming desensitized and have a lack of judgment. We must teach standards in the home,” Troy stated.

Troy said that he always appreciates public support and feedback. He is happy to receive email or phone calls. His contact information is: troy@co.davis.ut.us The County Attorney's office is located at 800 S. State, Farmington, Utah 84025. The phone number for his office is 451-4300.

We all appreciated the very motivating and educational talk by Troy Rawlings and the UWF women who participated at our well attended meeting.

Closing prayer was offered by Jill Taylor and refreshments were served by Marva Lyman.

PHOTOS FROM FEB 13TH