The new site for the Philadelphia temple has been announced. The old site was on Market Street somewhere, but the new site is on Vine Street, closer to the Philadelphia Art Museum. The Church's official press release is over on the Newsroom Blog.The following is a Google satellite image of the new site:I mean, just look at this. Compared to the beauty of even the most urban of temples, this parking lot is absolutely destitute. An empty, dirty place that who knows how many people pass thr... Read Full Story

I wander through the stilly night,When solitude is everywhere.Alone, beneath the starry lightAnd yet I know that God is there.I kneel upon the grass and pray,An answer comes without a voice.It takes my burden all awayAnd makes my aching heart rejoice.When I am filled with strong desire,And ask a boon of Him, I seeNo miracle of living fireBut what I ask flows into me.And when the tempest rages highI feel no arm around me thrust,But every storm goes rolling byWhen I repose in him my trust.It ma... Read Full Story

I'm currently working on a paper for my Old Testament class. I'm pretty excited about it because I've had an opportunity to do quite a bit of study on the symbolism of covenants, and the restorations of the gospel. I don't want to get too deeply into the details because I'm also hoping to publish it, but suffice it to say that I'm of the opinion that my Father in Heaven and His Son have a very real signature to everything they ordain, especially when it comes to covenants.The part of my paper... Read Full Story

One thing that I've noticed in the conversations I've overheard in the past few days, whenever the topic turns to General Conference, is that there's really only one person that everyone is talking about, one name that is on everyone's lips--and no, it isn't President Thomas S. Monson. It isn't the Prophet Joseph Smith. And no, it isn't even Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world.It's Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.The most amusing conversation so far--BY FAR--was the discussion between... Read Full Story

Out of all of the sessions of General Conference I've ever attended, this most recent session meant more to me than any other, and not even by virtue of the fact that it's the avenue of the most current revelation on the earth.As of late, it has taken much more fervent dedication on my part to have the Holy Ghost to dwell with me in the same magnitude and consistency that I have come to enjoy. As such, it has also required much more effort to continue growing at the pace which it has been my ... Read Full Story

So I'm currently typing this with my thumbs because my computer died. I'm supposed to be using this as a learning experience as a life without the luxury of computers, but I doubt highly that I'll end up gleaning such a lesson from this experience.If it isn't forward to say so, I've always been a pretty well-behaved child, at least by my parents' standards I suppose, because I don't ever recall being punished. I've never been grounded, never been put on restriction, no such punishment was eve... Read Full Story

I've just added a new podcast to my iTunes. It's the Classic Speeches podcast from BYU Broadcasting, found here.I downloaded a talk from it by Gordon B Hinckley. It's an old one, if it isn't rude of me to say so. My age doesn't permit me to really fathom what it means to have been alive and breathing in 1958, let alone to have been alive and wise enough by then to be speaking to a group of BYU graduates, which was the context for his address.The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. That's what it was cal... Read Full Story

So I just changed my major to Ancient Near Eastern Studies, and I couldn't be happier to be studying antiquity again.Why, you ask?Because I can now do THIS:התרYup! That's my name. Kind of. It doesn't really mean anything, but my Biblical Hebrew professor uses my middle name all the time. Since it's a variant of Michael, it looks like this:מיכאלIt means "who is like God." Wikipedia phrases that as a question, but I'll let you know if that's true when we come to it. We learned David and Samuel ... Read Full Story

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Today is the anniversary of my confirmation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Starting tomorrow will be my fourth year as a member of the Church (yesterday was my baptism date) and as such I think now is a good time to reflect on the changes that have made the journey such a special one.I've given this a lot of thought over the past few days, and I feel confident that I can do this. So here we go: the 3 most important changes of my life as a result of joining the Church. I... Read Full Story