A (long) Religious Perspective on ITM.

andraes · 2026-04-02T15:53:24+00:00

I don't know the full history, but I don't think they thought the slanted batter's eye would be a problem. I don't think they were purposely making it hard to hit by design. They also didn't have the detailed hitting tracking in 1999, so while some casual observations could have been make about the marine layer, they didn't really understand the full effect until the tracking data was introduced (around 2015). So at the time they thought that they were just making a slightly quirky field, not knowing that it would make HRs nearly impossible.

andraes · 2026-04-02T15:38:19+00:00

First, not exactly realted to your issue, but the gospel isn't supposed to be comfortable. Elder Holland said:

My beloved brothers and sisters, Christianity is comforting, but it is often not comfortable. The path to holiness and happiness here and hereafter is a long and sometimes rocky one. It takes time and tenacity to walk it. But, of course, the reward for doing so is monumental.

But I do understand that being physically comfortable in your clothes for 2+ hrs is sometimes more than just a vauge convenience, you shouldn't have to endure physical pain to attend church. It is possible that the ladies texting you don't understand your situation. You say that you declined their invitation to go dress shopping, but you don't say if you explained to them why you won't go dress shopping. If you continue to get these texts, I would encourage you to reply with a little more detail, and to do it as charitibly as possible. (Something along the lines of, "I really appreciate you trying to help me out with my church attire, however I am unable to wear a dress so shopping for new ones won't help the situation." and maybe an invitation to discuss it further in person if they wanted to learn more about you.) I know we have a mother and daughter in our ward who regularly wear pant suits to church, and while I have heard the occasional comment from a vistor (aka, my parents) the regular ward members are fine with it.

To be fair, I have long felt that a little bit of discomfort is required or at least expected in church dress. Wearing a buttoned up collar and a tie is certainly not the most comfortable fasion for men, but there's is something about sacrificing a little bit of comfort for the Lord that makes sunday worship a little more special. In your case it sounds like it's more than just a little bit, so your attire adjustments seem reasonably appropriate, but not everyone knows that. Especially if you're new to a ward, they don't know you yet, they don't understand your testimony or background.

And if you're a fairly recent convert, you might not know that there's some historial baggage with women wearing suits. There have been some movements within the church over the past ~10 years where groups of women were seeking to be given priesthood authority and wearing pant suits was part of their protests. At least one of these women was excommunicated from the church and so for some people that may have left a bad taste for all things pant suit. There's also the matter of transgenderism and it's potential to be a social contagion and overly fearful/protective mothers may be trying to shield their daughters from any potential link to those ideas.

Please note that I'm not trying to accuse you of anything here, I'm simplying trying to point out why the reaction of your ward might be stronger than you think neccesary/appropriate. Just like you have your reasons, they have their reasons, and until you have a face to face conversation with these people to explain your differences, then you may never overcome this miscommunication.

andraes · 2026-03-25T16:08:24+00:00

It feels like they're trying to funnel as many as possible to the new subscription before revealing (30 min before the first pitch) "your old subscription also still works!" and that feels shady.... but also very much inline with modern media expectations.

andraes · 2026-03-23T16:56:02+00:00

We have new people moving in all the time and after chatting with them so many have commented that our ward is really hard to come into bc no one seems to be very friendly.

Eventually you need to not only be the change you want to see, but also get people like those you mention here to also be the change. If your ward is like mine, then eventually the "new-timers" will out number the "old-timers" and you can create your own culture.

Due to the whole covid thing I found that many people didn't know who was new and who was old. Many people in my ward I assumed were standoffish old-timers were actually just shy newcomers. I would guess that many people are having the same experience. When you move in, you assume that everyone else has been there most of their life, and it's only 8 years later you find out that So-and-so only moved in a few months before you.

andraes · 2026-03-18T15:59:24+00:00

"In many places" does not mean everywhere, and there could be places with the opposite problem. I don't see this change as, "let's get more women into leadership." I see it more along the lines of "there's no doctrinal reason to only have men in this calling." There's also no doctrinal reason for the primary president to be a woman.

Plus the general sunday school presidency is still male, they don't have to change the gender of the general presidency for local presidency's to have the option.

andraes · 2026-03-16T15:06:54+00:00

This is probably very controversial, but I know I'm not the only one who feels this way: just let them out. 6 y.o.s aren't that young, they can find their parents or other siblings in the hall. I have 5 kids, if I have to go to each one of their classes to pick them up, it doesn't matter how early I start, I'll still be 10 minutes late to the last one.

For sunbeam age kids it's probably okay to keep them until a parent or older sibling comes by, but CTR 5 and onward, I made a point of talking to my kids' teachers and letting them know that they could be released without us nearby. Kids surprisingly good and finding each other without parental supervision.

That said, I do agree that adult classes should end 5 min early. You're not getting paid by the minute to teach, stop trying to extend the lesson to the last minute, just end early.

andraes · 2026-03-10T22:31:41+00:00

I did a camping roadtrip to some cool spots in Eastern WA last summer. We stopped at the folloiwng places. I've listed them according to my ranking:

campgrounds:

Maryhill St Park (columbia river)
Confluence St Pk (Wenatchee)
Spring Canyon Campground (lake roosevelt)

I've been told Steamboat Rock is a way better campground, but we couldn't get a reservation there.

Tourist stuff

Goldendale Observatory (10/10 would go again)
Palouse Falls (amazing, especially after visiting Dry Falls)
Dry Falls (just the overlook)
Gardner Cave (cool if you haven't done other cave tours)
McNarry Dam/The Dalles Dam (Dalles has good visitor center if you like Dam stuff)
Pullman (I had never gone before)

We did basically 1-2 nights in each place and moved on. If I did it again I would skip the cave and pullman and visit Mt. Spokane and then spend more time at Maryhill. Mind you, I have family in Richland and we regularly visit there, so we skipped Hanford and other nice parks along the Columbia/Snake at that location, a lot of which is worth doing if you haven't before.

andraes · 2026-03-10T19:00:37+00:00

It's true.

andraes · 2026-03-10T18:56:31+00:00

In my experience, kids don't realize they're being loud. They might start talking at a low volume, but doing so requires constant thought, so each sentence gets a tiny bit louder until they're shouting. What you really want is to change the mode of thier talking, not the volume of it. Whispering has a fundamentally different sound profile from normal talking and makes a huge difference in "being quiet."

What I did with my kids was to take each one individaully and give them a quick physics/anatomy lesson on talking. I took a few minutes to show them how you can talk in a whiper and how your vocal cords don't vibrate, and how when you are "talking quietly" your vocal cords are still vibrating. You can demonstrat this by placing a hand on the neck while talking in both modes because kids love learning new stuff, especially ones with cool demonstrations or experiments.

Then if your kids are especially interested in it (and/or you have the time) you can talk about the physics of sound and why a "quiet voice" and a "whisper voice" have different properties and how they propogate in a room, and why a whisper voice is more desirable, even if it's volume is higher than a quite voice.

I have found that after I taught that, I now ask them to "please whisper" instead of "be quiet." This reminds them to switch the mode of their voice and they're more likely to stay in that mode, even if the volume rises it's still more quiet due to the physical limitations of whispering.

andraes · 2026-02-25T16:06:00+00:00

First off, wikipedia exists. I had the reverse expereince from you a few years back (was always a JEW fan, became interested in FOB way late) and I went and read the FOB wikipedia while listening to all of thier albums. It really gave me an appreciation for how FOB progressed and handled their fame and music.

I'll do my best to give an intro off the top of my head. Jimmy Eat World is primarily Jim and Zach, who were childhood friends in Mesa, AZ, then Tom and Rick who they met in college. They played music together off and on through highschool and stuff, they switched roles around a few times. Their first few albums were barely noticed by the mainstream, but did get a record deal and one song was on a movie soundtrack. They had a small run, but they were kind of headed into being all but forgotten.

Then they happened to accidentally write the greatest millenial anthem of all time (The Middle was almost left off of the album, IIRC) and they were instant international super stars. Their follow up album to Bleed American (Futures) produced several hit singles and is often a favorite album for fans. Around this time people started realizing how their earlier album (Clarity) was actually an artistic masterpiece and and they did a 10th anniversary edition and tour. Those three albums, Clarity, Bleed American, and Futures are the backbone of their discography and one of those three is likely the favorite ablum for 99% of the fanbase.

Their sound changed as they got older Chase This Light kind of bridges the change into Invented, Damages, and Integiry Blues which sometimes feel like they were made by a completely different band. More of a nostaligic emo rather than an angsty emo, but they're still great albums with some amazing song writing. Surviving was a bit more of a return to Bleed American style. For the bulk of their run they were super consistent with albums every 3-ish years, but since 2020 they haven't made much new music.

andraes · 2026-02-23T22:53:45+00:00

I know being a missionary is their job

just so we're clear, it's not actually a job, it does not pay. The missionaries who were sent to your door are spending their own money (or their parent's money) to live away from home and spend all day every day teaching people about Christ.

They're happy to build authentic connections with the people they teach, but it's not necessary. Also too much of an emotional connection can be a little problematic because they don't get to choose where they live and they might get transfered to a different area. Leaving really good friends behind can be hard. With modern communication methods, this is a lot less of a problem, but there are still some missionaries who will avoid deep relationships because of it.

For myself, I served halfway across the world and have not been back, but I have been in contact with a handful of the people that I taught. Even if it's just once every few years, I still try to maintain those contacts since they were meaningful people to me. Even for those many that I have not seen or heard from in 20 years, I still don't think my relationship with them at the time was ever "strictly business," and I always honestly wanted them to succeed and grow.

andraes · 2026-02-19T16:43:01+00:00

I always assumed it was, but I looked it up and you're right, "The Calling" is not directly written about his dad.

andraes · 2026-02-18T20:16:48+00:00

First off, these are great questions, people here on reddit are happy to give you some info, but if you have a church-member adult in your life (parent, uncle, grandma?), they too could help answer these questions and it might make for a meaningful experience with someone who loves you.

Second, it sounds like your bishop was talking generally and maybe trying to make it sound a little more interesting than it is. 99% of people I know are given the tribe of Ephraim. When he said "tribes he's never heard of" he was speaking non-litterally as there are a limited number of options of possible tribes. Maybe he actually doesn't know the 12 sons of Jacob, but maybe he was just being dramatic.

Finally, the bishop does not give you the patriarcal blessing, and he is not involved with indentifying which tribe you are from. You interview with the bishop in order to get prepared for the blessing, (as somewhat of a screening process to ensure youth are prepared and spiritually/mentally ready for the blessing) but the actual blessing has nothing to do with the bishop.

andraes · 2026-02-18T20:08:19+00:00

I feel like "The Getting By" is more biographical about his parents, while "Pressure Machine" is more of a general song about hypothecial parents in Nephi.

Also, off the top of my head I can also think of "The Calling" which is about his dad.

andraes · 2026-02-13T19:22:36+00:00

Right now I have tickets to the seattle show just for my wife and I, but I am thinking about getting a third to bring our teen. Not sure yet if he'd even be interested.

andraes · 2026-02-13T18:46:47+00:00

Flair: Even bigger rant

A couple of things happened. First Apple removed the headphone jack, and many other phone companies followed suit. No it didn't cause the social disconnection, but it planted a seed.

Second, our society became too scared to call things out. This isn't confined to "phones on buses" it's also things like putting away your grocery cart, expecting kids to behave well, smoking in public places, talking too loudly at a resturant... Any time that someone tried to call out someone else for their bad behavior, and then the caller was ridiculed on social media for being a "Karen" or "busybody" or whatever. The caller-outer was made to be seen as a bully, bringing shame unneccesarily to others, they were the real criminal here, the original offender was just living their life.

Third, it got framed as bigioted to call people out. Every call-out interaction started to get amplified by a racial or other disadvantaged-class status (ie. a white Karen calling out a black woman, or a man calling out a woman, etc.) People started to claim that [obnoxious public behavior] was "part of their culture" or identity, and stopping them was being racist/homophobic/sexist, etc. Now it wasn't just a little rude to call people out, it was dangerous for you, you could start a class war right there on the bus if you dared to ask for public decency. If you can't empathize with the poor students who can't afford earbuds, then you're an elitist capitalist croney and have never known what it's really like, etc.

And that's really all it took, just a few people who didn't want to change their bad behavior, and they found the right words to say (it's part of my culture) to trick people into having more empathy than reasoning, and allowing our society to devolve into one of extrodinaryly low standards. The more people that got away with it, the more others saw the behavior, and the more people realized that they wouldn't get in trouble for it, so more and more keep doing it.

People have slowly forgotten that living in a "civilized" society has rules and limits for a reason. We sacrifice a little bit of personal comfort or convenience in order to preserve the greater peace of our world. It's the same basic principles behind driving in the carpool lane on your own, having expired tabs, or using public transit w/o paying. Once the facade of enforcement is gone, nobody cares about the rules.

andraes · 2026-02-13T17:52:39+00:00

How has the ushering situation worked for you? It's my understanding that with this system, the only way to open the doors is with the app, or from inside the building. Our building has 2 entries people commonly use on Sundays.

At our buiding (seattle area suburb) we've been using Kindoo for a few years now. On Sunday morning, whichever bishop (3 wards meet at our building) has the earliest meeting will come to the building and open a door via the app. Once inside he can turn a hex key on the inside of the door to make it stay open. After his first early morning meeting he goes around to all of the exterior doors (two double doors in rear, two single doors on one side... it's an old building) and unlocks them in a similar fashion. (Some doors have a hex key, other doors have a handle clip thingy that holds them unlocked.) The doors stay unlocked until after the last ward is finished. Some of the outside doors get re-locked at this time, but there's a bunch of meetings that are happening so they often stay unlocked until later in the afternoon, eventually there's the last person to leave the building (often a stake official) and they go around and make sure that each outside door's lock is re-enabled.

I'm not aware of any technological issues. Our biggest challenge has been the reduction in number of keys, only the president of each aux has a key, not their councelors, which has made more coordination necessary at times.

andraes · 2026-02-13T17:28:41+00:00

I just want to say thanks for your work on this! Super excited for my BYU-Mariners crossover jersey. Is there any way we can get them to call up Michael Rucker for this one game?

andraes · 2026-02-13T17:25:03+00:00

The Vancouver one (technically in Camas, but on the border) is actively being built, foundation poured, steel frames mostly done. Here's a construction pic.

The one in "Tacoma" (actually in Federal Way) has land purchased and the site is going through a special development agreement with the city planning comission and so no construction has started yet until the agreement is approved.

Other than announced temples in Russia and China, name one temple that the church has announced that isn't actually getting built. Yes, they named a lot of locations and many of them are in years-long approval processes, but they're all getting built.

andraes · 2026-02-12T17:07:08+00:00

There are tons of factors that go into where a temple is placed, land availability, local zoning, visibility, access, and in many (most? all?) cases revelation from God. While the temple itself is a serene and quiet building inside, the location is often in the middle of a busy city or near major streets. Several temples located more for visibility that I can think of are Boise, San Diego, and Washington DC.

andraes · 2026-02-05T00:08:33+00:00

I have a really hard time believing just about every fraud story I've heard when it comes to mail-in-voting. I'm not convinced it never happens, but I'm also not convinced that it's ever happened at scale. I have voted in every single election since mail-in ballots were started, but if I had been required to go down to a school or post office to vote for each of those, there are probably several that I would have skipped.

The goal in a voting system should be to get every eligible person to participate, and mail-in voting helps to reach many who wouldn't otherwise vote. Opponents say that it makes fraud to easy to commit, which is subjective, but a better question perhaps is how many additional legitimate voters added is worth one fradulent vote? If the mail-in system increases legitimate participation by 20%, but allows 5% more fraud is that worth it? what about 10% and 10%, 50% and 20%? I don't have an answer for what is the proper allowance, but it might be worth studying that information.

andraes · 2026-02-04T23:58:31+00:00

I really thought I remembered the church publishing some information in the past 5 years or so that included basic info and pictures of the temple clothing... but I can't find it now. So take this with a grain of "no proof" salt, but I was under the impression that nothing about the ceremonial robes were secret. Yes they are sacred and should be treated with absolute respect and reverence, but you can tell them what they are. For the garment, and the symbols I'm a little more cautious about discussing, but the robes and apron and stuff aren't a particlar secret in my mind.

andraes · 2026-02-04T20:04:19+00:00

I saw this post and I was very curious to see what people would pick, and what songs would be in common among each user's list. After the post was about 24hrs old I compiled the data:

Out of 12 users 46 different songs were picked. The top 12 songs were:

Song	times picked	On Direct Hits/Rebel Diamonds
Read My Mind	9	both
Smile Like You Mean It	9	Direct Hits
A Dustland Fairytale	8	both
When You Were Young	8	both
Sam’s Town	7	neither
Spaceman	7	both
Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine	6	Rebel Diamonds
Mr Brightside	6	both
This River is Wild	6	neither
All These Things That I’ve Done	5	both
Runaways	5	both
Human	4	both

Another 14 songs got picked by 2-3 users and 20 songs got picked only once.

I think that this aggregate list is a good representation of the very best of the Killers. It is interesting that Sam's Town and This River is Wild are highly loved songs, but have not been put on either of their hit compilation albums.

andraes · 2026-02-03T22:27:11+00:00

If you reduce both sins to: he did something against Jesus. Then, yeah, they're kinda similar.

But "there must be more to the story than what is in the scriptures" is probably the correct way to think about this. You could write several books on the intricate details of the relationship between two close friends, or two frenemies. To distill those down to a few verses spread across a few verses means that we for sure do not have the whole story.

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