Haldo Blogging!

Welcome to the ClobberBlog, home of the musings of Bridget Jack Meyers. I sometimes post comments on other forums and blogs under the handle “ClobberGirl,” which comes from an episode of the Simpsons, hence the name. I’m no one special, but these days you really don’t have to be anyone special to have a blog where you post on dumb things you want to talk about, do you? See the “About” link if you’re bored enough to want to learn more about me.
These are the interests this blog is likely to focus on:
Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome aka 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome aka DiGeorge Syndrome / Sequence ~ Now isn’t that a mouthful? Try having a geneticist sit you down and tell you that your two day-old daughter may have it. “What the hell is that and is it fatal?” were the first questions that sprang into my mind on that day. Anyways, my daughter, Harley, has this disorder, and she’s two years old now. It’s a difficult disorder to explain. It’s the second-most common genetic disorder after Down Syndrome, but while there are hundreds of books out there geared just for parents of children with Down, you can probably count the books for parents of VCFS kids on one hand. So, I figure more parents blogging about this disorder is a good thing.
Pancreatic Cancer ~ My mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancerin August of 2007. She was fifty years old at the time, in good health, and met almost none of the alleged risk factors for it; the only “risk factor” she met was that she was a little overweight. She was given six to twelve months to live. She has had the disease for ten months now and continues to bravely fight it. Patrick Swayze’s fairly recent diagnosis has brought more attention to the disease, but again, I think more people talking about their experience with it is a good thing. It’s never over until it’s over and I believe life is worth fighting for.
Politics ~ I’m Republican, anti-McCain (no I don’t like Obama either), pro-Bush, pro-war, pro-life, and pro-guns. I won’t be blogging about these topics a lot because I believe other people already do it much better than I ever could (see my links). But I will chime in from time to time.
Evangelical Christianity ~ I consider myself a practicing evangelical Christian, if an unconventional one, so all things evangelical are fair game. Currently I’m attending New Community Church in Tacoma, which is part of the NewFrontiers church family. In the past I’ve attended churches from the Assemblies of God, Presbyterian Church (USA), andNazarene denominations. I really just go where I feel God wants me.
Mormonism ~ I have never been a member of the LDS church, but I began learning about them as a teenager and wound up doing my BA at Brigham Young University. My husband and most of my in-laws are practicing Mormons, so I have pretty deep ties to the LDS church and I’ll talk about LDS issues where relevant. Someday I would like to make scholarly contributions to LDS-evangelical dialogue, but that will have to wait until my return to graduate school at least; right now I lack the time and resources to contribute anything substantial. If you require further explanation, please click here.
Interfaith Marriage & Parenting ~ How my husband and I make our marriage work as a practicing Mormon and evangelical Christian couple, and how we are raising our daughter.
World of Warcraft ~ Go ahead and laugh, I am a gamer. I have a level 70 draenei shadow priest and a level 70 night elf restoration druid, and may chime in on WoW topics occasionally. Again though, I think other blogs and forums cover most WoW topics better than I ever could (see my links).
I get busy sometimes and I can’t promise a day won’t come where I suddenly stop updating this blog. But, eventually, I will come back to it. Probably. Maybe.
Comments are open on this blog, but I have two simple rules:
  1. If I haven’t said a swear word on this blog, you can’t say it.
  2. You’re welcome to be critical of anything I say, but be polite about it.
So that’s it for now, enjoy the blog.
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Qwest = FAIL

A few years ago, when we were living in Provo, the phone in our apartment began having troubles with incoming calls. People would call only to hear nothing but clicks when we picked up, and sometimes their calls didn’t get through at all. We weren’t sure whether it was a problem with the actual phone lines in the apartment (our landlord’s problem) or a problem with the phone lines outside the apartment (Qwest’s problem). We decided to call Qwest first.
The technical support operator at Qwest took a look at our account and said it looked like an outside problem, so they would send someone over right away. A few days later, there was a knock at my door and I was greeted by Tall Grumpy Fat Qwest Repair Woman (hereon referred to as TGFQRW). TGFQRW quickly informed me that the outside lines were fine and I would now be billed $75 for the visit, even if I told TGFQRW to go away immediately and did not let her check the inside lines. Qwest had said nothing to me about this potential charge when I called. If it had been an outside problem, she explained, Qwest would not be charging me. Apparently Qwest doesn’t believe in courtesy.
TGFQRW claimed she fixed the phone and left. I soon discovered she had fixed nothing and the problem persisted. I called Qwest and told them all that, and they said too bad, they were still going to charge me $75 for her visit. And if they sent someone over to try and fix the phone again, it would be another $75, even if they too did nothing. Obviously I said “no thanks” to that.
Long story short, my landlord was nice and picked up the $75 charge by letting me deduct $75 from my next rent check, so I let it go, otherwise I would have disputed the charge with Qwest. The whole thing turned into a mess with Qwest claiming it was the inside lines and my landlord claiming it was the outside lines, but that’s irrelevant. The point is, Qwest looks for excuses to hit you with hidden fees and services. They care more about collecting an extra $20 here and there for stupid reasons than they do about having satisfied customers for life, and they’ll try to keep from telling you about these fees and services up front.
I swore back then that I’d never use Qwest again. I should have kept my own promise. When I moved into my current apartment, Comcast wasn’t set up for my building nor could they give me an estimate on when they would be able to install their hardware. I tried an Internet company called Clearwire which wound up failing even more than almost as much as Qwest. Getting anxious to get a good Internet connection and fast, I reluctantly decided to give Qwest another shot.
Shame on me. My Qwest bill was a little bit past due last week. I owed $150 for the May and June Internet and phone services, so I sent in a payment of $50 last Friday. My husband gets paid weekly on Fridays, so I figured I’d just pay $50 a week every Friday until the account was caught up. I have a long history of paying my bills on time with Qwest, and I didn’t receive any disconnect notices in the mail, so I figured I was okay. What kind of company disconnects a customer’s service without warning having recently received a payment from them?
What kind indeed. Harley and I went down for a nap yesterday at 1PM and my Internet was working. When I woke up at 4PM, it had been turned off. I called up Qwest and sure enough, it was turned off because we still owe $100 on the bill. No, they don’t care that we made a payment on the bill a few days ago. No, they don’t care that we have a long history of making timely payments to them and this was just a fluke. No, they don’t care that we didn’t get a disconnect warning. They saw an opportunity to make $20 on a reconnect fee, and they took it. They said they would reconnect my Internet, “probably within a few hours but it could take as long as 24.” This morning (16 hours later), I called to check the progress and discovered they hadn’t put the reconnect order through properly and would have to start all over again. Bonus fail, Qwest. Bonus fail.
What was funny about my talk with the Qwest representative, Don from Seattle, was that he tried to console my anger by talking about how when he was a Qwest employee and had been a Qwest customer for years, he and his wife missed a payment and Qwest quickly interrupted their service, too. Now Don was very polite and nice, but if I understand him right, the point of his story was, “See Mrs. Meyers, Qwest doesn’t just treat their customers like dirt, they treat their own employees like dirt too! The powers that be at Qwest are equal opportunity ass-clowns!” Thanks, Don! I feel much better about my future with Qwest now.
Well Qwest, the joke’s on you, ’cause I’m switching to Earthlink. All of the reasons Earthlink will blow Qwest away:
  • Currently with Qwest, I just have cheap-ass basic phone and DSL. Earthlink will give me that in addition to free unlimited long distance to the US, Canada & Puerto Rico, three-way calling, call waiting, and caller ID–all that for almost the exact same price Qwest is charging me now (about $70-$75 a month).
  • There is no DSL box charge or rental fee, that’s included in the price. I had to pay $99 for my box with Qwest.
  • There is a $39.95 set-up fee with Earthlink. However, currently I can get that back with a mail-in rebate once I’ve been with Earthlink for two months.
  • There is a $19.95 shipping & handling charge for the Earthlink DSL equipment. This is the only thing I am actually paying to switch to Earthlink. I’m pretty sure I paid Qwest S&H + deposit and/or set-up fees when I started with them, so that’s fair.
  • I keep my old phone number.
  • I get the first month of service free.
  • This is the best part: Earthlink will call Qwest and cancel my account with them for me! Remember when you were dating and you decided you wanted to break up with your current boyfriend and start dating a new one? How awesome would it have been if your new boyfriend had offered to meet with your old boyfriend and give him the bad news and get all your stuff from the old boyfriend’s apartment for you? Now you can see why I’m excited about Earthlink.
I’ll probably be without Internet for a few days while I make the transition, and that’s okay. I’ve decided no Internet for a few days is still better than groveling to Qwest to turn my Internet back on.
Assuming Earthlink’s phone and Internet service works as well as Qwest’s does, I think it may be love. I encourage any other Qwest customers out there to take a look at Earthlink. If you don’t have Earthlink in your area, consider canceling your Qwest account anyways and just stealing Internet from your neighbors. It’s still superior to paying the ass-clowns at Qwest another dime.

Comments

Qwest = FAIL — 2 Comments

  1. When stuff like this happens to me, I involve the State Attorney General and the Telecom Commission. Of course, leaving them behind Forever and Always is also a good vote, but the State Agencies will require them to spend more money responding to an investigative report the law *makes* them respond to, than they can ever collect from you.
    And then, if “found guilty”, you get the money back.
    I’m so glad, by the way, that your new design showcases the failboat posts for me to snark in! <3!!!
  2. In fairness to Qwest, this was in the depths of my depression over my mother’s terminal illness and I was doing a crappy job staying on top of our bills.
    Still, I can’t believe they turned off the service after receiving a payment, then compounded that crappy move by not turning it back on in a timely manner as promised. That’s some serious fail, all that on top of the previous incident with TGFQRW.
    For the record, I’ve had Earthlink since I wrote this post, haven’t missed a payment or had a single problem with them. The connection is a tad bit slower than what I had with Qwest, but I’m willing to suffer it if it means sticking it to Qwest.
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Links from my BYU days

  • Other faiths find niche on campus ~ A story about me that was published in the school newspaper, The Daily Universe. It must have been a slow news day because it was the front page story. In case you’re wondering, I still have Elder Jones and Elder Smith. My husband wants me to throw them away but I refuse.
  • BYU was right fit for evangelical student ~ A continuation of the above story, for some reason they published it as two stories in the same paper.
  • Not all protestors ~ Letter to the editor I wrote concerning the protestors at Temple Square.
  • A Peacemaker in Provo ~ Article that appeared in Christianity Today about the church I went to in Provo, Rock Canyon Assembly of God.
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My Mormon-Evangelical Interfaith Marriage — Introduction

Note: This is part 1 of a multi-part post. See the end of the post for links to the other parts.
Interfaith marriage can be a tricky subject to discuss because each marriage is as different as the faiths of the persons involved. A Jewish-Muslim interfaith marriage is very different from a Catholic-Protestant interfaith marriage, and both of those are a whole different ballpark from what I have: a Mormon-Evangelical interfaith marriage.
Our union is an odd one for a couple of reasons. For starters, evangelicals aren’t exactly known for getting along with Mormons. There are dozens of evangelical “countercult” ministries out there that aim to teach the world that Mormonism is a dangerous cult whose followers are going to hell—and if you consider one lone guy in his basement with a computer and a web site a “ministry,” then I suppose hundreds of these ministries exist. Evangelicals are known for films like The God Makers and for doing things like protesting outside Mormon general conferences or the openings of new Mormon buildings. In short, Mormons: we don’t like ‘em.
Mormon enmity towards traditional Christian faiths is typically quieter and more subdued, but it exists. One of the most famous examples is the official version of Joseph Smith’s “First Vision,” wherein Jesus Christ is said to tell Joseph Smith not to join any of the [Protestant] churches he was investigating, because they were “all wrong” and their creeds were “an abomination in [God's] sight.” Current church manuals geared at children use pictures of other Christian ministers and church buildings to demonstrate that other Christians don’t have the “true gospel” or belong to the “true Church of Jesus Christ,” and the 2009 Gospel Principlesmanual teaches that other Christians are merely “those called Christians” (emphasis mine) and that we believe in a “pagan . . . false Christianity,” that we don’t understand God’s love for us or the purpose of life.
Bottom line: this divide is being enforced from both sides, and each of us has some way of very specifically teaching that the other is wrong. Most evangelicals do not accept the Mormon teachings on Christ as a valid path to salvation. Mormons believe in different degrees of salvation, and while a Mormon may accept that an evangelical will obtain one of the lesser salvations/kingdoms of heaven depending on who you talk to, they definitely don’t accept evangelical teaching as being sufficient to help a person obtain the highest salvation—exaltation. One way or another, each camp tends to teach that the other isn’t saved.
The other reason our union was an odd one: the teachings on marriage for our respective religions. Evangelicals draw their beliefs from the Bible, and the Bible is pretty solidly againstmarriages to “unbelievers” (1 Corinthians 6:14-15). Latter-day Saints take it a step further by teaching that marriage to a worthy church member in an LDS temple is necessary for obtaining godhood. So, a Mormon who marries a non-member is pretty crazily, obviously disobeying his or her church’s teachings. It is conceivable that a Latter-day Saint could get sealed & married to a fellow church member, have the marriage broken (either by death or divorce) but retain the seal, then enter into an earthly marriage with a non-member, but even that would be frowned on.
So, knowing all of these things, I as a practicing and active evangelical Christian who had never before been married still entered into a marriage with a practicing and active Latter-day Saint who himself had never been married. The rest of our story—why we got married in spite of our beliefs and how we make our marriage work—will follow.

Comments

My Mormon-Evangelical Interfaith Marriage — Introduction — 9 Comments

  1. I’m an inactive mormon, return missionary, BYU Provo alumni, dating an active catholic girl. We’re in love. Is all of it worth it? I’m not a believer in soul mates, but I truly love this girl. Is it, worth it??? These days, I am feeling myself gravitate toward the LDS church and with that I am in agony most nights wondering what I should do.
    Hope to hear from you.
  2. You came after us, and one of the first declarations of your religion was that all other churches and sects were wrong
    This is a contention I will never understand. Everyone thinks their church, their beliefs, their value set are the most correct. Unless you’re presenting the idea that people know they are wrong and continue to believe what they…don’t believe. If you hold a belief, then I assume you only do so because you think it’s right and that the ideas in opposition to it are wrong.
    Were Mormons just the first to verbalize it?
  4. Alison, I wouldn’t call what I’ve written a contention at all. I don’t find it unusual in the least that Mormons have a way of declaring all other religions to be wrong. I’m only trying to explain why evangelicals write specifically about why Mormonism is wrong. Our system of accepting other churches and other denominations into our understanding of orthodoxy makes it necessary to explain when a church or denomination does not qualify.
    And yes, Brian, I think Mormonism is a heresy. Apostasy meet heresy, now let’s all be good friends.
  5. Use the words that way, and they lose a lot of their technical meaning, reducing to, “that’s not correct.”
    There isn’t a lot of consequence any more in Western culture about being branded an apostate or a heretic. Many even consider it a virtue. For proof, watch any action/adventure movie and observe the characteristics of the protagonist.
  6. True story: on my husband’s days to take Harley to church, I tell my 2-year-old, “Come on, sweetie, today you get to go to cult church!” And when we drive by LDS churches, I always say, “See that church over there, Harley? That church is a cult.”
    My husband reciprocates by calling my church “the apostate church.”
    Our household is awesome.
  7. Jack, I was thinking about your family this weekend. I can imagine how a mixed-religion couple might raise their children to decide for themselves which path to follow, but I wonder if it’s that “simple” in your case. I’m still trying to grasp your views on this, but over at LDS/Ev Conversations, Tim insists that Mormons test truth claims differently than Evangelicals. Thus, for your kid, you’re not just presenting two different religions, you’re starting a few steps before that by presenting two different approaches to religion.
    Again, I’m not sure whether you agree with Tim on this difference between LDS/Ev—and I don’t fully agree with him on it—but I wanted to get your thoughts. (I’m sorry if this is threadjacking, or if you covered this in an different post.)
  8. Hmm, I’ve never really thought about that Brian. In all honesty, I think she’s just as likely to join whichever church she feels more at home with or has better spiritual experiences with as she is to get down on her knees and pray about the Book of Mormon being true. I’ve always been pretty honest about the fact that part of the reason I’m an evangelical today is because evangelicals were there for me when I needed someone. I didn’t initially pray about their beliefs being true or weigh evidences for and against them; they just loved me into conversion.
    Don’t know what to do but go with it. If she tries to join the LDS church based solely on a spiritual experience, I would encourage her to consider other factors. It’s kind of something that I just have to be ready to play by ear.
  9. cult
       /kʌlt/ Show Spelled[kuhlt]
    1.
    a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
    sorry my dear girl but you are also a cult member. love ya
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Pancreatic Cancer Update

My mother called me this morning from Seaside, Oregon, where she has gone on vacation with my father. She had a CAT scan two weeks ago to check the cancer’s progress and finally heard back the results of that.
The CAT scan showed that the cancer has not progressed since the last time they checked it several months ago. Something else is causing fluid to build up in her stomach, which is what has been causing her so much pain lately, but they said they can drain that if they need to. They think the chemo is keeping the cancer at bay.
I am very proud of my mother, ten months into pancreatic cancer and still fighting hard. We will keep praying for a remission.
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Extra Love

Rejected by her 23 year-old birth mother (a drug addict) and a 48 year-old adoptive mother who could not handle raising a child with her medical problems, a baby with DiGeorge sequence (aka VCFS) is adopted by a hospital staffer and his wife.
From MSNBC:
Over six hours that Friday in April, Burke rebuilt Emma’s walnut-sized heart, using stitches thinner than a human hair to attach a donor artery and patch over a hole…
Experts believe that with early intervention, Emma has the chance at a normal life.
Some hospital staffers wondered if the Monroes would reconsider the adoption after the latest ailment.
But the couple is steadfast.
“We are 100 percent, totally committed to this child,” Daniel Monroe said, “regardless of what comes at us.”
“I truly believe that God has put her in our path because we can make a huge difference in her life,” said Elizabeth, who plans to take at least a year off from work to focus on the baby.
“There’s going to be a lot of moments, hard moments, we know that,” she said the day Emma was finally leaving hospital in late May. Elizabeth, having spent the night there, was running on two hours of sleep. “God will never give us more than we can handle.”
I look at my daughter and I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t want one of these kids. They may need extra love, but they’re worth all the effort. Good luck to the Monroes on their journey with Emma.
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