Organized LDS Family

Organized LDS Family is a neat little site full of Excel spreadsheets and check lists to keep LDS families organized. They have templates for budgets, Scout tracking, and 72 hour kits. They have section dedicated to mission preparation that includes a list of things a missionary should do from the time he gets his call until the time he enters the MTC.

Thanks to Shannon for the link!

LDS RSS Feeds

Here's a page with a nice list of different LDS RSS feeds you can subscribe to. It includes feeds from lds.org, lds.org News Room, BYU Speeches, and much more. It has links for Feedburner, MyYahoo!, Google Reader, Bloglines, Newsgator, and MyFeedster.

For those of you who don't know what RSS feeds are, it stands for Real Simple Syndication. It allows people who subscribe to a site's RSS feed to find out when the site has been updated without ever visiting the site. It makes keeping track of blogs and news much easier.

In order to take advantage of RSS feeds, you'll need to subsribe to an RSS feed service. My favorites are Bloglines and Google Reader. Subscription is free. After you sign up, all you have to do is type in the websites you want to get updates on, or you can just click on the button at LDS RSS feeds of your respective feed aggregator. After you sign up, all you have to do is visit a single page (your feed aggregator) to read all the new posts from your favorite blogs and news sources.

Sign up with these RSS feeds to stay up to date with Church News.

About LDS

About LDS offers members and non-members useful information about the Church. Rachel Woods, the LDS About guide, does a bang up job of organizing and presenting information about living the gospel. She's divided the page into several sections, including Beliefs and Doctrines, Family and Family Home Evening, and Scriptures. My favorites so far are the sections on scriptures and missions. They're full of awesome tips.

If you're interested in learning more about the Church or are looking for some great tips on making the gospel more fulfilling in your life, lAbout LDS is a great place to check.

LDS Webguy

LDSWeb Guy is a blog by the director of internet cordination group for the Church. Basically, he's in charge of all the stuff the church does on the internet, like lds.org.

His blog is pretty interesting. He keeps members up to date about what the Church is doing on the net, as well as what other members are doing. He also post on general technology topics.

The Golden Plates Comic Book

My wife got me the first volume The Golden Plates for my birthday last week. It's the story of the sword of Laban and the Tree of Life put into comic book format. Michael Allred is the creator. He's famous for his Madman comic series.

Michael did a surprisingly good job incorporating the story of Lehi into a comic book. The text of the comic is basically verbatim from the Book of Mormon. The illustrations are amazing. They're not cheesy or over the top.

I think this would be the perfect gift idea for a young person who's not that interested in reading the scriptures. I think the new format could help spark an interest in the scriptures for someone in whom it is lacking. Brother Allred has taken something that is usally seen as dull and turned it into something hip and exciting while maintaining respect for the scriptures.

You can find The Golden Plates on Amazon.com. Price is about $6.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all are having a delightful holiday. The celebration is beginning early for me because today is my birthday. So I'll be signing off until Tuesday. Until then, have a very Merry Christmas.

Put holiday gifts in a laundry basket

Over at Parent Hacks they have a great post on keeping things somewhat organized among the chaos of Christmas morning. They suggest giving each member in the family a basket so they can put their stuff in it after they open their presents. That way nothing gets lost and clean up is a breeze.

Scripture Mastery MP3

At the CES website, they have all the scripture masteries on MP3 for free. If you're more of an audio learner, this is a great idea for memorizing. Download them and put them in your play list today.

How to answer tough questions about the Church

Why did Joseph Smith look into a hat to translate the Book of Mormon? What's with that blood atonement thing? Why did your church not give blacks the priesthood for so long? Why did Joseph Smith have 43 wives? What's up with that book Mormon Doctrine? Is it really "mormon doctrine"?

At one time or another, I'm sure many of us have been asked tough questions by our non-member friends about the Church. And I'm sure many times members don't have the answers to these questions. As a consequence of the lack of answers, non-members go to the internet to find them on their own, only to find sites that give an anti-Mormon spin to these questions.

Thankfully, there are several Church friendly sites out there that can serve as resources to help give members and non-members answers to tough questions about the Church or the gospel. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Jeff Lindsay- he's a member that has done some outstanding work in the field of Mormon apologetics. He has some great stuff about Book of Mormon evidences. His site really helped my wife out as a new convert when she was having doubts about the Church.
  
• FAIR LDS- FAIR is a group of LDS scholars who dedicate themselves to responding to anti-Mormon attacks. They're topical guide runs the gauntlet of tough issues like the historicity of the Book of Mormon, the evolution of the temple ceremony, and early LDS history.
• By Common Consent- this is a group LDS blog that covers a variety of aspects about Mormonism. However, it's a great resource to find out answers to tough historical and doctrinal questions. J. Stapley, has done some great posts (footnotes included) about early Church history. Yes, the early members had some odd beliefs (like Brigham Young's blood atonement or his belief that little men that looked like Quakers lived on the moon), however, Stapley has done a great job putting these ideas into the historical and cultural context of the early member's time. As a result, it doesn't seem so odd. Kevin Barney is an attorney who moonlights as an ancient studies guru. The guy knows like five different ancient languages. He has some great posts in which he uses his knowledge of ancient texts to give some great insights to the scriptures. (If you click on J's and Kevin's names it will take you to a list of all their posts)
• Mormon Monestary - this is done by a member who has studied Near Eastern languages and history. Like Keven Barney from By Common Consent, the Monk uses his knowledge from the history of the ancient Middle East to give some great insights to LDS doctrine. He has also put together an amazing list of articles and resources that members can use to help explain temple worship to those who are preparing to go for the first time or for non-members who may have questions.
  
• FARMS- FARMS stands for the Foundation of Ancient Research and Mormon Studies. I guess you would say it's the "official" Church apologetic organization seeing that it is sponsored by BYU. They have some great papers from several scholars covering a wide variety of topics. It's a great resource for those tough questions.

There's a site out there called Ask Gramps. It's done by a member who is an ex-mission president. People can submit any question relating to the gospel and Gramps will answer it. While he means well, I wouldn't use it as your main resource to help answer tough questions. His answers are often pretty speculative and sometimes completely wrong. For example, when asked about Joseph Smith using seer stones in a hat as part of the translation of the Book of Mormon, Gramps denied it ever happened despite the fact that we have journal entries from those involved in the translation process that said that's how Joseph Smith did it. Even Elder Nelson in a talk in the Ensign discusses that this was ONE (emphasis on one. The Urim and Thumim was used as well) that Joesph used to translate the plates. (If that seems odd to you, check out the resources above for some great explanation about the translation process).

Additionally, there are several books out there that do a great job in helping members out with those tough Church question. I'll be posting on those later.

Missionary Hack: Mesh garments for baptizing

All you future missionaries, listen up. While you're on your mission, you'll be doing some baptizing. (Duh.) After you perform the ordinance, you're left with a bunch of sopping wet clothes that can get messy. (Duh again.) In order to mitigate the mess, have a pair of mesh garments so you can baptize in them.

While I'm not a big fan of the mesh material, I wish I would have known this while I was on my mission. Wet clothes can get heavy, and when you don't have a car, carrying a big bag of wet clothes can get tiring. So help yourself out by getting a pair of mesh garments today.

DIY: Emergency Kit

Our leaders have counseled us to have 72 hour kits on hand in case an emergency happens. You can buy these from different companies, but they often cost a pretty penny. Additionally, they don't seem that great. We're going to show you how to make your own.

1. Get some big plastic paint buckets. Not only are they great for carrying your provisions, but they can double as a chair if needed.
2. Collect you provisions. We suggest the following:
• Flashlight
• First Aid Kit
• A mess kit for cooking
• A flare
• Ponchos
• Tolietries (deoderant, soap, toothpaste, sunblock, female hygene products, ect.)
• Matches
• Food
• Ramen noodles
• tuna fish
• beef jerky
• canned fruit cups
• nuts
• trail mix
• instant oat meal.
• peanut butter
3. Put the food in plastic bags.
4. Place provisions in buckets.

Scripture Tag

Scripture Tag is a neat social bookmarking site (think Flickr or del.icio.us) for the scriptures. The creator put the entire standard works on-line. Users then can then go in, find a particular scripture and place a "tag" (a word that they associate with that scripture) for others to see.

Here are some screen shots, so you get an idea how it works.



Notice the tags to the right. It's interesting to see what ideas people associate with different scriptures. With 1 Nephi:1 people have tagged it with parents, teaching, and language.You can also use the tag cloud to see what scriptures people associate with different scriptures. When you click on atonement, you'll get all the scriptures that people have put that tag on.



Check them out today.

Use Facebook to share the gospel

Most young people have a Facebook account. It allows people to stay connected know what's going on in other people's lives. I think it's a valuable social tool that can be used for good. Unfortuantely, most people use it to share drunken photos of them selves. More Good Foundation suggests using it to share the gospel. Today, we hope to give you some ideas how you can.

1. Under religious views put "Latter Day Saint- Christian
2. Under websites put links to Mormon.org, lds.org, or to other LDS blogs
3. In your photo album put pictures of a recent Church activity or temple trip
4. Under quotes put your favorite scripture or quote from a leader
5. Join LDS groups on Facebook and invite your non-member friends to join as well
   

These may be small steps, but every little bit helps when preaching the gospel.

Missionary tag Christmas tree ornament

Most return missionaries have old name tags sitting around doing nothing. Why not put them to good use by making a tree ornament out if it. It's simple and it's a nice way to remember an important part of your life.

Just get some ribbon, slide it in the name tag, tie it in a bow, and whola- instant Christmas tree ornament.

Hipster PDA

With the new year coming, many people are considering buying a new planner/agenda. Others are thinking about forking over a couple of hundred bucks for PDA they will never use.

This year, instead of buying a traditional agenda/planner/PDA, I suggest going with the hipster PDA. What is a Hipster PDA (hPDA)? 43 Folders described it as:

a fully extensible system for coordinating incoming and outgoing data for any aspect of your life and work. It scales brilliantly, degrades gracefully, supports optional categories and “beaming,” and is configurable to an unlimited number of options. Best of all, the Hipster PDA fits into your hip pocket and costs practically nothing to purchase and maintain.

The reason why a hPDA costs practically nothing is because you make it yourself. Here's how you do it.

1. get a bunch of 3"x5" file cards
2. clip them together with a binder clip
3. there is no step 3

What's great about the hPDA is that you can arrange it anyway you want. You can have cards for to-do lists, a calendar card, a card to count calories, and a card with contact numbers. If Getting Things Done is your thing, over at DIY planner, they've created templates for GTD hipster PDA.

Here are some examples of different hPDA's.






If you go to the tag "Hipster PDA" at Flickr.com, you'll find tons of photos of different hPDA's.

We'll be posting templates that will hopefully be useful to members of the Church. So stay tuned. Until then, get some index cards and a clip, and start your hipster PDA today.

Getting Things Done

GTD Setup
Originally uploaded by Mormon Hacker.

My wife and I recently discovered, Getting Things Done by David Allen. We've decide to implement his system into our lives. We just started, but so far we're happy with the results.

GTD is about collecting the stuff that fills our lives and putting it in a system that allows stuff to get done quickly and effectively. Instead of having to remember all the stuff you have to do, my wife and I just write it down on a note card. If we can do the action quickly we do it. If we can't we file it for later.

There are several sites dedicated to GTD. It's kind of become a sub culture among hipsters and geeks. 43 Folders is a great site for all things GTD.

With all the stuff members have going on in their lives (home teaching, work, callings, family stuff, ect.) GTD is something that I think can help members out a lot.

Click on the image above. It will take you to my photo album of my wife and I's GTD setup.

Use Gmail in your scripture study

Yesterday, we posted on how you can use Gmail for journal keeping. Another great way to use gmail is keep track of your thoughts while reading the scriptures. Using Gmail's awesome category system, you can create a category for different principles such as faith, charity, obedience, ect. When ever you read a scripture with that principle, you can make a gmail entry under that category. Put the scripture reference under Subject. Now, when you're preparing a talk you can bring up scriptures, along with person insights, that you can use.

1. Set up your labels. Click on settings and then create labels. Some ideas include faith, Christ, Plan of Salvation, Baptism
   
2. Read your scriptures.
3. When you find a passage that is related to one of your labels, compose a new message to yourself.
4. Put the scripture reference in the subject line. Type your insight on that scripture in the main message box
   
5. Send the email.
6. Give the scripture the appropriate labels.
7. In order to keep your in box clear, you can archive your scripture messages.

I'm sure you can also use Gmail's filter system to automate this even more. I'll work on a bit more to see what I can come up with.

LDSTeach

I stumbled upon LDSTeach today. It provides resources for home and visiting teaching. I'm going to be honest. I'm not a big fan of home teaching. Like most people I'm busy. Home teaching can suck up your time. You have to co-ordinate schedules not only with your partner, but also with your families that you teach. Then you have prepare a lesson. After that there's the visit. Most H/T's intend on only staying just a few minutes, but then somehow you get sucked in for an hour. Then you have to make your reports. The reporting part can be especially time consuming if your the home teaching or visiting teacher coordinator. People hardly ever call to make their reports, so you have to call them.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of home teaching. I think it really teaches members to be selfless and it can really change the lives of members who need it. I just think we often don't take full advantage of it. Also, I know that lots of members have a hard time home teaching or don't like doing it for a variety of reasons. (They're shy, they don't think they're good teachers, they're too bust, ect.)

I think LDSTeach has some great ideas to make home and visiting teaching much more easier and much more effective. If home teaching has been your weak spot, check them out today.

Modified Tie Rack

Over at Instructables, there's a post on a cool modified tie rack.

I wish I knew about this when I was on my mission. I just hung my ties on a single hanger. The result was that they all were ruined. For all you soon to be missionaries, this is a great idea. Keep it in mind as you get all your stuff together for you mission.

Use Gmail as a journal

We're supposed to keep a journal. That's what the prophets both anciently and today have said. People have different preferences: some like the feel of pen and paper, others like to do it digitally. If you're one of the latter types of people, then you might enjoy this post from Lifehacker on how to use your Gmail account as a journal. With Gmail's categorizing system, you can create labels for different entries. You can have a label for blessings, work, family, ect. Thus, if you just wanted to read certain types of entries, with a just a click you can.

Mormon Hacker Manifesto

During last General Conference, Elder Ballard gave a great talk on simplifying and being innovative in our church responsibilities. This is what Mormon Hacker is all about. Thus, "O Be Wise," is officially the Mormon Hacker Manifesto.

In his talk, Elder Ballard warns about people putting too much emphasis on the programs of the Church, and not on the people. Members often "complicate their service with needless frills and embellishments that occupy too much time, cost too much money, and sap too much energy."

He gave six points which, if we as members focus on, can make church much easier and much more enjoyable.

1. Focus on people and principles—not on programs.
2. Be innovative.
3. Divide the work and delegate responsibility.
4. Eliminate guilt.
5. We need to thoughtfully allocate our resources of time, income, and energy.
6. Give callings that help members grow in the church, not ones that overwhelm them.

These six points will be the guiding principles of Mormon Hacker, especially #2 and #5. Check out the full text of Elder Ballard's talk here.

Welcome to Mormon Hacker

Welcome to Mormon Hacker.

This blog was inspired by Lifehacker, a site dedicated to bringing people tips, tricks, and ideas to make their lives easier and more simple. My wife and I are HUGE fans of the site.

We started talking about how Mormons need something like this. For years our leaders have admonished us to make our lives more simple. Yet, it seems like the general membership has not gotten the message. People complain because the gospel is a burden or that they aren't getting much out. We think the problem stems from the lack of knowledge on how to maximize the resources we have right in front of us.

This is where Mormon Hacker comes in.

Each day, we'll bring you Mormon Hacks: shortcuts on how to utilize the internet, computers, as well as other resources in order to make living the gospel-from food storage to home teaching, from frugal living to planning lessons-more fun, easy, and fulfilling. We hope you enjoy.