I was looking at some web statistics this morning and I noticed that I had quite a few hits on my DVD site coming from a forum at LDS Mingle. I was intrigued (mostly because I’m LDS) so I signed up temporarily to see what the talk was about. A member there suggested visiting DVD Anthology to track your DVD collection, keep track of movies you loan out and print lists of your movies – exactly what I created the site for

Another man piped up and suggested, why bother when you can keep track of all your movies on your PDA and not have to be tied down to the internet. They argued for a bit about the pros & cons of each. I thought it was funny, because little do they know that the creator of DVD Anthology is also the owner of Shilbon Software and LDS PDA!

I wanted to join the conversation, but it required that I pay for membership. Since I’m already married I couldn’t see the value in it.

[tags]LDS, DVDs, PDA, PDAS, Palm, Clie, DVD Collection, Mormons[/tags]

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It’s funny, these Al Qaeda missionaries get the same response that I would often get as a Mormon missionary. Funny stuff. Hopefully the people there knew it was a joke. I would the the camerman following them around might have given it away

(The embeded video can be seen at Google Video)

[tags]Al Qaeda, Humor, Missionaries, Mormons, LDS[/tags]

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So what if Nephi and his brethren did not return to Jerusalem and obtain the brass plates? What if they had no scripture, or records of their ancestors?

Well, my guess is they would have become as the people in Zarahemla. The people of Zarahemla also came from Jarusalem, shortly after Lehi and his family left. They were also brought to the american continent, yet they had no scripture with them.

And at the time that Mosiah discovered them, they had become exceedingly numerous. Nevertheless, they had had many wars and serious contentions, and had fallen by the sword from time to time; and their language had become corrupted; and they had brought no records with them; and they denied the being of their Creator; and Mosiah, nor the people of Mosiah, could understand them. (Omni 1:17)

So within 300 years after leaving Jarusalem, their language became so corrupt that they could not be understood by the Nephites, and worst of all, they denied the existence of the Savior.

Wise purpose indeed that Nephi should obtain the brass plates.

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Oh the dreaded Jacob 5, 77 verses long! While growing up, I never quite understood this chapter. Even after a number of lessons in Sunday school and seminary. I think we spent a couple days in seminary talking about it and all I got out of it was what it meant to graft a branch into another tree, and how it was done.

Then one day in Sunday school, we had a returned missionary, Brother Woodland, that was just thrilled to give us the lesson on the aligory of the olive tree. It was very easy to tell that the class was much less excited about the subject. I don’t think anyone in the room understood it. It’s hard enough to teach a bunch of high school kids, without having such a confusing topic.

Then it happened. We read a verse that opened it all up to me. I can’t remember exactly what the verse was, but I’m guessing it was Jacob 5:25

And he said unto the servant: Look hither and behold the last. Behold, this have I planted in a good spot of ground; and I have nourished it this long time, and only a part of the tree hath brought forth tame fruit, and the other part of the tree hath brought forth wild fruit; behold, I have nourished this tree like unto the others.

After reading this verse our teacher explained that this verse talked about the Nephites and Lamanites. After that one statement the whole aligory finally opened up to me. I went home and read it and understood it all perfectly. I understood the history of the house of Israel. I shared his excitement. I love the aligory of the olive tree now!

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While reading this morning, I came across the following verses:

2 Nephi 25:23-26

23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
24 And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled.
25 For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments.
26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

This reminded me of a book I read recently by the title of Believing Christ. This book explains clearly the role of Christ and our absolute need for his atonement. It makes things so clear and more than anything gives a person hope. While discussing this book a with a woman I know, she said this was the book that brought her back in to the church. Before reading it, she didn’t feel she had the strength to come back.

If you’ve ever felt that you’ve done something so terribly wrong that you cannot be forgiven, you don’t believe Christ when He says He can heal you. You may believe in Him. You may believe that He can forgive others, because certainly other people have not done things as terrible as you feel you have done. Well, this thinking is wrong. He can forgive you. He said He will forgive you. You must believe Him when He says this.

No matter how good or righteous you may feel anther person may be, they need the atonement just as much as you do – daily even. As verse 23 states, it is by grace we are saved, after all we can do. Ultimately, if not for the Savior’s grace, we are lost and fallen and no amount of righteousness can restore us until we accept the atonement of Christ and ask for forgiveness.

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President Hinckley has challenged members of the church to read the Book of Mormon completely by the end of the year. I’ve created this spreadsheet to track my progress.

Basically, I’ve listed each chapter in the Book of Mormon and how many verses are in it. To the left I’ve listed how many of those verses I have read. Below each chapter is a summary of how many chapters I have left to read, the date I want to read them all, how many days I have left to do so, How many chapters I have to read each day, and finally, how far behind (or ahead) of my goal I am to read two chapters per day.

If you want to use this spreadsheet for yourself, feel free to download it here.

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We teach 17-18 & Young Single adults in Sunday school. In order to spice up a Word of Wisdom lesson, my wife and I came up with these Jeopardy questions, er, answers.

Word of Wisdom Jeopardy!

Not good for the Body

100: In this scripture we’re commanded not to use tobacco.

= What is Doctrine and Covenants 89:8?

200: In this scripture we’re commanded not to drink hot drinks.

= What is Doctrine and Covenants 89:9?

300: This term found in 89:9 has been defined by latter day prophets as tea and coffee.

= What are hot drinks?

400: The Lord said, “This is not for the belly but for the washing of your bodies.”

= What are strong drinks?

500: Our bodies are temples, therefore we should avoid this “ink graffiti” on them?

= What are tattoos?

Good for the Body

100: God hath ordained all these things for the constitution, nature and use of man.

= What are wholesome herbs? (89:10)?

200: Besides herbs and vegetables this food is sweet and good for the body.

= What is fruit (89:11)

300: The Lord has ordained these for the use of man to be used sparingly.

= What are beasts and fowls of the air?

400: This is to be the staff of life, not only for man but for all animals.

= What is grain?

500: This Scripture commands us to cease to sleep longer than is needful.

= What is Doctrine and Covenants Section 88:124?

Promised Blessings

100: Those who obey the word of wisdom shall receive this great physical blessing. (89:18)

= What is good health?

200: Obeying the word of wisdom will lead you to find great treasures of this.

= What is knowledge and wisdom?

300: In this scripture we’re told we shall run and not be weary, walk and not be faint.

= Doctrine and covenants section 89:20

400: These angels shall pass by us in the last days if we live the word of wisdom.

= What are the destroying angels?

500: Daily Double
Name two blessings you’ve received in your life by obeying the Word of Wisdom.

Strength of Youth

100: The Word of Wisdom is discussed on these pages of the Strength of Youth Pamphlet?

= What are pages 36-37?

200: The For the Strength of Youth pamphlet quotes these scriptures.

= D&C 89:18-20

300: Besides eating nutritious food, getting enough sleep, we should also do this regularly.

= What is exercise?

400: Being under this influence of this substance will weaken your judgment and self-control and could lead you to break the law of chastity or other commandments.

= What is alcohol?

500: You should never let Satan or others lead you to think that breaking the Word of Wisdom will make you happier or more of this emotion?

= What is attractive?

Potpourri

100: The Word of Wisdom is found in this section of the Doctrine and Covenants.

= Section 89

200: This substance should be used in times of winter or famine.

= What is Meat?

300: Joseph and Emma Smith were becoming concerned about the cloud of tobacco smoke and the uncleanliness of chewing tobacco in these meetings, which led to the revelation of the Word of wisdom.

= What is the school of the prophets?

400: Audio Daily Double
Quote from memory the scripture mastery D&C 89:18-21

500: Misrepresentations in advertising harmful substances can be one in example of “evils and designs … in the hearts of conspiring men” discussed in this scripture passage.

= What is D&C 89:4

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I just purchased a Dell Axim X3i on Ebay. I decided to find out some more info after the fact. I came across this review on brighthand. The reviewer appears to be LDS How do I know? Check out the Switcher Bar screenshot!

Brighthand %u2014 Brighthand Reviews the Dell Axim X3i
Switcher Bar Though Microsoft has ironed a lot of the minor inconveniences out of Windows Mobile 2003, there are still a few that continue to irritate users. The most notable of these is the fact that tapping on the X in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen doesn’t actually close an application, as it does in Windows. Instead, it is minimized and continues to run in the background, using up system resources. You can manually close apps but it is way more complicated than it ought to be.

Therefore Dell has been kind enough to include on the X3i a handy application called Switcher Bar. This puts a small icon at the top of the screen that, when tapped on, displays a list of all running applications. This allows you to switch between them or, even better, quickly shut them down.

Of course, Switcher Bar isn’t the only application that does this but it’s nice that Dell went ahead and bundled it with this Pocket PC.

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[The following is the talk I gave in church yesterday]

As far as
the gospel is concerned, faith is a very broad subject. There have been many
talks given on the subject of faith. Faith has always been one of my favorite
and most intriguing topics because, without faith, we can do nothing [D&C 8:10],
and without faith we cannot please God [Heb 11:6], and without faith there
cannot be any hope [Moroni 7:42].

According to the prophet Joseph Smith, “Faith is … the
moving cause of all action in … intelligent beings.” In other words, we would
not do anything in life if we did not have faith that it would lead to some sort
of desired outcome. Think about it. Would you drive through green light if you
did not have faith that the lights for cars moving in the opposite direction
were red, and that cars moving in that direction would stop for the red light?
On a more spiritual level, would you read your scriptures if you did not have
faith that doing so would lead you to greater spiritually? Would you pray if you
did not believe there was a God, and that He was listening? That may be a loaded
question, because there may be many instances in which we pray without faith.

In order to rein in this grand topic, I would like to
discuss the faith of children, because ultimately, I believe that is where our
faith begins, and ironically, as we grow in years, it is that same type of faith
we work to obtain.

A poem by David Velazquez entitled “Faith of a Child” goes
as follows:

The father, a well digger,
strong was he,
And as loving and kind as a
father could be.

And Mary his daughter, five
years old,
Was very much dearer than
millions of gold.

To Mary her father was big,
grand and nice,
So each had a treasure, beyond
any price.

One day to the well, little
Mary was sent
To take daddy’s lunch, how
gladly she went.

But when she looked down, not a
thing could be seen.
The well, like a pocket, was
dark as could be.

The father saw Mary and heard
her voice, too,
But made not a sound, just to
see what she’d do.

She dropped to her knees, the
dear little soul,
And called down, "Oh, Daddy,
are you down this hole?"

"Why yes Mary darling, I’m here
at your feet,
Just drop my lunch for I’m
ready to eat.

Just let it go easy, I’ll catch
it all right."
She did and she saw it fall out
of sight.

"Why Mary," said father,
"There’s enough here for two,
Now this is the thing I would
like you to do.

You jump down here to me and
we’ll eat it together,
Down here in the cool and away
from the weather."

"Oh, daddy, I’m afraid, I can’t
see you at all,
Be sure now you catch me and
don’t let me fall."

‘Twas just for a moment she
wavered in doubt,
Then closing her dear little
eyes she jumped out.

In the darkness, yes, that was
the test,
She trusted in faith in her
father’s request.

And both were so happy he
kissed her and smiled
Because of the sweet trusting
faith of his child.

"Oh, sweet little Mary, you put
me to shame,
How often my Father has called
me the same.

But because it was dark I
turned back in doubt.
Refusing the call, though his
arms were stretched out."

Yesterday afternoon, while preparing this talk, I called my
father who lives in Roosevelt. I asked him if there were times in my life
growing up when I displayed these virtues of childlike faith.

The first thing that immediately came to his mind, and
which he and my mom often comment about, is when my mom was pregnant with her
third child. I was four years old. As soon as she told my brother and I the
news, I prayed that it would be a girl. In fact, I remember this being a routine
in my nightly prayers. I told everyone my mom was having a girl. My mom was
concerned that if by chance she had a boy it would destroy my faith. She used to
ask me, “What if I have another boy?” I would simply reply. “It’s a girl mom.”
Well, of course she had a girl.

Another story my dad told me, that I don’t quite remember
as much, was during a baseball All-Star tournament when I was 11 years old. We
were driving to Vernal to play their all-star team. I remember being excited
because they had an actual little league field with smaller fences, whereas the
fields we played on in Roosevelt were all large men’s softball fields. I told my
dad that I was going to hit a home-run that day. He smiled and said, “You are
huh?” My replay was, “Yep, I prayed about it.”

I did hit a home-run in that game and it was a very joyful
experience. But now I look back and think, “Why would God care about my
concern to hit a homerun?”

First of all, I really don’t know. But a few possible
answers came to mind while pondering this question. First, the simple act of
praying in faith led to a blessing in which God, in his love, helped me achieve
my desire. I also remember at times when I couldn’t sleep, my parents would tell
me to think of a happy thought. Remembering this even often helped calm my fears
and worries and put me to sleep.

Even up into high school I would pray for help in my
baseball, basketball, and football games. I remember my senior year going out
into a field behind our house and praying to God for many things. But I remember
specifically asking, that if He be willing, that he would allow our team to take
state. Certainly our team was good enough to do so. We had a great season and we
had the top seat going into the tournament. Yet it turned out that I broke my
arm while pitching in a semi final game against, ironically enough, Vernal. This
is really a whole new story altogether, but we ended up taking second place. I
was completely fine with that because I knew that God had heard my prayers and
answered them in His own way, according to His will, and not mine. Events that
occurred during that time were some of the greatest spiritual experiences that
increased my faith and testimony and helped prepare me to leave home, serve a
mission, and trust in the Lord as I left my family and friends.

It is often the little things, that when done regularly and
faithfully can have the greatest impact on our lives and bring about miracles.
Picture the young boy Joseph who just wanted to do what was right and go to
church. Yet he wanted it to be the right church –the church which God most
wanted him to go to. He soon learned that he could not rely on the words of
others to determine which church God wanted him to go to. He read the Bible in
hopes of finding an answer, and also learned that he could not get the
information he needed from the Bible alone because “the teachers of religion of
the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as
to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.”
[JSH 1:12] But it was through his faith and diligence that he continued to study
the Bible in which he learned how to find the answer he was seeking. He “was one
day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads:
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,
and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” [JSH 1:11]

Joseph recounted:

“Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to
the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with
great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again…”
[JSH 1:12]”

Notice he did not read this scripture and immediately go
pray. He “reflected on it again and again.” In other words, he pondered. He grew
in faith. I believe that on that early spring morning in 1820, as Joseph went in
to the woods, he knew in perfect faith that he would receive the answer he was
looking for. I don’t think he thought God the Father and Jesus Christ would
actually appear to him, but he knew that by going into the woods and asking God
“in faith, nothing wavering,” [James 1:6] that we would then know for himself
which church he should join.

Well, from his childlike faith came the greatest miracle
and blessing in these last days. The heavens were opened. God the Eternal Father
and His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, came down and talked with the boy
Joseph. The great work of the restoration of the truth began. Joseph Smith left
the grove that morning with knowledge that God and Jesus Christ live. Like the
Brother of Jared, “he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting.”

I know that this event is real. I know Joseph Smith was and
is a true prophet of God. He is a martyr for the truth. I am grateful for his
life and work. I know that God lives. I know he loves us. I know he hears and
answers my prayers, when I pray in faith. I know His Son, Jesus Christ lives. He
walked upon this earth. He experienced all that He could possibly can experience
here upon the earth so that he may know how to succor us, His people. I know he
bled and died for our sins, for my sins, if we repent, if I repent. I know that
by faith all things are accomplished. I say these things in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen.

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Strength and struggle go together. The supreme reward of struggle is
strength. Life is a battle and the greatest joy is to overcome. The pursuit of
easy things makes men weak. Do not equip yourselves with superior power and hope
to escape the responsibility and work. It cannot be done. It is following the
lines of least resistance that makes rivers and men crooked.

- Ralph Parlette

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