Summary: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> [dropcap]A[/dropcap]s seems to be the case whenever Kurt is in the hot seat, it's a strange grab bag of news this week without a single, dominating headline (unless you want to talk about Iran, which we don't). So let's dive in!<br> <br> So there's this interesting <a href="http://www.thisweekinmormons.com/2020/01/apparently-theres-a-tree-of-life-augmented-reality-app" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tree of Life augmented reality app</a> that the Church just released. For the uninitiated, augmented reality is something like Pokemon Go, where your phone shows you what is around you - as it normally would when taking a photo or video - but other material pops up in the process and you can interact with it. In this case, it's the opportunity to live through the Tree of Life story from the book of 1 Nephi. It's interesting. We had some trouble getting it to play nice on Android, but we'd love to hear what you think of it if you manage to use it.<br> <br> Also new from the Church is a <a href="http://www.thisweekinmormons.com/2020/01/new-podcast-examines-the-first-vision-in-historical-context/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new podcast focused exclusively on the First Vision</a>, Joseph Smith's experience seeing God the Father and Jesus Christ. It's pretty great and contains interviews with scholars and historians. Certainly the best episode is the one about how the Sacred Grove must have smelled at the time. We're guessing like dirt and leaves.<br> <br> Our own Jeff Borders wants to talk about <a href="http://www.thisweekinmormons.com/2020/01/the-convert-files-acronym-mania/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">how much Latter-day Saints love acronyms</a>. We're not a so-called "corporate church," you say? Tell that to the purveyors of layers upon layers of internal jargon!<br> <br> Random stuff: learn about the <a href="https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-01-01/2020-youth-theme-video-new-zealand-170917" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">behind-the-scenes process of the new youth video</a>, President Nelson encourages us to <a href="https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-invites-sharing-gospel-restoration" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">think seriously about the Restoration</a>, Kurt wants to talk about the schedule changes at church that come with the new year for some reason, and a submarine commander somehow finds a way to <a href="https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-01-02/latter-day-saint-submarine-officer-finds-gospel-light-deep-under-sea-171047">get his church on</a> even in the darkest abyss.<br> <br> Should Mormons use Medicaid? The idea here is that we preach self-reliance but also have a history of using government programs. A <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/03/should-mormons-use-medicaid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Washington Post article</a> outlines the alleged double standard, while a Times and Seasons piece provides <a href="https://www.timesandseasons.org/index.php/2020/01/should-mormons-use-medicaid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a brilliant takedown</a> of the WaPo story.<br> <br> Lastly, Church <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/01/05/utah-sees-latter-day/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">growth is slowing in Utah and actually declining in Salt Lake County</a> - the entire county, not just Salt Lake proper. There's some interesting data here, and it's worth exploring why the nucleus of the Church is not growing as one might hope. It's not only about urbanization and folks moving in from out of state.<br> <br> Check out that Patreon link! We'd really appreciate just $1 a month! That's it! Don't buy that candy bar (unless it's a Whatchamacallit). Aside from serving up the poorly targeted ads you're likely seeing on this page, Patreon is our main source of revenue.
