I'm not entirely sure where to even begin with this chapter.  So many good stories are found in this one, which can easily be likened to our own lives and our own times.  Various lessons come to mind.... For example, verses 1 through 3 are a magnificent litmus test of personal righteousness.  When someone comes at you and truthfull...

Ya know... Chatting with good friends has its benefits.  Just like think-tanks and collegeate consortiums are good for concerted cognation, a good conversation with a concerned cohort can be just as contenting. I think I've mentioned this before in my journal, but in talking with a good friend of mine, I hadn't made the connection with just...

After reading this chapter for no more than 30 seconds, I simply must type. I love verse 3. Many, many times have I been in a doctrinal discussion with someone and the other person just can't "get" what a scripture or principle means.  Verse 3 could explain why that happens to us. Some things we just can't understand without th...

When I sit and think about what I just read, the 14th chapter of 1st Nephi is pretty crazy. Just a few points... The majority of the chapter is all about the "mother of abominations" and the "whore of all the earth". I believe it's written here to clarify the impact this (these) church(es) has (have) had upon the plain and...

No, seriously, people...  Microsoft really does care....  loads and loads of caring! They care so much ABOUT MONEY it makes me sick. I just got done reading this article and I'm left with a feeling of sickening "awe" at how greedy Microsoft really is. Lately, I've been following a story about a group of people in a project...

Where do I even begin with this chapter? I remember reading it and understanding it for the first time during my mission.  It was really cool realizing that all of this stuff in this chapter is written about in history books!  It talks about Christopher Columbus discovering America, the Revolutionary War, the Bible, the coming of the Bo...

I had forgotten that in this chapter, Nephi sees the Lord descend from heaven to the people who would be born from Nephi. I put myself in his situation, and quite honestly , I have no idea how I would react.  It would be so supremely surreal - seeing your kids' kids' kids' kids, and then seeing the Savior of the world show himself unto them....

As soon as the angel of God knew Nephi's purpose and desire, the first question he asked him was "Do you believe?". I think that's a fairly important question, which we should ask ourselves each day.  If we are being tempted and we ask ourselves that question, to which we already know the answer, I can promise you the tempter's pow...

First Nephi Ten... I'm not really in a spiritual mood right now, which really is unfortunate because I know this chapter has some spiritual meat to it. One thing I can write, is when I read this chapter during my mission, and even before, I always found myself focusing on Nephi's desire to see the things his father did (in verse 17). He didn'...

Two things for tonight's study: I believe the purpose of this chapter is the same as chapter 6:  To give purpose behind the Book of Mormon.  The things Nephi is writing are things of God - things pertaining to the ministry of the people in those days. I love verse 5.  It reminds me of when Adam was commanded to build an alter and...

 I apologize for the complete lack of posts in March.  I've been having so much fun recording, I forget to write about it. If you'd like to stay more up-to-date with the studio happenings, I tend to post much more information on Advanced Budget Studio's Facebook page than on the blog.  It's just easier. So, head on over to Facebo...

My wife left this morning for Girls' Camp (she's a leader), and so my mom came down to help with the chil'lins.  It's been good to spend some time with her. We watched The Eagle's Concert "Hell Frozen Over", and she not only watched the whole thing, but she *really* enjoyed it.  It was great. We then talked about this site I...

Well...  It seems that all of Utah is on fire.  I mean... Almost literally.  Currently there are 5-6 fires raging on in various parts of Utah, the extreme north, to the extreme south.  One has consumed 18,000 acres so far.  Insane... Why do I find this interesting?  Well, it's just interesting that one of the "si...

 Today, I woke up at 6:00am, after getting a maximum of 4 hours of sleep (and it would only be 4 hours if I wasn't woken up in the middle of the night multiple times, which I was, so it was actually less) I prayed before I went to bed that I would be able to survive the day and get everything done that needed doing. Anyway, I woke up at 6,...

The first verse which caught me in the reading of the last half of 2nd Nephi 9 was verse 39. The question came to mind:  "Why would God need to have us "remember" the awfulness of sin?" ...  Well...  The answer is quite simple, really.  Because Satan laces all sorts of lies within the temptation of sin.&nbs...

So, about 4 or 5 years ago, I met a guy named Jesse Crowley, and we played music together.  At first we played music that other people wrote, but then Jesse got bored with that, and decided to write Christmas music instead.  We recorded a few Christmas albums, and I think they turned out pretty good. So, Jesse decided that wasn't enough...

While my wife and I were watching The Office tonight, we got wind of President Obama being on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, so we decided to stay up to watch it. Well, I just got done watching it, and before I forget, I have to write down some initial thoughts. To begin, I am by absolutely no means whatsoever any source of any credible politi...

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...

Someone of spiritual authority once told me that anyone who read the book of Enos, and marked his scriptures based on importance, would have the entire book of Enos highlighted. After reading it this morning, I can see why. The first thing that hit me was the phrase, and my father "taught me in his language".  If we read the fi...

Hehe.... According to this verse, I guess even Lamanites can learn! "Stand fast in the liberty wherewith God has made us free!" Yeah... I think I'm gonna have that made into a poster, and hang it on my wall or something. The big message of this chapter, and the few preceeding it, for me, would have to be "Rely on The Lord for y...

Concerning world events, I'll be the first to say that I'm a pretty naive guy.  I keep up on stuff that's important to me, but not too much more.  I realize that this is somewhat of a flaw, so I am trying to involve myself much more with the world. That said, on the morning of Sept 10, 2001 - if you asked me what the "world trade ...

I've been debating writing this down for quite some time now, but I think it's time now to write it. What I am penning is a more detailed account of what happened this day during my mission. It was April of 1996, two months before I would return home from my 2-year service as a missionary for our Lord Jesus Christ. I was serving in a leade...

 So, this chapter seems to be about the rise and fall of the people, and the rulers who ruled both in righteousness and wickedness. It seems to mow through a genration with each verse that goes by - very quickly.  I guess this chapter would be a good one to illustrate the Lord's prophets making promises, and then keeping them through la...

Well... I just spent the last 3 hours re-vamping around 300 lines of code for ilovemyjournal.com.  Hopefully, I've made it a lot more search-engine friendly for people who want to share their blogs, without compromising security any security. Being that this is also the 24th of July, I'm also very grateful for the pioneers, and everything the...

Okay...  I keep on runing into these people who have learned what I want to learn. About a year ago, I met a guy named Rick Koerber and he seemed like a normal guy.  About 6 months later, I find out he's a freaking multi-millionarie.  I also find out that he teaches how he did it, and so I learn about it.  It seems really legit...

Holy cow, there's some weird crap on the Internet. I was just sifting through Youtube for some comic relief from the daily grind when I wondered where in the world Marilyn Manson had gone.  When I was younger, I was pretty much disgusted and amazed at the slim amount of MM media I was exposed to.  I haven't heard anything about him for y...

After reading this chapter for no more than 30 seconds, I simply must type. I love verse 3. Many, many times have I been in a doctrinal discussion with someone and the other person just can't "get" what a scripture or principle means.  Verse 3 could explain why that happens to us. Some things we just can't understand without th...

I watched this talk about 2 months ago and was very impressed by what Elder Jeffrey R. Holland proclaimed. Down to its essence, Elder Holland simply states case after case as to why it makes no sense the claim that God has ceased speaking to us. Quite frankly, I believe him.  With overwhelming evidence given, it's hard not to see the clear...

The video above is of a band called "Florez", who really did quite well.  But the real reason for the video above is for the LDSMusicians group to see Art City Park, where the LDSFest will be held this year. I just did a quick panoramic for people to analyze and with which to become informed. That's really all.  We got bored a...

All I've gotta say is - don't get on the wrong side of God.  The wrath of God shown in chapter 9 really is quite astounding. Then, in chapter 10, it's almost as if God's words were pleading to the people...  Almost as if God were remorseful of the things He had to do...  Claiming, "If ye only had kept my commandments, these th...