jchandle writes

  The End I recently finished reading The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ . This isn’t the first time I’ve read the book , nor will it be my last. But this year-long study is special in a few ways.  For much of the year, I read from a new study edition of The Book of Mormon edited by Grant Hardy. Hardy presents helpful essays and insights throughout the work including introductions to each book, a robust appendix, and lots of footnotes. What was most helpful though was the formatting. It’s amazing what de-emphasizing verse breaks and treating poetry like poetry can do for readability, as well as section headings that break things down into easy to follow structural beats. I learned a lot.  Since September, my study has revolved around teaching early morning seminary. Studying to prepare a lesson is great for keeping an active mind through the process and making sure my thoughts are coherent and helpful enough for my audience. Seminary ensured that my stu...

  After the election in 2020, I reflected on what I feared would happen during the first Trump administration and tried to evaluate which fears came true and which did not. I wished I had written down my fears at the beginning of the administration instead of making the list in hindsight, and I encouraged conservatives to do that: Make a list of things you’re worried will happen during a Biden administration so you can evaluate at the end of it if those fears came true.  Nobody really took me up on it. One friend made some vague claims about Hunter Biden, China, and Ukraine. When pushed for details, they gave a little more, indicating they feared that Biden would lead the country into socialism in the style of China. “China owns Biden,” they claimed, and they feared we were headed toward communism. That’s not a lot to go on, but I’ll include it in my reflection for this year. Here are the things I remember people fearing would happen during the Biden administration, and my tak...