John Heder talks Napoleon Dynamite and Fatherhood; BYU Still Sober; and More

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Jon Heder Mormon actor

BYU Still ‘Stone-Cold Sober’

For the 19th year in a row— and to the surprise of no one — BYU has claimed the top of Princeton Review’s “Stone-Cold Sober Schools” list at No. 1. In response, the BYU Creamery announced its famed chocolate milk would don a limited edition “Stone-Cold Sober” label in celebration.

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Students reacted to the news with Instagram posts featuring the hashtag #StoneColdSober.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 3.05.27 PMRead more at Deseret News.

LDS Volunteers in Russia

“Volunteers” in Russia continue to face the consequences of the recently enacted anti-terrorism law which put restrictions on proselyting in the country. With two more missionaries deported this last weekend, a grand total of six young men and women have been forced to leave the country. The missionaries were detained a few weeks before deportation due to alleged “visa technicalities.” Most of the deported missionaries had been serving in Samara.

LDS Missionaries RussiaThe laws, meant to safeguard Russian citizens from acts of terrorism, forbid religious gatherings by any organization other than the Orthodox Christian Church.

The Church management in Russia has yet to decide whether to appeal the deportations, releasing the following statement:

“Samara courts decided that these U.S. citizens should have been registered at the addresses where they lived. However, even in this particular instance, the court-imposed administrative penalty to expel them from Russia is clearly disproportionate. The religious association is considering appealing these court rulings,” the religious organization said on its website.”

Read more at Interfax-Religion and the Herald Journal.

Sierra Leone Crash

Four LDS missionaries are being treated for serious injuries after a devastating car accident in Sierra Leone. The missionaries were traveling with local church member Brother Marcus Wallace when a vehicle attempting to pass a truck struck their vehicle. Two of the missionaries were airlifted to Ghana for intensive treatment while the other two recover in Sierra Leone. The driver that hit the missionaries died from injuries.

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via KSL.com

LDS Church spokesman, Eric Hawkins, released the following statement in regards to the accident:

“Each of the people in the mission van received injuries, some quite severe. Medical advisors from church headquarters and the local area have been closely involved in their care since the accident occurred and will continue to work with the medical teams that are caring for them.

We request the prayers and faith of all in behalf of these missionaries and their families.”

Read more at  Fox 13 News.

John Heder Talks Fatherhood, Mormonism, and Hollywood

Napoleon Dynamite star and Latter-day Saint, John Heder, sat down with whosay.com to talk about his newest project, the horror-comedy Ghost Team. Heder, who’s expecting his fourth child, spoke about the struggles of having a large family:

“One kid is crazy already because you’re brand new to it. And then they say once you have two, that’s really hard, because now you’re doubling it and you have to figure that out. But they say that when you have a third you’re already used to it, why not add on another two or three?”

In the interview Heder reminisces on Napoleon Dynamite, which came out over a decade ago in 2004.

“I love Napoleon still being a big part of my life; something I’ll probably never escape… But it’s a film I’m extremely proud of, and I loved doing it. It changed my life.”

Heder’s newest film, Ghost Team follows the adventures of a ragtag team of amateur ghost hunters hoping to escape their boring lives and dead-end jobs by recording paranormal activity on a suspicious looking farm. Ghost team premiered August 12th, 2016.

Read the full interview at whosay.com.

 

Gabriella is a psychology major, Westfalia-dweller, and expert bean-eater. Having spent the majority of her life living in the great Latin-American metropoles of Guatemala and Mexico, Gabriella continues to grapple with the eccentricities of suburban living.