Mormon Life Hacker – Coming Soon

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Category : Misc, Mormon Life

I’m a fan of Tim Ferriss and websites like lifehacker. In fact, my wife will tell you “he’ll do anything that Tim Ferriss tells him to.” I counter that it’s not true because Tim’s main flaw is a fairly selfish bent and basis for a lot of what and why he does things. Besides, to do everything he recommends is impossible, since you’d spend way too much time on it, and not adhere to the fundamental premise behind his book: simplify life (including income flow) so that you can enjoy life your way, not the way somebody else dictates. The same goes for lifehacker.

However, I feel that this underlying message resonates with those of us who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We’ve been repeatedly told to simplify our lives and focus on the things that really matter. Thus for me, shortcuts, tips, tricks, and “lifehacks” that help me cut down on the garbage and focus on what’s most important, are a key part of becoming a better husband, father, ward member, home teacher, and the man Heavenly Father wants me to be.

I thought it would be great if somebody did a “Lifehacker for Mormons.” Part of the idea came from things like my information on how to pay your tithing online (which I posted as a page, instead of an article, because it didn’t seem to fit the purpose of this blog), or Travis’ great scripture study hack he called “spiritual cross-training” which helps keep daily study interesting and powerful. Since there are many very unique aspects of the way we live our lives, it would be great to have a place where people share their hacks for Mormon life.

A Saturday’s Journey to Gilgal

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Category : Ancient, Ceremony/Ordinances, Images, Joseph Smith, Old Testament, Sacred Places

img_0716 Just over a 2 weeks ago, we visited a site in downtown Salt Lake that I’ve been wanting to see ever since I first stumbled across some information on it, on the internet.

Its called the Gilgal Garden, and is located at 749 E 500 S, Salt Lake City, UT. The gardens were built by Thomas Child, who worked on it throughout his life. He named the place after the location where Joshua had the Israelites take 12 stones and place them together as part of a covenant and memorial, after crossing the Jordan river on dry land. Bro. Child was sculptor and put his own interpretations of scriptures, into stone. The piece for which he named the garden, features 12 stones in a circle, with an etching of “The Captain of the Lord’s Host” standing at the head. Because it was basically his backyard, the garden is somewhat secluded and hidden. You can read more about the garden at Wikipedia, or I have uploaded a scan of the walk-through self-tour guide.