17 Weeks to Run My Butt Off - Week 12

The new training schedual is good, but I seemed to have slowed down on my minutes per mile, which is the opposite of what I want to be doing.  I had a hard time running my 6 mile (long run) today.  It seems that conqering a long run is not like slaying dragons.. (you fight hard, finish triumphantly, and move on).  It's difficult every time in the begining, and slowly progresses into somthing managable.  That is why I've latched onto running, I think.  I progress. I have no natural talent or ablilities for sports, and lack coordination and a "team-player" attitude.  But running is simply moving myself forward faster than I did yesterday.  And so, I progress.  And if it isn't faster than yesterday, it's longer than yesterday.. or it's a recovery day preparing to run faster tommorow.  Speaking of which, Lisa, David and myself are all signed up for a 10K (6.2 miles) June 21st, and my goal (as of today) is to run it under 1 hr 7 min.  Races are so fun!  I'm ready to add another shirt to my collection. 

Starting ~  163.5 lbs, 42% body fat

Week 1 ~ 161.0 lbs, 41% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 6.37 miles, ave minutes per mile 13:33, best minutes per mile 11:43

Weeks 2/ 3~ 159.5 lbs, 41% body fat, 1.5 lbs lost, 4.12 miles, ave mpm 13:31, best mpm 11:14    Also kayaked and swam.. not as effective.

Week 4  ~  157 lbs, 40% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 9.98 miles, ave mpm 13:02, best mpm 11:21

Week 5 ~  155 lbs, 40% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.31 miles, ave mpm 12:50,  best mpm 10:32

Week 6 ~  154 lbs, 39% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.5 miles, ave mpm 12:31,      best mpm 10:27

Week 7 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 3 lbs lost, 17.91 miles, ave mpm 12:07,    best mpm 10:20

Week 8 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 18.20 miles, ave mpm 11:36,   best mpm 9:30

Week 9 ~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.26 miles, ave mpm 11:27,   best mpm 9:29

Week 10~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 10.34 miles, ave mpm 10:47,   best mpm 8:42

Week 11~ 147 lbs, 37% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 15.74 miles, ave mpm 11:35,  best mpm 8:10 

Week 12~ 146 lbs, 37% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.52 miles, ave mpm 11:09,    best mpm 7:42

Overall Totals ~ 17.5 lbs lost, 5% body fat lost, 146.25 miles run

Books I Can Remember that I've Read - update - May '08

This month I read a book called One Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions by a guy named Sephen W. Gibson. If you're only giving "one minute answers" to anti-Mormon Questions you have to cherry pick for some of the easier ones, but he still did a pretty good job. I found the chapter on the Book of Abraham enlightening. You can actually read the entire book from the link above.

I'm studying for my family practice recertification exam and I just finished First Aid for the Family Medicine Boards - 718 pages of high yield topics, lots of pneumonics and charts. I hate to give it a rating before I actually take my test in August. I'll go ahead and give in 3 stars, but if I ace the test I'll go back and give it 1 more and if I bomb it I'll take away 2. It seemed like a pretty good review though.

Studying for my test made me remember a bunch of other board review books I read for steps 1,2, and 3 of the USMLE and my Family Practice boards, so I added them to the list. I also remembered getting freaked out by Jay's Journal when I was in jr. high and reading the play La Casa de Bernarda Alba in my Spanish Literature class in college. I also added a few random trivia books and comedy books I read several years ago.

===========================================================

Books I Can Remember that I’ve Read (In no particular order)

I'm only counting text books if I read the entire thing.
I'm counting books that I read more than half of but stopped because I couldn't stomach it (Lolita) or hated (Moby Dick). I'm not counting books that are mostly pictures (The Cat in the Hat) although they are still some of my favorite books. I'm counting books twice if I read them in English and in Spanish. Also, I have not counted all the Bathroom Readers I've read, mostly because I'm ashamed of how much time I spend on the pot. I've read almost all of them however.

***** - I really liked
**** - I liked
*** - OK
** - I didn’t like
* - It sucked.


1. The Great Gatspy - F. Scott Fitzgerald****
2. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce**
3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen****
4. Walden - Henry David Thoreau**
5. Claudius the God - Robert Graves*****
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez***
7. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess****
8. As I Lay Dying -William Faulkner***
9. Animal Farm - George Orwell****
10. The Book of Mormon - Written by the Hand of Mormon. Translated by Joseph Smith Jr.*****
11. The Holy Bible - King James Version*****
12. The Doctrine and Covenants - Joseph Smith, others****
13. The Pearl of Great Price - Moses, Abraham, Joseph Smith****
14. Travels with Charley (In Search of America) - John Steinbeck****
15. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket***
16. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Reptile Room - Lemony Snicket***
17. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Wide Window - Lemony Snicket***
18. Les Liaisons Dagereuses - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos****
19. Tom Sawyer Abroad - Samuel Clemens***
20. The Monkey Wrench Gang - Edward Abbey****
21. The Hero With a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell***
22. The Faith of a Scientist - Henry Eyring****
23. The Power of Myth - Joseph Campbell****
24. What are People For - Wendell Berry***
25. The Miracle of Forgiveness - Spencer W. Kimball****
26. The Greatest Salesman in the World - Og Mandino***
27. 1984 - George Orwell****
28. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Samuel Clemens*****
29. On the Road - Jack Keroac****
30. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens****
31. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller****
32. Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra****
33. Uncle Tom’s Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe***
34. Deliverance - James Dickey****
35. The Best of Edward Abbey***
36. Rosaura a las Diez - Marco Denevi****
37. Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow****
38. Tom Sawyer Detective - Samuel Clemens***
39. The Iliad -Homer****
40. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkein*****
41. Notes from the Underground - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky***
42. The Double - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky***
43. The Trial -Franz Kafka***
44. Moby Dick - Herman Melville**
45. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison***
46. Principles of Surgery Companion Handbook - Schartz, Shires, Spencer*
47. Standing for Something - Gordon B. Hinckley***
48. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis*****
49. The Sound and the Fury -William Faulkner**
50. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck****
51. Slaughter House-Five - Kurt Vonnegut****
52. Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald****
53. Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry**
54. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -Samuel Clemens*****
55. Darkness at Noon - Arthur Koestler*****
56. The Call of the Wild - Jack London****
57. Kim - Rudyard Kipling***
58. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens****
59. Howards End - E.M. Forster****
60. Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence***
61. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad***
62. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -Robert M. Pirsig****
63. The Stranger - Albus Camus****
64. To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf***
65. The Lonely Men - Louis L’Amour***
66. Sacred Clowns - Tony Hillerman***
67. The Covenant - James A. Michener****
68. Prentice Alvin - Orson Scott Card****
69. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy -Douglas Adams****
70. The Quick and the Dead - Louis L’Amour***
71. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee*****
72. The Gift of the Jews - Thomas Cahill****
73. The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis****
74. Iberia - James A Michener**
75. Ender’s Game -Orson Scott Card*****
76. People of Darkness - Tony Hillerman****
77. The Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis****
78. The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis****
79. Memory of Earth - Orson Scott Card***
80. The Odyssey - Homer****
81. The Source - James A. Michener*****
82. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger****
83. The Story of England - Christopher Hibbert****
84. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway****
85. The Changed Man - Orson Scott Card****
86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl****
87. El Milagro del Perdon -Spencer W. Kimball****
88. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley****
89. A Marvelous Work and a Wonder - LeGrand Richards****
90. A Treasury of Classical Mythology - A.R. Hope Moncrieff****
91. The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien****
92. Pure Drivel - Steve Martin***
93. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens****
94. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens****
95. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone - J.K. Rowling*****
96. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling*****
97. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -J.K. Rowling*****
98. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -J.K. Rowling*****
99. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling*****
100. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling*****
101. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling*****
102. The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis*****
103. The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis*****
104. Out of the Silent Planet - C.S. Lewis****
105. Prince Caspian - C.S. Lewis*****
106. The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis*****
107. Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis****
108. That Hideous Strength - C.S. Lewis****
109. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway***
110. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov**
111. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley****
112. I Claudius - Robert Graves*****
113. Anthem - Ann Rand***
114. Lord of the Flies - William Golding****
115. As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner***
116. The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad***
117. Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein****
118. A Room With a View - E.M. Forster****
119. Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad***
120. Citizen of the Galaxy - Robert Heinlein****
121. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesley****
122. Tunnel in the Sky - Robert Heinlein****
123. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum****
124. Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card****
125. Xenocide - Orson Scott Card****
126. Songmaster - Orson Scott Card**
127. Saints - Orson Scott Card****
128. Red Prophet - Orson Scott Card****
129. Cruel Shoes - Steve Martin***
130. The Great Brain - John Dennis Fitzgerald****
131. Me and My Little Brain - John Dennis Fitzgerald****
132. Jesus the Christ - James Talmage*****
133. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas****
134. Dracula - Bram Stoker****
135. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown***
136. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown****
137. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - Gregory Maguire****
138. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator - Roald Dahl**
139. How the Irish Saved Civilization - Thomas Cahill***
140. Fundamentals of Family Medicine - Robert B. Taylor***
141. Medical Physiology - Rodney A Rhoades and George A Tanner**
142. D'aulaires Book of Greek Myths - Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aurlaire****
143. El Libro De Mormon - Un Relato Escrito por la Mano de Mormon. Traducido de las Planchas por Jose Smith, Hijo*****
144. Generation X - Douglas Coupland***
145. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe****
146. Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice****
147. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde****
148. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen****
149. History of the English-Speaking Peoples - Winston Churchhill****
150. A Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking - Barbara Bates**
151. Complete History of the World - Richard Overy****
152. The American Religion - Harold Bloom***
153. The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck****
154. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote****
155. A Rumor of War - Philip Caputo****
156. Religion in the New World - Richard E. Wentz***
157. The Moon Is Down - John Steinbeck****
158. The Pearl - John Steinbeck****
159. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck****
160. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - John le Carré****
161. The Education of Little Tree - Forrest Carter*****
162. The Chosen - Chaim Potok****
163. The Work and the Glory, Pilar of Fire - Gerald N. Lund*****
164. The Work and the Glory, Like a Fire if Burning - Gerald N. Lund*****
165. The Work and the Glory, Truth will Prevail - Gerald N. Lund*****
166. The Work and the Glory, Thy Gold Refine - Gerald N. Lund*****
167. The Work and the Glory, A Season of Joy - Gerald N. Lund*****
168. Stepen King On Writing, A memoir of the Craft - Stephen King***
169. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris****
170. Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited, The Evidence for Ancient Origins - Edited by Noel B. Reynolds. **** (March '08)
171. The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko****
172. Naked Ape : A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal - Desmond Morris****
173. Johnny Tremain - Esther Forbes****
174. Mormons and Masons, Setting the Record Straight - Gilbert W. Scharffs* (March '08)
175. San Manuel Bueno, mártir - Miguel de Unamuno****
176. Critiquing the Critics of Joseph Smith - Hartt Wixom**** (March '08)
177. Mormon Country - Wallace Stegner****
178. The House of God - Samuel Shem**
179. The Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler****(March '08)
180. The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel**** (April '08)
181. Religions of the World - A Latter-day Saint View - Spencer J. Palmer, Rober R. Keller, Dong Sull Choi, James A. Toronto****
182. Julius Caesar - William Shakespear****
183. Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare****
184. Hamlet - William Shakespeare****
185. Macbeth - William Shakespeare****
186. One Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions - Stephen W. Gibson*** (May '08)
187. Jay's Journal - Beatrice Sparks**
188. Blueprints in Obstetrics and Gynecology - Tamara L. Callahan, Aaron B Caughey and Linda J Heffner***
189. Clinical Microbiology Made Rediculously Simple - Mark Galdwin and Bill Trattler****
190. Prescription for the Boards USMLE Step 2 - Radhika Breaden, Charyl Denenberg, Kate Feibusch, Stephen Gomperts***
191. The Instant Exam Review for the USMLE Step 3 - Joel s. Goldberg**
192. Appleton & Lang's Review of Pediatrics - Martin I. Lorin**
193. Pathology - Arthur S. Schneider and Philip A Szanto**
194. Internal Medicine - Edward D. Frohlich**
195. The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkien****
196. The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - J.R.R. Tolkien****
198. The Mountain Meadows Massacre - Juanita Brooks****
198. A Thief of Time - Tony Hillerman****
199. Naked Pictures of Famous People - Jon Stewart**
200. La Casa de Bernarda Alba - Federico García Lorca***
201. Why Things Are and Why Things Aren't - Joel Achenbach****
202. Why Things Are - Joel Achenbach****
203. Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? And Other Imponderables - David Feldman****
204. First Aid for the Family Medicine Boards - Tao Le, Christine Dehlendorf, Michael Mendoza, and Cynthria Ohata*** (May '08)
205. Why Don't Cat's Like to Swim - David Feldman****
206. The Naked and the Dead - Norman Mailer**** (June '08)
207. Encounters with the Archdruid - John McPhee***
208. Desert Solitaire - Edward Abby***

Book of Mormon Lesson 20

Book of Mormon Lesson 20
“My Soul is Pained No More”

I. Introduction.
A. Have you heard of Christopher Hitchens? He is a very vocal atheist who recently wrote a book called god is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, in which he blames religion and the belief in God for all the problems in the world. You may remember him as the one who the Reverend Al Sharpton was debating when he implied that Mormons don’t really believe in God. You may have heard him on CNN or other talking head-news programs talking about how certain religious beliefs (specifically Mormonism) should be enough to disqualify them from holding public office. In his book Mr. Hitchens shows what an expert he is on Mormonism by telling us how the Book of Mormon is the story told by “Nephi, the son of Lephi.” If you were to place a bet in Vegas on who would be the next President of the L.D.S. Church, how many of you would put your money on Mr. Hitchens? What are the odds that in the next few years Christopher Hitchens will have a change of heart, actually read the BoM, repent, be baptized, become an apostle and eventually the president of the Church? In Zarahemla in about 120 BC these were about the odds that Alma the Younger would become leader of the church. We will be discussing the conversion of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah today. A few things we should take away from this story.
1. The power of repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ to heal even the “vilest of sinners.”
2. That we should never give up on wayward children or even enemies of the
Church. That we should continue to praying for them. (I have to admit, until preparing this lesson it had never even crossed my mind to pray for people like Mr. Hitchens, that they would accept the Gospel.)
3. The change that comes when we are truly converted.

II. Background.
A. The Nephites moved around a lot, but eventually all ended up back in the area around Zarahemla.
1. The Nephites left the land of Nephi under the original King Mosiah and found the land of Zarahemla and the Mulekites. We learn that although the Nephites were a minority with the Mulekites, that they apparently became the ruling class.
2. A group under a man named Zeniff left Zarahemla and went back to the land of Nephi. They lost contact with the people of Zarahemla. King Noah was his son. Alma the Elder lead a group that separated themselves from the other Nephites in the land of Nephi - in a land called Helam. Limhi becomes king after Noah dies. Both the Nephites under Limhi and the Nephites under Alma come under bondage to the Lamanites. Both escape and find their way to Zarahemla and join with the Nephites there.
B. This is how chapter 25 of Mosiah starts - all these different groups are together in Zarahemla and Mosiah calls all the people together and reads the records of all these different groups.
C. Read Mosiah 25:19-22.
1. It appears that up until this time Mosiah was acting as both secular and spiritual leader of the Nephites. This may be the first time in human history where a separation of church and state was attempted.
2. Up until now we don’t have mention of any organized church among the Nephites. Why now, 500 years after Lehi left Jerusalem? They had become so numerous that it was necessary. Up until then religion was taught by one person - the king - in the manner of King Benjamin.

III. The Younger Generation Rebels
A. Read Mosiah 26:1-4. Why did many of the youth fail to believe the words of King Benjamin? Is it always possible to convey our own spiritual experiences to our children? They can’t continue forever going on borrowed light. Eventually they have to get their own testimonies and have their own spiritual experiences.
B. Read Mosiah 26:6. Are there people today who use “flattering words” to try to drive people from the Church?
1. I have a close friend who is not active in the Church, but who is still a believer. We have another friend we grew up with in the same ward in Mesa. Her father was an institute teacher. She was very intelligent and had a masters in engineering at ASU. She has left the church completely and now lives in a commune in California. A few years ago she came to Arizona and went to lunch with my other friend. She said to him, “you’re a smart guy. You don’t really believe all that stuff about the church do you? Your more intelligent than that.” To his credit, my friend told her he did still believe.
2. Pride, sophistication, often makes some people question their beliefs.
C. Read Mosiah 26:7-13. A struggle between secular and ecclesiastical authority. Neither Alma or Mosiah knew exactly how to deal with these people.
D. Alma prays and God tells him that those who do not repent should be excommunicated from the church.
E. We learn that the non-believers “persecute” the people of the church. It doesn’t say how they were persecuted. In chapter 27 King Mosiah forbids persecution for beliefs.

IV. The Conversion of Alma the Younger.
A. Read Mosiah 27:8-10.
1. What do you think it means that he was an “idolatrous man?” It could mean he worshiped idols. Last month we got the Conversion of Alma the Younger DVD from the Living Scriptures for my daughter. In it, Orson Scott Card portrays Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah as worldly and materialistic. That may be what they mean by “idolatrous,” putting material things before God.
B. Read Mosiah 27:11-17.
1. Comparison with Paul (Saul). In what ways are the stories of the conversion of Alma and the conversion of Saul similar? Both were going about to destroy the church. Both heard heavenly messengers - Alma an angel and Saul the Lord. After these experience both went through a time where they were physically impaired - Alma was comatose for 2 days, Saul was blind. Both were converted and became great missionaries for the Lord. In fact, there are so many similarities between Alma and Saul that detractors of the BoM often accuse Joseph Smith of plagiarism here. They could just as easily accuse Matthew of plagiarizing Exodus when Herod slays the children in Bethlehem. It shouldn’t surprise us that God acts similarly with different people throughout the scriptures.
2. The angel tells Alma that he came to him because of the prayers of his father. How many of us have children or family members who are wayward? How many times have we prayed for them to come back to the fold and repent? Why does the Lord send an angel to Alma the Younger when sometimes it seems like the prayers for our loved ones fall on deaf ears? Did Alma’s prayers have more juice because he was the prophet?
3. Alma the not-so younger.
a. We usually think of Alma and the sons of Mosiah as a gang of punk teenage kids or twenty somethings. That may not be the case. We learn in Mosiah 29:45 that a short time after this experience Alma the elder died at age 82. If Alma the Elder was in his 70s or 80s when this experience happened, how old would Alma the Younger be? His 40s maybe?
b. Alma may have been wayward well over 20 years and his father had continued praying for him. How heart breaking was it for Alma to see his son going about trying to destroy his life’s work. And yet he did not give up on his son. He continued to pray for him, apparently for many years.
c. Maurine Jensen Proctor says of Alma’s faith: Here we see something about the constancy that is demanded of faith. Faith is not a momentary enthusiasm or sudden fling of concentration aimed heavenward. It is a steady way of living and seeing. It means that prayers are continued even when they seem to fall on deaf ears. It means hope is not dimmed when for all practical purposes it should be. It means that in the face of disappointment or failed expectations, the light inside still burns.
Alma teaches us that, and his message is particularly poignant for parents who suffer for the waywardness of their children. Even if you can do nothing else for them, you can always pray. As it turns out, praying is actually the most you can do for them. These are prayers with the eye that sees that these are not your children alone, but his.
It is irony that sometimes makes it difficult to continue to pray in faith. Irony is a bitter pill when that thing that you want the very most is the thing you don't seem to have. Irony burns when the thing you cherish the most is taken from you. Certainly Alma, watching his precious child undo his precious work, must have felt the sting of irony. But he still prayed in faith.
4. We need to continue to pray for good things and continue to have faith even when it seems hopeless. Abraham Lincoln said, “I have been driven more times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”
5. The same friend I talked about before, who is inactive and not living the gospel. He has made some dumb decisions and committed some grievous sins. My wife often vocally wonders why I remain friends with him. This is the reason why. I’m not giving up hope that he will come around and I’m not going to stop being his friend.
6. I went to another friend’s missionary homecoming just a few months after I’d gotten off my mission. This was back when they still let the parents speak at farewells and homecomings. His mother got up and talked about how her son always saw the good in people. She told how he had a friend that she never really liked and wished he wouldn’t hang out with because she thought he was a bad influence on him. But he still wanted to be his friend. She says she put restrictions on what he could do with this guy - encouraged him to invite him to their house and if they did go out that they bring along another friend she approved of. She said that this guy eventually turned out OK. And I thought, “yeah, Christian is a good guy who always sees the good in people. I wonder who that little jerk was......wait a minute.” Then I remembered that whenever I called him to do something he’d say, “why don’t you come over to my house and hang out instead,” and whenever we went out he always had to have our other friend Rex come too. I’m glad he and his parents didn’t give up on me (although I don’t think I was really that bad) just the way I’m not going to give up on my other friend and the way Alma didn’t give up on his son.
C. Read Mosiah 27:18-19.
1. I have often wondered why so many people in the BoM people are falling on the ground like they were dead all the time, when that doesn’t happen to us at church very much. Alma, King Lamoni, Ammon. I’ve had a theory that there was some genetic, neurologic condition that made them do this. I’ve been studying for my recertification exams for Family Medicine and I was reminded of a condition called cataplexy. “Cataplexy manifests itself as muscular weakness which may range from a barely perceptible slackening of the facial muscles to the dropping of the jaw or head, weakness at the knees, or a total collapse. Usually the speech is slurred, vision is impaired (double vision, inability to focus), but hearing and awareness remain normal. These attacks are triggered by strong emotions such as exhilaration anger, fear, surprise, awe, embarresment and laughter.” There is an anecdotal story of Allison Burchell, a sufferer of severe Cataplexy, has been sent to the morgue three times. It is a rare condition that is genetically inherited.
D. Repentance
1. After Alma the Elder has his priests fast and pray for 2 days Alma the younger comes to.
2. Read Mosiah 27:24-31.
a. Alma had a true Born Again experience - it was as if he were dead and came back to life.
b. Alma tells us from where his salvation came - the Redeemer and his atonement.
3. In Alma 36, Alma relates to his son Helaman his conversion story. The entire chapter is an elaborate, intricate and beautiful chiasmus. (Much to the dismay of critiques of Mormonism, the BoM is filled with chiasmus.) The first part of the chiasmus describes the torment he went through because of his sins and is contrast with the second part where he describes the joy after he repented. The center of the chiasmus focuses on Jesus Christ - Read Alma 36:17-18. It is only through Jesus Christ we can be saved from our sins.
4. Again Maurine Jensen Proctor:
In this story we also see beautifully portrayed the sheer, radiant, joyful power of the atonement. If Alma the Younger, the talented, slick-tongued, evil sinner can be redeemed, and in fact born again, to be the prophet who inspires and lifts his people, this atonement must be cleansing indeed. It must be able to penetrate the darkest recesses of our soul with its marvelous light and transform everything it touches.
If Alma can repent, so can we. If Alma can remake his life into a thing of beauty with the Lord's help, so can we. We don't have to think it is too late, or the disappointment in our lives or our selves is too much. However big our weaknesses and faults, the atonement is bigger still. The Lord waits with outstretched arms to encircle us in the arms of his love. Who are any of us to think we are so ragged with regret that his cloak cannot cover us?

E. Alma and the Sons of Mosiah after their conversion
1. Read Mosiah 27:32
2. Read Mosiah 28:1-3.
3. One way to know if you have truly been forgiven and born again is if you have this type of feeling - that you want to share the gospel with others, that you can’t stand the thought of others not having this knowledge.

V. Conclusion
A. The story of the conversion of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah is a reminder that we should never give up and stop praying for our wayward loved ones or even our enemies. It is an example of the power of repentance, that the vilest of sinners can be forgiven through the miracle of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Amen.

References:

Beardall, Bill
Dauvilliers Y, Arnulf I, Mignot E. - Lancet. 2007 Feb 10;369(9560):499-511.
Gibbons, Ted L.
Proctor, Maurine Jensen - Meridian Magazine.
Wikepdia entry on Cataplexy

17 Weeks to Run My Butt Off - Week 11

This week I started using different training that I found on runnersworld.com.  I typed my last race times into the auto-trainer and it worked out a plan for me to do better in my next race.  Here's my new schedual:

Sun ~ rest

Mon ~ easy pace 3 miles

Tues ~ speed work on track, 3 miles,  alternate 1 lap sprinting and 1 lap jogging

Wed ~ rest

Thu ~ 5 miles at pace

Fri ~ rest

Sat ~ long run, (6 miles now, but going up tp 10)

I attempted to add cross-training with weights into my schedual but haven't found a time that works.  Whitney is out of school now, so unless I want to wake up everyday at 4:30am I'm going to have to find some afternoon or evening time.   This will take some planning.

Anyway, that race was really fun and Lisa enjoyed it so much she asked me about running another one. So I signed Lisa, my brother Dave and myself up for a 10K (6.2 miles) on June 20th in Sugar House.  We'll see if that new training schedual pays off.  

Starting ~  163.5 lbs, 42% body fat

Week 1 ~ 161.0 lbs, 41% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 6.37 miles, ave minutes per mile 13:33, best minutes per mile 11:43

Weeks 2/ 3~ 159.5 lbs, 41% body fat, 1.5 lbs lost, 4.12 miles, ave mpm 13:31, best mpm 11:14    Also kayaked and swam.. not as effective.

Week 4  ~  157 lbs, 40% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 9.98 miles, ave mpm 13:02, best mpm 11:21

Week 5 ~  155 lbs, 40% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.31 miles, ave mpm 12:50,  best mpm 10:32

Week 6 ~  154 lbs, 39% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.5 miles, ave mpm 12:31,      best mpm 10:27

Week 7 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 3 lbs lost, 17.91 miles, ave mpm 12:07,    best mpm 10:20

Week 8 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 18.20 miles, ave mpm 11:36,   best mpm 9:30

Week 9 ~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.26 miles, ave mpm 11:27,   best mpm 9:29

Week 10~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 10.34 miles, ave mpm 10:47,   best mpm 8:42

Week 11~ 147 lbs, 37% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 15.74 miles, ave mpm 11:35,  best mpm 8:10 

Overall Totals ~ 16.5 lbs lost, 5% body fat lost, 132.73 miles run

17 Weeks to Run My Butt Off - Week 10

Picture of Michelle Running 5K

This was a different week because my main goal was speed on the Saturday race.  I ran fewer miles, but did them faster.  I exceeded my goal in the race of running 10:45 min miles and ran 10:16!  I'm very happy with my results.  Lisa ran it with me and beat me by two minutes.  I guess I just have fast siblings.. I'd hate to run with Mikey, he'd just be a faint dot on the horizon.  But, I did better than I hoped to and I'm starting to think that by this years "Turkey Trot 10K" (Mesa,AZ Thanksgiving Day, 6.2 miles)  I should be doing atleast 9 min miles.  I just have to keep loosing weight, train hard and not get injured. 

Starting ~  163.5 lbs, 42% body fat

Week 1 ~ 161.0 lbs, 41% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 6.37 miles, ave minutes per mile 13:33, best minutes per mile 11:43

Weeks 2 & 3 ~ 159.5 lbs, 41% body fat, 1.5 lbs lost, 4.12 miles, ave mpm 13:31, best mpm 11:14    Also kayaked and swam.. not as effective.

Week 4  ~  157 lbs, 40% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 9.98 miles, ave mpm 13:02, best mpm 11:21

Week 5 ~  155 lbs, 40% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.31 miles, ave mpm 12:50,  best mpm 10:32

Week 6 ~  154 lbs, 39% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.5 miles, ave mpm 12:31,      best mpm 10:27

Week 7 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 3 lbs lost, 17.91 miles, ave mpm 12:07,    best mpm 10:20

Week 8 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 18.20 miles, ave mpm 11:36,   best mpm 9:30

Week 9 ~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.26 miles, ave mpm 11:27,   best mpm 9:29

Week 10~ 149lbs, 38% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 10.34 miles, ave mpm 10:47,   best mpm 8:42

Overall Totals ~ 14.5 lbs lost, 4% body fat lost, 116.99 miles run

 

Book of Mormon Lesson 18

Book of Mormon Lesson 18
God Himself...Shall Redeem His People
Mosiah 12-17

I. Introduction
A. The scriptures are full of examples of people who were called to deliver an unpopular message to an unreceptive audience. Examples include Noah, Moses leading the Children of Israel, Lehi warning the people in Jerusalem, Samuel preaching in Zarahemla, Abinadi preaching to King Noah and his people, and Joseph Smith and the restoration. Today we will be discussing Abinadi’s message to King Noah. Abinadi is one of the greatest scriptural examples of courage and standing up for the truth in the face of danger. He sealed his testimony with his life, as Joseph Smith did and as Jesus Christ did.
B. Who was Abinadi? We don’t know about his background. In chapter 11 of Mosiah it just says that he was “a man among them.” We don’t know if he was from the people who came with Zeniff back to the land of Nephi or if God had sent him from the land of Zarahemla to preach to the people in the land of Nephi or if he was from the aboriginal people or even a Lamanite. (When they introduce Alma they specifically say he was a descendant of Nephi, but we don’t get anything like that about Abinadi.).
C. Who was King Noah. Zeniff was the man who led a group of Nephites from the land of Zarahemla back to the land of Nephi which was to the South. (We don’t know where this was but there are many theories. If any of you are interested in some new theories on where the Land of Zarahemla might have been and where the Land of Nephi was I have a video I will lend you. – It might not have been in Central America as we have presumed for so many years.) Zeniff conferred the kingdom to his son Noah. We read in chapter 11 of Mosiah that Noah had many wives and concubines (we learned in Jacob that God had commanded the Nephites to have only one wife), that he taxed the people a fifth of all the possessed (which sounds oppresive, but I wish I was in their tax brachet), and that he replaced the priests of his father with his own cronies.
D. In literature writers often place characters side by side to show contrast. A few chapters back in Mosiah we read about King Benjamin. Now we are presented with King Noah. I don’t know if Mormon planed it that way or if it just worked out chronologically, but we get a great contrast between a good ruler, King Benjamin, and a bad one, King Noah. What are some differences between Benjamin and Noah?
1. Benjamin did no burden his people - Noah taxed the heck out of his people.
2. Benjamin lived simply - King Noah lived in excess (is often portrayed as a glutton.
3. Benjamin lived to serve his people - Noah believed the people should serve him.
4. Benjamin preached of the coming Christ - Noah and his priests rejected Christ.
5. Benjamin’s people repented, became a righteous and prosperous people - Noah’s people became wicked and became oppressed.
E. How important is it for us to have righteous leaders? We often don’t notice the influence of leadership.
1. Most of the men here today, if they have their coats buttoned, don’t button the bottom button. Does anyone know why? It became the fashion in the early part of the last century when King Edward got a pot belly and couldn’t button his bottom button and others emulated him. Here we are 100 years later and when we got dressed this morning we are still feeling the influence of this leader and don’t even know it.
2. Gordon B. Hinkley in his book Standing for Something said, “It is not wise, or even possible, to divorce private behavior from public leadership–though there are those who have gone to great lengths to suggest that this is the only possible vie of ‘enlightened’ individuals. They are wrong. They are deceived. By its very nature, true leadership carries with it the burden of being an example. Is it asking too much of any public officer, elected by his or her constituents, to stand tall and be a model before the people–not only in the ordinary aspects of leadership but in his or her behavior? If values aren’t established and adhered to at the top, behavior down the ranks is seriously jeopardized and undermined. Indeed, in any organization where such is the case–be it a family, or corporation, a society, or a nation– the values being neglected will in time disappear.”

II. Abinadi’s message to the people.
A. Abinadi was called to preach to a prideful people and call them to repentance. Why were the people prideful and boastful? They had just one a victory over the Lamanites. We American’s should also be mindful not to fall into pride because of our military strength and victories.
B. Why wasn’t Abinadi’s message well received? The easy answer would be “because the people were wicked.” But let’s read what Abinadi was actually saying to the people and see how well it would be received today. Read Mosiah 12:1-8.
1. What if that had been your door approach on your mission, telling people God was angry with them and that he was going to bring them into bondage, that he would bring them famine and pestilence, and smite them and destroy them. Is this the commitment pattern. I believe that if Abinadi had been taught in the MTC to build on common beliefs ext that he would still be alive today.
2. I’ve encountered people that talked like this to me and I just ignore them. The people yelling at me as I walk to the conference center telling me I’m going to Hell is an example.
3. Do we as a church have a popular message today? How is it received? What are some of the things we teach that are unpopular and “out of touch” today?
a. I have a close family member who is going through a divorce right now. Her husband is an example of what happens to someone when the spirit leaves. He was once in a bishopric and has 5 children, but now he has moved into a 3 million dollar house in Scottsdale with his girlfriend. His teenage children understand that what he is doing is wrong, but it’s harder for his younger children. They come home from his house and tell there mother, “there are beer bottles at Dad’s house” and “Daddy’s girlfriend stays the night.” Their mother has to try to that what there father is doing is wrong and not bad mouth him. And he writes her E-mails, furious that she would tell them that he was doing anything wrong. He tells his kids that there is nothing wrong with what he is doing. It give this as an example of 2 things. First, that it is hard for people to admit that what they are doing is wrong even when it is obvious. Second, that if his children follow his example than he will be held responsible just like King Noah was.
III. Abinadi’s message to King Noah and the Law of Moses.
A. In Mosiah 12:9 it says that the people were angry with Abinadi and that they brought him to King Noah. Noah threw him in prison (where Abinadi lifted weights with the Crips and the Bloods and got really buffed). They bring him before the priests and hold counsel. In vs 19 we see they try to find something to accuse him of but he holds his own.
B. They quote Isaiah 52. Mosiah 12:20-24. Why do you think the priests of King Noah chose this verse to try to catch Abinadi? Were they trying to accuse him of not bringing “good tidings” or “publishing peace.” He was preaching fire and brimstone. Abinadi later explains what this actually means.
1. This reminds be of hippy churches that emphasize “God is Love” and “Judge not” at the expense of other commandments. They have 6 commandments and 4 suggestions.
C. Abinadi responds. Read Mosiah 12:25-27.
D. The Priests respond - “We teach the Law of Moses.
E. Abinadi shows them that they do not live the law of Moses. Read Mosiah 12:29-32.
1. Abinadi spends the next 2 chapters showing them that although they say they live and teach the law of Moses, they do not.
2. King Noah first tries to have him killed and Abinadi says “Touch me not.....for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver.” He knew that God would protect him until he had delivered his Message.
3. He then goes through the 10 commandments.
F. After he reviews the law of Moses he then tells them that salvation does not come through the law of Moses. Read Mosiah 13:27-28. If salvation does not come through the law, why did he just spend a good portion of his precious time reviewing it? It is through the law that we show obedience and our faith in Christ so we can be saved by his grace.
G. Abinadi explains why they needed the law of Moses in the first place. Read Mosiah 13:29-32.
1. In what way is the law of Moses a “type of things to come?”

IV. Abinadi Testifies of Christ.
A. Abinadi spends the rest of his time in front of the counsel teaching them the most important thing he could teach them - he testifies of Christ. He tells them that all the prophets from the beginning have testified of Christ. He quotes Isaiah in chapter 14 as an example of the ancient prophets testifying of Christ.
B. Read Mosiah 15:1-5.
1. There are more scriptures in the BoM that talk about the Father and the Son being one than there are in the Bible. There is no where in the Bible that explicitly explains the Trinity the way traditional Christians believe. It’s just not in there. It is ironic that traditional Christians try to exclude us from Christianity because we don’t believe in the Trinity the same way they do, yet their view of the Trinity is better supported by the BoM than anywhere in the Bible. (Of course we don’t interpret these scriptures that way.)
C. He talks about the Atonement.
1. Read Mosiah 15:9. How does Atonement satisfy the demands of Justice and Mercy?
2. He then returns to the scripture that they had quoted to him and explains what it means. Read Mosiah 15:11-19.
a. He explains that “O how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him that bridget good tidings” does not mean someone who brings a message of sunshine and tells people that what ever they are doing is OK, but those who bear the good news of the coming Messiah and his Atonement.
D. I once told a friend of mine in medical school who didn’t think that Mormons were Christians that I didn’t think that he could open a page of the BoM that did not in some way testify of Christ. I was wrong. Someone who spent the time to count it showed that Christ is mentioned only every 1.5 pages of the BoM. However, several of those pages are over saturated with references to Christ and his atonement, such as these pages of Abinadi’s address, so I think that more than makes up for the ½ page here and there that does not mention him specifically.

V. Abinadi seals his testimony with his death. Was his mission a success?
A. Abinadi set out to call King Noah, his priests and his people to repentance. Was he successful? Only one of the priests believed him. But who was he? Alma. What did Alma do? Converted thousands and became the leader of the Church for all the people of Nephi. Also, the rest of the BoM up to the Book of Mormon were written by his direct descendants. Alma–> Alma—> Helaman —> Helaman —> Nephi —> Nephi. Over half of the BoM is an abridgement of the writings of Alma and his descendants. Was Abinadi’s mission a success?
B. A story told by Gordon B. Hinkley:
“You don’t know how much good you can do; you can’t foresee the results of the effort you put in. Years ago, President Charles A. Callis, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, but who previously was president of the Southern States Mission for twenty-five years, told me this story. He said that he had a missionary in the southern [United States] who came in to get his release at the conclusion of his mission. His mission president said to him, ‘Have you had a good mission?’
“He said, ‘No.’
“ ‘How is that?’
“ ‘Well, I haven’t had any results from my work. I have wasted my time and my father’s money. It’s been a waste of time.’
“Brother Callis said, ‘Haven’t you baptized anyone?’
“He said, ‘I baptized only one person during the two years that I have been here. That was a twelve-year-old boy up in the back hollows of Tennessee.’
“He went home with a sense of failure. Brother Callis said, ‘I decided to follow that boy who had been baptized. I wanted to know what became of him. …
“… ‘I followed him through the years. He became the Sunday School Superintendent, and he eventually became the branch president. He married. He moved off the little tenant farm on which he and his parents before him had lived and got a piece of ground of his own and made it fruitful. He became the district president. He sold that piece of ground in Tennessee and moved to Idaho and bought a farm along the Snake River and prospered there. His children grew. They went on missions. They came home. They had children of their own who went on missions.’
“Brother Callis continued, ‘I’ve just spent a week up in Idaho looking up every member of that family that I could find and talking to them about their missionary service. I discovered that, as the result of the baptism of that one little boy in the back hollows of Tennessee by a missionary who thought he had failed, more than 1,100 people have come into the Church.’
“You never can foretell the consequences of your work, my beloved brethren and sisters, when you serve as missionaries” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinkley [1997], 360–61).

VI. Conclusion
A. Abinadi did not shrink from a very difficult and in the end deadly assignment from the Lord. Although in his life he never saw the fruits of his labors, if it had not been for him we would not have the rest of the BoM. And he taught the most important thing there is to teach in this world, the saving power Jesus Christ. I testify that I know that Christ lives and that thought his Atonement we can be saved. Amen.

References:
Book of Mormon Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual
Hinckley, Gordon B. - Standing for Something
Meridian Magazine.

"17 Weeks to Run My Butt Off".. Week 9

Good, warm weather and cold gatoraide.. good running combination.  My very fast 5 mile this week was achieved by picturing a mirage of my brother Dave about 20 feet infront of me running backwards to show me how slow I am.  He ran with me last week, so the image is pretty fresh.  He also did this thing where he'd run next to me and move his arms like he was using an invisable walker.  Needless to say, it made me run faster.  And picturing him there today was almost equally beneficial. The Ogden Marathon is this Saturday, and my sister and I are running the 5K.  I didn't want any distance pressure while I'm trying to loose weight, so 3 miles seemed perfect.  We still get a shirt and I believe a medal, so why not?  Medals are cool.  My average minutes per mile is 11:27 this week, I'm hoping to do 10:45 or under for that race.  I'll post my results next Saturday.     

Starting ~  163.5 lbs, 42% body fat

Week 1 ~ 161.0 lbs, 41% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 6.37 miles, ave minutes per mile 13:33, best minutes per mile 11:43

Weeks 2 & 3 ~ 159.5 lbs, 41% body fat, 1.5 lbs lost, 4.12 miles, ave mpm 13:31, best mpm 11:14    Also kayaked and swam.. not as effective.

Week 4  ~  157 lbs, 40% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 9.98 miles, ave mpm 13:02, best mpm 11:21

Week 5 ~  155 lbs, 40% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.31 miles, ave mpm 12:50,  best mpm 10:32

Week 6 ~  154 lbs, 39% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.5 miles, ave mpm 12:31,      best mpm 10:27

Week 7 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 3 lbs lost, 17.91 miles, ave mpm 12:07,    best mpm 10:20

Week 8 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 18.20 miles, ave mpm 11:36,   best mpm 9:30

Week 9 ~ 149 lbs, 38% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.26 miles, ave mpm 11:27,   best mpm 9:29

Overall Totals ~ 14.5 lbs lost, 4% body fat lost, 106.65 miles run

17 Weeks to Run My Butt Off - week 8

Week 8 was the week my mom flew in from Georgia and my grandma drove up from Washington.  Needless to say, we ate out a lot.. and I cooked some big meals to feed lots of people.  It made it difficult to count calories and my weight didn't budge because of it.  I still did all my runs, and ran my fastest 5 mile yet, (with my brother David.. he's faster than me and helped me a lot).  But, as KC tells me, counting calories makes the weight come down and running maintains it.  Well, it maintained.  That sucks because this would have been my week getting down into the 140's.  I'm not unfocused though.  I'm watching every calorie and hoping to make up for lost ground this week.  The runs are more enjoyable now that I can smell flowers outside.  I've also been chased by 3 little, white yappy-dogs that I would like to pound into dog food.  I also noticed that my average miles per minute are now faster than my starting week's fastest pace.  That means little sprints I managed to crank out back then are now slower than my average pace!  Awsome!   Anyway, this week may have not been my greatest, but I'm back into the groove of things and ready to dazzle you all next week. 

Starting ~  163.5 lbs, 42% body fat

Week 1 ~ 161.0 lbs, 41% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 6.37 miles, ave minutes per mile 13:33, best minutes per mile 11:43

Weeks 2 & 3 ~ 159.5 lbs, 41% body fat, 1.5 lbs lost, 4.12 miles, ave mpm 13:31, best mpm 11:14    Also kayaked and swam.. not as effective.

Week 4  ~  157 lbs, 40% body fat, 2.5 lbs lost, 9.98 miles, ave mpm 13:02, best mpm 11:21

Week 5 ~  155 lbs, 40% body fat, 2 lbs lost, 18.31 miles, ave mpm 12:50,  best mpm 10:32

Week 6 ~  154 lbs, 39% body fat, 1 lb lost, 13.5 miles, ave mpm 12:31,      best mpm 10:27

Week 7 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 3 lbs lost, 17.91 miles, ave mpm 12:07,    best mpm 10:20

Week 8 ~ 151 lbs, 39% body fat, 0 lbs lost, 18.20 miles, ave mpm 11:36,   best mpm 9:30

Overall Totals ~ 12.5 lbs lost, 3% body fat lost, 88.39 miles run

Books I can remember I've read - update

I've read a few new books in the last few month and I've remembers a few more books I've read in the past. I decided to start writing short reviews of the new books I read.

As you can see, I've been reading quite a bit of Mormon apologetics lately. Some these books are really good and well researched but some of them are about as good as my high school English papers. I think Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited, The Evidence for Ancient Origins - Edited by Noel B. Reynolds, is the best one I've read recently. It is a series of essays by several authors. I was especially interested in the chapters on word printing and chiasmus. Critiquing the Critics of Joseph Smith by Hartt Wixom was also pretty good. It was mostly a scathing review of Fawn Brodie's book No Man Knows My History. Mormons and Masons, Setting the Record Straight by Gilbert W. Scharffs really sucked. It barely touched on it's titled subjected and was a painful read. I'm still looking for a good source for this subject.

I finished reading The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler while I was in Mexico. This is a book about a young man growing up in a strict, religious, Victorian England family who loses his faith in God. Although this novel is supposed to be an enlightened critique of traditional religion, I enjoyed it for entirely different reasons. I found the hero’s journey away from God very familiar to those who find fault with the Church today. And the fruits of this doubt (when he finds some inconsistencies in the Bible he immediately goes and visits a prostitute) are typical. People usually find what they are looking for.

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel is just a fun, feminist caveman novel. Michelle is reading it now and can’t put it down.

I won't be reading any novels for a while because I'm studying for my Family Practice recertification exam for August. After that I have a whole list of books I want to read.

I got the idea of making this list from Art Garfunkle who has kept track of all the books he has read since 1968. He is at over 1000, but he's older than me and started counting them before I was born. I hope to pass him up before he dies. Anyway, I noticed he counted each Shakespeare play he's read, so I remembered back to high school and college and added a few more to my list.

===========================================================

Books I Can Remember that I’ve Read (In no particular order)

I'm only counting text books if I read the entire thing.
I'm counting books that I read more than half of but stopped because I couldn't stomach it (Lolita) or hated (Moby Dick). I'm not counting books that are mostly pictures (The Cat in the Hat) although they are still some of my favorite books. I'm counting books twice if I read them in English and in Spanish. Also, I have not counted all the Bathroom Readers I've read, mostly because I'm ashamed of how much time I spend on the pot. I've read almost all of them however.

***** - I really liked
**** - I liked
*** - OK
** - I didn’t like
* - It sucked.


1. The Great Gatspy - F. Scott Fitzgerald****
2. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce**
3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen****
4. Walden - Henry David Thoreau**
5. Claudius the God - Robert Graves*****
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez***
7. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess****
8. As I Lay Dying -William Faulkner***
9. Animal Farm - George Orwell****
10. The Book of Mormon - Written by the Hand of Mormon. Translated by Joseph Smith Jr.*****
11. The Holy Bible - King James Version*****
12. The Doctrine and Covenants - Joseph Smith, others****
13. The Pearl of Great Price - Moses, Abraham, Joseph Smith****
14. Travels with Charley (In Search of America) - John Steinbeck****
15. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket***
16. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Reptile Room - Lemony Snicket***
17. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Wide Window - Lemony Snicket***
18. Les Liaisons Dagereuses - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos****
19. Tom Sawyer Abroad - Samuel Clemens***
20. The Monkey Wrench Gang - Edward Abbey****
21. The Hero With a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell***
22. The Faith of a Scientist - Henry Eyring****
23. The Power of Myth - Joseph Campbell****
24. What are People For - Wendell Berry***
25. The Miracle of Forgiveness - Spencer W. Kimball****
26. The Greatest Salesman in the World - Og Mandino***
27. 1984 - George Orwell****
28. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Samuel Clemens*****
29. On the Road - Jack Keroac****
30. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens****
31. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller****
32. Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra****
33. Uncle Tom’s Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe***
34. Deliverance - James Dickey****
35. The Best of Edward Abbey***
36. Rosaura a las Diez - Marco Denevi****
37. Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow****
38. Tom Sawyer Detective - Samuel Clemens***
39. The Iliad -Homer****
40. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkein*****
41. Notes from the Underground - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky***
42. The Double - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky***
43. The Trial -Franz Kafka***
44. Moby Dick - Herman Melville**
45. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison***
46. Principles of Surgery Companion Handbook - Schartz, Shires, Spencer*
47. Standing for Something - Gordon B. Hinckley***
48. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis*****
49. The Sound and the Fury -William Faulkner**
50. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck****
51. Slaughter House-Five - Kurt Vonnegut****
52. Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald****
53. Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry**
54. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -Samuel Clemens*****
55. Darkness at Noon - Arthur Koestler*****
56. The Call of the Wild - Jack London****
57. Kim - Rudyard Kipling***
58. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens****
59. Howards End - E.M. Forster****
60. Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence***
61. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad***
62. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -Robert M. Pirsig****
63. The Stranger - Albus Camus****
64. To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf***
65. The Lonely Men - Louis L’Amour***
66. Sacred Clowns - Tony Hillerman***
67. The Covenant - James A. Michener****
68. Prentice Alvin - Orson Scott Card****
69. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy -Douglas Adams****
70. The Quick and the Dead - Louis L’Amour***
71. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee*****
72. The Gift of the Jews - Thomas Cahill****
73. The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis****
74. Iberia - James A Michener**
75. Ender’s Game -Orson Scott Card*****
76. People of Darkness - Tony Hillerman****
77. The Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis****
78. The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis****
79. Memory of Earth - Orson Scott Card***
80. The Odyssey - Homer****
81. The Source - James A. Michener*****
82. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger****
83. The Story of England - Christopher Hibbert****
84. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway****
85. The Changed Man - Orson Scott Card****
86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl****
87. El Milagro del Perdon -Spencer W. Kimball****
88. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley****
89. A Marvelous Work and a Wonder - LeGrand Richards****
90. A Treasury of Classical Mythology - A.R. Hope Moncrieff****
91. The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien****
92. Pure Drivel - Steve Martin***
93. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens****
94. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens****
95. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone - J.K. Rowling*****
96. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling*****
97. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -J.K. Rowling*****
98. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -J.K. Rowling*****
99. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling*****
100. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling*****
101. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling*****
102. The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis*****
103. The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis*****
104. Out of the Silent Planet - C.S. Lewis****
105. Prince Caspian - C.S. Lewis*****
106. The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis*****
107. Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis****
108. That Hideous Strength - C.S. Lewis****
109. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway***
110. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov**
111. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley****
112. I Claudius - Robert Graves*****
113. Anthem - Ann Rand***
114. Lord of the Flies - William Golding****
115. As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner***
116. The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad***
117. Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein****
118. A Room With a View - E.M. Forster****
119. Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad***
120. Citizen of the Galaxy - Robert Heinlein****
121. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesley****
122. Tunnel in the Sky - Robert Heinlein****
123. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum****
124. Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card****
125. Xenocide - Orson Scott Card****
126. Songmaster - Orson Scott Card**
127. Saints - Orson Scott Card****
128. Red Prophet - Orson Scott Card****
129. Cruel Shoes - Steve Martin***
130. The Great Brain - John Dennis Fitzgerald****
131. Me and My Little Brain - John Dennis Fitzgerald****
132. Jesus the Christ - James Talmage*****
133. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas****
134. Dracula - Bram Stoker****
135. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown***
136. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown****
137. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - Gregory Maguire****
138. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator - Roald Dahl**
139. How the Irish Saved Civilization - Thomas Cahill***
140. Fundamentals of Family Medicine - Robert B. Taylor***
141. Medical Physiology - Rodney A Rhoades and George A Tanner**
142. D'aulaires Book of Greek Myths - Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aurlaire****
143. El Libro De Mormon - Un Relato Escrito por la Mano de Mormon. Traducido de las Planchas por Jose Smith, Hijo*****
144. Generation X - Douglas Coupland***
145. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe****
146. Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice****
147. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde****
148. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen****
149. History of the English-Speaking Peoples - Winston Churchhill****
150. A Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking - Barbara Bates**
151. Complete History of the World - Richard Overy****
152. The American Religion - Harold Bloom***
153. The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck****
154. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote****
155. A Rumor of War - Philip Caputo****
156. Religion in the New World - Richard E. Wentz***
157. The Moon Is Down - John Steinbeck****
158. The Pearl - John Steinbeck****
159. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck****
160. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - John le Carré****
161. The Education of Little Tree - Forrest Carter*****
162. The Chosen - Chaim Potok****
163. The Work and the Glory, Pilar of Fire - Gerald N. Lund*****
164. The Work and the Glory, Like a Fire if Burning - Gerald N. Lund*****
165. The Work and the Glory, Truth will Prevail - Gerald N. Lund*****
166. The Work and the Glory, Thy Gold Refine - Gerald N. Lund*****
167. The Work and the Glory, A Season of Joy - Gerald N. Lund*****
168. Stepen King On Writing, A memoir of the Craft - Stephen King***
169. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris****
170. Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited, The Evidence for Ancient Origins - Edited by Noel B. Reynolds. **** (March '08)
171. The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko****
172. Naked Ape : A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal - Desmond Morris****
173. Johnny Tremain - Esther Forbes****
174. Mormons and Masons, Setting the Record Straight - Gilbert W. Scharffs* (March '08)
175. San Manuel Bueno, mártir - Miguel de Unamuno****
176. Critiquing the Critics of Joseph Smith - Hartt Wixom**** (March '08)
177. Mormon Country - Wallace Stegner****
178. The House of God - Samuel Shem**
179. The Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler****(March '08)
180. The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel**** (April '08)
181. Religions of the World - A Latter-day Saint View - Spencer J. Palmer, Rober R. Keller, Dong Sull Choi, James A. Toronto****
182. Julius Caesar - William Shakespear****
183. Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare****
184. Hamlet - William Shakespeare****
185. Macbeth - William Shakespeare****

FLDS vs. LDS

Here's another brief explanation of the differences between the FLDS church and the LDS church, this one from Scott Gordon, president of the FAIR journal. Sadly, I fear most people and the in the world and in the media will continue to ignore the distinctions and continue to assume all Mormons are backward, inbred, wife beaters who marry multiple little girls.

(I realized after reading what I wrote above that I was implying that FLDS members are all "backward, inbred, wife beaters." I apologize for that. Since I have never in my life met someone from the FLDS church I am completely unqualified to characterize them. I'm sure much of what we hear about them is based on rumors and innuendos, just as with the LDS church. Although I don’t agree with some of their practices, I’m sure they are being represented and treated unfairly.)

------------------------------MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

The recent raids on the FLDS church in Texas once again brought the attention of the public back to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at a time when things had begun to quiet down after Mitt Romney dropped out of the presidential race. The fact that journalists and other media figures have sometimes called the members of the FLDS church Mormon has led to confusion, and this in turn has led to many questions being asked about the differences between the LDS and FLDS churches. It is understandable why many people outside of the Church would confuse the LDS and FLDS churches. Few people pay attention to the various splinter groups of any sect or denomination. For example, do you know the differences between the various Muslim, Baptist, and Lutheran faith traditions? Probably not. Some journalists have begun to make the attempt to clarify to their readers that the LDS and FLDS churches are two different groups.

But many people still don't understand that. An example of this confusion can be seen in Jon Krakauers book, "Under the Banner of Heaven," where the author argues that the LDS church should "do something" about the polygamy problem. I'm not exactly sure what Mr. Krakauer had in mind that the LDS church should do. Frankly, I am uncomfortable with the suggestion that any church should take action against someone other than terminating his or her membership in that church. But Krakauer seems to believe that we somehow have influence over a group that is not now and never has been a part of us. I'm sure that those who have left the Church would be very uncomfortable if the press started saying the LDS church should "do something" about the ex-Mormon Foundation or the ex-Mormon Internet message boards.

So where did the FLDS church come from and just how closely connected is it to the LDS church? The FLDS claim that their line of authority starts with Wilford Woodruff, but then their leadership continues as follows:
* Lorin Wolley, excommunicated from the LDS church in 1924.
* Leslie Broadbent, excommunicated from the LDS church in 1929.
* John Barlow, excommunicated from the LDS church in 1923.
* Joseph Musser, excommunicated from the LDS church in 1929.
* Charles Zitting, excommunicated from the LDS church in 1928.
* Leroy Johnson, excommunicated from the LDS church in 1935.
* Rulon Jeffs, excommunicated from the LDS church 1941.

Warren Jeffs, son of Rulon Jeffs, was born in 1956 and has never been a member of the LDS church. Most members of the FLDS church have never been members of the LDS church but are the children or grandchildren of Latter-day Saints who were excommunicated in the 1920s and 1930s.

There are those who say that modern fundamentalists are a reflection of 19th-century Mormonism and that looking at this group is like looking into our past. I reject that claim because there are deep and significant differences between the two groups. Granted, both groups believe in the Book of Mormon and both groups either practice, or have practiced, plural marriage. I'm sure that upon investigation you can find other similarities as well. But the differences between the two groups, both past and present, are great. We do not isolate ourselves from the communities where we live. Even when geographically isolated, we have always been known for actively engaging the rest of society through missionary travels and encouraging others to visit our communities. Latter-day Saints have always eagerly sought out magazines, newspapers, and books from other parts of the country and world and have strongly encouraged our members to be well-read and acquainted with the events of the world.While keeping to our standards of modesty, we retain the dress and grooming standards of the cultures where we live.We strongly encourage education and have a long history of sending LDS men and women to the best colleges and universities in the world, both as students and as educators, and today LDS members average a higher level of education than the general population of the United States and Canada. http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?s331

The FLDS practice the "Law of placing," or assignment of marriages, combined with a high level of control of the membership. This contrasts greatly with the LDS. We have no arranged marriages and the average age for LDS marriages is 23. Throughout LDS history, free agency has been a ruling principle. In 19th century LDS plural marriages women were freely allowed to marry, divorce, and leave the community. My own great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Clark Crouch, was in a plural marriage, and she divorced her husband and left the community with no ramifications. There was no danger of having her children reassigned to anyone else. It was more difficult for men to obtain a divorce, as it was believed that the men should provide economic and social support since there was no state welfare program and women had limited employment opportunities. Kathryn M. Daynes discusses the economic underpinnings of plural marriage in her book titled "More Wives Than One: Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 1840-1910."Some critics try to draw parallels with the FLDS because in the 19th century some LDS women were getting married while still teenagers.While we are sometimes uncomfortable with these younger marriages, astudy comparing marriage ages shows that the Latter-day Saints were inline with the general population. Looking at 1850 census data, we findthat the national teenage marriage rate was higher than the teenagemarriage rate in Utah. And while early Mormons were criticized for thepractice of polygamy, there are no known attacks on the church basedon the ages of the girls getting married. You can read moreinformation about that here. http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?s332

We had no lost boys like the FLDS church does. Young men were not cast out to create an imbalance of men and women. You can read more on that topic and more on marriage age here http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?s333

Another difference with the FLDS church is their idea that more wives equals a greater chance of exaltation. While our critics like to claim we believed that, Brigham Young stated quite clearly that not everyone would, or should, practice plural marriage. Several members of church leadership--including apostles--were not polygamists. Some of Brigham's more controversial statements, when read in context, seem touse plural marriage as an example to focus on the idea of beingwilling to follow God rather than whether or not you actuallypracticed plural marriage. If plural marriage were required forheaven, why did some members of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles, ourtop leadership group, not practice it?If you would like to read more about fundamentalist Mormonism, I recommend the book "Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations after the Manifesto" by Brian C. Hales. http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?s334

You can also find more information on the Internet about the FLDS church and other fundamentalist groups here, in Hales' website: http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?s335

There are many differences between the LDS and FLDS churches, and except in very superficial ways, the FLDS church does not look like either the current LDS church nor the LDS church of the 19th century. The LDS church has issued a press release and video highlighting some of the differences between the LDS and FLDS faiths. You can listen to Elder Quentin L. Cook speak on the subject here http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?s336

I am both hopeful and confident that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will continue to become better known, better understood, and better appreciated for the dedication of its members to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

--Scott Gordon President