Cool Thing: The Last Airbender

Okay I've realized that I'm easily entertained. I went and saw "The Last Airbender," despite the resounding pleads from critics not to. I have to admit, while the acting,*cough* left some room for improvement, I thought the story was interesting. Plus I love cool special-effects. Would I recommend this movie? No, you probably won't like it. But if you don't have anything else to do on a Saturday night, you might consider going to the gym. Okay, or maybe see this movie.

Cool Thing: July 4th 2010 (and the day before)

I finally made it to Mexico. It's been a long time coming. I've attempted a couple of times but my plans of crossing that oh so lovable bored into TJ were always foiled. Not so this time! Some friends and myself headed down to Ensenada, Baja and La Bufadora. La Bufadora is this naturally occurring "geyser" on the coast. The trip was short, but we had a good time. We stuffed ourselves with fish tacos, saw a movie in Spanish, and slept in the most sketch place I've ever stayed! Seriously, La Delphin Hotel out did all the spots in Europe and Central America that I've slept at, as the most likely place to get a disease and/or killed. But hey, it was cheap. And anyone that knows me knows that I love a good deal.

Side note: One really funny thing that happened, the attendant at the dive-of-a-hotel was trying to split the four of us up into two different rooms but we were having it. He didn't understand why, because we were going to save money by doing so. Now, I don't speak a lick of Spanish, but as Derek was trying to explain to him why we want to be together, he felt the need to "reassure" the owner that we weren't "homosexuals." Probably the funniest reaction I've ever seen.

(not) Cool Thing: World Cup...

I can't imagine what losing a game in front of tens of millions of people feels like. I know the USA footy team does. While we did get robbed on a lot of calls in our previous games, I just think this time around we didn't bring our A game and therefore didn't deserve a win. Good luck to everyone for the rest of the tournament!

Also, those darn vuvuzelas really detract from the World Cup experience, in my not so humble opinion.

Cool Thing: World Cup!

The World Cup! The World Cup! The World Cup! (That sums up how I feel right now, especially because our boys--USA--is playing tomorrow!) While I've only recently (the last two World Cups) been the bandwagon for all things World Cup, it's a pretty exciting time watching your country go head to head with other nations in such a fast-paced game!

Here's to a victory tomorrow for Donovan and the gang!

Cool Thing: Footy! GO USA!!!

Let's go Yanks!!! World cup today! 2:30 ET. Let's cheer on our boys, even if we (me) have to work during the match!

Cool Thought (Thing): San Diego to L.A--Part 1

I love working, living, and playing in Southern California.

Part 1: Hot days, cool nights. Aren't they great?

Cool Thing: Happy Birthday Rissa!

Happy Birthday to my little Stinky Mae! This is how I always remember you (and Becca too), I love you so much! Enjoy your last year as a teenager.

Cool Thing(s): Birthdays and Beaches

It's my birthday today. We started the celebration yesterday with a kick off BBQ in Newport Beach. It was so fun. We down the the peninsula and checked out the wedge. How cool is surfing?

We decided to go down to Huntington Beach last night for some volleyball--so much fun! Of course our evening wouldn't be complete without some "dairy" so we made a stop at Yogurtland (which is leagues ahead of yo-zone for you Utahans). Not a bad start to a birthday weekend, eh?

Cool Thing (Thought): Free Things on Birthdays

Something about "free" always taste better. Add a birthday and you have a pretty ideal situation. Every year I look forward to my free blizzard, free burger, free cake, sundae, meal, etc. If I ever owned a restaurant, I would totally give something tasty and free on birthdays.

If anything, it will be a consolation prize for getting old :D

Cool Thing: Red Robin

I recently ate a Red Robin. For those you who know me, you'll remember I spent my teenage years slaving away at the "Dirty Bird" (don't worry, after working for the company for cumulatively five years, I can assure you, it's not actually dirty). Eating at Red Robin almost every day for almost my entire high school experience, I have been turned off to anything served by the aforementioned bird for some time. I would occasionally go with friends since the mission, it was good, but that ever present "classic season salt" taste, makes everything taste the same to me. My birthday is coming up (feel free to send gifts) and I got a free burger, so I thought, why not go down to the ole' dirty bird for kicks and giggles. To my surprise, I've successfully been reintroduced back to the environment (after all these years) as a regular Red-Robin-goer! No season salt taste! So yeah, I'm really tired, I hope all that made sense. I'm just happy to be here folks. Shout out to my man Brad who survived an encounter with a rather large woman with his life and v-card intact (contrary to what her initial intentions may or may not have been).

Cool Thing: Murrieta!

I loved San Diego, but I have moved on. I was recently transferred to Murrieta! I'll be here the rest of the summer. I'm so excited to be here. It gets a lot hotter in the day time, but it cools off at night. The people here are so friendly!

Cool Thing: Moonlight Beach

We went to Moonlight Beach Saturday, it was was awesome! Bon fires, food, great weather, and even better people made for a great time! I love San Diego!

Cool Thing: San Diego!

San Diego! Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Diego, which of course in German means... I'm sorry, I was trying to impress you. I don't know what it means. I'll be honest, I don't think anyone knows what it means anymore. Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago. Agree to disagree.

I'm finally here! Though, I'll probably be moving in a couple of weeks. This place is paradise. For all of you that live here year-round, I envy you. For all of you back in Utah, suckers!!! Haha

Cool Thing: Canada (esp. Alberta)

I love Canada. Especially Alberta. I'm going there this weekend, and there is nothing cooler.

Cool Thing: SUNBURN!

So I suppose most people would consider a sunburn as an "uncool" thing, but really after months of winter in Provo, I'm happy to be burnt. Thank you sun, and thank you warm spring weather! Also, school is almost up! I can't believe this semester is drawing to a close. I'm stoked for Canada, California, and (fingers crossed) Jerusalem!!!

Cool Thing: Tweeting Conference

So I tried something new this Conference weekend. For those of you that use Twitter, you could follow #ldsconf and see all the updates for people watching conference. Most people had great up-lifting things to say, or just noted things that they liked. Tweeting #ldsconf was like having a huge group conversation! Not only where there members tweeting, but some obvious non-members and/or antagonists towards the Church and the whole conference experience. Overall though, I would have to say it ended up being more of a distraction, I found myself watching more Twitter than conference at a couple of points. I eventually got off Twitter. I think it was fun to see the tweets between conference, but during conference I found myself not wanting to be distracted.

Cool Thing: Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone! What a great weekend! Easter + Conference = Awesome! What a wonderful commemoration of the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. I'm ready for the next six months!

Cool Thing: Mesa in March

I spent this last weekend in Arizona. Paradise. Honestly, when I left Provo, it was snowing at 5 a.m. and it was hard to believe that weather in March could actually be lovely--enter Arizona. Blue skies, 75 degrees, 8,000 sqft Villa, helicopter rides, and the most alluring aroma ever, orange tree blossoms! I was sitting on the balcony reading, over looking an orchard of these trees and the scent of those blossom wafting across the back side of the Villa was intoxicating.

March + Mesa = Mecca!

The only downer being of course this terrible cold I had. I say "this" because it still hasn't gone away. Though it was pretty entertaining trying to introduce myself to people with absolutely no voice whatsoever. I have MTV to thank for that.

(not) Cool Thing: Broken Heart part I

Our Cougars have lost, breaking the hearts of fans all across the world--including this guy (two thumbs point at myself)... tear. Better luck next year.

P.S. JT is overrated

P.P.S. On a positive note, congrats to those same Cougs for getting to the second round for the first time since 1993!

Cool Thing: Visitors!

Yeeesss! I didn't think I had any readers, (except you Dr. Wiley) but come to find out, someone from Beverly Hills (or who's internet nod is routed through Beverly Hills) stumbled on my blog today! YAY!

It should also be noted that I didn't start keeping track of this sort of thing till today (well, yesterday, it's 2 a.m.) So for all you visitors who have stopped by and didn't get the proverbial nod from me, consider yourself acknowledged.

And to think I was content writing for the ether, something really is corporeal out there!

(Feel free to leave comments, or don't.)

Cool(ish) Thing: Crushes and Frustration

No I'm talking about soda (Brian), but about, well you know, a crush--as in, on a girl. Okay, I've never really been one to want to share personal information on a blog, honestly I feel it's a little strange (obviously I've shared some personal things on this blog, but it was for assignments for my class--doesn't count). I realized the other day that I love reading people's personal insights, feelings, stories--they're just more interesting than anything else. Here is me changing my mind about blogging content (we'll see how it goes):

I have a crush on a girl I talked to for like 5 minutes. Silly huh? The funny thing is, I didn't really notice her at first, because we only talked briefly and I was in the middle of something (anyone that knows me, I'm pretty one-track minded and have a professional "ignoring" skill I use regularly).

In fact, it wasn't till after I walked by here a while ago and said "hi," did I realize that 1) I've seen here before, (thought) "Oh yeah, we talked that one time for a second when I was busy with something, so I didn't pay attention," 2) this girl is really cute. I also found out some other things about her through the grape vine, and by grape vine I mean other people I don't really know very well, who don't know her terribly well, but well enough to know some desirable things about her. I didn't make my secret crush known, the "grape vine" came forth with said desirable information by chance and I was lucky enough to be in the conversation (acting uninterested of course) when such details where shared. Suffice it to say, I want to ask her out on a date now. The obvious step is to just ask her out on that date right? Right.

Here's the problem. I don't know her. I seemed to run into her every day when I didn't care. Now, I've only seen her a handful of times since the naissance of my resolve to ask her out, and only as she is passing by my classroom window door (while I'm in class).

What to do? Suggestion?

Do I wait in the commons and hopefully she pops in for a sit? What if I find out where she is (like in a class or something), should I pull a Provo, wait till she gets out and just walk up to her and say, "Hey, you don't know me, well you sort of do, we talked once, uuhhh go out on a date with me?"

I can imagine that would be reaaallly smooth. I would like to think that there could be some way for the planets to align and have this chance meeting come about, without me becoming a stalker.

Here's to hoping astronomy is on my side tomorrow, gosh it's frustrating.

Cool(ish) Thought

(very) Cool Thing: BYU Men's Basketball!

"OKLAHOMA CITY — The BYU Cougars, after surrendering a double-digit second-half lead and avoiding two potential game-winning shots by Florida, finally took control of the game in the second overtime to knock off the Gators 99-92 in double-overtime to get BYU's first NCAA Tournament win since 1993."

GO COUGARS!!!

Continue the story here.
Jim Rayburn @ Deseret News

Cool (Scary) Thing: Fabricating DNA... It's possible!

Some of those smart scientist types over in the Holy Land have shown how the "gold standard" of proof in criminal cases can be fabricated--That's right folks, DNA evidence can be counterfeited. In other news, gold can be fabricated as well.

Continue the story here

Andrew Pollack @ New York Times

Cool Thing: Student Presentations (cont.)

Here are some sweet things that I've learned during student presentations:

• Shantel
  
  What a really interesting presentation. I'm the type of person that likes facts, I couldn't believe that 50% of people post profanity! I wondered what exactly qualifies as profanity. My friend's mom growing up thought the word "crap" was a very bad word (Sorry Mrs. Castle if you're reading this). I don't see crap as a profane word, but some do. Crap, crap, crap! The thought I had regarding all of this is that individuals can create whatever personality or persona for themselves that they want online (because of some level on anonymity)
  
  
• Carlee
  
  I had never heard of the "mormon bachelor pad" blog before this class. I of course, had to go and check out this really controversial site. I couldn't believe some of the things that I read. It goes to show that even people claiming to be "active," can tarnish that actual image and belief system of the Church. The blog as a whole is more of a joke, but I feel that the contributors take it to far sometimes. These individuals project themselves and the church in a very antagonistic way, compared to my personal social experience in Provo. I think there are some that follow the faith and some that don't. And the some that don't, sometimes write blogs with anonymous names to avoid accountability.
  
  
• Christopher G
  
  Facebook! I agree, it does seem that people really use Facebook to solidify offline relationships rather than create a lot of new ones. From my experience, back in the day at least, it seemed like it was a "myspace" thing to do, to meet new people. Facebook seems to have a different brand differentiation in the minds of consumers, in that it's more refined, the social media that you can take home to mom and dad, while myspace is the rebel, fish-net, short-skirt strumpet that would give your mom a heart attack.
  

• Chris H
  
  A virtual church? How about that! I couldn't believe the different ways that people are sharing religion and practicing religion. I remember back in the 2000 census, that "Jedi" was a religion that people could claim. It seems like that there is no end to the way media could be used to share or be involved into religion. I wonder though, if there is a line that is reached where a real in-person contact or relationship is needed for religion to be effective (obviously, I think there is).
  
  
• Sarah
  
  I agree with what Sarah had to say on how online relationship can be dangerous because people create a false reality and neglect their "real" or "offline" lives. It's crazy to think that there are some people who spend most of their courtship on the internet and have a very short "real-life" engagement before they get married. I personally don't think it's health to strictly cultivate and focus on relationships created and perpetuated online. I think online should just be a tool to help solidify relationships when needed.
  
  
• Spencer
  
  If we participate in something we'll get more out of it. That is what really stuck out to me. It was really interesting seeing the comparison of people who post in wikis based on whether they were registered or not. I thought everything Spencer said was really interesting because you could really tell that he dived into the information.
  
  
• Jessica
  
  It seems like a pretty interesting way to get involved--joining Facebook groups. One of the things that I thought of, was that on Facebook, when you setup a foundation, not just a group, you can actually set up a means to contribute financially to the cause. Facebook becomes a really easy way to create online content for a charity and raise money at the same time. I think that most people expect just about everything to be on Facebook. I mean, my laundry soap has a Facebook page.
  
  
• Megan
  
  Twitter! I've never really used twitter, but Megan presented a lot (a lot, a lot) of information on how twitter is used and how it can relate. It's pretty crazy to think how mainstream Twitter has become over the last couple of years. I mean, you can watch a Sportscenter broadcast and they talk about Twitter!
  
  
• Me--I brought cookies and I rock.
  
  
• James
  
  I did my presentation on Youtube as well. I agree that Youtube creates a new audience that we need to address in the Church. I think that because (as James addressed) so many people go to Youtube, we have an opportunity to reach more people that would not be reached otherwise. One of the thoughts that I had based on what James said, is that while there are thousands of user-created videos, there seems to be a propensity towards lower-quality videos. It might be an opportunity for the Church or members of the Church to create short, but high quality videos.
  
  
• Kyle
  
  Just how Obama used social media to connect with the younger demographic (18-30) and win the election. I think we as the Church can do the same thing. I really like how social media creates a wide variety of new vehicles to contact a market, that in some respects, was unapproachable by the Church. I think Mormon Messages is a great media vehicle for reaching young people. I think a potential weakness for Mormon Messages is that in an effort to maintain a brand image of the Church, the content or the way the content is presented (a very formal type video) may not be something young people are interested in viewing.
  
  
• Amy
  
  I think that Amy presented a really interesting idea. She compared smoking and anti-smoking ads on Youtube and some campaigns that changed the perceived dichotomy that existed on the site. I think that point she was getting at or at least what I was thinking while she was presenting, is that like the smoking ads there exists a lot of anti ads. We have an opportunity to tip the scale of apologetic content on Youtube about the Church.
  
  

Cool Thing: Student Presentations (cont.)

We had more student presentations this week, which of course=AWESOME! I'm posting my slides so all my peeps can see them.

Cool Thing: Student Presentations

We started student presentations today. Of all the things that I've learned, the thing that has hit me the most is just the vast majority of ways people can share the Gospel online! There are seriously endless ways. We can pick any two topics or articles on the subject and give a full 20 minute presentation! It really is wonderful to think of all the different ways we can share the Gospel online.

Considering Elder Ballard's talk about sharing the Gospel online, after this lecture I took it upon myself to see what other people are doing to share the Gospel online. West Allen, a church member and social media enthusiast, is organizing an activity that allows members of the church to share there thoughts about the Gospel on video and have it posted online. The article from the LDS New Rooms talks about how this is just one example members are following Elder Ballard's call to "join the conversation online."

(not) Cool Thing: When the Truth Hurts, Lie

During the 19th century a new form of "journalism" (I use that term loosely) rose to popularity as printed materials and news papers, especially the penny press, become more prevalent. Without boring you on all the background of yellow journalism, the long and the short of yellow journalism is people would engineer details about news to make it more appealing to reader or to attract more readers. Over time, yellow journalism, noted Franklin Luther Mott, included entirely false stories, "scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news, lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudo-science, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts..."

Yellow journalism exists today in different degrees, but the reason I bring up this topic is for my assignment in class. Of all the groups targeted by yellow journalism, I would argue that one of the foremost (even to this day) was and is in fact the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Call it Anti-Mormon literature or yellow journalism; the techniques are basically the same. Other groups (politicians, organizations, etc) which were once subjected to the more sever varieties of yellow journalism, over the years, have been limited in scoop and usually to just political cartoons or some other obviously farce of the truth for entertainment purposes. The Mormon Church on the other hand, never really has lost their following of individuals and organizations that are willing to misrepresent the Church and its doctrine (obviously I’m not referring to entertainment type misrepresentation).

For more information on what defines an anti-Mormon or anti-Mormon literature, take a look at Jeff Lindsay’s website. For the purposes of this post, Anti-Mormons or Anti-Mormon literature is anyone that is openly antagonistic towards the LDS Church, using or not using misleading means to justify their open hatred for the Church. Someone who isn’t a Mormon, simply disagrees with the Church or its doctrine, or individuals whose purpose isn’t to defame the Church are not what I would consider anti-Mormon.

So what are some of these dishonest defamatory methods I spoke of? Here are just a few things from Lindsay’s page.

• Deceptive representation of facts
• False ideas or events passed-off as truths
• Conspiracy theories
• False impression(One of the most startling) “…Claiming to have advanced degrees in order to buttress their credibility.”
• Distorting LDS writings or doctrine
  

The list could go on and on. Usually the anti-Mormon experience is entirely one-sided, in that they don’t want answers to their questions, Lindsay said. Suffice it to say, whether an individual believes that the LDS Church is actually true and Joseph Smith calling as a Prophet was divine or not, I don’t see the justification such satanic methods to perpetuate an agenda—the irony being that many who use such tactics claim to be Christians themselves. Many of these anti-Mormon proponents are former members, who for some reason, feel the need to defame and destroy the efforts of the LDS Church they once belonged to—unwittingly fulfilling the prophecy of Joseph Smith, that “they can leave the church, but they can’t leave it alone.”

Continuing that idea, in the Teachings of President's of the Church, Joseph Smith pp. 324, Daniel Tyler's recalls a discussion between Joseph Smith and Isaac Behunin. Behunin said he would never turn antagonist if he left the church. Joseph replied,

"Before you joined this Church you stood on neutral ground. When the gospel was preached, good and evil were set before you. You could choose either or neither. There were two opposite masters inviting you to serve them. When you joined this Church you enlisted to serve God. When you did that you left neutral ground, and you never can get back on to it. Should you forsake the Master you enlisted to serve, it will be by the instigation of the evil one, and you will follow his dictation and be his servant."

One more thought on anti-Mormon mindset before I mention an experience and talk about the dangers of online information. I served as a missionary for two years and ran into (sometimes most literally) people who either were proprietors of such malicious representations or perpetuators. Trying to understand the different motivations for such blatantly false claims regarding my faith, I came to understand another aspect of such motivations. One individual made the point that because they “believe” the LDS Church and its claims are false, they can justify using any means—honest or dishonest—to defame, discredit, and otherwise seek to “destroy” the Church. I was speechless at this attitude.

In keeping with the assignment of “dangers or the internet,” it’s obvious the danger that I’ll be talking about is ant-Mormon literature. It would be good to note these ideas could be applied to anything false on the internet. I’m reminded of the old adage I heard growing up as a child, “don’t believe everything you read.” Well it’s true.

In advertising we classify products into different categories based on the level of involvement of the consumer in the purchasing decision and the rationale or emotion the purchasing decision for that product. The high involvement very rational product category is cars, insurance, whether to go to grad school etc. Religion really falls into that category as well. Part of my personal buying process is researching online—these days, who wouldn’t? While it is frustrating researching a product only to find the research you’ve studied is false or doesn’t actually represent the product, even more frustrating is learning something you believe to be true and never know that it was actually false. How could I have benefited from that product if I only knew its actual benefits and features, not what I was mislead to know? Sometimes, you never find out about the error, other times it down the road and another purchase has already been made—it’s too late, all you can do is morn your loss.

I’m sure you can see what I’m getting at. Researching the LDS Church online can be a little hairy because of the abnormally large amount of misinformation and false notions about the Church. Some unsuspecting person would have a really difficult time sorting between the “yellow” details of anti-Mormons and actual factual information.

I’ve known many people who have fallen victim to the effects of anti-Mormon literature. There is a particular couple I think about, from St. Albert, Alberta. I think about them often. They were an elderly couple, semi-retired if I remember correctly, I was, with my companion, the missionary assigned to follow up with their inquiry to have some LDS Church media delivered. In LDS Missionary speak, the wife was GOLDEN. The husband wasn’t unrelenting; in fact I respected him, because we both think the same way—very analytical. Of course, like me, and any other reasonable person, the husband eventually went to the all-powerful internet to research this new Faith he and his wife were becoming very interested in.

Why is the Internet such a powerful tool for destroying individuals' testimonies? Or in this case, developing testimonies? The answer is, vast amounts of false information about the LDS Church on the internet and its assumed credibility. There is not accountability for individuals or organizations who intentionally mislead others online. Like yellow journalism in the 19th century, anti-Mormon content is presented in such a way to seem credible, to persuade an individual towards a certain agenda—usually to fear of the LDS Church.

I can still remember that last meeting with the family. I remember the expression of shock on his face at some of the claims of that anti-Mormon literature. I remember pleading in my heart to God to be able to say something that would help them understand what they were reading was false. I remember asking them to appeal to a Higher Power, not to take my word for it. I even moved my hair around to prove to him that I didn’t have any horns. But like so many, this man couldn’t believe that there would be such a vast quantity of untrue information about an organization. Who would do that? In this man’s mind, the quantity, scope, and consistency amongst the anti’s claims lent their lies some amount of credibility—it just doesn’t seem reasonable that so many “good God-fearing” Christian groups would lie to that level.

To be honest, I agree, it doesn’t seem reasonable that “good God-fearing” Christians would lie like that—at least, not any Christians that I know.

Cool Thing: Betty White + Football + Mud

Here's my favorite Super Bowl commercial. What a great use of the "Big Idea" concept. Plus it's freak'n hilarious.

Cool Thing: Mormon Ads

Some of my favorite offline media for sharing the Gospel growing up was the Mormon Ads. While the ads are more for members, I actually had a friend in High School who became interested in the Gospel after seeing one! Oh and he served a mission after high school. Oh yeah, which means he also got baptized.

I love this one!

Cool Thought: I suggest you all get converted!

Before I start this post, I thought it would be helpful for all of you (or just you Dr. Wiley, the one person reading this blog, haha) to understand what perspective I'm coming from as I write about the conversion process. Here is the question(s):

Post an essay describing your understanding of the conversion process and the role of people other than the individual being converted in the conversion process. Specifically answer the question, what is the proper role of a missionary?

What do we mean by conversion? To many, conversion could refer to the process by which someone becomes a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This process generally includes taking missionary lessons, reading, praying, coming to know the truth of the message of the restoration, developing faith in Christ, actually getting baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.

While in some ways conversion is an "event" (usually in reference to a Baptismal date, the date an individual formally becomes a member of the LDS Church) actual "conversion" is more a process.

The Gospel Library on LDS.org defines conversion as "a change in behavior, but it goes beyond behavior; it is a change in our very nature. It is such a significant change that the Lord and His prophets refer to it as a rebirth, a change of heart, and a baptism of fire. The Lord said:

'Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;

'And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God' (Mosiah 27:25–26)"

True the Faith, a publication by the LDS Church continues on that idea of conversion:

Conversion comes as a result of righteous efforts to follow the Savior. These efforts include exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting of sin, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end in faith.

Although conversion is miraculous and life changing, it is a quiet miracle. Angelic visitations and other spectacular occurrences do not bring conversion. Even Alma, who saw an angel, became converted only after he "fasted and prayed many days" for a witness of the truth (Alma 5:46). And Paul, who saw the resurrected Savior, taught that "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" (1 Corinthians 12:3).

The Book of Mormon provides descriptions of people who are converted to the Lord:

They desire to do good. King Benjamin's people declared, "The Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually" (Mosiah 5:2). Alma spoke of people who "could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence" (Alma 13:12).

They do not rebel against the Lord. Mormon told of a group of Lamanites who had been wicked and bloodthirsty but who were "converted unto the Lord" (Alma 23:6). These people changed their name to the Anti-Nephi-Lehies and "became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren" (Alma 23:7).

They share the gospel. Enos, Alma the Elder, Alma the Younger, the sons of Mosiah, Amulek, and Zeezrom dedicated themselves to preaching the gospel after they became converted to the Lord (see Enos 1:26; Mosiah 18:1; 27:32-37; Alma 10:1–12; 15:12).

They are filled with love. After the resurrected Savior visited the people in the Americas, "the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. . . .

"And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.

"And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.

"There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God" (4 Nephi 1:2, 15–17).

In a very real sense, being converted to the Gospel of Christ means progressing towards the measure and stature of the fullness of Christ, becoming like Him in attribute, motive, and method. Hence conversion is an event in the sense our commitment to "convert" to the cause of Christ formally happens at Baptism but is a process because we continue grace for grace until we obtain a fullness in Christ. While one can't obtain conversion on their merits alone, such conversion is enabled through the power of the Atonement of Christ facilitated by the companionship of the Spirit, conversion does require our willingness to turn from error towards truth, to keep covenants, and use our agency in accordance to God's righteousness. Most importantly, conversion requires a confirmation by the Spirit to an individual that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the World and that Joseph Smith was called as His prophet in these last days.

Because the formal process of conversion or the "event" (meeting with the missionaries and such) is pretty well understood, I'd like to comment on how members can help others along the "process" of conversion and obtain that crucial Spiritual confirmation.

Individual conversion starts with a desire to know the Truth. Truth in this sense is things as they really are, really were, or really will be. In a sense being converted involves "converting" from error or part truths to truth or a fuller truth. As Latter-Day Saints believe that the ultimate source of truth is God. Because we believe that we are the offspring of God, that He is our Father, we also believe (like with any loving father) we can go to God in prayer for guidance. When seeking to know the truth of something important, we eventually pray to God in Christ's name and ask with a sincere heart, having faith in Christ that we will receive an answer, really intending to follow any answer given.

God will communicate truth to us as answers to our prayers through our feelings, thoughts, or some other way by the power of the Holy Ghost. For most people these answers come as peace to the mind or heart, enlightenment, or a warm feeling in ones' heart, that something specific is true. When we have such feelings we know that God is teaching us that something is, in fact true.

During the process of conversion, we eventually seek to know the truth through prayer about the existence of God, the mission of Jesus at the Christ, and the divine calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith. As we come to learn the truth of these important concepts through the influence of the power of the Holy Ghost, we have begun the process of gaining a testimony or a conviction of truth of these important concepts mentioned above. As our conviction grows stronger, we gain a desire to follow God's commandments in this life and eventually be baptized.

People beginning the formal process of investigating the Church, while preparing for baptism, have the responsibility of seeking this conviction personally and individually, though the process of obtaining the witness of the Spirit of the truthfulness of these important concepts can be helped by the full-time missionaries and other baptized members.

So how can missionaries and members help?

As a worthy baptized member of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, found in the institution of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, individuals receive, by the laying on of hands, the Gift of the Holy Ghost. In keeping with the baptismal covenant, members are promised as a "gift" the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost is essential to the conversion process, because it is the only way in which someone can know for themselves the truthfulness of the existence of God, the divine role of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, and the calling of Joseph Smith as God's Prophet. While conversion is an intimate personal process, missionaries and members that have the gift of the Holy Ghost assist potential converts by participating in the teaching of truth in which the Spirit becomes present, witnessing to potential converts the truthfulness of a particular truth.

Members and missionaries alike are to seek to live and teach as to invite the Spirit into discussion so that potential converts gain a testimony of a truth the same way the said members or missionaries did--by the Holy Ghost. While teaching (in the sense of sharing truths), testifying (declaring what one knows to be true by the Spirit), and setting a good example is important in assisting converts gain their own personal conviction, the Spirit matters most! Missionaries and members should do their best to live a moral life by the teachings of Christ in which they more fully have the constant companion of the Holy Ghost (or are more fully converted) to help others come unto Christ.

In fact, it is not possible for individuals to assist in the work of Salvation, through Christ, among the children of men save they shall posses the companionship of the Spirit, the Unspeakable Gift. Man does not convert men, but the Spirit of God, nor does man speak the words of Life but such is said by the Unspeakable gift.

Cool Thing: Oldest Bible

How cool would it be to say that, "I have the oldest Bible." Well the people at the British Library have that claim to fame. Dubbed the Codex Sinaiticus, this copy of the Bible still contains about 800 pages of the original 1400 and dates from around the middle of the fourth century--Constantine the Great's time.

Continue the story here.

Reuters

(I've collected many thing news stories over the years and while many of these are "old news," I post with the attitude, "in case you missed it.")

Cool Thought: Podcasts, Podcasts, Podcasts!

UPDATED

How many of you out in internet-land thought podcasting was an iPod thing? I sure did, oh so long ago, thought that podcasting=stuff on ipod, but actually its not. According to the guys at MTSU podcasting,

"stands for Portable On Demand Broadcasting. Podcasts were originally audio-only but may now contain still images, video, and chapters identifying major sections or ideas. An iPod is not needed to listen to a Podcast. You can listen to a podcast using any computer connected to the Internet that also has the capability of playing standard MP3 audio files. Once a podcast is downloaded it can be listened to at any time on the computer. Many people also like to copy the podcast to a portable device for playback on the go. Examples of these devises include PDAs (Palm or Pocket PC), iPods, mobile phones, or many other devises that play MP3 files. "

Ipods made podcasting popular because the podcasting technology was streamlined with iTunes. Podcasting has been used for all sorts of things. At State University of New York Fredonia, they conducted a study to see how well students would learn listening to a podcast in place of a live lecture. The test for this experiment was the exam scores for the course. The study found that students listening to podcasts actually, on average, did better than students listening to live lectures.

My favorite use sharing the gospel online via podcast and the like is Mormon Messages.

Here's a podcast that I made: (So apparently my podcast isn't working the way it should, so I'm in the process of trying to fix it.)

Here is the fixed one:

Cool Thought: A Delicious Flickr

I recently joined Flickr and Delicious. For anyone who doesn't know what these sites are about, Flickr is a place to upload and share photos while Delicious is place to save and share bookmarks on the web.

If you're itching to see what photos and bookmarks I've shared and can't wait till the end of this post, you're in luck:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zham61/
http://delicious.com/zham61

I'm an avid Facebook'er, so I post all my pictures on there. Everyone I know uses Facebook so I don't really have a need to use Flickr. If I need to host a picture, video, etc my blog already does that for me as well, so once again I find myself in the same place as many people on the web--trying to sort through all the substitutes for a particular need. Sorry Flickr, but Facebook fills my needs (for free, I might add).

Now Delicious is a pretty interesting idea. I remember waaaaay back in high school, that's right folk, back in the 90's, Yahoo had a service that could save your bookmarks. I never used the service, but I sure thought it was a cool idea. Oddly enough, Delicious and Flickr are both owned by Yahoo. The obvious benefit of Delicious is that you can access your bookmarks anywhere in the world on any computer that has the internet (I don't think you'd be using bookmarks if you didn't have the internet, but anyway). Delicious is more than just saving and sharing bookmarks online, you can "tag" bookmarks with particular labels called "key words." If you select a keyword in Delicious, one can see all the web pages that have been tagged by everyone on the site. Pretty neat eh?

Now you're probably thinking, how could I use these sites for an educational purpose (I suppose if that 'you' Dr. Wiley, than yes)? Well I'm about to tell you! The obvious use for Flickr at an educational level, is for posting photos dealing with a particular lecture or using the slide show feature as a teaching instrument. What about Delicious? I'll use an example from one of my classes I'm taking this semester (No not Honors 295).

Suppose a professor at university assigned his/her class, as part of their regular curriculum, a research paper who's topic had to do with the subject matter of the class. In this particular class, all students picked their own topics, but had to do with a general area of study. The professor has this assignment for all of his/her sections and gives the same assignment every semester for the same class, and teaches three semesters a year. This professor decides to creates a Delicious account where he/she bookmarks some sites/online articles that would be helpful for students picking topics and gives those bookmarks a unique tag that identifies with the class and additional tags that identify with individual topics. As students use this resource to find topics and information for their research papers, they find additional interesting sites/online articles and with their Delicious account, bookmark them with said special tag and additional tags based on topics. After a few semesters there exists on Delicious a living, breathing, database that has to deal specifically with topics discussed in that particular class. Wow, I should get paid for these ideas, or someone should, wait I think someone did.

Gabriela Grosseck wrote a very good article on the use of Delicious in education, entitled,"The Role of Delicious in Education". Of all the things that she said, the product insight that she discovered that I thought was most interesting, is that Delicious creates an environment through tags where people discover new things they wouldn't have otherwise. This is especially true when considering Popular section of Delicious.

What are some other ways one can use Delicious or Flickr for education? (This is your cue for comments.)

Cool Thing: Max Hall looking good at Shrine game and for the Draft

Max Hall had a good showing at the East-West Shrine game. Russ Lande at SportingNews had this to say,

"Hall definitely helped his cause with a strong week. Among the QBs in Orlando, he was the closest to being NFL-ready. He showed excellent footwork and throwing mechanics, a very quick release and excellent short/intermediate accuracy. Don't get us wrong -- Hall's lack of height (6-0 1/4) and arm strength will keep him from being a high draft pick, but he showed he has what it takes to be a very good backup. He will be drafted and he will have a good NFL career."

Continue the story here.

Cool Thing: Fear the Boom and Bust (Econ that won't put you to sleep)

How often is Economics the subject of a rap video? Okay, well you might be able to think of a few references. But how many rap videos do you know that exclusively star dead economists? Yeah didn't think so.

Here is the "whacked" description from NPR, the crazy guys that put this together.

"In Fear the Boom and Bust, John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek, two of the great economists of the 20th century, come back to life to attend an economics conference on the economic crisis. Before the conference begins, and at the insistence of Lord Keynes, they go out for a night on the town and sing about why there's a "boom and bust" cycle in modern economies and good reason to fear it."

Continue the story here.

Cool Thing (Maybe): (Update) Free Mass Effect 2 DLC on Launch Day

Update. Most of the extra content will be free to anyone that buys the game new. So yeah, even if you didn't pre-order for all the extra goodness, you can still buy a new copy and play like the cool kids.

For all of you out in video game land, I don't have to tell you (you're probably already standing in line at Gamespot), Mass Effect 2 is set for release at Midnight today. For all of you Mass Effect junkies (yes you, Josh) that cringe at thought of paying more than $60 bucks for all the cool stuff you could get for the game, you're in luck! The guys at Joystiq are reporting that downloadable content for ME2 will be free on launch day! Yay! And there was much rejoicing (hopefully). We'll find out if this rumor pans out at Midnight.

Continue the story here

Cool Thing: Lost city of fair skinned "Cloud People" found in Peru

"Archaeologists have discovered a lost city carved into the Andes Mountains by the mysterious Chachapoya tribe.

Spanish texts from the era describe the Cloud People as ferocious fighters who mummified their dead.

They were eventually wiped out by small pox and other diseases brought by the Europeans.

The women of the Chachapoya were much prized by the Incas as they were tall and fair skinned. The Chronicler Pedro Cieza de León offers wrote of the Chachapoyas.

'They are the whitest and most handsome of all the people that I have seen in Indies, and their wives were so beautiful that because of their gentleness, many of them deserved to be the Incas' wives and to also be taken to the Sun Temple.'"

Continue the story here

Jeremy McDermott @ Telegraph

Cool Thought: Social Network Sites and Sharing the Gospel

SNSs or social network sites (or social network services) are all the rage these days. I’ll be honest, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t check my Facebook. Checking Facebook for me has become like checking my email—or even more, like checking my phone. In many ways Facebook, in college life, has become like having a phone number—you just assume everyone has one. In fact, if someone didn’t have a Facebook it would likely give your run-of-the-mill, indie rock love’n, staying up late, Slurpee drinking college student pause—even a smirk on their face with the inevitable, “Really? You don’t have Facebook?”

With all the different types of social media, what exactly is a social network site? Danah M. Boyd in here article, Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship, she defines SNSs as:

“We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.

It seems that not every social media makes the cut as a social network site. Boyd also makes the clarification that SNSs are not social “networking” sites, but social “network” sites because while networking--which implies connecting with strangers--sometimes happens on SNSs, that isn’t the primary function of these sites.

So what is the primary function of these sites? What exactly is “done” on Facebook? Facebook seems to be used for a variety of things, mostly for connecting with people one knows and people that share similar interests. Connecting can really mean anything from email correspondence, to “wall” posts, to sharing pictures or videos, or even playing games together. As one who’s spent hours on Facebook, I can say that it’s functionality and appeal for many college-aged twenty-something’s lies somewhere between “hanging out” online and virtual stalking. Oh come on, we know you Facebook stalk. There are two kinds of people in Facebook world, those who Facebook stalk and those who lie about it.

So what constitutes Facebook stalking? Well I’ll leave that up to your best judgment, but to me it seems if you’re going through someone’s profile you’re not friends with, you’re probably doing something that would require a ski mask and flash light in the real world. Which brings me to my next thought; there is an immense amount of personal info on social network sites. At this very moment, I’m pulling up my Facebook and looking at someone I know from school, whom I’m about to add as friend. Without being their friend though, I can see this persons birth date, where they go to school, their relationship status, their email, their msn screen name, their phone number, and yes, even their address! Along with my friend request, I’m also including the recommendation to change some privacy settings.

There have been a lot of privacy issues with Facebook and the like. Some incidents have even made it into the news. The fact-of-the-matter is that people put a lot of personal info on the web and give a lot of people they don’t know access to it. Teens especially have a tendency to bare their soul on SNSs according to Boyd. So how much personal stuff is okay? Obviously pretty much anything one puts on Facebook is going to be personal to some extent. I think there are better personal tid-bits to share than others.

It seems like a month doesn’t go by where I don’t get a couple of Facebook group invitations for groups like “Ashley and John are getting hitched,” or “Join the (insert charity or awareness group here).” I think this is personal info worth sharing. One interesting profile identification category is religion. Every SNSs has it. When I first got back from Canada in 2005 MySpace was the “cool” SNS among my friends. When I got to BYU a few months later, everyone had Facebook so I naturally upgraded. In both cases, Christian-LDS was my religious designation. Since I'm sharing what my religion is, why not use these sites to help share the Gospel?

In a lot of ways I’m sharing the Gospel by just declaring what my religion is. I have hundreds of friends, some of whom I’ve found didn’t realize I was LDS until they saw my Facebook or MySpace, which discovery led to a discussion about the Church. I’ve had numerous friends share spiritual thoughts, idea, or even just updates of Facebook. These posts are seen by everyone who is their friend on Facebook. In Ad speak that could translate into a large reach and high frequency of Gospel messages amongst your friends and that’s a good thing. Some people like Tim Malone, as mentioned in his article Sharing the Gospel Using Facebook, are at a loss as to how to share the Gospel on Facebook or are looking for some ideas of how to share the Gospel. Some people don’t really see why sharing the Gospel online is a good thing. Feel free to share some ideas in the comment section for Tim, for now I’ll share some reasons addressing the latter concern--why share the Gospel online.

Here are some reasons why I think sharing the Gospel online is a positive thing:

1. Sharing the Gospel in any way is always a positive thing.


2. Many people like ability to formally write what they believe rather than speak it.


3. Many people (in Utah) say they don’t know anyone who isn’t Mormon to share the Gospel with. On Facebook for example, we connect with people who we’ve lost contact with and for many reasons wouldn’t connect with in the real world. This could be decade’s worth of friends. If we are looking for nonmember friends to share the gospel with, it seems to me Facebook is a great place to start.


4. Unlike a spoken testimony or statement of belief, a written declaration can be returned to and read again if desired. Think of Facebook as the golden plates of the 21st Century.

So why not share the Gospel online? I can see why some would feel a little uncomfortable sharing the Gospel online, in that they feel they might be casting their pearls before swine or so to speak. In these cases the swine is not necessarily the people they are sharing their testimonies with, but rather swine equates to the situation, setting, or medium. The reality is that most people feel uncomfortable sharing the Gospel in any setting. I would argue that in a lot of ways, sharing the Gospel online is probably one of the most comfortable ways to teach truth.

Think about it, sharing the Gospel online is a pretty good gig--you get to plan what you write, you can reference sources, and you can even share it in a non-intrusive way. As Elder M. Russell Ballard talked about in his article, Using New Media to Support the Work of the Church, I have “joined the conversation” in a variety of online settings and have found it to be a really positive experience. I don’t think you have to type out “I’d like to bare my testimony, I know the Church is true…” but simply be the light of the virtual world, an effectual city on a hill that can’t be hid and is always broadcasted. I think when the time comes; you’ll know when you should share the Gospel online with friends, just as you would know to share the Gospel on an airplane with a stranger, over lunch with a buddy, or even with that family member who wants to know more about your mission. The real challenge, in the virtual and real world alike, is having the courage when that time comes to open your mouth--or maybe, just maybe, open your laptop.

Cool Thought: The Wonderful World of the Wiki

I have a unique outlook with collaborative authorship compared to some, in that a couple years ago I actually tried, with some friends of mine, to create a collaborative 'wiki' website. It was a lot of work. We didn't really have access to a lot of the open source web-based programs that many people have today, we programmed everything from scratch. It really was quite the experience. We failed in the long-term scheme of things—we didn't ever complete the site the way we wanted to and eventually the rest of life crowded out our time-suck of a project that was our wiki.

I feel we did succeed in a couple of ways though. We were able to get a somewhat functional version of our wiki operating and contributed, for a time at least, to the online open-source information community. I really believe in what wikis have to offer. Obviously there is a challenge to having content that is can be edited by anyone on the internet, as a place for useful information. I think therein lies the problem with peoples' thinking, when you hear that "anyone can edit" content on a wiki, it paints this idea of "online anarchy" where "anything goes" and "nothing can be trusted." The reality is much different and there are many checks and balances in place to help refine wikis as a reliable source of information.

I suppose I'm referring mostly to Wikipedia and the like sites, in the last few ideas, but they seem to get the most media attention. The reality is that Wikipedia goes through a very similar process of editing as most "reliable" scientific journals, except everything happens on Wikipedia in real-time and instead of a handful of peer-reviews from "experts", there are tens-of-thousands of people reviewing.

Wikipedia and the like serve an important function in our society—free, comprehensive information, presented in an easy-to-understand format—service that can be accessed instantly. It's funny, wikis, Wikipedia and the like; seem to be serving the original functional the internet was intended for. Like the initial resistance of so many to the usability and reliability of the internet, maybe the wiki family and all their kin are just biding their time to find the same acceptance.

Cool Thing: Outpost.com Commercials

I'm an Advertising Major so it's fun (for me at least) to watch ads. These commercials really sparked my interest in advertising, oh, so long ago.



On a sad note, Cliff Freeman & Partners, the agency responsible for this legendary ad campaign, recently joined the growing number of agencies that have folded due to the "economy." For more info on what led up to their tragic and arguably untimely demise, visit the folks at Ad Week.

Cool Thing: Mystery Space Object

"WASHINGTON – A mystery object from space is about to whizz close by Earth on Wednesday. It won't hit our planet, but scientists are stumped by what exactly it is.

Astronomers say it may be space junk or it could be a tiny asteroid, too small to cause damage even if it hit. It's 33 to 50 feet wide at most.

NASA says that on Wednesday at 7:47 a.m. EST, it will streak by, missing Earth by about 80,000 miles. In the western United States it may be bright enough to be seen with a good amateur telescope."

Continue story here.

AP @ Yahoo News

Cool Thing: Half-plant, half-animal

"A green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant. It's the first critter discovered to produce the plant pigment chlorophyll.

The sneaky slugs seem to have stolen the genes that enable this skill from algae that they've eaten. With their contraband genes, the slugs can carry out photosynthesis — the process plants use to convert sunlight into energy."

Continue the story here

Clara Moskowitz @ MSNBC

Cool Thought: Online Social Media--In the Beginning

I'm trying to remember when I first used social media. Of course, I remember way back in the day using AOL chat and MSN chat rooms, man how things have changed since then. I really got into social media in high school through a site call garageband.com. The site was different back then, but I use to review music and get free music and interact with bands and other fans of music. I think it really was a head of its time.

Previous to the mish I didn't really get involved with anything beyond what I mentioned above. It's amazing how things can change in a short two year span. When I got home Myspace was all the rage; so much so, my local Stake President already had held a fireside warning parents about the potential dangers of said social media (I'm fighting the urge to put a 'haha' at the end of that sentence, I actually audibly chuckled when thinking about that fireside). Chuckles aside, the Stake President had a good point, that while such media could be used as a useful tool, it could also be used for ill. I hopped on the Myspace bandwagon mostly because all my friends had and I wanted to keep in-touch with them. By the time I came to BYU everyone was on Facebook so I transitioned accordingly.

Social media for me has been a place to keep up with friends, get info on new friends, and just a fun place to share info about myself. In reflecting on other opportunities social media presents, namely sharing the Gospel, I have to think there is a lot of opportunity there. I have over the years come across blog posts that misrepresented the Restored Gospel and added loving correction as appropriate. While in some ways its easier to share the Gospel over the internet, its also very difficult.

It's nice to have someones' questions or comments clearly defined on a webpage. Their is no question as to what they wrote. On the other hand, not being in person, its difficult to really understand what their perception and intent is. Many times, the people we walk away from on our missions, those that aren't "hungering and thirsting after righteousness" who "set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion," who "Seek… to counsel the Lord, but [don't] take counsel from his hand," these people seem to have a monopoly on internet discussion boards. Initially, I am prone to avoid such discussions, but the problem is that those that are hungering and thirsting after righteousness also go to those discussion boards and are fed, but not with the bread of life. To that latter group, I have an obligation and an opportunity to raise my "fingers," or so to speak, as a "defender of the faith" and "join the conversation" as Elder Ballard said, and take advantage of a great missionary opportunity.