Happy Father's Day

My dad is truly an amazing person. He is always there for me and my siblings. He is an extremely hard worker. My dad is an example to me of righteousness, leadership and love. My dad has always been very adamant about serving others. Through callings, work and on a personal level, he has served those around him, even when it may not be easy. I remember as a very young child going to deliver Sub for Santa gifts, helping clean the local high school and being taught to look for opportunities to help others.

I also remember the stories my dad tells. From the time we were very little my dad has told us stories. Sometimes they were true stories about himself, patriotic leaders, or people he knows. Sometimes his stories were out of books and the best ones were the ones he made up on the spot. The life lessons and morals he taught are priceless.

My dad is so fun to play games with, even if he does cheat. :) He got us started early on Junior Monopoly and now we're pros and can sometimes beat him...sometimes. He has always been involved in our lives and our interests.

I am so lucky to have my dad. He is the greatest man I know. His constant love, knowledge and advice mean the world to me.

Thank you Dad!

Toms Shoes

This amazing organization (thanks for telling me about it, Elizabeth) gives away a pair of shoes for every pair people buy from them. It is such a cool idea that started in 2006. Since then Toms Shoes has given away more than 140,000 pairs of shoes to people in developing countries. Sometimes we take for granted the simple things in life.

An Angel in Queens

I came across this article about a school bus driver in New York who uses more than half his paycheck to prepare and deliver meals to homeless people every night. While I am a strong believer in self-sustainability and independence, I think it is amazing that someone would take the time and money to help others while they get back on their feet.

What started as a project with leftover food from businesses has turned into a nonprofit called An Angel in Queens. This is an inspiring story about how one person, who doesn't have much himself, can touch the lives of many.

World Water Week

Sunday, March 22 marks the beginning of World Water Week. In celebration, the Utah Tap Project will begin. You can help by donating $1 at participating restaurants for a glass of tap water you would normally drink for free. Your dollar can provide a child in a third-world country with clean, safe drinking water for 40 days.

While the idea is simple, this project has the potential to help millions of kids around the world. Tap Projects are being conducted everywhere and I think it's great that Utah has joined. So, go out to eat and donate a dollar!

Donate at a Restaurant
Donate Online
Donate Through Text


Utah Tap TV Spot from Mike Morris on Vimeo.

"Why Giving Matters"

Recently Arthur Brooks spoke at a Forum at BYU. While I didn't get to attend, I did listen to it online and it was one of the best Forums I've ever heard! Brooks is the author of "Gross National Happiness" and "Who Really Cares." In his speech he talked about the statistically proven fact that giving actually makes people happier. He gave two reasons for this: giving changes the way your brain works and giving changes the way other people treat you. It was interesting because Brooks is a Roman Catholic and he quoted Mosiah 4:21:

And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.

Brooks also told a story about what he called a "magic briefcase." On a previous visit to BYU, he was given a briefcase that he stored in his closet and never used. One day the briefcase he did use broke and he began using the BYU briefcase. As he carried it around he noticed that people would read the briefcase and then look at him and, Brooks thought, assume he was a member of the church. As this happened he began to feel different becaue he felt that he was representing Latter-day Saints. As he used the briefcase he noticed something funny; he began to act differently. He joked that one way the church could change the world would be to give everyone a BYU briefcase. I love this story because it reminds us that people are watching and have high expectations of us.

At the end of his speech, Brooks listed four myths about giving:

1. Giving makes you poorer -- research shows otherwise.
2. People are naturally selfish -- no, they are unnaturally selfish.
3. Giving is a luxury -- no, it is a necessity for ourselves and our communities.
4. The government will take care of people -- this attitude has been proven to have negative consequences.

If you have the time, you should listen to the speech, it will be well worth it!

Welfare Square

On Friday I got to tour Welfare Square for my capstone class project. It was so neat. We hear all the time about the wonderful things the church does for relief effort during disasters, emergency preparedness, etc. but rarely do we get to see it behind the scenes. Welfare Square was started during the Great Depression and still has so many amazing projects in the works.

One of the most amazing things to me was to see the boxes that are sent to disaster areas. One box, below, holds enough food to feed a family of four for 10 days. The boxes aren't very big and are easily shipped and distributed. The church also created a cleaning kit for Hurricane Katrina and it is now one of their most popular items.

It was interesting to see things like the Bishop's Storehouse, Bakery and Employment Center. It is great that the whole purpose of church welfare is to help people help themselves. This simple ideology goes a long way in fostering responsibility, respect and self-confidence. Regarding Welfare Square, President Monson said,

"Come to Salt Lake City and visit Welfare Square. Your eyes will glow a little brighter, your heart will beat a little faster, and life itself will acquire a new depth of meaning."