![](https://www.powerinthebook.com/img/pics/line-graph-doesnt-matter-thumbnail.jpg)
"Efficiency" isn't that important to God
As a software engineer, it's my job to find the optimal way to do things. I'm constantly looking for the most efficient method to sort a list, store stuff in a database, and speed up a program. And once my brain is set to "optimization mode," it's hard to turn it off.
For example, recently, as I waited for a Temple session to start, I found myself mentally inventing ways...
![](https://www.powerinthebook.com/img/pics/inmates-painting-thumbnail.jpg)
A prison built with our own hands
The battle was fierce, but also short and decisive– despite a huge loss of men and a painful personal wound, Captain Moroni's had thrown "one of the greatest of the armies of the Lamanites" into complete disarray. But Moroni "did not delight in bloodshed;" when he saw that his enemies were beaten, he offered them terms of surrender. The Lamanite army accepted his terms and the prisoners were marched to...
![](https://www.powerinthebook.com/img/pics/christ-easy-hard-thumbnail.jpg)
The easy way and the hard way
This may come as a surprise to many of you, but sometimes my children don't listen.
Take bedtime, for instance. At the end of the day, my 4-year-old son and I both know how things are going to end. If my son cooperates when it's "that time," his bedtime will be preceded by playtime, two bedtime stories, and a lullaby. If he throws a tantrum, he will simply be placed...
![](https://www.powerinthebook.com/img/pics/horse-bucking-thumbnail.jpg)
Why we bridle
The other day I read this verse from Alma the Younger to his son Shiblon:
Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions…
I think this is one of the most oft-quoted verses in all the Book of Mormon, usually in a lesson targeted to young men and young women (you know the one I'm talking about). But...