Stand In The Place That You Were

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Even if the Liahona were real, which it isn't, it still wouldn't be as useful as my analog watch for finding which way is is which.

In the northern hemisphere, when the hour hand of an analog watch is pointed towards the sun, south will be halfway between the hour hand and 12 o'clock.

That is, at 9AM the sun is in the southeast. Pointing the hour hand (that's the little one) at the sun (southeast at this point) will orient 12 o'clock at southwest. Due south will be halfway between the hour hand (SE) and 12 (SW).

Notice how no faith, prayer or fasting is required. It even works if you murmur. This trick, unlike the fictional Liahona, also has the handy feature of being a replicatable experiment. That means you can know for yourself that this information is the truth. Just take a compass and a watch outside and prove it to yourself. Handy.

In the southern hemisphere, the same trick will help you find north.

Keep in mind, if you believe the Earth is flat, this will seem like voodoo witch magic to you. If that's the case, now would be a good time to start running the hot bath water and get out a sharp razor.

Depending on the exact time of year, latitude, daylight savings time, etc, there will be some variation. In most cases (that is, unless you are lost in northern Alaska or the South Pole) it is a fairly accurate way to orient yourself.

I assure you, I never found even close to this much direction from a General Conference talk.

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