Will: Will's Church Notes

Military Relations and the Church

Sun, 24 Apr 2005 23:29:51 GMT

I found an interesting LDS.org page today for members of the military. It includes a picture of a portable kit for the sacrament, as well as a book called "Principles of the Gospel" that is written with the military audience in mind.

Why watch TV when you can learn via online video lectures?

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 04:50:51 GMT

I found a couple of great resources recently for people interested in education: BYU's McKay School of Education has posted some excellent online lectures/presentations:

McKay School of Education :: Multimedia Library

The Indiana University School of Education has a similar page:

http://www.indiana.edu/~icy/ebrownbag/

Places to listen or view LDS General Conference

Sat, 02 Apr 2005 14:23:51 GMT

Here are a some good places to find ways to watch or listen to this weekend's LDS General Conference:

BYU broadcasting has a good general index:
http://byubroadcasting.org/generalconf/

You can also listen to conference on KBYU FM, which streams in many formats (Windows Media, Quicktime, RealAudio, mp3). I read that they offer a stream at 32 kbps instead of 16 kbps, so it is higher quality sound that the 16k stream at lds.org:
http://kbyufm.org/streaming/

KSL radio always streams conference, and offers many formats including RealAudio (although sometimes it seems they have problems with advertisements popping up during the broadcast, maybe a programming problem):
We like to go to this stream immediately after each session to hear the KSL news recap of conference news and talks.
http://radio.ksl.com/index.php?nid=2

Or you might try searching for a local TV/radio station:
http://www.bonneville.info/gc_lookup.htm

If you have a lot of hard drive space, and OS X, you can record streaming audio using Audio Hijack.

Names

Fri, 18 Mar 2005 03:26:50 GMT

I was trying to remember what guidance we have received about the name of our church, and I found these two illuminating talks: Mormon Should Mean 'More Good' and Thus Shall My Church Be Called.

Relief Society Seal Clipart

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 04:31:28 GMT

In case anyone needs it, here is a link to a clipart image of the Relief Society Seal. My wife was looking for it because she is decorating a cake for the annual Relief Society Birthday Party in our ward.

Resurrection to a 4 year old

Wed, 02 Mar 2005 04:19:59 GMT

We were talking about the resurrection today in our rescheduled Family Home Evening meeting. I explained to our children that after we are resurrected our spirit and body are reunited and will never again be separated. Tyler said inexplicably but with assured confidence, "and we will have the same clothes on when we died." We were puzzled by how he came up with this but before we could say anything to correct it Brandon, our four year old still working on the potty training thing added, "and if you wet your pants, you can't ever take them off."

City of Joseph II?

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 00:05:24 GMT

I just read in the Church News that Nauvoo, Ill. will be hosting a new Church pageant (a large musical production that tells the story of part of Church history) this year, replacing the City of Joseph pageant that finished its run last year (and which we enjoyed watching last summer). It will be fun to see a new pageant -- I wonder who is composing the music for it.

It will be held every day except Sundays and Mondays during its run July 8-Aug. 5

Palm reading at church

Sun, 23 Jan 2005 23:08:07 GMT

Today during sacrament meeting I was desperately trying to think of ways to divert Brandon's attention from bothering his brother Tyler to doing something more quiet. So I asked him if he knew how many lines there were on his hand, hoping to busy his mind with the task. He looked at one of his hands and said "three." Tyler scooted over and whispered with satisfaction, "Dad, there are eight lines on your hand!" saying it as if this settled any argument on the question.

Brandon took another look at his palm and said, "look, it's a spiderweb!" observing the way the lines criss-cross and connect.

I wondered if he would see the same on my hands, so I showed him by palm, about three times larger than his, and asked, "Is there a spiderweb on my hand?" He craned his neck to see and said, "yep!" Then looking around a little more, he pointed to the part of the palm right below the thumb and said, "but that's wood." I could see what he meant, the parallel lines, forming cross hatches, does look similar to the grain of wood, proving again that four-year-olds are natural poets.

Leaning over from the pew in front of us, Mikayla, who had been listening to what we thought was an undetectable conversation said, "Dad, there are really too many lines to count on your hand," probably having been attempting the task since I first asked. It got me thinking about my hands and I realized that I haven't examined then closely for years, and yet almost everything I do is somehow accomplished, at least in part by my hands.

Standing for Liberty Around the World

Fri, 21 Jan 2005 00:14:23 GMT

I was reading a talk this evening by President Hinckley and was struck by the familiarity of a theme he brought up in 2003 with the inaugural speech Bush gave today. I found the talk when I was looking for more information about Alma 43, which indicates some narrow reasons why engaging in war may be justified.

"Furthermore, we are a freedom-loving people, committed to the defense of liberty wherever it is in jeopardy."

- President Hinckley, "War and Peace", May 2003 Ensign Magazine

"All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."

- President Bush, Second Inaugural Address, Jan. 20 2004

I am not trying to imply that the two leaders are in harmony on all issues, just that there is an interesting connection in this single principle expressed by both. I have been trying to decide in my own mind if we are obligated to help other countries who do not have democracy as Bush has suggested.

There may be a nuance here though. Maybe there is a difference in defending existing liberty from bringing liberty to places where it does not exist at all. But maybe this nuance is meaningless -- it seems unfair to defend liberty only for those who already have it. This would be akin to refusing to rescue someone drowning unless their head was above water. So, the big question is how do you turn this principle into action?

There is a good discussion about this tonight on the PBS Newshour show.

An Indiana woman and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Sat, 15 Jan 2005 00:16:27 GMT

And now for some positive news: Here is an article about an Indiana woman who dreamed of singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, having listened to their weekly broadcast for fifty years. An Indiana agency called the Never Too Late Foundation helped work out singing with them yesterday. They help people with terminal illnesses realize their aspirations.

The dearth of internet filtering software for Macintosh

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 01:13:54 GMT

I just took advantage of SBC's $26/month DSL offer at the beginning of the year. (available for people who have SBC phone service in our area). Then, after signing on, I was dismayed to find out that the 'award winning' Parental Controls feature they tout is for Windows only. :( During his salespitch, I had even asked the SBC guy if this feature would work on Mac and he assured me that it would- little did I know I needed to probe further to this conveniently buried link to find the system requirements. I am now in a year contract with SBC Yahoo without the Parental Controls I thought were part of the package. I have sent them two e-mails about this, but it looks like they went into the e-mail ether that is online customer service these days.

So now I am trying to find an equivalent service to my former ISP, mstar.net, which offered a filtered proxy that would block out the bad stuff.

Mstar.net does also offer an add-on if you already have an ISP called Web Sentinel that is only $5 a month. But, again it is, you guessed it, PC only.

After hunting around for an alternative, the only two promising products I have found are ContentBarrier, a filtering tool that runs on your computer, and BumperCar, a web browser built for kids. I would much rather have the filtering done at the ISP rather than on my own computer, but as far as I can tell, there just isn't something out there like this for Mac. So, the market is wide open!

A nice day and a new curriculum

Mon, 10 Jan 2005 04:31:20 GMT

Almost all of the snow melted today. It was unseasonably warm and sunny which was a nice relief from the cloudy cold. At church we began studying the teachings of David O. McKay. I am excited about this because I remember hearing many good things about him from people in my parents' generation while growing up. I remember being a teenager visiting a family and hearing the adults talk about what a wonderful leader he had been. The fact that his parents were from Scotland, which I learned today, makes him more interesting since I have ancestors from there.

President Hinckley spoke with Larry King last night

Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:06:54 GMT

President Gordon B. Hinckley, the president of the Church we belong to, appeared on Larry King Live last night. Here is a transcript of the interview: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0412/26/lkl.01.html

Boys are not mammals

Wed, 08 Dec 2004 04:10:41 GMT

Tonight we were talking as a family about how we each have a spirit body and a physical body. Mikayla said that we were kind of like amphibians because we have "double lives;" we are now living as spirits with bodies, but after we die we will only have spirit bodies for a while, living in a spirit world. She then said, "we really are mammals though."

To this Tyler stated confidently, "But boys aren't mammals! We don't have babies."

New missionary materials now available online

Sat, 04 Dec 2004 22:19:51 GMT

UPDATE 23 Jan 05: The Preach My Gospel manual I linked to appears to no longer be available online at the link I originally provided below. END UPDATE

I noticed an announcement today on the lds.org homepage that the new missionary guide has been made available online:
Preach My Gospel

I had a chance to look at the guide when I went on exchanges with our Elders a while ago and was impressed with the practical approach to the training, although I was sentimental when they said they no longer would be using the standard flipcharts we used to carry.

Ken Jennings finally loses at Jeopardy

Wed, 01 Dec 2004 03:24:25 GMT

Today marked the end of turning on the TV after work once in a while and seeing someone like me (well, at least in background if not intelligence) astonish the world -- the Jeopardy "episode" of Ken Jennings losing was aired tonight. (some news links: the cleverly written AP news article, the insightful NY Times article that requires free registration, or NPR's ponderous audio take). I graduated from the same University as Jennings (Brigham Young University) and am also a member of the same church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and I like computers, so I have one of those vicarious connection disorders that people sometimes get with people on TV -- you know, like they way you start thinking that the local news anchors are actually talking to you with all that witty banter? And then you see them in the grocery store and almost say hello and then catch yourself when it hits that this person actually knows nothing about you?

Anyway... Jennings has been the reigning champion of Jeopardy since June 2, racking up a little over 2.5 million dollars, of which the articles note that he will be donating 10% of this to the Church, a standard for everyone who is a member.

The funny thing is that he lost in part because he does his own taxes (like me again). He didn't know which company only hires its workers for 4 months a year (H&R Block).

One more link: Here is the post on Times and Seasons about Ken's loss, including links to their interview from last August.

To live in thanksgiving daily

Wed, 24 Nov 2004 12:10:25 GMT

We were reading along in the scriptures as a family last night when we arrived at this verse:

Alma 34:38

38 That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

Studies of Caffeine Addiction

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 22:11:06 GMT

Dr. Roland Griffiths of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine runs a clinic for overcoming caffeine dependence. While reading today's newspaper, I came across an article, reprinted from the Baltimore Sun, that describes Caffeine addiction as a growing problem. I found this line interesting:

The drug disappears quickly - typically within 12 hours to 24 hours. This, says Griffiths, explains why coffee is so often a morning ritual: "People are actually waking up in withdrawal."

Another article at MSNBC.com gives a couple statistics to caffeine withdrawl: "Experiments have shown that 50 percent of people got headaches when their java was taken away and 13 percent were sick enough to lose time at work."

The National Soft Drink Association isn't happy with Griffith, especially with his claim that caffeine doesn't affect the flavor of soda drinks, but is used to addict consumers.

So, is he an honest scientist who does valid research? Or does he want people to believe they are addicted to get them into his clinic? Based on my personal experience I agree with his findings, especially because they are in harmony with The Word of Wisdom, a code of health in my faith. See more of Griffith's findings/claims here: http://www.caffeinedependence.org/caffeine_dependence.html

Differences

Thu, 18 Nov 2004 03:16:13 GMT

On Monday evening we were teaching the children the story of Nephi and his brothers returning to Jerusalem to retrieve the brass plates. We talked about the difference in attitude between Nephi and his two brothers, Laman and Lemuel. Nephi had confidence that God would prepare a way for them to complete the task, while Laman and Lemuel complained from the beginning that it would be too hard.

After Krystin read the story I asked Tyler, "What was the difference between Nephi and his brothers Laman and Lemuel?" Tyler said after taking a second to think, "Laman and Lemuel had black curly hair, hmmmm, and Nephi had black straight hair." For a moment I just stopped and thought about this, not quite sure how to respond. I don't think Tyler was viewing the type of hair as symbolic of their attitudes, I just think he was listening to the story, and visualizing it more concretely than I had anticipated.

Good people

Sat, 13 Nov 2004 04:27:00 GMT

This evening 9 people from our Ward came over and helped clean the house and our yard. They had heard that Krystin was sick and decided to come help out. When I arrived home from work they were finishing up cleaning the rooms, raking the lawn, and taking our laundry to be washed. When I first walked in I saw a couple of people; as I walked around the house I saw more and more people, and I was impressed that all of them were missing their own activities to help us!

It was a relief to have the help, although I felt like I should be giving them something, or should have done all of this stuff myself, but I knew that isn't what they expected, and that they were there because they wanted to be there. One person even brought a nice homemade enchilada and apple pie dinner for us. This experience is teaching me that it is a priviledge to associate with the people who attend our church. The "support network" is there.

Krystin has a doctor's appointment tomorrow and we are hoping that everything goes well and that it is not a recurrence of a kidney infection, but instead a simple virus.

Krystin sick, but at least there is heat.

Fri, 12 Nov 2004 04:22:46 GMT

Krystin is feeling sick today. The doctor thinks she has a virus that includes pink-eye, ear infections, nausea, headaches, chills, and fevers. He said it lasts up to two weeks. She is doing better at the moment, probably because the medicine is kicking in. A friend from church made dinner for us today and the Relief Society President took the kids out to dinner so Krystin could sleep for a little while.

Fortunately we got our thermostat fixed a couple days ago, so at least the heat is working again. Our furnace was going crazy for a while, switching on and off continually and not heating much. This constant cycling had broken the device that lights the furnace. So last year we fixed the lighter thinking that it was the problem. It turns out that the thermostat had worn out because the mercury switch had "lost its balance".

The new thermostat is a fancy digital one (without mercury) that shows the temperature on small LCD. The repair guy asked us if we wanted to keep the old one. Not wanting to have a tube of mercury around the house, ready for Brandon to disassemble, we had them take it away!

Where will it lead?

Thu, 11 Nov 2004 02:48:38 GMT

I am listening to an excellent talk given by Dallin H. Oaks at BYU yesterday. His message can be summarized as: In each decision we make, it is useful to ask the question, "Where will it lead?"

Photos from our temple trip on Saturday

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 03:27:09 GMT

We enjoyed our family trip on Saturday once we arrived at the Louisville temple. The drive there was a little rough with both females getting car sick. Mikayla had been trying to read Harry Potter while we weaved our way towards Nashville, IN from Bloomington, and Krystin felt sick from eating breakfast while we drove.

Despite the carsickness we finally made it. The crisp sunlight made it seem more like late September than November and getting out of the car was a welcome release. While Krystin and I alternated attending a temple session each, the children played in the Nursery room of the chapel located next to the temple. Other parents helped watch the children as they also attended sessions. I'm glad we went.

I have posted some more photos of our trip here.

Target disses the bell ringers

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 12:53:57 GMT

Our ward (church congregation) participates annually in helping the Salvation Army ring bells and collect donations at shopping locations. Because of this I was disappointed to hear that this year Target is not going to allow the Salvation Army to ring bells at their stores.

Hopefully they will reconsider, but probably there isn't time. Maybe all that great design in getting to their heads. I will think twice before shopping there this season.

Link to LDS handheld library

Wed, 27 Oct 2004 04:16:18 GMT

It is nice that the Church is providing electronic documents for use on handhelds using a variety of formats.