Recently I listened to an interesting podcast about the connection between Masonry and the LDS temple ceremony. It was an interview with Brett McDonald who is quite knowledgeable about the questions people have about the LDS church, especially the criticisms people raise. He explained that he started reading anti-Mormon material when he was in his late teens and continued to really study a lot of material related to and answering that for the next 10 years, including the time he was on his mission. He became a lawyer after getting a philosophy degree at BYU. Now he works in the tech industry. He says that for him, he doesn't experience spiritual feelings in the same way that others do. His testimony is much more intellectually based. Joseph Smith said he experienced the Spirit of God as pure knowledge coming into his head and that is how Brett said he also experiences the Spirit. Masonic Temple in Philadelphia Brett has created a Youtube channel called "LDS Truth Claims"

 Last weekend we went canyoneering! It was my first time and there's a good chance it was my last. It was actually really difficult. But we made it through! We drove down on Friday night to Hanksville, UT, which is a pretty tiny town. We had made reservations in the local motel and got there about 9:30pm. When we arrived, an envelope with our name on it was taped to the office door with our room keys inside. That was a first! The next morning we were planning to eat out for breakfast but there wasn't really a place to eat before lunch within an hour of driving. So we ate the muffins and fruit I brought and then headed out to the canyon which was about a half hour from Hanksville, in the opposite direction of civilization. It took us about two hours to hike up to the place where we got into the canyon. The weather was the right temperature for hiking--not too cold or hot. It had been very cold earlier that week--13 degrees one morning--but fortunately not this day. It got a litt