“Building Israel” piece in Public Square Magazine

Public Square Magazine just put up a piece I wrote, on Israel (the religious concept, not just the country) as an institution. This is what I came up with as I took President Russell M. Nelson’s challenge to study what the Lord has promised Israel, in light of my prior reading and interest in how […]

Review: “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”

Search no further: this is the one phonics program to rule them all.

Family Christmas Letter 2020

Hello world, this is Tom. Normally Elissa does our Christmas letter, but I’ve hijacked it this year. Executive summary: we’ve actually had a pretty good 2020, pandemic notwithstanding. Marie was born on April 18, with a thick head of black hair. She is now babbling and crawling around like crazy. She brings out the best […]

Review of “The Book of Mormon in One Hour”

Brennen Ricks, a guy from my ward, had the interesting idea of putting together a ~20K word cut of the Book of Mormon. I usually prefer to read complete works, and particularly with the Book of Mormon I wish other people would too. But at the same time I recognize there are readers who don’t […]

Low-Key Family History: A Call to Mediocrity

Genealogy is cool, and it’s good for your soul to spend some time thinking about your ancestors. For this and other good theological reasons, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints asks members to work on their own family history, particularly on FamilySearch.org. People often seem to either take this incredibly seriously, or do […]

Thanksgiving Reflections

In this Thankgsiving week, I’m taking some time to reflect on the things I’m grateful for. I am grateful for my family. My wife Elissa is awesome. She is smart, beautiful, creative, funny, makes amazing food, and writes great stories. She is also an incredible mother for our kids, nurturing them along, teaching them, and […]

Talk: “Becoming Like Christ”

I was asked to speak in church today on Elder Scott D. Whiting’s recent conference talk, “Becoming Like Him,” for about 5 or 6 minutes. I delivered the talk in my congregation, the Sonoma Ranch Ward (meets here at noon) more or less as written below. Good Afternoon! I’m Tom Nysetvold, and I just moved […]

Persuasive Art and Schiller’s Aesthetics

Also Tolkien, Peter Kreeft, Inception, Jordan Peterson, and the relative value of fiction vs. nonfiction. One of my new year’s resolutions this year was to read a Harvard Classics volume after every few other books. As part of this, I read “Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man,” a 1794 piece by German literary figure […]

Refinery Inspection, Putting Your Eyes On It, and Your Eternal Soul

Let’s tell a completely fictional story that bears no resemblance to actual refinery events. Once upon a time, there was a refinery desalter. It was a fairly good-size pressure vessel, perhaps 15’ in diameter and 100’ long, in which water and salt settled out from crude oil before it went through its first distillation. This […]

Church Pandemic Preparedness, or the Apocalypse Bros

As the tide goes out, institutions that were swimming naked get revealed. Think about the Centers for Disease Control (so under control!), or any number of businesses that have apparently been operating with no capital cushion, within spitting distance of bankruptcy. Meanwhile, some other institutions ought to be gaining status, for being particularly well prepared […]