Okay.  I've been working on a song since a while back, actually... I wrote the lyrics on the same night I wrote this entry. Anyway... It's just about done.  All I'm waiting for now is some seriously kicking piano tracks from my good friend Scott.  As soon as I receive those, I'm all but sure they'll kick bootie, and I'll incoropor...

Things that impressed me for this chapter were different than any time I've read it before (that I can remember), and that, being as simple as it is, is a testament to me as to why we should continue reading the Book of Mormon throughout our entire lives. Interesting how Laman and Lemuel consider the spiritual visions of Lehi to be "foolishn...

I just got done reading an account of a guy who, for reasons having to do with his own personal HD video editing of his own personal HD videos taken by his own HD camcorder which I suppose he didn't steal, decided to purchase an HD monitor. Due to his desire to experience true HD, for unknown reasons, Microsoft decided to not let him. Although ...

Three things stood out at me during tonight's study session: 1. I wonder where the translation of the plates of Lehi are right now?  I've never read the history of the Chuch, so I don't know if it's documented there, but Joseph Smith had them, and had them returned to him after he lost them.  Did he destroy them?  Are they somewhe...

This entry begins the documenting of my studies of the Book of Mormon in my "journal".  One of my new year's resolutions for 2008 is to read, study, and write about every chapter in the Book of Mormon.  I figured today was as good a time as any to begin. And so I begin with the Introduction of the Book of Mormon. --- I nev...

Today I had time to reflect on everything which happened this year.  I'll try my best to articulate my thoughts, though I'm not exactly sure what will turn up. 2007 was a year of goal making, goal breaking, and goal taking. I really hate to say this, in fact, I hesitate to even make mention of it, due to its total cliche, but it's really t...

  The Power to Change Are there tears in me For who I want to be? Humbly in meek prayer, I'll extend all energy. With God's help I can abstain. A new life I can obtain. I will hold to the rod, With my life close to God Through His narrow paths I will trod.   Can these tears of mine Cleanse all my soul and mind? With the S...

I was brought up in a good, wholesome LDS home where abuse wasn't even thought about.  I didn't even know abuse was a word until I learned about it from others. I went to church, had a good time, and generally enjoyed a wonderful family life. During my teenage years, I started thinking about spirituality for no apparent reason.  I star...

I've been finding it hard to write / blog lately, simply because I have no desire to write.  I've been thinking about this for a bit, so I decided to write about ... writing. In order to write  / blog, I have to have something to write about - obviously.  What isn't so obvious is, I always have something to write about. I came to...

Merry Christmas Dear Latter-Day Saints   Merry Christmas I greet you wherever you may be as members of a church family Tonight we pay homage to our Lord. Born in a stable. Loved and adored.   He who'd been the creator of this earth. Condescended to a humble birth. And, thus we have the gift of Christmas. This the greatest of ...

I think this is the first time I'm not really inspired at all to write anything. This is frustrating because I can tell there's a lot of meat to this chapter.  I guess it's partially because I really am not into the whole "gathering of Israel" thing.  That's horrible to say because it's such an integral part of the whole plan ...

We've been recording a bunch of drum-takes to be added to otherwise "ready-to-go" songs lately here.  The latest of which happened to be a genre I particularly don't like much - country. But, the music sounded so good for this particular song, I decided to have at it anyway - and 4 hours later, we came up with the final result. I...

Man alive.... I don't deal well with politics in the workplace AT ALL. Why in the world aren't we using gentoo? Who knows. Probably because of the "support" that we don't get because we have PHP 5 installed on a SLES9 server. augh..... Can I just tell you how much I hate it when people make snide remarks about something the know absolutely not...

Well....  I think it's finally getting there. I worked quite a bit on ilovemyjournal.com today and ....  its' coming along quite nicely!   I still haven't had anyone sign up yet, but I put it live like.. 2 weeks ago, and have been working on it often.  We'll see how it goes in the coming months. Anyway... I'm gonna go spe...

 Seems like the first half of this chapter is a gentile rebuke coming from Christ himself, to his Apostles, for not knowing the scriptures well enough.  It seems like he goes on for a bit in the why, though.  I wonder why it's so important to put across the point that things of Christ need to be done in Christ's name...?  Seems ...

Man... I'm just tired.  Today was weird..  So... Studying chapter 5 right now, I'm brought to another realization that even the families of Prophets aren't perfect (hello, Lehi was a prophet, and he managed to have Laman and Lemuel...) The specifics to which I refer is Sariah's murmuring, and reaction when she saw her 4 boys return fr...

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...

Ya know...  After reading this through, with the previous chapters I've read in mind, I think I'm understanding a bit more about what Abinadi is talking about. The wicked priests quote him the scripture in Isaiah which says that prophets are supposed to proclaim peace in order to basically tell Abinadi off, because he was definitely not proc...

The first thing which caught my eye in this chapter is in verse 5 where it says "Cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you." When I read that, the first thing which came to mind was D&C 88:63, which states, "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you." I also think this is one of the first times, if not the first time...

To start things off, I’ve been doing a bit of research on Christianity due to a friend I have at my place of employment. In my research I came upon the wonderful debate on whether or not members of the LDS church are “Christians”. The arguments pointed out were surprisingly well-worded and easy to understand. One of the main on...

"...and his hand is stretched out still." I love that phrase.  To me, it's just another way of saying, "I will be here for you, no matter what you do or where you go.  I will always be here for you." What a comfort that is, knowing there will always be someone there for you.  I know it is for me, and I've felt...

So...  I remember Nephi coming back to his own people and seeing them in a state of wickedness, but I didn't remember that he had just been on a mission where everyone in the land northward rejected his word, too.  That would be an incredible test of faith in an of itself.  Only the most stalwart followers of God, in my view, could t...

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.  I only have 10 more chapters to go, and I'll finish the goal I set 3 years ago, to read and write about each chapter in the Book of Mormon.  I'm not sure why, but when I just realized that (like 1 minute ago), it was kind of surreal for me.  Anyway...  Here goes. Moroni 1. Moroni had to be one of the most tr...

Interesting how verse 3 is pretty much an exact parallel with the light of Christ in our lives. Verse 4 is yet another example of taking a pretty huge risk in the name of God.  Getting into ships, the likes of which none of them had ever seen before, being built by the blueprints of God.  Closing the doors, with all your family inside, ...

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'...

Okay...  It had to happen, and it happened today.  Since this is a public entry, and I really don't want to throw a negative light on the situation, I'll do my best to filter out my emotions.  If I have to vomit emotions, I'll do it in private.  Anyway... This morning, I woke up and Kim (my dear mother-in-law) decided to make ...

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...

Well....  I think it's finally getting there. I worked quite a bit on ilovemyjournal.com today and ....  its' coming along quite nicely!   I still haven't had anyone sign up yet, but I put it live like.. 2 weeks ago, and have been working on it often.  We'll see how it goes in the coming months. Anyway... I'm gonna go spe...

Yes!  You can now comment on public blog entries at ILoveMyJournal.com! I wrote the whole process from scratch, so some of the methods used to keep bots away might be new to you.  Here's the skinny: First off, nothing is required except the comment and the human-test answer.  I'm not sure if this is gonna stick or not, but I co...