Stone Box Found Under Rock on Hill Cumorah

All I have to say is that it's not nearly as easy as Joseph makes it look in the video.

Sacred Grove

When one of the other interns invited me to travel to Palmyra to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant a few weeks ago, I jumped at the opportunity. It meant that I would spend 16 hours in a car over a 36 hour period of time, but I'm very glad I went. While we were there, we stopped by several of the historical sites, one of which was the Sacred Grove.

Simply put, the Church is true. One can't help but walk through this grove without sensing the lingering whispers of deity.

Got Protestors?

Yep. They're at the Hill Cumorah Pageant too.

Existence of Hill Cumorah Kiosk Confirmed

For many months the Hill Cumorah Kiosk has been somewhat of a mystery in the Church Office Building Audiovisual IP Section. I couldn't help but take a peek at the kiosks at the visitor center when I was up there a couple of weeks ago for the pageant. This photo is of the Book of Mormon Diorama (this probably won't mean anything to anybody except Cody Tak so I hope he reads this). Marvin Payne (Lehi) strikes again. The short outtakes of the Joseph video are also there.

Worst Comb Over Ever

Yes folks. It's real. I was there. I can't decide what I like most - the braid wrapping across the forehead or the ponytail in the back. Thoughts?

Campus Progress National Convention

This whole summer my office supervisor has been nagging me about getting out and going to a lecture. Odd. Most workplaces want you to work. Mine wants me to get out and see the city.

I haven't received many notices about lectures in the first place and second, they're usually on the other side of DC. This one however, I couldn't pass up. Speakers included a guy from the Daily Show, Nancy Pelosi and none other than President Clinton.

It was quite an adventure tyring to get there on time, but I made it and I'm glad I went. The Daily Show guy was quite entertaining, and the other two were inspiring. Bill and Nancy both focused on healthcare, education and energy.

I've now seen Bill and Barack. Where's Bush hiding these days? Anybody know if he's scheduled to speak in DC before the end of August?

Independence Day on the Mall

This was the best photo I could come up with to try to describe the sheer insanity of how many people were packed on to the Mall for the fireworks. It really doesn't do the event justice. The crowd stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol steps. How many people is that? 500,000? 1,000,000? Perhaps. I wouldn't be surprised. You couldn't walk five feet without having to step over somebody. Crazy stuff. The concert was great. The fireworks were fantastic. Can there be a better way to celebrate the nation's birthday?

Goldilocks and the Three Beards

I post this photo for two reasons.

First, welcome to the DC 4th of July parade - pretty dull in my opinion, but I never really was one for parades.

Second, say goodbye to the beard. This photo was taken only a few hours before it disappeared. I believe this is about 1 1/2 months of growth. Truth is, it was more work than it was worth. Turns out you can't just let it grow; not all facial hair grows at the same rate. You have to trim and cut and comb and on and on, meh...bummer. And don't get me started on getting milk crusties in your beard from eating cereal. Yuck.

Georgetown Cupcake II: Good to the Last Drop

This past Thursday a couple of my roommate's friends flew in from Salt Lake. Between monument visits we dropped by Georgetown Cupcake. I had a few extra dollars in my budget so I caved.

Lava fudge...

[Jake sinks deeper into the couch as his eyes roll back. A contented smile crosses his lips.]

Three bucks? Yeah. It's that good.

Part of my roommate Dan's cupcake hit the ground inadvertently. The photo below shows him contemplating whether or not to eat the frosting off the Georgetown sidewalk...


Yep. He ate it.

Between Heaven and Earth

Armed with only my trusty Google map, I trooped from the metro to the DC Temple this past week. Turns out that the route from the metro to the temple only took 30 minutes or so. The trees, quiet brooks, and even prancing deer made the trip quite enjoyable and relaxing - perfect preparation for an endowment session.

The temple is gorgeous, inside and out. If it hadn't started raining right as I reached the grounds, I would have wandered around for a while before going in. Once inside I constantly had to resist the urge to take photos of the interior. The session was wonderful. It was a much needed rest from the world.

Just behind me in the photo is a visitor center. Inside is a large auditorium where every month a large fireside is held for new converts. We attended this meeting at the beginning of June. Senator Hatch and his wife spoke along with a few new coverts. A quarter of the meeting was dedicated to allowing all of the new coverts in the mission (about 30 or so in the last three months) introduce themselves and briefly describe their conversion. Wow. I wish we would have done something like this in my mission.