Give A Hutte

My new job requires me to meet with growers to contract grain acres all over eastern Washington. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the area, there are a handful of huge Hutterite colonies on this side of the state. Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with some Hutterite brethren and was blown away with their operation. Everything they owned was either brand new or in immaculate condition. All of their tractors are GPS and they only use semi-trucks (about 30 total). This particular colony recently got too large and the church part of the colony to move to Oregon and start another colony. It is amazing to see their operation because this one colony farms over 100 pivots which is around 15,000 acres. Plus they have a dairy and a poultry operation. It has been said that between the half dozen or so colonies in Washington, once you cross the state line on the south, you can drive all the way to Canada without leaving Hutterian land. It is impressive. The one thing that really struck me was their total communal living. I compare that to southern Idaho and try to picture residents (Cranneys, Stokers, Searles, Whitleys, Critchfields, Bedkes, Robinsons) giving up ownership and taking orders. There is absolutely no way that would happen.

I think I would be a great Hutterite because I can grow a fabulous beard.

Can You Feel It?

I woke up this morning and something was different. It was as if the world outside was somehow brighter. All my worries and cares were gone. I walked outside and found a basket full of money on my porch with a note that said, "Change Happens." I sat down to ponder how amazing the world was and how my life was exponentially easier. I was left in a stupor trying to pinpoint the cause of such a unexpected reversal of fortunes. I went over to my neighbor's house and they related similar stories. I turned on the news to find the entire globe was caught up in identical situations. How could this happen? Who is responsible and why now? Then I put two and two together. Yesterday change happened.

I've decided to quit my job because with the world changing, I just don't see the need to occupy myself with such a trivial pursuit.

Why Tom?

Tom Hanks Says Mormon Supporters of Proposition 8 'Un-American'
Friday, January 16, 2009
By Hollie McKay
AP
Tom Hanks Says Mormon Supporters of Prop-8 “Un-American”

Tom Hanks, an Executive Producer for HBO’s controversial polygamist series “Big Love,” made his feelings toward the Mormon Church’s involvement in California's Prop 8 (which prohibits gay marriage) very clear at the show’s premiere party on Wednesday night.

“The truth is this takes place in Utah, the truth is these people are some bizarre offshoot of the Mormon Church, and the truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen,” he told Tarts. “There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them. I do not like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper, any of the 50 states in America, but here's what happens now. A little bit of light can be shed, and people can see who's responsible, and that can motivate the next go around of our self correcting Constitution, and hopefully we can move forward instead of backwards. So let's have faith in not only the American, but Californian, constitutional process.”

When informed of the "Forrest Gump" star's comments, Kim Farah, a spokesperson for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, told Tarts, "Expressing an opinion in a free and democratic society is as American as it gets."

Bill McKeever, a rep for the Mormonism Research Ministry, added, "Personally, I find it un-American to tell people that they shouldn’t vote their conscience. Hanks said he doesn’t 'like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper.' Considering that just about every law discriminates in some form or another, makes this comment ridiculous. Hanks’ comment shows that he very much believes in discriminating against people with whom he disagrees. I may not agree with Mormon theology, but I certainly defend their right to express their opinion."

I'm usually a fan of anything Tom Hanks does but after today, I will no longer support anything he is involved in. Even McKeever, the rep for one of the anti-mormon groups out there, disagrees with Mr. Hanks. Calling me Un-American for a belief system of which you have no idea is hypocritical, arrogant, and ignorant.
Forrest Gump how could you?

What Would I Be?

I've been down in Tucson the last couple of days trying to deal with this horrible 84 degree weather. We got done early today with our meetings so we decided to go to the Pima Air and Space Museum. I've been to it a couple of times on my mission but it is always amazing to see history. This time I was particularly interested in different nose and tail art on the planes. I found this artwork on a "Liberator" that was used during the initial invasion of Normandy by the 446th. The original name was the Red Ass but they had to change it to the Bungay Buckaroo in order to be more family friendly in the newspapers. This reminded me about something that occurs daily in my life. I am frequently stopped on the street by random strangers and asked, "Clinton, if you were a bomber pilot, what would you name your plane?" My first reaction is to ask how does this complete stranger know my name? I then smile and respond, "That's simple. I would name it after the pilot:The Gorgeous Mormon"

I've Been Confused With Ben Hur

This past weekend I was surfing through the tv when something on PBS caught my eye. Ben Hur was the movie of the week and I had never seen it before. I started watching it thinking I would loose interest rather quickly. I was mistaken. That movie is incredible. If you have never seen it, take the 3 1/2 hours and watch it. It won 11 oscars including Charlton Hesston's only academy award.

A side note: It is interesting how they tie in the life of Christ into the fabric of the entire movie.

Better Than A Puppy

As many of you know, my sister Mandi recently moved in with me. Since we are both single and "old" in mormon standards we have decided to take a page from the big screen. You may not be aware of my obsession with Anne of Green Gables, I try to keep it underground. Mandi and I were watching AGG on PBS the other day and we've decided to adopt a red-headed orphan. I'm no wizard with kids but it can't be much harder than taking care of a puppy.

Oh and we are going to name the kid Nacho.

The Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

Last weekend I attended a wedding reception but before I get into that let me preface the story. A few months ago a friend invited me over to her friend's house for game night. I got there before most of the others arrived so I sat down and talked the the parents before we went and played games. I didn't think twice about it but apparently this is how it all got started. The day after, the mother of the house we were at called her neighbor whose husband happens to be in the bishopric of the singles ward and did some inquiring of me. She wanted to set me up with her daughter that lives in Seattle. This neighbor she called is the same person that set me up with the disaster phone number a few months earlier so she was a little hesitant to get involved but agreed that we would be a good match. So the next few months were spent trying to get us to meet which included everybody telling both of us how we were destined to be together but I was gone all fall and she lived in Seattle. So finally that magical night was to be at the wedding reception of the neighbor's daughter who happened to be good friends with my "soulmate." You can see how tangled of a web that was woven. Now back to last weekend. I showed up intending to pay my respects and get out of there. Oh how naive I was. The bride forced me to sit down and eat until I could be introduced to my future wife. The evening was enjoyable but you could feel the pressure in the air. After dinner was served, there was a dance so I asked the bride's sister to dance. We were about halfway through the dance when the bride grabbed my arm and practically dragged me across the room to meet this mystery girl. Well the entire room stopped what they were doing and focused all eyes on me. This is because the entire room had heard about our destined meeting at some point over the past few months so they had to see what would develop. So you can obviously see there was no pressure whatsoever. The bride introduced me to this girl and we began talking. Now you might think this is where the story ends. So wrong. Over the course of you conversation which lasted about a half hour, there were at least five people (including her mother) that approached us, interrupted our conversation, and asked how things were going. Now you might think things couldn't get any stranger. Wrong again. About 20 minutes into the conversation the groom's brother approached us. I thought he had a question but how mistaken I was. He asked to cut in and take this girl to the dance floor. The best way to describe my reaction was stupification. I just moved aside and watched in befuddlement. They get to the dance floor and her parents are staring in horror. This is because it was her mother that put the idea in his head. Only her idea was for him to ask her daughter's friend to dance not her daughter. So he just leaves her on the floor in the middle of the song to go get her friend. Just as he gets back to the floor with her friend, the music stops and the dance is over. Hilarious. I couldn't make up that kind of craziness.
Anyway, all in all is was an enjoyable evening.

For those of you who are interested, she was great and we had a good time.