I've actually accomplished quite a bit since I last posted!

First, I finished reading all the Book of Mormon chapter headings in one Sunday afternoon. All together, it took less than 2 hrs. And I noticed for the first time that in the chapter where Lehi dies, Nephi spends quite a few verses writing how blessed he is. I'm not sure gratitude will be my primary emotion when my father passes away. And maybe it wasn't his primary emotion, either, but it's amazing to me to see those two things in the same chapter.

Second, I've started speed reading the Book of Mormon. It will take me more than a month at the rate I'm going, but I'm still cruising along and quite pleased with my progress.

Third, I'm also speed-reading Jesus the Christ. This is one of those heavy, thick-enough-to-absorb-a-bullet books that generally decorates rather than instructs. Wordy doesn't begin to describe it! But I'm reading it and, yes, disagreeing strongly with a point in the last chapter I read. Are you curious about what I disagree with? Don't think so because this blog has no readers, but here goes:

The author asserts that Eve was deceived by the serpent, but Adam wasn't deceived--that he partook of the fruit because he realized the disparity of their situations and "with some measure of understanding followed her course." Quoting the apostle Paul, "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

Just a few feminist comments to make about this topic, in increasing order of importance. :)

1. Adam is referred to by name, but Eve is called "the woman"? It reminds me of someone I know, not far from my own age, who refers to me and the other women in the office as "the girls." Yeah, don't really appreciate it. Yes, this is petty, but that's the mood I'm in.
2. I have a lot of respect for Paul as an apostle, but this is the same man who said women should not speak in church. I'm assuming this is a cultural thing, because my bishop certainly expects me to speak in church!
3. In the temple, we learn that Eve was not deceived. And that is the final word of the matter, amen.

As a side note, there have have been a few comments--yes, very few--made by apostles that I disagree with. One I don't remember the specifics on, but it involved an apostle decades ago who disparaged the concept of evolution. Evolution takes place. That's all there is to it. Now the idea that we descended from primates may or may not be true, but evolution as a whole principle is true. And yes, dinosaur bones do exist. And so do skeletons of sort-of-human humans. My philosophy is that God is the Ultimate Scientist and whatever science uncovers is the work of God. Also, the story in Genesis was recorded by a right-brained (artistic) society. The creation story in the book of Abraham came to us through the Egyptians (left-brained, scientific) has some striking differences. I'll expound on this more later, but suffice it to say that audiences understand and record the same information differently based on their background and culture.

Another comment I disagree with is (again, conveniently, I forgot who said it) that people were born the gender they were meant to be because "God doesn't make mistakes." There a number of things I disagree with. First, people are born with deformities all the time. Are we to assume gender is never something that goes wrong. Having taken a number of genetics classes, this is a naive assumption. First, some people, called hermaphrodites, have both sets of genetalia. Which gender are they? Second, some women have XY chromosomes, because although the are genetically male, they lack a testerone receptor that can't "read" the testosterone running in their system. All humans default to the female gender if larger amounts of male hormones aren't present, so males (genetically male, with XY chromosomes) lacking a testosterone receptor will be physically female. Which gender are they? Also, there are XX males. Several years ago, a couple couldn't get pregnant. This is usually a fertility problem with the woman, but nothing was wrong with her. So the man was tested, and he had zero sperm. He got a karyotype (picture of his chromosomes) and it was found that he was genetically female (XX). A tiny part of the Y chromosome had broken off and attached to one of the X chromosomes. It was enough to get the male hormones flowing, so he is outwardly male. Is this person male or female?

In addition, I know a young man who is the most feminine person I have ever met. I would love to get him genetically tested. I have a hard time believing he was meant to be male.

Religion aside and gender issues aside, I also went to Antelope Island for the first time! That place is covered with huge big black giant man-eating spiders! Okay, I didn't actually see them eat any men, but I didn't see many men either so I believe I can reasonably deduct that the spiders must have eaten them. (I call this make-up-your-own-logic-and-see-if-you-can-get-people-to-believe-it. This is the most popular type of logic used in conversation and media today.)

More later, but I had a really great time. I went with my friend whom we shall call Apple. She's quite educated, and she motivates me to better myself. I love that! She owns the original set of Great Books of the Western World and now I'm wanting to read them myself. Whodathunkit?