Recently in Spiritual Nourishment Category

While in Monterey, I had the chance to attend the local ward. I'd forgotten that it was the first weekend of the month, so I was a bit surprised to discover myself in the midst of a testimony meeting. One testimony in particular caught my ear. A young woman (whom I'll call Jackie) got up and said that her husband was gone, "but not for that long-- it's only for four months!" That made my complaining about a two-week business trip seem very minor in comparison. She went on to tell the story of Barbara, a family friend who, though somewhat eccentric, was unfailingly cheerful and outgoing. Barbara was well known in her ward for cheerful and willing service to others. She was going through a rough patch, and the speaker said she thought to visit Barbara and cheer her up. Barbara greeted her at the door with hair askew, no makeup, and swollen cheeks from a recent visit to the dentist. However, Barbara's greeting was as heartfelt and cheerful as always. Jackie marvelled at this and said "Barbara, how can you always be so cheerful?" Barbara's reply, delivered by Jackie with a wonderful swooping voice, was simple: "Well, it takes work!"

Jackie's point was simple: we can choose whether to be happy, or not. We can choose to be positive about our circumstances, or not. We can be thankful for what we have, or we can complain and lament what we don't have. Being positive and cheerful is as much a choice as deciding what clothes to wear in the morning. That's not to say that it's always easy to choose that mindset. We're all often tempted to be bitter, angry, resentful, or just plain unhappy. Sometimes we have good reasons for these feelings; other times, we take small things and blow them out of proportion, then use them as justification for these feelings. These are choices we get to make. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent-- for that matter, they can't make you feel anything else either!

I am a firm believer in this principle. Most people, I think, are as happy as they make up their minds to be. While this is probably a gospel principle, it sure isn't exclusive to Latter-day Saints. Some of the kindest, most service-oriented, happiest people I've ever known are those who despite poor health or other circumstances choose to be that way! I'm reminded of Sister Morgan, an elderly lady in our ward who is probably the most positive person I've ever met. She always seems to be in good spirits,and if she ever wasn't she'd probably be thinking about what good spirits she'd like to be in. I try to emulate her example, and y'know what? It works, but it takes work.

While in Monterey, I had the chance to attend the local ward. I'd forgotten that it was the first weekend of the month, so I was a bit surprised to discover myself in the midst of a testimony meeting. One testimony in particular caught my ear. A young woman (whom I'll call Jackie) got up and said that her husband was gone, "but not for that long-- it's only for four months!" That made my complaining about a two-week business trip seem very minor in comparison. She went on to tell the story of Barbara, a family friend who, though somewhat eccentric, was unfailingly cheerful and outgoing. Barbara was well known in her ward for cheerful and willing service to others. She was going through a rough patch, and the speaker said she thought to visit Barbara and cheer her up. Barbara greeted her at the door with hair askew, no makeup, and swollen cheeks from a recent visit to the dentist. However, Barbara's greeting was as heartfelt and cheerful as always. Jackie marvelled at this and said "Barbara, how can you always be so cheerful?" Barbara's reply, delivered by Jackie with a wonderful swooping voice, was simple: "Well, it takes work!"

Jackie's point was simple: we can choose whether to be happy, or not. We can choose to be positive about our circumstances, or not. We can be thankful for what we have, or we can complain and lament what we don't have. Being positive and cheerful is as much a choice as deciding what clothes to wear in the morning. That's not to say that it's always easy to choose that mindset. We're all often tempted to be bitter, angry, resentful, or just plain unhappy. Sometimes we have good reasons for these feelings; other times, we take small things and blow them out of proportion, then use them as justification for these feelings. These are choices we get to make. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent-- for that matter, they can't make you feel anything else either!

I am a firm believer in this principle. Most people, I think, are as happy as they make up their minds to be. While this is probably a gospel principle, it sure isn't exclusive to Latter-day Saints. Some of the kindest, most service-oriented, happiest people I've ever known are those who despite poor health or other circumstances choose to be that way! I'm reminded of Sister Morgan, an elderly lady in our ward who is probably the most positive person I've ever met. She always seems to be in good spirits,and if she ever wasn't she'd probably be thinking about what good spirits she'd like to be in. I try to emulate her example, and y'know what? It works, but it takes work.

The LDS Church's annual General Conference is this weekend. So is our trip to Louisiana. What to do?

Normally we watch the conference broadcasts in the comfort of our living room. This is easy because Dish Network, DirecTV, and U-Verse all carry BYU TV, and we've found that in extremis connecting my laptop to the TV and watching their live Internet stream works fine too. None of these, however, will work well in the van as we drive south.

Enter ooTunes, an iPhone application that can stream live radio stations over the Internet. It supports Windows Media streams, which not coincidentally are the kind that BYU Radio uses. I tested it this morning and it works quite well, even over a cellular connection. So, problem solved: we'll plug the iPhone in to the van's input jacks, launch ooTunes, and listen to conference as we roll. (As a backup, I've already told the U-Verse box to record it, just in case-- there's too much good stuff in conference talks to miss them!)

The LDS Church's annual General Conference is this weekend. So is our trip to Louisiana. What to do?

Normally we watch the conference broadcasts in the comfort of our living room. This is easy because Dish Network, DirecTV, and U-Verse all carry BYU TV, and we've found that in extremis connecting my laptop to the TV and watching their live Internet stream works fine too. None of these, however, will work well in the van as we drive south.

Enter ooTunes, an iPhone application that can stream live radio stations over the Internet. It supports Windows Media streams, which not coincidentally are the kind that BYU Radio uses. I tested it this morning and it works quite well, even over a cellular connection. So, problem solved: we'll plug the iPhone in to the van's input jacks, launch ooTunes, and listen to conference as we roll. (As a backup, I've already told the U-Verse box to record it, just in case-- there's too much good stuff in conference talks to miss them!)

www.templestudy.com is a well-written and beautifully presented blog that focuses on one thing: temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Bonus: this site has some great temple pictures.) If you're LDS, you'll enjoy it; if you're not, you may learn from it why we consider temples, and the ordinances performed therein, so important.

www.templestudy.com is a well-written and beautifully presented blog that focuses on one thing: temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Bonus: this site has some great temple pictures.) If you're LDS, you'll enjoy it; if you're not, you may learn from it why we consider temples, and the ordinances performed therein, so important.

I just finished taking a survey on LDS beliefs and parenting. The survey is part of Steven Behling's graduate research towards his Ph.D. Part 1 asks some basic categorization questions, then asks you to rate how often you do certain things (such as punish a child without explanation, say "because I said so" when a child questions something, or reward a child for positive behavior). Part two focuses on your own opinions about acceptable or unacceptable parenting practices, some of which are kind of disturbing.

Apart from helping someone do academic research, I encourage my readers to take the survey as a thought-provoking means of exploring how you discipline and interact with your children. Having to honestly assess how often I do certain things has made me rethink some of the ways I interact with our boys, and I hope to make some positive changes as a result. This doesn't mean that I think I'm a bad parent by any means, but I think there's always room for improvement in any human relationships, parenting being no exception. Jesus' admonition to "be ye therefore perfect" definitely applies. That's hard advice to follow, but Elder Nelson has some good advice on the topic.

I just finished taking a survey on LDS beliefs and parenting. The survey is part of Steven Behling's graduate research towards his Ph.D. Part 1 asks some basic categorization questions, then asks you to rate how often you do certain things (such as punish a child without explanation, say "because I said so" when a child questions something, or reward a child for positive behavior). Part two focuses on your own opinions about acceptable or unacceptable parenting practices, some of which are kind of disturbing.

Apart from helping someone do academic research, I encourage my readers to take the survey as a thought-provoking means of exploring how you discipline and interact with your children. Having to honestly assess how often I do certain things has made me rethink some of the ways I interact with our boys, and I hope to make some positive changes as a result. This doesn't mean that I think I'm a bad parent by any means, but I think there's always room for improvement in any human relationships, parenting being no exception. Jesus' admonition to "be ye therefore perfect" definitely applies. That's hard advice to follow, but Elder Nelson has some good advice on the topic.

Neato! The LDS Church is putting yet another information resource online. According to this article, members will be able to download scanned copies of their patriarchial blessings. I've still got my original paper copy, and I don't have any ancestors who received blessings of their own, so I don't need any of the site's capabilities. Regardless, it's wonderful to see how well the church is embracing technology to make its stored data and records available to members. This kind of self-service technology is a super-hot topic in the business world already. As with so many other things, smart people trying to do the right thing have adapted it to serving the Lord.

Update: looks like the initial announcement was premature.

Neato! The LDS Church is putting yet another information resource online. According to this article, members will be able to download scanned copies of their patriarchial blessings. I've still got my original paper copy, and I don't have any ancestors who received blessings of their own, so I don't need any of the site's capabilities. Regardless, it's wonderful to see how well the church is embracing technology to make its stored data and records available to members. This kind of self-service technology is a super-hot topic in the business world already. As with so many other things, smart people trying to do the right thing have adapted it to serving the Lord.

Update: looks like the initial announcement was premature.

[ taking a cue from the LDS Young Men's blog, I decided to start keeping a blog of our notable mutual and young men's activities. No pictures yet, though! ]

Last night, we had a great activity for the young men and young women in our ward. (Note to non-Mormon readers: when we do a combined activity for the YM and YW together, it's called "mutual night" or a "mutual activity", or even a "combined activity".) The weather was forecast to be good, so our YW president invited another local ward to join us for a rousing game of Gold Rush, a game that pits "bandits" armed with squirt guns against "miners" who are trying to collect gold from a field. Get squirted, and you have to drop your gold. Tag a bandit, and he goes to jail and has to sing a song to get out again.

We had six or seven bandits and probably around 40-50 kids. Some of them were a little timid at first, but everyone got into the game after a short while. We saw some groups of kids who would cooperate to evade the bandits, while others relied on their superior running speed to get to the bank before getting squirted. There's not that much strategy on the bandits' part (apart from not running out of water in your squirt gun). It was a blast!

[ taking a cue from the LDS Young Men's blog, I decided to start keeping a blog of our notable mutual and young men's activities. No pictures yet, though! ]

Last night, we had a great activity for the young men and young women in our ward. (Note to non-Mormon readers: when we do a combined activity for the YM and YW together, it's called "mutual night" or a "mutual activity", or even a "combined activity".) The weather was forecast to be good, so our YW president invited another local ward to join us for a rousing game of Gold Rush, a game that pits "bandits" armed with squirt guns against "miners" who are trying to collect gold from a field. Get squirted, and you have to drop your gold. Tag a bandit, and he goes to jail and has to sing a song to get out again.

We had six or seven bandits and probably around 40-50 kids. Some of them were a little timid at first, but everyone got into the game after a short while. We saw some groups of kids who would cooperate to evade the bandits, while others relied on their superior running speed to get to the bank before getting squirted. There's not that much strategy on the bandits' part (apart from not running out of water in your squirt gun). It was a blast!

A wonderful essay at a web site I'd never heard of, by a writer I don't know, about the grace that the Savior gives each of us every day. It was a real eye-opener for me to read this and recall how often I take His forgiveness for granted.

John does a great job of articulating something I've been wondering about. Harry Reid and Mitt Romney are both "observant" Mormons. Why does Romney come under so much more scrutiny for his religious beliefs than Reid does?

Check out these two great Toys for Tots commercials, then give 'til it hurts.

Yesterday I headed down to Findlay to help with cleanup. I didn't realize the extent of the flooding until I got down there, mostly because I haven't been watching the local news.

Matt and I first went to the LDS chapel in Findlay. The church has been designated the lead for all the church-based service groups participating in the cleanup; we drew cleaning supplies and a map to Ottawa, about 25mi W of Findlay. As we got about 10mi from Ottawa, the flood damage in the fields became readily apparent-- miles of dead corn stalks, ruined tomatoes, and high-water marks on trees and greenery. When we got into town, it was even worse: the streets are lined with piles of debris. Many businesses are still closed, and many of the people whose homes were damaged have few local alternatives for housing-- as a small town, Ottawa doesn't have any hotels and little spare rental housing.

At the Ottawa center, we signed in and quickly got a work assignment. Matt and I teamed up with four missionaries (the Ohio Cleveland Mission has assigned 50 missionaries to the cleanup efforts) and headed out. We spent the day tearing out the interior of a two-story house. Wallboard, lath, and insulation all had to go; the homeowner had already taken out the carpet, but the trim and tack strips had to be removed too. It was hot (94° outside), messy work, but we could definitely measure our progress. It was rewarding work.

I'm going back down on Thursday with a few other folks, and I'm trying to coordinate a broader business-based effort for sometime next week. Drop me an e-mail if you're interested in taking part.

Ha! You probably thought I was never going to post about a non-technical topic again. Surprise! David and I went home teaching the other day. When he turns 12 and is ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood, he'll probably be assigned as my regular home teaching companion, and I can't wait! That's why I took him with me.

I first got this story from my pal Mark Lauer, KA8BXB. I thought it was worth repeating, because these two stories say a lot about the value of integrity and example. They've definitely made me more aware of how what I do, and don't do, will affect my sons as they grow to manhood.

Is this thing on?

Here's a cool set of maps that breaks down the population of the US by religious affiliation. Ever wonder where Mormons live? Now you know. (Hint: not near Muslims, for the most part.)

Today's Al's Morning Meeting had a very useful set of links to government info on pandemic preparedness. Ohio's state planning page is at http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/ohio.html (substitute your own state name for "ohio" in the link); more to the point, preparation for individual families has its own page.

What are we doing to prepare? Well, there's a basic scripture that we follow (imagine that... a family of Mormons following a scripture...). Doctrine and Covenants 38:30 says it very simply: "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear." Read in context, that promise was made by the Lord to the early saints, who were facing a great deal of uncertainty, and not a little hostility, in New York state. The Lord's guidance was simple: prepare yourselves spiritually and temporally to move to Ohio, and-- if you're prepared-- you'll have nothing to worry about. Accordingly, we've been following the Church's long-standing counsel to have supplies of food, water, and basic needs on hand. President Hinckley gave a great talk on this topic in the October 2005 general conference; if you're at all interested in knowing why Mormons believe that food storage is so important, read it and you'll see.

We have plenty of ammunition, too

.

I've been the first counselor in our ward's Elder's Quorum presidency for a little over two years now. On Christmas Day, I got a present of sorts: I was called as a Primary teacher. That means that every Sunday, I teach a class of 8 and 9-year-olds: Michael, Max, Kaitlyn, Adam, Heather, and Ethan. Since I have three boys, this isn't as daunting as it might seem; I'm already pretty familiar with how kids that age tend to act: they ask lots of questions and they go off on tangents all the time, but they also can surprise you with what they soak up from classes and lessons.

My first class this Sunday went well, though it was a little odd to be in the Primary room with all of the other Primary classes instead of the more familiar environment of my priesthood quorum. Because I'm an adult convert, I don't know most of the Primary songs, which is definitely going to take some effort to correct. Fortunately, several other new teachers were called at the same time as I was, so I'm not the only one who has to try to adapt. I'm looking forward to this new challenge, and I'm reminded of this article explaining that your spiritual growth isn't necessarily driven by the calling you hold. I think I'll do just fine as a teacher.

In 2003, I blogged about why 3sharp chose to make donations to SmileTrain in lieu of giving our key customers some kind of food gift or tchotcke. This year, the same reasoning applies, in spades-- instead of a transient goodie of some kind, we chose to make donations in our customers' names to the New Orleans chapter of Habitat for Humanity. I haven't figured out what I want to do for my own customers, but I think something similar is probably the best way to both thank them for their support and to do something worthwhile.

Today, Arlene and I have been married for fourteen years. That simultaneously seems like a long time and practically no time at all. During those years, we've moved (five times), changed jobs (at least five times), and taken temporary possession of three wonderful sons. More importantly, in 1998 we were sealed together in the Atlanta Temple, so that our marriage can be eternal (so, maybe this is really our 7th anniversary-- nah). What a blessing-- and comfort-- to know that we can always be together! I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful woman as my wife, and I look forward to many more years with her by my side.

Last week, I got a call from my friend Scott. He teaches our adult Sunday School class, and his wife was scheduled to have a baby on Friday; he wanted to know if I could teach class for him. "Sure," I said, and I dutifully prepared lesson 28 from this year's manual. It was a fascinating lesson on God's purposes in allowing adversity-- something that the early Saints certainly learned a lot about as they moved from Ohio westward to the Salt Lake Valley. Anyway, when we got to church this morning, there was a strong stench of polyurethane from the newly refinished floor in the "cultural hall" (which most of the world would call the gym). Arlene was asked to pinch-hit and teach a lesson on temple marriage to the 16-to-18-year-olds; the original teacher was out sick, and the substitute was feeling ill too. Then we found out that the three kids who were supposed to give talks in Primary weren't there, so our boys were on tap. Arlene spent much of the first hour cramming with her lesson manual while I tried to alternate between listening to the speaker (we had three excellent talks today) and quelling rebellion in the ranks. We got a last-minute reprieve, though; the fumes were so bad that Brother Czarny cancelled our meetings once Sacrament Meeting was over, so none of the five of us had to teach or talk today. Woo hoo! (I'm sure there will be paybacks next week, though!)

Thought for the day: we're asked to be willing to serve the Lord. That doesn't mean that we'll have to, only that we should be willing to.

This is cool: a multimedia feature on the NY Times website featuring four or five LDS missionaries now serving in New York City. Unsurprisingly, all of them seemed to love serving in NYC; I'd guess that if there were any small-town Utah boys who hated it that they weren't invited.

Excerpted from a long discussion of kids' behavior in church, and why we believe it's important to keep kids in sacrament meeting instead of corraling them in a separate nursery. I couldn't have said it better myself:

I think it is helpful to share methods that have helped with children in church, but it is also helpful for parents to know that it's normal for kids to struggle with spending more than an hour sitting quietly in a meeting that they don't understand and even adults can find boring at times and also normal for their parents to struggle with what that does to their ability to enjoy a peaceful and spiritual sacrament meeting. You notice that when Jesus was having all the children come unto him, he was not in sacrament meeting, or even in chapel, and he still had to use the word suffer.

I'm really excited about this! Y'all are all invited to the first annual Interfaith Nativity Festival, a collection of more than 300 nativity scenes from around the world. The collection is set up for browsing, so you can walk around and examine them close up. There's a live nativity, too, as well as choral performance from several local church choirs. Admission is free. Some details:

• All nativities come from members of the community throughout northwest Ohio
• A children's activity room will be provided
• Local choirs will be performing
• Light refreshments will be served (including some truly outstanding cookies baked by my son's Sunday school teacher)

The Festival is happening December 4th (9am-9pm) and 5th (2pm-6pm); the live nativity is Saturday the 4th from 5pm- 8pm. Choral performances are scheduled for:

• 11am Saturday: the children's choir from First Presbyterian Church of Maumee
• 2pm Saturday: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints adult choir
• 4pm Saturday: the Bell Choir from Zoar Lutheran Church
• 5:45pm Sunday: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Bowling Green State University Choir

I want to emphasize that this is not a missionary program. In fact, our world-famous missionaries won't even be there. It's a multi-church, interfaith way for us to share some beautiful reminders of the real reason behind this holiday season. All are welcome.

At about 7pm on Sunday, national radio personality Glenn Beck will be speaking, too. He's in town for his "Real American Christmas Tour", but he won't be doing his usual political material; instead, he's going to talk about his faith in Jesus Christ. This event is open to anyone, but unlike the Nativity Festival, you should expect to see the missionaries there. As if the preceding weren't enough, at 8pm, we'll be showing the annual Christmas devotional broadcast from Temple Square in Salt Lake City, featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

All of this goodness is taking place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building on 795 in Perrysburg-- 3/4mi west of I-75. (If you have questions or want more information, email me or call 419-874-5636).

I missed something important at this past Friday's Rotary luncheon: a chance to tell my dad how proud I am of him. He has been instrumental in helping the Perrysburg Christians United food bank get a new building. He was instrumental in persuading his employer, Rudolph Libbe, to sponsor the construction efforts as part of its 50th anniversary celebration. This is a big deal, since PCU has been wanting a building for, oh, ten years or so. As much as I give him propos for his role in getting this done, I am more proud of him for the quiet and sustained nature of his generosity. He is not flashy or showy about the good works that he gets done: he just gets his hands dirty and does 'em. He is always quick to volunteer his time and talents to worthy causes, and he's diligent about encouraging others to support worthy and charitable causes. By doing so, he's making Perrysburg a better place, setting a terrific example of selflessness and service for his fellow Rotarians and-- more importantly-- for my young sons. Thanks, Dad.

Yesterday, I volunteered to work a shift at our local church grain elevator. Yes, that's right; the LDS church actually owns about 25 grain elevators in various places. The grain stored there is an important part of our humanitarian assistance / welfare program , which even our detractors admit does a lot of good. Anyway, the elevator here is actually in Latty, Ohio, about 80 miles away. It's out in the middle of nowhere. My friend Chris and I drove out, signed in, and started working. I had hoped to get to pressure-wash their diesel switch engine, but the super diesel-powered high-temperature pressure washer was missing a fitting, so instead we went down in the conveyor area and started stripping paint off the various pipes, enclosures, and other stuff. While we were there, a total of about 20 grain trucks came to deliver; at an average 800 bushels apiece, that's 16,000 bushels, or about 1.3% of the elevator's total capacity. We could hear the grain shushing by on the conveyors as we worked. A couple of other folks from our ward were doing other work, including clearing brush and cutting grass.

Why is all this necessary? There's one full-time employee at the elevator, and all of the rest of the work (e.g. most of the maintenance) is done by volunteers. I think that's pretty neat, and it definitely made for a nice change of pace from my regular job. As a bonus, even small acts of service are worthwhile.

Wow. 16 consecutive wins, $512,959. Awesome! Ken's success is having a trickle-down effect, too: since Sunday, I've been getting about three times as many readers as usual. Since I (temporarily) have lots more readers, a quick plug: Spirit of America and SmileTrain are worthy charities if you're in a giving mood.

Update: w00t! Ken now has 18 wins and $601,760 in the bank. I'm finally home, so I'll be watching tonight.

On the way to camp, I spotted the building for what I assume is the Farmerville branch. Once we got there, my grandmother brought a cool newspaper article to Camp Bloch: the Alexandria Town Talk did a full-page piece on the LDS missionaries assigned to the Alexandria ward. Pretty neat. Right now, our whole family is waiting to hear where our friend Jacob will go on his mission-- it's been 4 1/2 weeks since his papers went in, and we're all eager to hear the news. It probably, alas, won't be Alexandria.

This is how I know that Real Live Preacher is a real published writer: his first book hit the shelves, and now he's wondering...

Writing is nice and all, but it’s no shop-vac, if you know what I mean.

If you think about it, I wrote some words and traded them for a shop-vac. Is this allowed? Did the guy who pays $200 for an essay and I do something wrong or immoral? Would we want to live in a world where that kind of behavior is commonplace? 

How can writing be compared to something real, like a shop-vac?

Other than the fact that they both suck at times. Bada-Boom, Thank you. I’ll be here till Thursday!

Tough choice for a Sunday night: do my taxes, or watch The Ten Commandments in HD. Hmmm.

Update: it's not in HD. Drat.

Tim asks:

What happened to the drive? What happened to the desire? Where are all the people out there working to make a better world for their children, not just making a house payment for their children?

Some of us are here (but we can't hire you because you'd have to move to Seattle and Mom would kill me.)

Interestingly enough, part of our priesthood lesson on self-reliance yesterday dealt with this very topic. Consider the man who visited a stone quarry and asked three stone cutters what they were doing. "Cutting stone," said the first one. "Earning a living for my family," said the second. "Helping to build a glorious cathedral," said the third. What a great difference in attitude between the three-- even though all three of them are right and correct, only one has looked beyond his to-do list to see the greater purpose in his daily labor. I'm not exactly building a cathedral, but I can help build up my family, my community, and my country by doing good work and trying to live what I believe in instead of just coasting through the day checking off items on my (regrettably long) to-do list.

Now, back to work.

First there was Bedside Baptist, where my sainted Aunt Betty attends regularly. Now Mike reports that there's iChurch, brought to you by those wacky folks at the Diocese of Oxford, Church of England. Their mission statement sounds good ("One of the key purposes of i-church is to provide a community for those who do not find participant membership of a local church easy, and it will therefore reflect an inclusive attitude to Christian faith and discipleship.").

In another church-y development, at least one church now has WiFi in the chapel. James Tallent reports that his church has added WiFi, then he blogged this Sunday's sermon while it was happening. An earlier post of his has this to say:

Beyond these use cases, SMS addiction is already a reality and IP-related addiction is not far behind. Some would say that churches should shun accommodation of such addictions and require everyone to be somber, disconnected, and reflective in church, but that will frankly be just as silly in the future as it would be now to say that free coffee and coke machines are encouraging caffeine addiction.

Put me squarely in that camp. The whole point behind going to church is to be reflective. If you're sitting there checking your email, IMing your friends, or (heaven forbid) working, it seems to me that you're missing out on an opportunity to put things of the world aside and focus-- just for a little while-- on spiritual things. Don't get me wrong; I do think it's incredibly progressive to provide this service-- but is it progressive in a positive direction?

So, last night Arlene got a phone call from the stake executive secretary, asking if the two of us could meet with the stake president next Sunday. This is enough to strike fear into the hearts of the most valiant. Why? First, a brief explanation: an LDS stake is more or less equivalent to a Catholic diocese: it's a collection of wards (each equivalent to a parish or congregation). When you're asked to meet with a member of the stake presidency, it's usually because:

• Your temple recommend needs renewal. In this case, you call them, not the other way around, and mine's good until September. So much for the easy reason.
  
• They want you to speak during a stake event. Since our stake conference is next Sunday, that's not it. Besides, they wouldn't need both of us for that.
  
• One of us is in trouble. David's first reaction, in fact, was to ask "What did you do?" We couldn't think of any reason either of us would be called on the carpet, so that's probably not it.
  
• One of us is getting a new job. Remember, all of the leadership positions in the LDS church are filled from the membership: our stake president works at Owens Corning; one of his counselors is retired, and the other's a farmer. To understand why the stake is involved, you'd have to understand all the ins and outs of how callings work, which I certainly don't. Some callings at the ward level are actually the stake's responsibility; others are handled by the ward bishopric, except for some (like some callings in the elders' quorum) that aren't. For example, the bishop and his two counselors are called by the stake to serve in a particular ward, but the EQ secretary is called by the elders' quorum president. This is a strong possibility.
  
• There's some sort of temporary assignment. For example, last year Arlene was asked to help organize and run the annual stake young women's camp, so the stake called her (although I vaguely remember that it was someone from the stake young women's presidency that called her.)

Further complicating the reading of these particular tea leaves omens is this: most stake callings are handled by members of the stake high council. These men serve more or less as ambassadors of the stake president; since there's only one of him (three if you include his counselors), and there are twelve or more wards in a stake, without the high council there wouldn't be enough stake-ness to go around for every occasion requiring the stake's involvement (including calling or releasing most ward-level positions).

And one final complication: the only time I've ever heard of the stake presidency wanting to see both spouses when one is called is when the calling requires an unusual amount of time or effort and the prez wants to ensure that both spouses are willing to work together on whatever-it-is. That makes me think that one of us is about to be under new management, so to speak. Tune in next week for more details.

My hat is off to Wayne Hale, the new deputy program manager for shuttle operations. Here's what he has to say in the postscript to an excellent letter he wrote to the NASA community:

P. S. A final, personal note: a worker at KSC told me that they haven't heard any NASA managers admit to being at fault for the loss of Columbia. I cannot speak for others but let me set my record straight: I am at fault. If you need a scapegoat, start with me. I had the opportunity and the information and I failed to make use of it. I don't know what an inquest or a court of law would say, but I stand condemned in the court of my own conscience to be guilty of not preventing the Columbia disaster. We could discuss the particulars: inattention, incompetence, distraction, lack of conviction, lack of understanding, a lack of backbone, laziness. The bottom line is that I failed to understand what I was being told; I failed to stand up and be counted. Therefore look no further; I am guilty of allowing Columbia to crash.

As you consider continuing in this program, or any other high risk program, weigh the cost. You, too, could be convicted in the court of your conscience if you are ever party to cutting corners, believing something life and death is not your responsibility, or simply not paying attention. The penalty is heavy, you can never completely repay it.

Do good work. Pay attention. Question everything. Be thorough. Don't end up with regrets.

I hope his attitude takes root at NASA. In fact, I'd like to see it take root everywhere, starting at least with me-- the principles he sets out in his last line seem to me to be pretty good ones to follow.

I believe in the 11th Article of Faith of our church:

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

This seems like a pretty basic concept, one that even witches understand. However, this understanding has been curiously absent from a lot of churches, to the point where "Christian" bookstores offer books about why one or another church is wrong (this, next to the section on how to ordain yourself and start your own church), or offering seminars on how to "save" people who are members of other denominations. Now here's a radical thought-- maybe the idea that freedom of religion includes tolerance is catching on:

Freedom of religion is not just to practice the religion of your own, but the freedom and decency to respect someone else's desire.

This from William B. Helmreich,  a professor of the sociology of religion, in an NYT story on "Christmas Jews", or Jews who volunteer to work on Christmas so that their Christian counterparts can take the day off. The article highlights reciprocity and tolerance of other faiths as necessary attributes of society. If only that would catch on more widely! Sadly, my experience has been that some of the people who claim most loudly to be Christian are the same people who are rigorously intolerant of other people's faith. Jesus had somewhat to say about that.

When I first started my own business, I made it a point to send thank-you gifts to my customers-- normally, that meant some kind of holiday gift basket sent to the project editor of each book I did. It was a good thought, but it had some problems. First, most people have enough holiday junk to eat; second, lots of people can't eat the treats due to dietary or religious restrictions. Third, it's a transient gift. Even with those limits, though, it definitely helped build my relationships with my customers, which is very important in the computer publishing industry-- your brand determines whether you get great title opportunities or junky ones.

So, year before last I switched over and made donations to The Heifer Project in my clients' names instead. This was well received, and I liked it that our gifts were accomplishing something positive . A number of clients said to me that they appreciated the gesture much more than they would have appreciated Yet Another Gift Basket.

This year, 3sharp wanted to do something similar (spurred on by Microsoft's draconian no-gifts-to-employees policy), so we made a donation to SmileTrain, a charity that provides medical training and services to help repair cleft palates. Their web site puts it simply:

The greatest tragedy is that all of these children are suffering not because they were born with a cleft, but because they were born poor. Too poor to pay for a simple cure that has been around for decades. Helping these children is the mission of The Smile Train. We help provide free cleft surgery and related treatment for children who would otherwise never receive it.

It's a great cause, and I'm thankful that we are able to contribute. If you're looking for a good holiday cause, I encourage you to consider making a donation. 100% of donations go toward providing surgeries; their overhead expenses are paid for by their supporting sponsors. (n.b. Computer Associates, perhaps the most evil software company in the world [well, besides Oracle-- ed], is a sponsor-- proof that even the bad guys can do some good in the world.)

Michael Williams has an interesting blog entry: Difficult Teachings of Jesus. He points out, quite rightly, that Jesus taught some hard principles, too, not just the "love your neighbor" type teachings that have largely been reduced to platitudes. That reminds me of an article from the September Ensign that I'd been meaning to blog, "The Surety of a Better Testament". Here's an excerpt:

The New Testament is “a better testament” because the intent of a person alone becomes part of the rightness or wrongness of human action. So our intent to do evil or our desire to do good will be a freestanding element of consideration of our actions. We are told we will be judged in part by the intent of our hearts (see D&C 88:109). An example of being convicted by freestanding intent is found in Matthew:

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:27-28).

This New Testament is harder doctrine.

Because of the formality and rigidity developed in the administration of the old English common law, in order to obtain justice the law of equity was developed. One of my favorite maxims in equity is “Equity does what ought to be done.” The New Testament takes the concept of law even farther. In a large measure we will be judged not only by what we have done but what we should have done in a given situation.

This raises the bar a lot, since it's no longer sufficient to do right actions. Instead, we have to govern ourselves to do right actions for the right reasons-- and that's a lot harder.

I went to our stake priesthood leadership meeting the other night, and the president of our elders' quorum asked me to take notes because he couldn't be there. These may be unintelligible if you're not LDS, but feel free to ask questions in the comments if you're curious.

The meeting opened with an address by Brother Williams from the stake presidency. He cited Matthew 4:18-20 and said that we're called to do the same work as Simon Peter and Andrew, and that in doing so we should try to be energized and not weary in well doing because the rewards will be worth it (D&C 64:33-34). He promised that as we "leave our desks" and kneel to ask God for our help, he'll give it, according to D&C 88:78. He's a pretty good speaker.

We then broke up into separate meetings; I went with the elders' quorum people.

Brother Richard Hamilton went first. He spoke on the importance of conducting good stewardship interviews, which is where we interview the home teachers to find out how their families are doing and whether any of them need anything. He stressed the importance of giving good feedback and asking the home teachers to report back-- no one likes to do work that never comes to light. He pointed out that stewardship interviews are under our control, even if the individual family visits aren't, and that if we regularly conduct these interviews that home teaching will be more effective as the brethren understand its importance and have the opportunity to report on their visits. He gave some suggestions for interviews (find a quiet location to invite the spirit, perform one-on-one personal interviews, keep records so you can follow up from month to month, make a regular date for your interviews). He also gave us a couple of handouts: a checklist for interviews, and a checklist for the home teachers to use when planning their visits.

Tim Lenahan spoke next on prospective elders (those who are preparing to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood). His central theme was simple: don't give up. He asked a simple question: which of your children would you abandon? What's that? None of them? Fine. Don't give up on your prospective elders. He cited D&C 107:99-100 in reminding us to be diligent in reaching out to these men. We had a good discussion of good ways to do this, including scheduling social activities (note to self: prepare for chili cookoff next week!). His overall guidance was simple: meet these brethern wherever they are spiritually and befriend them. Don't try to convert them, just be their friend.

I missed the next talk due to an ill-timed phone call about Oracle, and I don't know the name of the next speaker because I returned partway through his talk. He was a real fireball, though-- he pointed out that the home teacher is supposed to be the first line of help for the family, but in most wards the relief society is actually the ones who notify the bishop when someone's sick, out of work, moving, or whatever. That doesn't speak very well for how well we're doing our duty. He cited Mosiah 19:5-6, Moses 7:18, and the famous John 21:16-18 ("Feed my sheep" for those of you playing at home.)
He closed with a quote from President Monson in the OCtober 1970 general conference: "When performance is measured, performance improves."

I know I've got some improving to do in the home teaching department, and I'm going to jump on it today.

So last night I was explaining to Arlene that I was planning on watching the Sox-Yankees game tonight. "Why?" she said. "I hate the Yankees," I replied, "and, besides, as a Mormon it's my job." She was a little nonplussed, so I quoted Mosiah 18:9 to her. Now, hopefully my comforting won't be necessary as the Sox send the hated infidels back to NYC, but just in case...

Today was a fascinating day. First thing, we got up and walked over to the LDS Conference Center, a 21,000 seat auditorium used for church events. They offer a 30-minute guided tour. I expected it to be mildly interesting, but it was actually really cool. The main floor of the conference center is actually 96' below ground level, with an array of nine skylights that bring outside light underground. The king truss weighs 621 tons-- you can see from these pictures that there are no internal pillars or supports in the conference area; the mezzanine and balcony levels are cantilevered. The workmanship of the lectern, flooring, and everything else is breathtaking. (In fact, the rostrum is large enough to hold the entire Tabernacle... with a 2' boundary left over!) There's a lot of gorgeous artwork, including the originals of Arnold Friburg's 12 Book of Mormon paintings and a stunning sculpture by some guy whose name I have unfortunately forgotten. The roof garden is pretty stunning, too; it looks much like a natural mountain meadow, and the outside of the building is terraced to reinforce that impression. I got some good across-the-street shots of the temple, too.
After we left the conference center, we walked over to the Church Administration Building; our tour guide mentioned that the admin building had an observation deck on the 26th floor. They sure did, as you can see from the below shots of the Utah Statehouse (north of the building) and the temple (east of it).

The Utah state capital and the SLC temple, from 26 stories up

Our next stop was actually the surprise hit: the Church Art and History Museum. I'm not much on art museums, so I figured that this one would be a quick in-and-out. However, I hadn't counted on the variety of pioneer artifacts they had-- all kinds of great stuff, including tools and dies used to make the original Utah Territory currency, tools from the Salt Lake City temple construction, and lots of details of the original economic and territorial missions that the church sent out to help populate the intermountain West. That was cool enough, but what really blew me away was the collection of submissions to the 6th international LDS art competition (note that the link should take you to a Flash presentation of the artwork itself). Some of the sculptures and paintings were ugly not to my liking, but others, like the quilt "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words", the photo "Two Prophets Saluting Each Other" (where the photographer caught a picture of President Hinckley's plane dipping a wing in salute while flying over a wagon train recreation commemorating the 150th anniversary of the pioneer migration), and Don Christensen's painting "Called To Serve" were just outstanding. A couple of the works were so beautiful that they moved me to tears, and that's not exactly my usual M.O. Who would have guessed that an art museum would be one of my favorite parts of this trip?
On our way to lunch, we finally got good pictures taken at the pedestal.

Paul & Arlene @ the temple

After lunch, we drove to find a scrapbooking store, but not until after we'd visited the This Is the Place Monument. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but I learned quite a bit from the monument and its surrounding information. For example, Provo was named for Etienne Provot, a French fur trapper and explorer who was the first white man to explore the Salt Lake valley. A trio of Catholic friars were the first to map out the route from Santa Fe northward into the Utah territory. And so on, all of it mostly useless but nonetheless interesting.

This is the place, all right

We had dinner (mostly dessert) at Passages again and watched the new episode of MI5 (Verdict: it's no 24, but it'll do). Arlene's watching Aliens while I write this, then it's time to pack. Tomorrow, back to the real world. Oh yeah-- it was 105 degrees today. Mmm, mmm, good.

Today was a great day. We got up, had breakfast in the hotel (where they incessantly play bad '70s mush-pop, like Bread; I wish they'd quit), and headed over to the Tabernacle for the 3,860th broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word. The choir was delightful; as good as they sound on the BYU satellite channel, they sound ten times better in person. The volume and clarity of their singing is just amazing. You miss a lot of the fine notes of that magnificent pipe organ, too, particularly the vibrato at the end of each passage. This was probably the high point of my trip so far.

The Tabernacle Choir in their natural habitat

After that, we went to have our picture taken at the pedestal that overlooks the Temple. Unfortunately, our two pictures both came out poorly; Arlene was sticking out her tongue in one (ostensibly to moisten her lips) and had her eyes closed in the other. We'll try again tomorrow. (We also took this picture, just for David-- it was his special request.) Of course, at the time we didn't know anything was amiss, so we headed over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for the Salt Lake 18th Ward sacrament service. It was quite nice, although oddly there were only two talks. One of them was really moving; it was given by a man who had only recently joined the church, and who had had a fairly rough road of life until that point. He was very sincere in his appreciation for God and the blessings that he's received. THe other talk was given by a newly returned missionary; she served in the Oregon Portland deaf mission, so she closed by giving her testimony in American Sign Language. It looked to me like she was signaling the pitcher, but Arlene speaks a little Ameslan, so she understood some of it.

After church, we walked back to the hotel, changed clothes, and set out for the Rodizio Grill, another Karen recommendation. Rodizio's is a kind of churrascaria, which is basically a Brazilian cross between a tapas bar and dim sum. You sit down, and the servers bring skewers of various foods-- steak, chicken, some outstanding Brazilian pork sausage, and so on. You ask for what you want, and they serve golf-ball-sized portions, so you can get some variety. The food was terrific. My favorite, surprisingly, was grilled pineapple-- it was a little crispy on the outside and still warm, but very, very juicy.

After lunch, we decided to drive to Park City, without benefit of maps. We ended up headed north on I-15, toward Layten. That was OK; we drove for a while just looking at the mountains. We turned around right outside the main gate of Hill AFB. On the way back, Arlene pointed out a sign for Antelope Island, which is actually in the Great Salt Lake. On a whim, we decided to visit. We drove along a causeway over some (bad-smelling) salt flats before we entered the park proper, then we drove around looking for some of the 600 buffalo that live there. No joy, unfortunately. We did climb up Buffalo Point. At first, I wasn't going to, but then I asked myself: what would Chris Larsen do? So, we climbed it.

Arlene taking a break enroute

On top of Old Smokey...

Buffalo Point is just over 5000' above sea level, but only a bit over 500' above the trailhead, so it's not like climbing K2 or anything. Still, it was my first significant climb. Yay! We drove back to the hotel (marveling how many ugly refineries and other industrial sites are just to the west of I-15) and came up to the room to rest.

First off: some pictures from Friday, here, here, and here.

We woke up early yesterday, had a delicious breakfast, and headed over to the Temple for an endowment session. It's no exaggeration to say that I have never had a more spiritual experience-- the beauty of the Temple's interior, and the calm spirit that pervades it, really made this special. (ANother thing unique to this temple is that some of the endowment ceremonies are conducted with live actors-- we had a guy with a lovely, but mild, Scottish brogue filling one part, and he was a treat to listen to.)

After our temple session, we walked over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, formerly the Hotel Utah, to see a film. The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd gets its name from the New Testament (John 10:16):

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

The whole point of the Book of Mormon is that it's a record of Christ's ministry in the Americas-- hence the title (and content) of Testaments. It was a fascinating, and very moving, film-- even I got a bit teary-eyed at the end (but I won't spoil the surprise). Arlene's friend Anita recommended it, and she was right.

Unfortunately, her lunch recommendation didn't go so well-- she suggested we go to The Roof for lunch, except that it's only open for dinner. Instead, we went to the cafeteria-style Lion House Pantry, where I had some decent tilapia and some superb bread. (Personal to John: it's rated in Zagat's but since I'm too cheap to subscribe, I don't know the verdict.)

After a bit more walking around, we decided that it was time to try another recommendation, this one from our friend Karen. So, we drove the 7 or so miles to Murray and found the local Cold Stone Creamery. Their ice cream is very good, albeit expensive; they make up for it with huge portions. Yay. Once we were done bingeing, we drove back to the hotel, dropped off the car, and went to the big Deseret Book store near here. Along the way, we ended up with a couple more pair of shorts for me and (drum roll) some more Mormon Handicraft fabric.

We went back to the hotel and watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Pure fluff, but it had some entertaining moments. Along the way, I downloaded Franklin Covey's TabletPlanner, which is supposed to implement their time management system on a Tablet PC. Heaven knows I could use the help; I'll have to post a longer review when I've used it more. And so to bed.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. However, this has got to be a close second: a man gave up 60% of his liver to give his wife a transplant. Wow. Talk about love and faith combined.

I had a rough day yesterday. Arlene and I got into a big argument; she admitted fault and apologized, but I was having a hard time letting go of some of the things she said. We eventually smoothed things over, then she left for a Relief Society meeting. I had the kids, and they were being, if not bad, then certainly not good-- lots of fighting and arguing over whose turn it was to do what. I finally fled to my room for a few seconds of quiet, and in frustration I prayed to the Lord, asking Him to help me remember why I loved these people so much, and to help soften my heart and give me patience.

He did. He always does, so this probably shouldn't be a big surprise. I calmed down, and so did the boys, so we had an enjoyable evening together instead of a running screamfest. I'm grateful to have seen such quick results, too.

I was thinking the other day about Jeremy's one-year anniversary post, and about a recent news article I saw talking about people who are trying to make their blogs more popular. The article quoted Meg Hourihan as saying that blogs that are updated daily are more interesting to readers.

I'm a writer by profession. Now, I don't know about the rest of y'all out there, but there are days when the last thing I want to do is spend more time on the job, writing. Some days I have lots of stuff to say, and you'll see several entries. Other days, I am too fogged from work, tired, or busy to spend time writing something, even an off-the-cuff link to some bizarre site that I got from John.

The other day, though, I was thinking of an article I read in the article was about a lady who started writing spiritual things in her journal using a different-color paper. Over time, she found that it was awfully hard to fill those pink pages; over a longer time, as she focused more on the spiritual side of her life, she ended up with more pink pages than white.

I'm not going to subject you to anything pink here, but I am going to try to be more consistent about recording spiritual things about my life, my family, and my walk with our Savior. As the author said,

By negatively dwelling on the mundane or the crises in our lives, we may miss the spiritual promptings that can come. We can strive to appreciate our blessings and record in our journals how we have been enabled to conquer our afflictions with the Lord?s help.

At least on Sundays, I should be able to write something pink. Maybe over time the rest of my entries will take on a pinker tinge, too!

I couldn't have asked for a better Fathers' Day (well, except if Arlene, Matt, and Thomas weren't all sick). Church was wonderful, with three excellent talks in sacrament meeting. The boys gave me all the essential gifts: fast cars, Halle Berry, lots of crashing cars, socks, and a bunch of country music. Oh, and some socks.

For the topper, we had a big turkey-and-fixins' meal. Why? Because David left the freezer open on Friday and we had to either eat the turkey today or throw it away. Mom and Dad came over, we had a great dinner, and went out in the back yard to watch the kids play. That really made me realize how blessed I've been: I have a wonderful father who has always loved and supported me, and I have three terrific sons who have limitless potential. A great day, and so to bed.

I spent the morning helping to build a house for the local Habitat for Humanity chapter. I had a blast! By the time I left, the outside walls were up (save for one) and most of the inside walls were in place, except for a few that hadn't been delivered yet. We had quite a crew: two or three Pakistani and Indian guys, a nice Jewish lady (and her dad, visiting from England), and a bunch of white male retirees of various degrees of grumpiness. Everyone worked together well, though, and it was really humbling to realize what this house means to the family that will be living in it. I'm looking forward to my next work shift.

So, as everyone within range of a television knows, Elizabeth Smart was found and returned safely to her family. Now the Salt Lake Police Department has some explaining to do (they seem to be better than Boulder but nowhere near the NYPD). But that's not what I wanted to talk about; instead, what's with all this "it's a miracle" talk?

Don't get me wrong. I know full well that God answers our prayers; I have a firm testimony of that. What I see missing from most accounts is the connection between her safe return and the fact that Elizabeth's family never gave up. They continued to work to get the word out, and they were aggressive in prodding the slow-moving SLPD to get with the program when their younger daughter identified the handyman as the perp. Their hard work helped implement the miracle. It's tempting to dismiss this as another case of "God helps those who helps themselves," but I prefer to think of it in another way. My friend James Harris often advised people in difficult situations thusly:

Get down on your knees and pray as though everything depended on the Lord. Then get up and work at it as if everything depended on you alone.

Wow. This guy is good! My favorite so far:

I’m clanking around the room like some kind of futuristic, preaching, freak robot.

(Note: I own a pair of the pants in question.)

From the Detroit News:

Car buyers in four states will soon hear a religious appeal to their environmental conscience: "What would Jesus drive?"
A Pennsylvania-based environmental group is planning television advertising in North Carolina, Iowa, Indiana and Missouri to urge consumers to park their pollutive SUVs -- Jesus would prefer a cleaner auto, the group contends.

I love this! Seriously. Christians are supposed to be about their Father's business, presumably helping to make the world a better place. This effort strikes me as quixotic but interesting, because it makes a faith-based appeal to people to be more environmentally-- and in the US' case, socially-- responsible.

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on
inside me," he says to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between
two wolves. One is evil -- he is full of anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride,
superiority, and ego.

The other is good -- he is full of joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and
faith. This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other
person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
"Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

An Internet ministry dedicated to peacekeeping forces all over the world. Is that cool or what?

The Sunday school lesson I taught this week was on David & Bathsheba. Quick recap: David, king of Israel, saw Bathsheba from his rooftop and invited her over, then impregnated her. To keep his misdeed from coming to light, he tried to get Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, to go home to her. Uriah, a good solider, said "Nothing doing", so David had him killed.

David put himself in a compromising position, and then, when he feared exposure, compounded his sin by doing something worse: murdering Uriah. Most of us won't ever face that particular combination of circumstances, but all of us can learn from his example. When Nathan came to chastise David, his first reaction wasn't to deny his sin or try to minimize it; he owned up to it, saying "I have sinned against the LORD". He had to suffer for his sins, but his sincere repentance for his wrongdoing helped him to get back on the right track and stay there. His prayer is simple: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Try it; it can work for us too.

The Nauvoo temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is officially being dedicated today. For those of you who aren't up on Church history, the Nauvoo temple was the second one built after Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, but the Saints there were only able to use the temple for a short while before mob violence forced them to leave Nauvoo. An arsonist burned much of the original temple structure in 1848, and a tornado pretty much finished the destructive work in 1850.

I'm excited by this, because temples are an important element of our religion. We believe that they are literally God's dwelling place on the earth, and that by prayer, study, and performing sacred ordinances there that we can draw closer to Him and prepare ourselves for exaltation. It's a milestone for the Church that we're able to restore this important piece of Church history.