This is an interesting essay from Dr. Heath Ogden, of Utah Valley University: “Accepting Truth with Joy: An Evolutionary Biologist’s Perspective” *** Ehh. We’re probably all doomed: “The Milky Way’s supermassive black hole reached record brightness this year: The behemoth at the center of the galaxy flared up in near-infrared wavelengths” *** You might want to reschedule your vacation there: “The Biggest Volcano on Jupiter’s Molten Moon Io Is Likely to Erupt... Read more
The situation is very fluid and uncertain at the moment, so that, by the time you read this, something decisive may have happened. Or it may not. “Israel election exit poll suggests Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to win majority | ITV News” It may be that Israel’s longest serving prime minister, something of a political legend and a phenomenon, is nearing the end of his premiership. But then, he’s lost the prime ministerial office before and... Read more
I hate to break it to you, but news reports in the media can’t always be trusted to be entirely accurate. Here is an example of what I mean: “Not Only Didn’t We Find Water On An Earth-Like Exoplanet, But We Can’t With Current Technology” But don’t imagine that such foul-ups occur only in controversial areas like science. They can also happen even with regard to more tranquil and settled subjects, such as politics: CNN:... Read more
For what it’s worth, I will be speaking at the September meeting of the Cotton Mission Chapter of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers. That meeting will be held on Wednesday, 18 September 2019, at the Holmstead Ranch. Meet and greet at 5:30pm, dinner meeting starts at 6pm. Dinner is $15 per person. President Russell M. Nelson delivered a fairly brief but, in my judgment, a rather remarkable address in the Marriott Center on the Provo, Utah, campus... Read more
This story includes a link to a video showing, among other things, the interior of the new Lisbon Portugal Temple: “Elder Neil L. Andersen Dedicates Lisbon Portugal Temple: Temple is the 14th in Europe, 166th worldwide” If you want to watch the same thing in Portuguese, here it is: “O Elder Neil L. Andersen Dedica o Templo de Lisboa Portugal” I confess that Portuguese mystifies me. I mean no disrespect at all, but, since I’m... Read more
I would like to call attention to three public speeches that will be delivered later this month by my friend Hany Tawfeek (pronounced roughly HAH-nee taw-FEEK), who is one of the leading tour guides in Egypt. My wife and I have known him for years now, and have shared several tours of Egypt with him. He will be speaking on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Monday, 23 September 2019, at... Read more
I begin with this curious story: “Mysterious waves have been pulsing across Oklahoma: A buzz that rocked the state all summer sent geologists on a labyrinthine chase—and unearthed new mysteries about how energy moves through land and air.” I can only assume, based on what some zealous atheists have told me, that there were no religious believers among those who figured this mystery out. Why? Surely it’s obvious. The puzzling waves typically occur... Read more
Our Witnesses film crew are now in Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts. The project continues. And, by all accounts, it appears to be going well. *** “Church Thanks Mali Government for Formal Recognition: Elder Marcus B. Nash represents Church at ceremony in Bamako” *** I personally heard him [David Whitmer] state in Jan. 1876 in his own house…in most positive language, that he did truly see in broad day light, a bright, and most beautiful being, an ‘Angel from... Read more
Continued: When Dad returned to the United States, having been released from the Army, he went to visit his parents on their farm in North Dakota. En route, he stopped to change trains in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Having a bit of time on his hands before his next train, he stopped in at a bar. There, he was accosted by some military-age German Americans who had not served, he recalled, because they were the sole support of aging... Read more
In commemoration of his 106th birthday, which was on Saturday (see “The Spirit of Elijah”): My Norwegian grandmother wanted Dad to become a Lutheran minister, but, although he was surrounded by Scandinavian Lutherans in his region of rural North Dakota, he never felt “the call.” Years later, he would laughingly remember a pattern that he noticed among the pastors of his childhood: Whenever they felt “called” to another church and congregation, he said, it was inevitably a... Read more
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