• Twitter TempleStudy.com Profile – follow me here on Twitter to get the latest updates from the site in your Twitter stream.
• Facebook TempleStudy.com Page – become a fan of the TempleStudy.com page on Facebook, and see updates from the site in your Facebook News Feed, and easily share them with friends from there.

Now you don’t need to be updated about my frequent 5K runs anymore, if you don’t want to (I’m training for a half marathon in June).  But if you are interested in my personal activities, you might like to know that I just finished version 1.0 of BryceHaymond.com, my design consultancy business I call Blackpool Design.  As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I’m out of full-time work, and I’m looking for clients who need freelance design, whether product design, graphic design, or web design.  If you know of someone who is looking for design, I’d be very grateful for your referral.

Once I get my house in order a bit more, I’d really like to get back to studying the temple, and sharing with you what I learn.  This is truly an inexhaustible subject.

TempleStudy.com is now on Twitter and Facebook

In an interview the store owner said that when the robber was leaving he started cussing at them, “as if Satan was walking out the door.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2YEO-_-Yhw

Store Owner Commands Robber to Leave in the Name of Jesus

Dr. Richard Bushman

The Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies and the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), in conjunction with Religious Education and the Harold B. Lee library, are hosting a weekly lecture series that begins tonight, January 14th, 2010, at 7:00pm, and extends through Winter Semester 2010 on Thursday evenings in the Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium at BYU.

This lecture series is in honor of the 100th anniversary of Hugh Nibley’s birth this year.  Hugh Nibley was born on March 27, 1910.

The presenters at these lectures will include Richard Bushman, Robert Millet, Terry Ball, Daniel Peterson, Zina Petersen, Ann Madsen, Alex Nibley, Bert Wilson, John Welch, Marilyn Arnold, Eric Huntsman, and Gaballa Ali Gaballa.

Tonight’s lecture is by Richard Bushman, biographer of Joseph Smith (Rough Stone Rolling), and an editor of the Joseph Smith Papers Project.  His topic is “Nibley and Joseph Smith.”  Next week’s lecture, January 21st, will be by Robert Millet who will present on “Nibley and the Church.”

I’m looking forward to these lectures.  Hugh Nibley catapulted LDS scholarship and apologetics into a new dimension, and his work will affect many generations of Latter-day Saints to come.  His work on the temple has particularly influenced me, and many others I know.

Update 1/15/10: The lecture was wonderful last night.  And there’s good news!  There were three cameras there filming it, which I think they will continue for the series, which means that they are planning on putting it all on TV or making it available somehow for later viewing (perhaps online).  They also gave the rest of the series schedule of lectures:

• 14 Jan – “Nibley and Joseph Smith” – Richard Bushman
• 21 Jan – “Nibley and the Church” – Robert Millet
• 28 Jan – “Nibley’s Early Education” – Zina Petersen
• 4 Feb – “Nibley as Apologist” – Daniel Peterson
• 11 Feb – “Nibley and the environment” – Terry Ball
• 18 Feb – “Graduate School through BYU” – Alex Nibley
• 25 Feb – “Nibley on the Bible” – Ann Madsen
• 4 Mar – “Folklore on Nibley” – Bert Wilson
• 11 Mar – “The Lasting Legacies of Hugh W. Nibley” – John W. Welch
• 18 Mar – “Nibley and Classical Scholarship” – Eric Huntsman
• 25 Mar – “Nibley on the Book of Mormon” – Marilyn Arnold
• 1 Apr – “Nibley the Mentor” – Wilfred Griggs
• 8 Apr – “Nibley, Egyptology & the Book of Abraham” – TBA

These lectures will all be held in the Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium (Level 1) at 7:00pm.  This is a great lineup!  If you plan on coming to these lectures, make sure you come early to get a seat, as the room was filled to overflowing last night.

Hugh Nibley Weekly Lecture Series Beginning Tonight at BYU

Example of a popup using the new WordPress LDS Scripture Linker Plugin by DearScriptures.com

For some time I’ve been using the excellent LDS Linker WordPress plugin, developed by Joey Day, to automatically link all scripture references on TempleStudy.com directly to the Church’s online scriptures at scriptures.lds.org.  It worked very well, and continues to be one of the most popular WordPress plugins for LDS bloggers to link their scripture references to the online scriptures.

Recently I was thinking how much easier it would be to just hover your mouse over a scripture reference and see a popup with the scripture reference written out.  It would make reading the scripture references that much quicker in a blog post, rather than clicking a link to another site. 

A couple months ago I began some conversations with Steven Lloyd, developer of DearScriptures.com, the same person who developed the ability to search the scriptures via instant messaging (a feature I use often).  He began work on a WordPress plugin that would give LDS bloggers the ability to have scripture reference popups on their blogs.  Over the last month Steven has worked hard on the plugin.  He asked me for feedback, and I gave him some tips and suggestions along the way.

I’m pleased to announce that the LDS Scripture Linker plugin for WordPress blogs is now available for download and use.  Here is what the plugin does:

1. Any scripture references written in a blog post are automatically converted into a link when published.
2. The link contains a hidden popup with the scripture reference written out in full.
3. When you mouseover the link, the popup appears, displaying the scripture.
4. When you move your mouse away, the popup disappears.
5. (If you want the popup to stay, such as when you want to scroll longer references, click on the link.  To make it disappear, click on the “close” link.)

Below are a few examples of what this plugin can do.  The scripture references below were written out normally, without any linking or anything else done before being published.  The plugin does all of the fancy work.  Move your mouse over the references to see the popup of the scripture.  For longer references, click on the link, which will make the popup stick, and you can then scroll the reference; use the “close” link to close the popup.  (Note: This functionality only works if you are viewing the post on the website, and will not show in an email or RSS feed).

• James 1:5-6
• D&C 121:7-8
• Alma 32
• 1 Ne. 3:7, 15-16
• 1 Ne. 4:1, 5:8, 16:8

As you can see, you can string multiple references together, in different parts of the same chapter, or different chapters of the same book.  You can write out the scripture books in full, or use the standard abbreviations.  Even entire chapters are linkable.

The plugin also includes several customizable options on the administration interface:

• Customize the link hover color
• Customize the link click color (for references over 1000 characters)
• Customize the border color (IE only)
• Customize the scripture reference box background color
• Underline or not the scripture links
• Index the scripture reference text in full on Google, or not

I am very pleased with the work Steven Lloyd of DearScriptures.com has done with this plugin.  I am now using this new scripture linker plugin across all of TempleStudy.com.  It is particularly useful in posts which deal with the scriptures heavily, such as Matthew B. Brown’s excellent guest post about D&C 124.  Check out that post for a great example of this plugin in action.

I hope this plugin provides more value to you here on TempleStudy.com, and across the Bloggernacle where it’s used.  What are your thoughts about this new feature?  Any tips or suggestions?  Please tell us in the comments below.

New WordPress LDS Scripture Linker Plugin for Bloggers

FollowTheProphet.net logo, a portrait by LDS artist Ken Corbett of President Thomas S. Monson. Used with permission. KenCorbettArt.com

My brother and I are pleased to announce the launch of our latest project--the FollowTheProphet.net website!  This new website has been in design and development for the past month, and we are happy to finally be able to announce today that it is available.

FollowTheProphet.net is a website that allows members of the Church to follow the living prophet more closely.  We go from General Conference to General Conference often not hearing or knowing what the prophet is doing, saying, or teaching.  Not long ago, the activities of the prophet were much more well known among the membership of the Church.  The prophet and members lived very close geographically, and members could even meet personally with the prophet.  Today, with over 13 million members scattered worldwide, the activities of the prophet are much lesser known.  Members who don’t live in Utah may only know what the prophet is doing every six months at General Conference.

FollowTheProphet.net helps to fill that gap of knowledge.  With advances in search technology, we are able to aggregate all public information we find about where the prophet is, what he is doing, saying, teaching, visiting, etc., and post it all in one central place at FollowTheProphet.net.  Any talks or speeches he gives, we will post links to his words.  Any trips he goes on, we will post information about his visits.  Any temples he dedicates, we will inform you about the events.  Hopefully this will help you feel a closer connection with God’s living prophet, and stay up-to-date about his activities and his counsel.  We believe that in these turbulent times, we will be safe if we stay close to the living prophet of God and heed his word.

More information about the new website can be found on the About page at FollowTheProphet.net, such as the ability to “follow the prophet” via Twitter, RSS, email, or Facebook.

We are excited to bring you this new service, and hope you will enjoy it!  Please give us any tips, suggestions, or feedback that you may have that would help us improve the site.

FollowTheProphet.net website launches!

Elder Richard G. Scott

In the April General Conference earlier this year Elder Richard G. Scott spoke about the temple.  He said:

I have seen that many times individuals have made great sacrifices to go to a distant temple. But when a temple is built close by, within a short time, many do not visit it regularly.  I have a suggestion: When a temple is conveniently nearby, small things may interrupt your plans to go to the temple. Set specific goals, considering your circumstances, of when you can and will participate in temple ordinances. Then do not allow anything to interfere with that plan. This pattern will guarantee that those who live in the shadow of a temple will be as blessed as are those who plan far ahead and make a long trip to the temple.

As Elder Scott suggested, one way to succeed in attending the temple regularly is to identity those things that interfere, and either eliminate them, work around them, or correct them.

So, we come to the poll below (only visible on the website).  This poll is completely anonymous.  Feel free to explain your choices, or “other” selection, in the comments, and how you plan to overcome your interferences.

Poll – Top Things that Interfere with Regular Temple Attendance?

Ancient Israelite Temples Timeline (1300 BC--AD 100). Click on image for hi-res version.

Ancient Israelite Temples Timeline (1300 BC—AD 100) by Bryce Haymond is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. That means you can use this graphic however you please, as long as you attribute the original work to me and this website, and any derivatives must be licensed the same. See the Creative Commons link above for more details.

I am a visual learner in many ways, so sometimes I like to put things together visually so I can get a better grasp of them, and understand them more thoroughly.  The history of the ancient Israelite temples is one of those things that I wanted to learn better, so I created this timeline to help me visualize it.

The timeline shows the basic history of the ancient Israelite temples from the Tabernacle of Moses, through Solomon’s Temple (First Temple Period), the Babylonian Exile, and Zerubbabel’s and Herod’s Temples (Second Temple Period).  This spans about 1400 years.  Major temple structures are noted, as well as lesser known Israelite temples.  Major events which affected temple worship are marked and labeled, as well as other important dates.

The information on the timeline is sourced primarily from William Hamblin and David Seely’s excellent 2007 book, Solomon’s Temple: Myth and History (pages 9-49, 210).  Other information was found at various sources online.

I’m sure there are many details I’ve left out, and probably some errors.  If there are items that you think should be included (such as additional Israelite temples), please let me know.  If there are errors, please tell me those as well.  Just leave notes in the comments, and I will continually update the timeline here as I receive feedback.  Thanks!

Update (10/31/2009): I’ve updated the timeline. I’ve added some temples in the New World, including the temple in the city of Nephi, Zarahemla, and Bountiful. I’ve also added several more Old World temples including Arad, Meggido, Lachish, Beersheba, Gilgal, Ebal, Shechem, Shiloh, Kirjath-jearim, and Gibeon. Many of the dates are approximated. There are still more to add, as soon as I find more details.

Update (11/2/2009): I’ve decided to make this strictly an Old World temples timeline, so I’ve removed the few references to temples in the New World. I may make a separate timeline which compiles what we know of temples in the Book of Mormon. I’ve added some details about the ruling parties in Judea between 515 BC and AD 100. I’ve also added a visual reconstruction of what the Elephantine Temple may have looked like. Other small details have also been added.

Ancient Israelite Temples Timeline (1300 BC—AD 100)

Temple Square Panoramas

I’ve featured 360° panoramas of Temple Square before, those created by Dr. William Hamblin, but a few more can’t hurt.  And these ones are very good indeed.

Created by Martin van Hemert Photography, Inc., at Utah3D.net, these full-screen panoramas include 360° images of the plaza, the Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, the North-West corner of the temple, the Christus statue, and Christmas lights at Temple Square (between the Tabernacle and Assembly Hall).  The color and lighting are exquisite in these!  And it gives the perception of standing on the spot.  Very well done.

To navigate the panoramas, click on the image of the panorama you want to view, allow the image to load, and then click and drag on the image to look around in any direction.  You can zoom in/out with the left shift and CTRL keys, or the scroll wheel on your mouse.

And while you’re at it, check out the other Utah panoramas they’ve done.

Utah3D.net 360° Panoramas of Temple Square

[via Mormon Times via LDS Media Talk]

Excellent Panoramas of Temple Square

DearScriptures.com

I’m always looking for better ways of accessing, searching, and reading the scriptures.  They are truly the words of eternal life.  Whenever I hear of a new way of encountering the scriptures, I check it out.  DearScriptures.com is an online version of the scriptures that now allows you to text message (SMS) or instant message (IM) scripture references to it, or search for scriptures, and it will reply with the references and/or text of the scripture(s). It includes other great features as well, such as searching hymns and retrieving hymn lyrics.  And it’s all free!

DearScriptures.com is an online scripture database that allows you to “read, study, listen, annotate, take notes, search, look up a word's dictionary definition in multiple online dictionaries, and look up the Greek or Hebrew translation of nearly any word in the Old Testament or New Testament using Strong's Concordance”.

The thing that really interests me is the new powerful ability to interface with the scriptures (and hymns) through text messaging and instant messaging.  Sometimes I just need to look up a scripture quickly, I don’t have my physical scriptures with me, and if I’m by a computer, I don’t want to take the time to open up LDS.org or a scripture program or the scriptures on my iPhone.  Sometimes I just need a scripture really fast, such as when I’m emailing, or in a conversation with someone.  That’s where DearScriptures.com new features come into play.

Features

You can send a number of different commands to the service (via either text or IM), and it will respond almost instantly:

• scripture reference -- by simply sending the scripture reference, the service will respond with the verse(s) requested. Examples, “Amos 3:7″ or “Amos 3:7,10″ or “Amos 3:4-7″
• chapter reference -- sending any scripture chapter, with no verse, will return all verses in the chapter. Example, “Amos 3″
• s[earch] text -- this basically searches all the scriptures for the text following the “s”, and returns all scripture references it finds. Example, “s revealeth his secret” returns the following “Amos 3:7″
• d[efine] text -- this searches for the word following the “d” in a number of different dictionaries, and returns the definitions.  Dictionaries include The Collaborative International Dictionary of English, WordNet, Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary. Example, “d prophet”
• r[ead] text -- this searches similarly to the “s” search command above, except that it returns the references and the text of the scriptures it finds. Example, “r revealeth his secret”
• m[astery] text -- this command searches only the scripture mastery scriptures for the text after the “m”, and returns the references and text of the scriptures. Example, “m prophet”
• h[ymn] text -- you can use this a couple different ways.  Put in some text after the “h” and it will return the numbers and titles of all hymns with that text in their titles or lyrics.  Put in a number after the “h” and it will respond with all the lyrics of that hymn number.  Examples, “h prophet” returns 30 hymns with prophet in the title or lyrics, “h 19″ returns the lyrics to the hymn “We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet.”
  
• b[ug] text -- this command will send a bug notice or enhancement request to the developer, so he can fix the problem or enhance the service.
  
• h[elp] -- this will respond with a shortened version of these commands, so you don’t have to remember them.  It will also include any new commands when they are added.
  

I’ve tested sending these commands via text message and instant message, and the service works great at replying with the request in just a couple seconds.  This is certainly the fastest way I’ve ever seen to access the scriptures. No more excuses for not having a hymn book too!

One limitation with the SMS texting side of the service is the length of text message allowed.  Usually the length of a text message is limited to something like 170 characters, depending on the service used.  Any references/scriptures that are returned that are longer than this will be cut off.  The developer is planning on adding a feature to send only the top results, and allowing the user to request “more” by sending such a text back.  Google Talk seems to have the longest character limit.

Set up Instant Messaging

To set up the instant messaging, you have to be using Google Talk (or Gmail chat), MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo, or Jabber.  Just add the respective address below to your account:

• Google Talk, add the user dearscriptures@gmail.com as a friend.
• MSN Messenger, add the user im@dearscriptures.com as a friend.
• AIM, add the user dearscriptures@aim.com as a friend.
• Yahoo, add the user dearscriptures@yahoo.com as a friend.
• Jabber, add the user dearscriptures@bot.im as a friend.

Then all you have to do is send a chat message to that user, using any of the commands above, and it will reply almost instantly.

Set up Text Messaging

(Update 5/9/11: The text messaging service is no longer functioning.)

To use the service through text messaging, just send a text of any commands listed above to the phone number 206-552-8927.  It will reply with a text message in seconds.  That simple.

This is a great new service, that I think will get lots of usage.  If you like it, try out the website version too at DearScriptures.com.

What are your thoughts about the ability to look up scriptures quickly by IM or text?  Any situations you can think of in which this would be really handy?  Please share with us in the comments.

Access the Scriptures via SMS Text or Instant Message

Google Wave

Anyone who has been following this blog for some time knows that I love new technologies, and most particularly how those new technologies might be used to benefit the Church and the work of the kingdom of God on the earth.  Last week I received a nomination to the “preview” of the new Google Wave service from a friend on Twitter (thank you!).  Last night I finally received my invitation to join the service and test it out.  I quickly hopped on board and began exploring.

I’ve only used the tool for a few hours, and its only available in a very limited preview release at the moment, but I’m already wondering how this cool new technology could be used in the Church to help the work roll on.  For those who are not familiar with the service, it is being touted as the ultimate collaboration tool, an amalgam of email, instant messaging, wikis, social networking, document collaboration, picture/video sharing, and much more.  Many are still not sure what exactly its potential is, or if it will even catch on.  But from my limited encounter so far, it does seem like a powerful tool for working on things together, and I think it will be of use to many.

So the question that’s been rolling around in my head then is, how can we use Google Wave in the Church?  How could it facilitate those things we already do in the Church to make them better?  How can we harness its power to help the threefold mission of the Church accomplish its ends in a quicker, easier, or simpler way? 

The introductory material in Google Wave gives some use case scenarios of when you might use Google Wave.  I’ve included the main points below with some thoughts about how each could be used in the Church:

• Organizing Events – heaven knows that members of the Church love having events: BBQs, ward breakfasts, luaus, scout camps, Christmas parties, primary activities, Relief Society meetings (formerly “Enrichment”), sports activities, holiday get togethers, firesides, reunions, etc.  Sometimes, however, organizing such events can be a big headache, especially for the activity coordinators in the ward.  Might Google Wave be a way for everyone to hop online and bust out ideas, brainstorms, organization, menus, RSVPs, maps, program, etc.?
• Meeting Notes – if we love our events, we also love our meetings, right?  Well, maybe not all the time.  Sometimes we have meetings just to say we have meetings, and they don’t get anywhere very fast.  If they do get a lot discussed, it is almost all forgotten the next day.  From quorum presidencies, relief society presidencies, committee meetings, PEC, ward council, bishopric meetings, home teaching coordination meetings, and the list goes on.  Could Google Wave be used to prepare an agenda, keep notes among all participants, record assignments and decisions, and follow up with each other after the fact?
• Group Reports and Writing Projects – “Return and report” is a well used expression in the Church, one in which we go do our duty, and then report back to our priesthood leaders the result.  We also like to write histories, journals, family genealogies and summaries of ward activities, stake activities, personal activities, quorum activities, family activities, and personal activities.  Might Google Wave be a tool in which all those who participate in such activities or duties could collaborate together on such reports or projects to produce a history much stronger than one could alone?
• Brainstorming – I must say, one of the most brainstorming intensive times of my week is when I’m in a Church meeting, or in a meeting that is Church-related, trying to come up with ideas:  ideas for lessons, ideas for activities, ideas for answers to Gospel questions, ideas for how to be a better person, ideas for family activities, ideas for bringing the Gospel into my home, ideas for talks, ideas for fellowshipping or missionary work, etc.  We do a lot of brainstorming in the Church, trying to come up with the best ways of being most effective and conscientious disciples.  Could Google Wave could bring together like-minded members to do a brain dump of creative ideas?
• Photo Sharing – Latter-day Saints love to share photos!  We take photos and pass them around for scout camps or girl’s camps, ward activities, youth conferences, Fathers and Sons outings, or even things more practical like ward or quorum photo directories, or teaching visual aides.  Might Google Wave be an optimal place for everyone to get together to drop their photos for an activity to share them with each other, and easily create a group album and slideshow?

These are just some of the things I’ve been pondering about since I first heard about the potential of Google Wave.  We don’t know everything that Google Wave can do yet, and it has ability to be added to quite significantly with gadgets and extensions, but if this technology really takes off like many say it will, the Church and its members will surely find uses for it to help them in their responsibilities and studies.

What are some ideas you have for how Google Wave might be used in the Church, and for the building up of Zion?  And just to get the waving started, if you already have Google Wave, I’ve embedded a wave directly below for discussion of this topic which you can use to add your thoughts right here! (You’ll need to be logged in to Google Wave to see it.)  If you don’t have Google Wave, you’ll just see a message below that says you cannot yet access Google Wave, but feel free to leave your comments in the blog comment area further below, like normal.

I’m anxious to hear your thoughts!  Any way we could use this technology in temple work?

[wave id="googlewave.com!w+h2fvBN8CC" color="#000000" bgcolor="#ffffff" font="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" font_size="10" width="625px" height="700px"]

Using Google Wave in the LDS Church