An Everyday Mormon

It feels like I haven’t written a blog post in a while.  I’ve been quite busy with a few things myself.  Whether it be the new workload I’m buried under called grad school or just winter malaise, although I can’t quite call this warm late-year LA weather winter.  It’s not that I don’t have the time to write, it’s more like the time when I don’t have something to do I’d rather just spend vegging and burning through another show on Hulu (after blazing through six seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore has become my new favorite in case you were wondering). I actually was reminded about my blog today while reading an article for class.  (Disclaimer: I still haven’t finished the article because I just jumped over to Word to type this bad boy out) The article was talking about archiving personal e-mails and blogs (notice a connection?).  You see, us everyday folks don’t really think about saving anything we create on the interwebs, whether that be emails, blo...

I originally gave this talk on June 9, 2019 in sacrament meeting of the Provo 42nd Young Single Adult Ward. After promising to unfold the mystery of the parable of the olive tree to us modern readers, Jacob admits that he fears that he might “get shaken from [his] firmness in the Spirit, and stumble because of [his] over anxiety for [his brethren]” [ Jacob 4:18 ].  I can relate to him as I stand in front of you all today.  When I give a talk, I usually prepare a few notes, a couple of quotes, and follow a loose outline; however, because of the importance and sensitivity of my topic today, I have written my talk out so that I will be able to share my complete thoughts and personal knowledge I have gained over the past several months through prayer and fasting on my chosen topic. In last year’s November General Conference, Elder Ulisses Soares taught us about how as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we can find greater strength in a dive...

Two archaeologists walk into a bar... This September I will be starting a Masters program in Information and Library Science with a Media Archival emphasis at UCLA.  Many of you are probably wondering: what the heck is that?  People who haven’t seen me in a while might be a little bit confused: weren’t you trying to become the next Indiana Jones?  For everybody interested, I thought I’d detail a little bit not only about what my master's program is about but my plan for the future and how I got to this point in my professional life. I enrolled in Brigham Young University as a freshman majoring in archaeology.  (Just so everyone’s on the same page, archaeology is the study of ancient civilizations and peoples, not dinosaurs which is paleontology.)  I really loved all my classes, professors, and fellow students in the program.  I had the opportunity as an undergraduate to do original research and even excavate in Petra, Jordan, three times!  Quite...