Walker, Texas Kiddie Lit Enforcer

Parents often think they know what's good for their children, and now the star of such films as "Silent Rage" and "Slaughter in San Francisco" thinks that he does, too.

Chuck Norris, perhaps best known to the youth of today as the fogey-esque star of "Walker, Texas Ranger," is making it known that the Christian fantasy adventure novel "Darnia's Quest" is good readin'.

Norris, 65, said in a statement released by faith-based publisher Christian Services Network that, "Our society has become overrun with a culture that attacks Christians and teaches that paganism and witchcraft are acceptable and, indeed, to be embraced while our Judeo-Christian values are to be mocked.

" 'Darnia's Quest' is a pure book that teaches children that you can love God and be cool at the same time."

The value-reinforcing tale of a young boy who visits underwater castles and other outlandish realms was written by Don Alexander, a California schoolteacher and congregant at Abundant Living Family Church in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

LDS Church streamlines missionary screening process

There have been well-publicized changes in recent years to the process of choosing young men and women to serve as full-time proselytizing missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The latest modification, however, isn't aimed at creating higher standards for missionary candidates -- this time the goal is merely to reduce paperwork.

Effective immediately, leaders of LDS congregations will be encouraged to complete forms online that are required to recommend church members for missionary service.

The new system is accessible to LDS Church leaders via the faith's official Web site, www.lds.org. Because the system is entirely online, church officials who choose to can complete the entire procedure using private home Internet access.

Family history software group holds meeting

Amateur genealogists and others with an interest in Personal Ancestral File (PAF), the family history computer program developed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are invited to improve their software skills by meeting with the Utah Valley PAF Users Group.

The nonprofit educational group, which meets monthly, will hold its January workshop today from 9 a.m. until noon at the LDS chapel at 4000 N. Timpview Drive in Provo.

Each month's workshop features classes on a variety of topics, including open sessions that address specific questions from visitors. The January schedule includes classes on data retrieval, individual mentoring and database management.

The centerpiece presentation, about recent and upcoming innovations in conducting genealogy research over the Internet, will be given by Alpine resident Brad Christensen.

All Utah Valley PAF Users Group workshops are free and open to the public. Additional information is available online at www.uvpafug.org.

-- Cody Clark, Daily Herald

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1.