Carborendum

From your link: On the one hand -- Whew! Thank heaven for that. On the other hand -- What on earth was Mayorkas thinking! What kind of bonehead says that?

Any ideas why the bolded was omitted in the BoM? We see the change for the "Be ye therefore perfect" as understandable because Jesus was now resurrected. He became complete and whole. But is the kingdom already come? I could understand that it is now Jesus' kingdom. But that wouldn't mean that the phrase should be omitted? Or does it? Is there something going on here? And why would we not ask for our daily bread as it was in Jerusalem? Was it somehow different for the Nephites?

There was some sort of dust up about the government wanting to keep Starlink out of the area even after Musk said he wanted to send them. But then they said that they already had them there even though Musk was not aware of any units active in that area???

In our reading for last week, we noticed something about the Lord's prayer. I wondered about a couple of things here. If we compare the Lord's prayer in Matthew, we notice a few lines missing between v 10 and 11. Why? *********************** The other point of interest is verse 12. It is the same as Matthew. Yet the JST renders it differently. This is interesting. The Syriac translation renders it as The BoM renders it the same as the Greek. But Joseph wanted to render it the way that the Syrians did. ........................ Even more interesting is that the Old Syriac version of the Bible wasn't even discovered until after Joseph's death. Then it was translated in 1858. The first English translation of the Peshitta was in 1851. By those dates, Joseph never had access to an English version of those records.

I'm sure he can make an impact. But he isn't really as rich as his net worth would indicate. Other billionaires have billions sitting in a bank account or other easily liquifiable assets. Others invest in mutual funds or other stocks as minor shareholders, or they have additional holdings like real estate, etc. And that is where their wealth is stored. Musk only has stock in his companies that he owns. He can't easily sell them without risking a takeover. So, it's not so easily convertible. He had to take out a loan by leveraging his Tesla stock in order to buy Twitter. I would be really interested in finding out how much he has on hand that can easily become liquid. It may be a few billion. But the way he lives, how much he gives to charity, I wonder if he even has $1B in cash anywhere. He certainly could. But I haven't been able to find anything on that anywhere. He even said that he got rid of all his assets (including his house*) except his company so that no one could attack him for his wealth. *He's a homeless billionaire. Who would do that?

Biden announced shortly after that he had been speaking to DeSantis at the time. DeSantis didn't even know Harris was trying to get a hold of him. I believe the DeSantis team said something like:

So, the news I'm reading doesn't look good for Kamala. It's still close. But the trending of the polls is not good. And the interviews we've seen on both sides indicates that she's not really gaining any grass roots. Further, the billionaire donors to Kamala's campaign are wondering if their money is actually going to buy anything if she loses. A large minority of said donors may be pulling funding of her campaign soon. Things could turn around. But after the performance and all going on with FEMA, I'm not sure what it would take to turn things around for her. Still... even if Trump wins, I worry that there will be riots in the streets. People have been motivated to assassination because of the rhetoric. (No, I'm not directly blaming politicians. But they aren't completely blameless.) And many on social media are decrying the fact that they guy missed rather than saying "we have no place for violence in the democratic process." BLM riots were part-and-parcel of the liberal political scheme that plagued Trump's presidency. They still think that Jan 6th was much worse than it was. And what's fit for the goose... So, yeah. I worry. I definitely hope I'm wrong about that.

Yeah, me neither. But it makes me wonder if we might like it better with the tune from Ancient Israel. At the same time, I was just going over the tune in my head and realized that there are parts where it is really good. Notice: "I'll raise my voice in praise and joy. In grand amens my tongue employ." The music really captures that part. And I recall the MoTab version being even more grandiose there. . . Hmm. I think I really liked the MoTab version. Errr... the Tabernacle Choir On Temple Square version. This just made me realize that playing a song on the piano is very different than singing it. I get different sensations from it depending on the medium. Yes, the piano would be very repetitive. But the joy as a singer is triggered by different criteria. At least, it does to me.

Nelson said something like: (sorry if I got it wrong. The exact quote is not yet up on the Church website.) Combine that with: Time to go over the Conference talks a bit more than we have in the past.

Sounds good. Have you read the Spanish version? I like the lyrics a bit better. But yes, it is pretty profound in English as well. I have thought about this for a bit and realized that it is not a song of modern day. It is a psalm. Look at the pattern. It follows the flow of a psalm. While the psalms have many great messages, I don't know of many that have been made into beloved hymns. There's "The Lord is my Shepherd." I like the lyrics. I like the music. But I never really thought the two went together well. I have a guess/theory. I believe that the ancient Jews had a very different type of music than we do today. And the Psalms has patterns in Hebrew that went well with their music. But in our culture for the past several hundred years utilizes a very different music theory than they did back then. So, my guess is that I Believe in Christ would have worked well with a different music basis than what we're used to hearing. I don't know if I've ever heard that. I'll have to check it out when I get home. One of my favorites! Well, who doesn't like that one?! I'm not particularly moved by the lyrics. But I like singing them. Same for High on the Mountain Top. The base part is really fun to sing. For that song, I'm glad I don't often sing tenor. Interesting. This one seems to check all the boxes. And as I think about it, I really like it. But it has never been a memorable one for me. I mean, I remember the lyrics. But when I think of "my favorite hymns" this doesn't ever come to mind. I just really like the tune. Both the tenor and bass parts are pretty cool to sing. I don't find the subject matter to be all that inspiring.

Always comes the argument about "faith v. works." The argument always ignores "faith which results in works." Sectarians often claim that we "depend too much" on our works rather than faith in Christ. There is some truth to that notion. If our desire to repent is "to avoid hellfire" is that really faith? Instead, we repent because we realize that Christ has given us a path. And that path gives us hope. And with that hope, comes motivation to do better and be better. Are we really following the Lord when we have a notion that "I'm supposed to be a good person?" I'd say it's a baby-step in the right direction. But the more noble motivation is that when we truly understand what the Savior's Atonement really is, we will want to make use of that Atonement through faith which motivates works.

We are now officially at a number where Pres. Nelson has announced over 50% of all temples (active, constructed, or announced).

In their defense, I think they do what they can to shorten the Headlines of any article. It's kind of a necessity. The fact that they used the full name of the Church in the first paragraph shows that they're trying.

Here's what I look for: Does the topic reflect a sentiment that is deep, truthful, and moving? Are the lyrics artfully crafted to convey the message with all the power of poetic imagery? Does the music move a person in the manner which matches both the overall topic and the lyrics? The lyrics to I Believe in Christ are not terrible. Elder McConkie was a very literate man who obviously had training in poetry and was a fan of literature. But he wasn't Alfred Noyes. As far as the music. It was professionally done and reasonably good. But I tend to believe that the composer was trying to channel "Bruce R. McConkie" rather than the message of "I Believe in Christ." Among my favorites: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing I don't like the Hymnal arrangement of Come Thou Fount. I REALLY like the BYU Combined Choir version. That, to me, is the definitive rendition. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day I have not yet heard a rendering I didn't like. I'd really like to hear a version I imagined in my head. I just wish I could have someone put it together that way. It would require the featuring of several instruments, each for specific verses. Beginning with heavy chimes and perhaps bells. -- Then piano. -- Strings for the "in despair". -- Then full orchestra with the loudest organ for the verse "Then peeled the bells..." Casting Crowns did a pretty good version that has a theme and pattern that I'm thinking of, but their arrangement doesn't have the same tone or feeling I'm going for. Then there are the verses that are not in our Hymnal. So, for a non-Church setting, I'd like to hear even more for Via Dolorosa I don't know if this would ever be approved for our hymnal (it's possible). But I've always been moved by it. I was finally able to realize my dream of performing it for our Easter program. I combined portions of four different performers to weave it into a particularly nice rendition. And luckily, my voice behaved properly, allowing me to sing my full range. It really was a pretty good performance.

Is anyone aware of anything that Pres Nelson has announced/published/distributed in the past week or so? I've heard there was some big heads up regarding the focus of the upcoming conference...???