This chapter, to me, is all about following the Spirit. Verses 3 and 5 are among the most potent in all of scripture. "Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." "...the Holy Ghost ... will show unto you all things what ye should do." Doesn't get any clear...

All the other times I've read this chapter, it's been mostly about the whole baptism thing.  Now, I don't discredit the sermon given about Christ being baptised, and the necessity for our being baptized to make it to heaven... ...But this time, something else struck me. Ya know...  I love having chats with people about the Gospel.&nbs...

The beginning verses of this scripture were the ones of focus today. For the past 2 chapters (or more), the Lord has been chastising the Gentiles, should they fall into the pride cycle and not repent. The beginning 2 verses of this chapter basically says, "even though the Gentiles were bad, don't get on your high-horse, thinking you're any...

I know a lot of the posts this year have been on the spiritual topic, but, I write about the events of my life, and so I guess this is what ya get. Today was awesome. If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that today I sang in the choir, gave a talk in sacrament meeting, and taught the 15-16 year old doctrine class. It was wonderful. ...

Wow...  What a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and of the prophets who wrote it. This whole chapter is a rebuke against people who don't accept the Book of Mormon.  Reading chapters like this strengthens my testimony concerning the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  I mean, what are the chances, if the Book of Mormon were false,...

Well....  From the first eight verses of this chapter, I could write pages.  The first verse itself is a great testament to the veracity of Jacob 4:13, which states that the Holy Ghost "speaketh the truth and lieth not". Because we all can be under the influence of the Holy Ghost (and worthy members have the opportunity to ha...

Imagine for a moment you had no idea about the atonement of Christ. Now imagine you sitting there and listening to what I have to say. And the first thing you hear are the words, "God demands perfection for salvation." Not sure about you, but for me, that creates a sort of sinking feeling inside...  I put "perfection an...

About a week ago, I began thinking I needed another project.  I really was getting to thinking about how I spend my time, and how I can better use the time I have. Nothing popped out at me, until yesterday. Yesterday, I got a call from one of the people in my ward, and he asked me if I would teach the 15-16 year olds in their gospel doctri...

In the beginning of this chapter, I didn't realize that the book to which the verses were referring was the Book of Mormon. I guess this chapter answers the question, "What is in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon?".  The answer is quite simply found in verse 10:  "...for behold, they reveal all things from the foun...

Ya know, I sure am glad that Nephi wrote verse 22 of this chapter.  In all of scripture, this is the only chapter which uses the word "flaxen" to describe the way Satan tempts us. Flax is a fiber from a plant which is used to make linen.  Linen isn't known for its strength. Satan indeed does "lead us" with very ent...

Okay...  So Advanced Budget Studios had the opportunity last weekend to record a group which came from the Springville's Art City Music Fest, and due to time constraints, we really didn't get a very good tracking session.  We got some of Bethany's vocals, JT's acoustic guitar, Jake's bass, Dan's shredding guitar solo, and a very rough scr...

Well... I finally did it.  I've been kind of anxious about the whole "modifying my car" because I've never done it before, and my car is still under warranty.  I have no idea what this might mean for the warranty, but after hearing / feeling the difference, I don't regret it one bit.  I love it! Just two modifications fo...

So, we've been considering how to best improve the studio in recent weeks, and have decided that our complete lack of guitar amplification needs to be taken care of.  We looked at all sorts of amps and decided that one which could possibly provide the most diverse sounds would be a wise choice.  We've recorded pretty much everything here ...

I read Mosiah 18 yesterday and found that due to the mindset I'm having now of an overall perspective, it was hard to get into all the details of what Alma was saying.  This is a great chapter for new members, or people who are trying to understand baptism. One question I have always had with this scripture is, "Where did Alma get the ...

 It's quite obvious that this chapter is speaking to anyone and everyone (throughout all time) who lives on this land.  Verses 9,10, and 12 are especially insightful. "What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?" I love that question.  I never noticed outright that right after the Lord poses th...

Something I thought I'd write down, because it took me forever to figure out, has been a bug for at least a year, and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. The bug is quite simple really, and once you know where to look for it, it pretty much stops being a bug due to an extremely easy work-around. The bug is concerning network cards plugg...

Verses 5 and 6 are cause for simple reinforcement that external events do not necessarily cause internal changes.  Yes, they had a horrific war which caused the death of so many husbands, fathers, sons, etc...  And yes, that caused a lot of people to become baptized.... but, that didn't seem to matter much.  The very next year, it se...

Since I began using Ardour to record music, (and more music), I've always managed to have the same problem crop up, year after year.  The symptoms of this problem are annoying to say the least. I'm running all my audio through an M-Audio 1010 digital interface and I use envy24control to monitor and adjust the channels via. software.  I ...

This morning, Steve broke in to chat and said something to the effect of "Pride sucks." Ya know... I completely agree with him. Pride does suck. I wonder why... I've heard it said that "Pride is the only unforgivable sin." This is the doctrine according to me because I can't remember who said it, nor if it was an authority figure, so.... no ...

 So, the month of June has been a great one for Advanced Budget Studios.  Being a young company, we still have a long road before us to get where we want to be, but during the last 3 years we've been in business, I can tell you something important I've learned. If you would have asked me when starting out, "What's the main point of ...

 So, this chapter, I hate to say it, wasn't very inspiring to me. I'm not sure if it's the state I'm in, or the chapter itself, or both, but there wasn't too much inspiration going on. I did, however, 3 years ago, begin the journey of reading and writing about each and every chapter in the Book of Mormon, so I've gotta write something, if I ...

Ya know... I think these chapters are meant to teach us how frail the hearts of men are.  Okay... Here's a good question..  How long did it take the Nephites to go from "seeing the sign of the birth of Jesus Christ" (this is *Christ* we're talking about here.  *The Messiah*.  How long did it take them from seeing that ...

Man...  Amalickiah... I'm more and more convinced that this guy is the epitome of evil in the flesh. I wonder what would have happened with the entire history of the Nephites had Captain Moroni caught Amalickiah, when he was chasing him and his armies last chapter. I really believe that had he been caught (and appropriately dealt with), much...

Ya know...  I really liked this talk.  There were points in it where I found his words coming through my mind's eye of the past. While growing up, I was probably on the extreme of what Elder Zwick was trying to convey.  Instead of being tempted to go along with the crowd, I thought the crowd was stupid, and I didn't need them. ...

Ya know, I sure am glad that Nephi wrote verse 22 of this chapter.  In all of scripture, this is the only chapter which uses the word "flaxen" to describe the way Satan tempts us. Flax is a fiber from a plant which is used to make linen.  Linen isn't known for its strength. Satan indeed does "lead us" with very ent...

Reading these two chapters didn't leave me with much spiritual insight, as I didn't understand much of it. That said, I did, however, really feel the Spirit while reading them.  I yearned to know what the words meant.  I wanted to study them more....  Oddly enough,  I find myself wanting to study them more, yet kind of scared ...

Yesterday at church, I had a couple of thoughts which I neglected to write down.  I think I'll write them down now. Something I might have written down in my previous scripture studies is my question as to why Lehi's family didn't think about getting the plates of brass / Ishmael's family before they left for the wilderness?  I would th...

 So...  Sometimes I feel like I write things here that could get me into trouble, but I figure, if this is what I really think, and I'm sincere about it, then right or wrong, the truth will eventually come out.  Many times, I've thought one thing, and then upon further studying and prayer, have found out I was wrong ... and I'm okay ...

Lately, I've been feeling quite the spiritual outpouring from heaven upon me.  It happened about ....  Let's say last Friday (the 10th).  I'm not entirely sure what this means, but I've been happier, more settled emotionally, more productive at work, and ....  Just really anxious to be about a good cause. I think now would be a...

Okay... I forgot that Alma had 63 chapters. This chapter has always just kind of made me raise an eyebrow while reading it.  I must say, I felt the Spirit while reading it, and I know it's true, but I wonder why it was written. Why did Mormon dedicate half a chapter to people "going northward"?  And what about the ships?&nbs...