Improving Our Time

I wonder how differently people would think and feel about COVID-19, had it not been in a U.S. presidential election year. ----- In the...

Music was much better, back when "ugly" people were allowed to make it. ----- (Popular) Music used to be all about the sound, not the...

I wanted a project to challenge me into the next level of my rocketry hobby by creating things I’d never seen before. I chose to bring to...

While a missionary, I grew to understand there is but one qualification necessary for someone to receive the Gospel as it is presented by...

Words can be awfully clumsy. Think of it. All we have are words to use when talking about words! It can be difficult to describe things...

While a missionary, I spent a lot of effort trying to convince others to do things I knew would benefit them. Many times this convincing...

Of all ancient Judah, Josiah is my favorite king. He grew up among abominable idolatry and began to reign at eight years of age. His work...

As a full-time missionary from 2009 to 2011, I spent three hours of study each day, devoted entirely to preparing to teach others the...

At the beginning of 2017, I decided I needed a long-term project to keep myself from being absorbed totally by work at the funeral home. I thought, "Don't just build another model airplane to hang on the wall. Build an airplane! Then, I happened to see this video, posted only a few days before having that thought: My Homebuilt Airplane | Pilot n' Plane The idea of a wooden airplane intrigued me, since it would basically require the same kind of building techniques as a large

Since watching PBS's documentary of the same name, adapted from Command and Control , written by Eric Schlosser, I have been fascinated by the Cold War, and its persisting idea of deterrence, which still affects nuclear weapons policy among superpowers today. The intriguing philosophy and its risks are starkly illustrated by a story from Damascus, Arkansas in September 1980. Two U.S. Air Force men, part of a propellant transfer system (PTS) crew, were working on a Titan II in

March, 2003. Sunday, after church. Front yard. I had received a paintball gun for my thirteenth birthday, the kind that uses small disposable carbon dioxide capsules made from steel. The gun itself was interesting enough for a while, but the real fascination was in the used CO2 cylinders. These empty cartridges had a nice shape to them, with a round hemispherical end, and a smoothly streamlined opposite end cap, where the gun pierced through with a hollow spike to let the pre

Be sure to read: The Year of the Heart, Part One The Year of the Heart, Part Two

I think ion thrusters are beautiful. The magical blue light, and the way they generate forces by only using inert gas and electricity is fascinating to me! They're something like an electric rocket engine. These miraculous motors are used on satellites and other spacecraft to change their speed and direction. They are very efficient in using input energy to effect significant changes by their output. The tradeoff for using such an efficient engine is the time required, by rea

The priesthood, or the power and authority of God, may be conferred upon us here on earth. We operate under the direction of God in...

Do you have a wobbly dining table like mine? It's got a single column, barely able to keep the top from breaking down and flipping onto...

In my home hangs a copy of a beautiful painting showing Jesus standing near a peaceful stream, holding a staff, watching over grazing...

In my public preaching outside of Church meetings, one of the most frequently recurring doctrinal topics I've discussed on sidewalks,...

A stocky man in sweaty green scrubs sits ponderously down on the brightly colored vinyl bench across from my wife and me. His entry is the first interruption to the silent hum of the tiny room, decorated with a few watercolor prints, reminiscent of a budget hotel. He peels off his surgical cap, fluffs his thick fingers through his dark brown hair and exhales a relieved puff. A little body odor finally settles the plummet back to humanity, down from the loftiness of his expert

I've attended lots of funerals. I enjoy funerals, mostly because of the variety of things said about a person. Normally you get a good...

As I've learned through an explosive experience in 2003, fuses are for fireworks. ( Not Quite a Dud ) We don't use fuses in model rocketry. We launch on command, at the end of a countdown, which can be paused at any point that something becomes unsafe, such as a gust of wind knocking over the rocket, perhaps pointing it toward the spectators, or because of a low flying aircraft approaching the flying field at the last second. The launch controller is the device that supplies

An ancient family was given a mysterious and miraculous device that helped them navigate their way through the desert in the vicinity of...

I once took an elective course dealing with the history and current condition of Jerusalem, as it figures into the traditions and beliefs...

If all the scriptures we have, taken together, contain the beautiful music that is the story of the people of God, I consider the various...

On September 20, 2011, I traveled from Orange County, California, where I had labored as a full-time missionary among the people within...