Layne's Lunch

 Layne's Green Lizard Sauce Ingredients  About a dozen (depending on size) Green Jalapeños seeded and chopped 4-6 cloves of garlic (peeled) 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1 cup filtered water 3 Tbsp Sugar 1 Tbsp salt 1/4 tsp xanthan gum powder Instructions: Day 1 Cut up and remove seeds from peppers. Place the peppers and the garlic cloves in a 1 quart glass jar. They should be tightly packed Place the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a bowl and stir until it is dissolved Pour the liquid into the quart jar until it covers the peppers and garlic. Add additional water if needed to cover the peppers Place a lid on the jar and let it sit in the refrigerator for 2-6 weeks. Several Weeks Later Pour the contents of the jar through a fine strainer. Pick out the peppers and garlic, leaving the seeds in the strainer. Save the strained liquid. Place the following in a high speed blender Peppers and garlic 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 2 cups of the strained liquid. Up to one cup water Blend at h...

I have been writing in a journal for many years. The other day someone saw me writing in my journal and asked me about my "system".  Here is the current iteration of what I do. At first glance, it may look like my journal is a paper-based planner, but it is not.  A planner is for what you are planning to do.  My journal is for things that have already happened.    Normally (for most other life changes) I would suggest you get started right now and then adjust your trajectory once you are moving forward.   However, in this case, I recommend you get the right equipment first.  It will be a much better experience. Step 1: Get a good pen. Yes, this is a bit geeky, but if you don't like your writing instrument then you will be less likely to pick it up and use it. I have a lot of nice pens that get cycled around based on how I am feeling so I don't have one favorite.  Get a pen that feels good in your hand and writes smoothly.  I pre...

Recently I had a nephew ask me a question about the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon. He was concerned that he wasn’t getting much out of the Isaiah chapters and wanted to know if I had any advice. I gave him some of the standard answers like getting a commentary to help and looking for the symbolism, but he didn't seem to be satisfied by my answer.  The next day during my morning scripture study I re-read 2 Nephi Chapter 25 and had a bit of an epiphany. I came to the conclusion that the key to understanding the "Isaiah chapters" is contained in Chapter 25. Nephi explained why he included these chapters in the Book of Mormon. Carefully reading chapter 25 and outlining why Nephi said he included these chapters provides a study template  as you re-read the previous chapters. Looking at these chapters through the Nephi's eyes will open our own eyes to what is contained in the books of Isaiah. In order to fully understand what Nephi was trying to say, a person ...

We are beginning a new era of ministering and many of us are asking questions like, "What does that mean to me?" or "What am I supposed to do?"  As we re-evaluate our individual ministering efforts we learn that more appropriate questions might be, "What challenges do my neighbors have? How are they feeling? What are they struggling with? Is it possible for us to shift our focus from what should "I" be doing, to a what "they" need?  In the April General Conference, President Nelson said: "A hallmark of the Lord’s true and living Church will always be an organized, directed effort to minister to individual children of God and their families. Because it is His Church, we as His servants will minister to the one, just as He did. We will minister in His name, with His power and authority, and with His loving-kindness." (Russell M Nelson, "Ministering with the Power and Authority of God", April 2018 LDS General Conference...

As I listened to the baptismal prayer recently, a thought came to me.  What does it mean to be commissioned of Jesus Christ?   "Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." (D&C 20:73).   Many years ago I received my commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Air force. I knew that my commission appointed me to my rank, gave me authority to perform certain duties, and officially charged me to function in that rank.  The Oath of Office is recited upon commissioning and is administered by a higher-ranking officer who will raise his or her right hand and recites the Oath of office aloud while the officer taking the oath repeats the words.  That oath states:   “I [state your full name], having been appointed a (rank) in the United States Air Force, do solemnly swear  that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enem...

At the end of Chapter 6 in  Preach My Gospel , there is a self assessment to help you understand how you are developing Christ-like attributes.  During a recent priesthood leadership meeting our stake president asked us to each take the self assessment and identify an attribute we could work on.  The statements in the self assessment in Preach My gospel say this: I feel a sincere desire for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people. (Mosiah 28:3) When I pray, I ask for charity—the pure love of Christ. (Moroni 7:47–48) I try to understand others’ feelings and see their point of view. (Jude 1:22) I forgive others who have offended or wronged me. (Ephesians 4:32) I try to help others when they are struggling or discouraged. (Mosiah 18:9) When appropriate, I tell others that I love them and care about them. (Luke 7:12–15) I look for opportunities to serve other people. (Mosiah 2:17) I say positive things about others. (D&C 42:27) I am kind and patient w...

The other day I had the opportunity to sit and ponder on a profound question.  I asked myself, "What do you want?”.  It caused me to think about what I am praying for.  We often pray to have some trial or stress removed from our life.  We pray for peace and protection so we can avoid the challenges that might come to us.  These are worthy things to pray for.  (see Alma 34:218-27).  But do our prayers really match the desires of our hearts.  What is the greatest desire of your heart? What do you really want?   There is a great story in the 8th chapter of the Book of Ether about Jared.  Now this isn’t the Jared that has a brother and was at the tower of Babel when the languages were confounded.  This is another Jared.  This is the Jared with the dancing daughter.  As you recall, Jared was forced to give up his kingdom in order to save his own life. Then you find this profound statement:    'And now Jared b...

As I re-read Elder Eyring's April 2017 general conference talk I came across this little gem.   ". . . the Lord’s work is not just to solve problems; it is to build people. So as you walk with Him in priesthood service, you may find that sometimes what seems like the most efficient solution is not the Lord’s preferred solution because it does not allow people to grow." (Henry B. Eyring, "Walk with Me", April 2017 LDS General Conference)  This statement reminded me of a quote by Stephen R. Covey that I heard a long time ago.  He said.   “You think effectiveness with people and efficiency with things.” — Stephen R. Covey Remember the story in Exodus 18:12-26.  Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, gives Moses some wise council on effective leadership.  The problem was that Moses was spending his entire day sitting as the judge of the people.  Jethro pointed out to him that "The thing that thou doest is not good." (Exodus 18:17). ...

Many people can relate to Amulek, one of the lesser known people in the Book of Mormon.  After Amulek joined Alma in preaching the gospel to the people of Ammonihah he shared his conversion story with the people and made this profound statement.  "...for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart," (Alma 10:6) When I read the portion of this verse that stated "I would not hear", I immediately thought of a similar scripture in Matthew 11:15 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 11:15) This commandment to "Let him hear" is interesting in light of the discussion in the 121st section of the Doctrine and Covenants starting in verse 34.   Many are called but few are chosen.   Why?  Because of their hearts.   What's wrong with their hearts? ...

When Abinadi was calling King Noah and his priests to repentance he made an profound statement.  11 And now I read unto you the remainder of the commandments of God, for I perceive that they are not written in your hearts; I perceive that ye have studied and taught iniquity the most part of your lives. (Mosiah 13:11) This raises two questions: - What do you have written in your heart? - What do you study?  We have difficulty remembering the words of the Lord.  That is why we are told to read the scriptures every day.  What we read, watch, and listen to goes into our spirit and into our hearts the same way that the food we eat affects our physical body.  This is why it is important that we study the best books.  If you study iniquity and teach iniquity, then iniquity will be written in your heart.  The same goes for what you watch and listen to. Remember these words:  7 And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another w...

I'm always on the lookout for a new and tasty warm beverage.  I'm not a big chocolate milk fan (because of the milk and the sugar.)  I'm more into things like  Postum ,  Pero , and  fruity herbal teas . Knowing my quest for tasty beverages to warm up on a cold winter's night, my sister suggested I try  Crio Bru .  So I gave it a go. It is a bit more labor intensive that simply heating up some water and stirring in a scoop of powder, but it isn't that difficult.  Here is the method that I have developed over the last year. First you need a way to heat some water to boiling.  For most people their appliance of choice is to use the microwave.  However, I like to take a bit more European approach.  I love our electric tea kettle and I use it a lot.  It is so simple.  Water in, push button, dump boiling water out.  There are dozens of electric tea kettles on the market and they are not that expensive. The second it...

A scripture speaking about the prophet Nephi in the Book of Helaman contains an interesting phrase the we often skip over.   In verse 11 of chapter 10, the Lord commanded Nephi to go and cry repentance to the people.  His response in verse 12 is very instructive.  See if you can pick it out.    12 And behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop and did not go unto his own house, but did return unto the multitudes who were scattered about upon the face of the land, and began to declare unto them the word of the Lord which had been spoken unto him, concerning their destruction if they did not repent.  (Helaman 10:12) Note the phrase "he did stop and did not go unto is own house, but did return".  We often quote the "go and do" scripture (1 Nephi 3:7) as an example of obedience, but this one gives an additional perspective on a new level of obedience.  He immediately stopped what he was doing...

I had the unfortunate opportunity to be in Times Square in New York City on Black Friday 2017.  The details of why I found myself in that crush of people are not important other than to say I had to give up some of my agency to be there.  As I looked around and saw the sea bodies a thought came to my mind that is captured in 3 Nephi 18:31. ". . . I know my sheep, and they are numbered" I have come to know through personal experience with the Spirit that I am known of Him, but as I struggled through the press of people I couldn't help but wonder if he can really know the millions of people on this earth?  How is that possible? As I looked through the cross references for the scripture in 3 Nephi, I re-read John 10:14: "I am the good Shepard, and know my sheep, and am known of mine" This scripture gives us additional confidence that he knows his sheep, but the second part of the scripture causes me to ponder the questions, Do I know Him?.  He he said t...

Here are a few of my favorite quotes about reading the Book of Mormon. We live in a time of great trouble and wickedness. What will protect us from the sin and evil so prevalent in the world today? I maintain that a strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of His gospel will help see us through to safety. If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please do so. If you will read it prayerfully and with a sincere desire to know the truth, the Holy Ghost will manifest its truth to you. (Thomas S. Monson, "The Power of the Book of Mormon", April 2017 LDS General Conference) Last April, President Thomas S. Monson gave a message that stirred hearts across the world, including mine. He spoke of the power of the Book of Mormon. He urged us to study, ponder, and apply its teachings. He promised that if we dedicated time each day to studying and pondering and kept the commandments the Book of Mormon contains, we would have a vital testimony of its truth, and ...

Project Planning and executing.  Why is it so difficult?  To answer this question I went back to my Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) from the Project Management Institute and looked at the process group interaction diagram.  Wow!  If anyone looked at this they would immediately get discouraged.   Have we made it unnecessarily complicated?   This week I have been re-reading the updated edition of David Allen's "Getting Things Done".  It is a fantastic book and I would commend it to anyone.   David Allen’s natural planning model is fairly simple.  It contains 5 steps.   Define purpose and principles  Outcome visioning Brainstorming  Organizing Identifying next actions As I reviewed it again, I started thinking about my own project model.  It took me a few minutes to think through it and capture the essence of it, but here it is, along with a bit of explanation about...

Why isn't there a Blue Zone in Utah? This question has been on my mind for over a year.  Ever since I heard about Blue Zones I have been wondering why some small town in Utah didn't make the list.  But first , what is a blue zone? Blue Zones  is a concept used to identify a demographic and/or geographic area of the world where people live measurably longer lives. The concept grew out of demographic work done by Gianni Pes and Michel Poulin. The five regions identified and discussed by Buettner in the book  The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest : Sardinia ,  Italy  (particularly  Nuoro province  and  Ogliastra ): one team of demographers found a hot spot of longevity in mountain villages where an amazing proportion of men reach the age of 100 years. The islands of  Okinawa ,  Japan : another team examined a group that is among the longest-lived on Earth. Loma Linda, California...

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about using the highlight feature in the gospel library app to differentiate between gospel topics. Why do we highlight in the first place?  The answer is simple.  It comes from the day when most people used paper scriptures.  They used colors and highlights to help you find scriptures.  Most of us do not have the time or the capacity to memorize the references for hundreds of scriptures so we relied on the our memory to get us close.  For example, the scripture about the natural man being an enemy to God, in my mind is not in Mosiah 3:19, but it is located in the first few chapters of Mosiah on the right hand page in the right column toward the top.  So, to find it I would simply flip through the first few chapters of the Book of Mosiah until I locate the highlights that I made on Mosiah 3:19.   This system served me well until we all started using electronic scriptures.  Now there are no pages or columns....

I am kind of a notebook junkie.  See my blog post on notebooks . I have been keeping a notebook-based journal for many years, but recently I listened to a pod cast that suggested some ideas for an electronic journal.  While I'm not ready to make the switch completely, I do believe there are some benefits to journaling electronically. Initially I came up with some ideas that might help make an electronic journal successful. Create a template that you can replicate on each day. Choose a method that will allow you to add to your journal with your phone, tablet, and desktop computer.  Have brief journal sessions throughout the day.  Do it as inspiration strikes you.    I did a search for some ideas on how to do an electronic journal and there are dozens of ideas out there.  My paper journal was turning into basically a daily log, Occasionally I would put down some thoughts and ideas, but mostly is was a list of the things I did.  I though...

I want an amazing Burrito de Vegetales. Unfortunately after multiple attempts to find one, I am still looking. I have found that there are only two types of veggie burritos.   1. The food torpedo. Go in any of the fast casual Mexican food places and you can have them wrap up some beans, rice, pico, and perhaps some sautéed veggies in a tortilla with beans and rice.  These are not too bad for a quick lunch, but they are not amazing.  2. The food blob.  Go to your typically Mexican restaurant and they will take a big flour tortilla fill it with some fajita veggies, throw on some sauce and cheese.  Then add a couple of sides of completely unremarkable rice and re-fried pinto beans and call it a veggie burrito. Basically they no idea what to do when someone orders a veggie burrito other than take the meat out of their fajita burrito and call it a veggie burrito.  I'm hoping one day I can find a chef that will scrape the mediocre off the pla...

One of my goals for this quarter is to find and take a name to the temple to do their temple ordinances. Over the past couple of years I have been a bit frustrated because it is getting harder to find people in my family tree who do not have their ordinances done. With so many people in my family working on it, I have found it difficult to find work that needs done. Hence my low goal of simply finding one person who needs ordinances done. Yesterday I had the thought to try again, so I did a search my family tree using Take a Name . It took the app about most of the day and into the night to search through the 63,494 names in my family tree, but it returned 20 people's names who needed 63 ordinances done. This is fantastic! We all understand I now need to go in and validate each one of these 20 people to make sure they are not duplicates. There is still much work to do, but I haven't had these kinds of results in quite a while. Most of the time I have seen a...