Even More Islands and Atolls

The Pain of a Shining Light @ Rains Came Down
  -  When I began this blog, I really had no idea how much rain could—and would—come...

Walking like Grandpa: Memories and his Last Words @ Grace for Grace
  -  Recently, I read a post a lady shared about a road trip with her 90 year old father and...

Happy Easter-Favorite Songs of Jesus @ Grace for Grace
  -  Today in our Easter Church service at the Castlewood Canyon Ward, a brother shared an...

Trowels and Muskets @ Rains Came Down
  -  I was 17 years old when I first walked into my dorm room at BYU. The last two years had...

Why you can't fast your way into getting what you want.... @ Rains Came Down
  -   On the 7th of April, 2020, President Russell M. Nelson joined the Catholics on Good...

Ad Astra: A movie review @ Expert Texperts
  -  It's been a while since I opened blogger for any reason other than deleting spam...

Child Abuse and the New Training Module @ Rains Came Down
  -   The new training for leadership of youth isn't great, but it's not terrible. A few...

I, the Samaritan @ Rains Came Down
  -   In many ways, I have been richly blessed in my life. The Spirit led me to a career...

Is "Violence" Really the Right Word? @ Rains Came Down
  -  He sat across from me, behind a desk. He was soft-spoken, the quintessential shy guy in...

When Charity Causes Death @ Rains Came Down
  -  Have you ever felt that you fail at doing the right thing? Maybe you have tried to be a...

Yep, made the change @ Adventures in Mormonism
  -   Ever since Pres. Nelson’s talk last year about re-emphasizing the proper name of...

More Changes to Nutritional Guidelines Support WofW @ Religion and Science Blog
  -  Once again, as science increases its understanding of what's best for humans...

Changes in the Church: Separating the Wheat from the Tares @ Rains Came Down
  -   Sistas in Zion posted this to their Facebook page not long ago. It is a sentiment that...

Living with both fear and faith.... @ Rains Came Down
  -  I lived in an almost constant state of fear for years. October is a hard month for me,...

Where Culture and Doctrine Collide—The Cult of Positivity @ Rains Came Down
  -   "There is a truth deep down inside of you that has been waiting for you to discover...

Ministry and Suffering Alone @ Rains Came Down
  -   There is a rising trend of people talking about reaching out to those who are...

A Hunger and a Thirst @ Rains Came Down
  -  This is a difficult topic to discuss, because it's offensive. I guarantee that someone is...

This, Not That (Or, what to say to people who are grieving.) @ Rains Came Down
  -  Just some thoughts to help people who don't know how to help or what to do: Not ThatSay...

"That they might have joy." @ Rains Came Down
  -   I've been thinking a lot about the idea of "forced joy," or (much like Elder Uchtdorf's...

A Palm Sunday Prayer @ Expert Texperts
  -  Today is Palm Sunday and I have been meditating on the significance of Christ's entry...

“…even in a dream…” (1 Nephi 2:1) @ Adventures in Mormonism
  -   Book of Mormon scholars (starting with Noel Reynolds, I believe) have long pointed out...

The Pride of My Heart: Doing it Myself @ Rains Came Down
  -  And so great were their afflictions that every soul had cause to mourn; and they believed...

Missing Egyptian Mathematical Texts @ Religion and Science Blog
  -   he ancient Egyptians made several noteworthy advances. Among their greatest...

My Sorrow @ Expert Texperts
  -  Author's Note: This post is about miscarriage. If that's not a thing you can read about,...

God Didn't Do This To Me. @ Expert Texperts
  -  Well, it's #LDSconf weekend and Mormon Twitter is out in full force, tweeting how...

Hi, I'm Still Infertile, But... @ Expert Texperts
  -  Author's Note: This is a long-overdue follow up to this post I wrote back in 2015, a...

Love and Mormons: A Review of Third Wheel @ Expert Texperts
  -  This past weekend I had the pleasure of reading Third Wheel: Peculiar Stories of Mormon...

Did Laban have right of ownership to the brass plates? @ Adventures in Mormonism
  -  I just started a recent re-read of the Book of Mormon (separate from the nightly out-loud...

Guess what, we're racist. @ Expert Texperts
  -  To my friends, enemies, general public, and specific readers of this blog: racism is...

Tale as Old as Time @ Rains Came Down
  -  This isn't exactly a review. I wasn't terribly impressed with the live-action Beauty and...

"You have no power over me!" @ Rains Came Down
  -   When I was in kindergarten, I used to go to the principal’s office to read TIME...

On the Muslim Ban: The Church Will Not Save Anyone @ Expert Texperts
  -  Last night I joined a few hundred people at the Salt Lake City airport to protest Donald...

Uhh, We Have a Podcast, and It's Good @ Expert Texperts
  -  Hi everybody, Casey here. A few months back I wrote about the future of this blog, which...

The Non-prodigal One @ Rains Came Down
  -  I have not written in some time, since I have been under considerable stress in my...

Corianton, Mormons, and Sex @ Expert Texperts
  -  If you attend the mainstream LDS church and you go to Gospel Doctrine for Sunday School,...

Yet Again, Science Confirms the Wisdom in the Word of Wisdom @ Religion and Science Blog
  -  In a previous post I commented on how health benefits of the Word of Wisdom were not well...

That Which is of Most Value @ Rains Came Down
  -  "Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.Matthew 10:30 I have been...

So Simple a Call @ Rains Came Down
  -  "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the...

Hands of God @ Rains Came Down
  -  Many years ago, I prayed for charity. I knew what I was doing when I did it, but I did it...

Divorce, Pornography, Turner, Persky, and Being a Mormon Woman @ Rains Came Down
  -   First a disclaimer. In light of the last post and this one, one might think I'm...

Rejected and Despised @ Rains Came Down
  -  Another single man I knew and liked just got engaged. He is responsible, attractive in...

Be a Light on a Hill and Going To the Rescue @ Grace for Grace
  -  One of my favorite hymns has become to be Brightly Beams our Father’s Mercy.  I...

"Thy Will On Earth" @ Rains Came Down
  -  In my personal life, I have had opportunities to ponder what it means to be a member of...

A Friend to Hate @ Rains Came Down
  -  There is a meme that gains in popularity daily. It teaches that judgment, pain, and...

On a Hard Day @ Expert Texperts
  -  Today was a hard day. Mother's Day is hard not because of my mother or my...

The “Cans” of Keeping the Sabbath Holy @ Grace for Grace
  -  We had a great lesson and conversation that stemmed from Elder Nelson’s talk he...

We Are Not Alone: Eliza R. Snow and Women's Shared Trauma @ Expert Texperts
  -  Today's guest post comes to you from Eliza N. She is an editor who lives and works in...

Teaching, Learning and the Dance Steps of the Gospel @ Grace for Grace
  -  Our men’s group had a lesson on President Monson’s most recent article called...

Spiritual Barriers for our Safety and what to do if we Step Outside @ Grace for Grace
  -  We watched the following video in Elders Quorum (men’s group) about surfers who...

Adversity and the Boat of Life @ Grace for Grace
  -  At the April 1980 general conference, Elder Howard W.Hunter, then a member of the Quorum...

Trilobite Troubles for Darwin @ Religion and Science Blog
  -  One day in the summer of 2013 I was driving on Highway 6 south of Delta, Utah. My family...

Accomplishing the Impossible: Holding on through Mists of Darkness @ Grace for Grace
  -  Last week we had a great conversation in church about Lehi’s Vision in the Book of...

Where Did DNA Information Come From? @ Religion and Science Blog
  -  When Alma and Korihor debated the existence of God, Korihor demanded evidence of...

Darwin's Telescope @ Religion and Science Blog
  -  In the early 1600s, Italian scientist Galileo Galilei received word that a Dutch lens...

You Have Two Big Strong Hands That (Surprise!) You Have Control Over @ Expert Texperts
  -  A friend of the blog since before she was born, today's contributor Madelyn is Brooke’s...

Let not your Heart be Troubled @ Grace for Grace
  -  Today in Elders Quorum we had a great lesson from the new Howard W Hunter manual entitled...

Be a “Grown Man” @ Grace for Grace
  -  Last year during the Super Bowl, Deon Sanders interviewed Doug Baldwin, Wide Receiver of...

Gospel Doctrine 2016: Lessons 2 and 4 (Book of Mormon) @ Adventures in Mormonism
  -  For the past few years, I’ve been honored to participate in the Interpreter...

Toys are from Mars, Women are from Venus @ Expert Texperts
  -  The internet is buzzing about the newest Star Wars movie. Don't worry, I promise I won't...

Some Thoughts On Shame @ Expert Texperts
  -   It's been a tumultuous couple of weeks in the world (especially if you live in Paris,...

The Pit of Despair @ Expert Texperts
  -  The Princess Bride is easily one of the best movies of all time. This is not an opinion;...

10 Ways to Feel Better About the LDS Church Being Terrible to Gay Families @ Expert Texperts
  -  Well, by now you're probably heard: The LDS Church really, really dislikes gay families....

10 Lessons About History I Learned From Comments on Posts About the CES Letter. @ Expert Texperts
  -  Recently, a few bloggers who are smarter than I am have undertaken to write...

Does The LDS Church Have Anything To Say About War? @ Expert Texperts
  -  As I write this post, the United Nations estimates that up to 300,000 people have died in...

Extra Terrestrial Life @ Religion and Science Blog
  -  A recent survey by YouGov, an online survey site, found that about 54% of Americans...

The LDS Ontology @ Religion and Science Blog
  -  Ontology refers to what is real, or the fundamental reality of existence. Ontologies are...

Mormons React to the BSA Allowing Gay Leaders (or, Idolatry in the 21st Century) @ Expert Texperts
  -  An unedited sample of comments on the Mormon Newsroom's Facebook link to the church's...

Rapid Scientific Discovery in the Latter-Days @ Religion and Science Blog
  -   People who like Back to the Future will remember this statement from Doc Emmett...

On Freedom @ Expert Texperts
  -  This Independence Day, I've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom is an abstract...

Einstein and the Gospel @ Religion and Science Blog
  -  Einstein’s personal letters to family and friends just fetched 420,000 dollars at...

Baptism is Not Wedding Prep for Little Girls @ Expert Texperts
  -  Okay, first things first, my disclaimer: Beware, all ye who read this. I would like you...

Sources for the story of Amalakiah (Alma 46-52) @ Adventures in Mormonism
  -  A close reading of the Book of Mormon shows a sophisticated restraint in its narrative...

Are You Defending The Family Enough? Take Take This Quiz and Find Out! @ Expert Texperts
  -  Faithful Latter-day Saints and good Christians everywhere know that The Family is under...

10 Mormon Newsroom headlines we all expect to see (but never will) @ Expert Texperts
  -  You and I both know the Mormon Newsroom as America's real journal of record, but despite...

Kindness, or Why I'm a Huge Fan of Taylor Swift @ Expert Texperts
  -  At the outset of this year I made one New Years' Resolution, and I'd like to share it...

Christ, Gethsemene and agency @ Adventures in Mormonism
  -  In our lesson in Sunday School today, covering Hosea, our teacher had us read from...

Stewardship, accountability, and community response (repost) @ Adventures in Mormonism
  -  [NOTE: I originally wrote this essay back in 1994 for Vigor, an LDS samizdat put out for...

Thoughts while watching our ward’s Primary program @ Adventures in Mormonism
  -  I love the barely controlled chaos. Been watching these meetings for what seems like...

“Ender’s Game” (the movie): a brief review w/spoilers @ Adventures in Mormonism
  -   I read the original “Ender’s Game” short story when it was published...

Alma and John revisited — a brief thought @ Adventures in Mormonism
  -  I have posted before about the parallels between Alma1 and John the Baptist,...

Worth keeping? Or let it die? @ Mormon Monastery
  -  I have obviously not given this site the attention I’d intended, for which I offer...

Guestpost at FPR @ Mormon Monastery
  -  I’ve written up a post about a passage from Ugaritic literature and the LDS temple...

Brief Thoughts on Change @ Mormon Monastery
  -  As time goes by, older and venerated prophets and apostles are inevitably succeeded by...

Temple, Tabernacle, and Church: What’s the difference? @ Mormon Monastery
  -  According to this talk by Elder Ballard, many non-LDS confuse LDS temples, tabernacles,...

German practice @ Mormon Monastery
  -  For those of us studying the Bible or Ancient Near East, acquisition of German reading...

Updates, links, and reports @ Mormon Monastery
  -  I notice it’s been over a year since my last post. During that time, I’ve...

Does God Commit Evil? Some quick notes on Amos 3. @ Mormon Monastery
  -  I must admit, I left Gospel Doctrine frustrated almost to the point of anger. Amos is one...

Spanish Scriptures appear on LDS.org @ Mormon Monastery
  -  Perhaps someone else has already pointed this out, but the Spanish scriptures are now...

Papers #1- “The History of LDS Temple Admission Standards” and Temple Recommend Questions @ Mormon Monastery
  -  Since I lack the time to post frequently, I’m going to begin calling attention to...

Reaching the Saints, or Spanish Help (Now with comments enabled!) @ Mormon Monastery
  -  We Norte Americano saints often forget that the vast majority of LDS literature is simply...

Hebrew Practice, or Slow and Steady Wins the Race @ Mormon Monastery
  -  For anyone with a little Hebrew under their belt (it’s not hard, really!), Daily...

Missing warp-speed engines, but functional. @ Mormon Monastery
  -  Welcome to the Monastery! As you click around, you’ll notice that not everything is...

Under Construction @ Mormon Monastery
  -  To any who may stumble over this site, I am in process of transferring in all the...