One of the most disquieting things of life is to have people laugh at you. Noah and Nephi were both laughed at and mocked because they wanted to build boats. Neither was considered capable, and their purposes were unreasonable. They knew they were right, however, and they knew Who had commanded them to do those things. They ignored and survived the mockery, proved their detractors wrong, and their detractors soon regretted their unbelief.

Why are people so unbelieving? Why can't people be kinder? Why are people unwilling to learn? Why won't people listen to truth, reasoning, other viewpoints, and common sense?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a leg up on knowledge. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could teach learned scholars a good deal not only about God and religion, but also about archaeology, astronomy, and many other things.

Archaeologists have been struggling for years to learn about the Olmec civilization which preceded the Mayas. The Olmecs were probably the Jaredites. If the experts were open to learning from sources which they are quick to discount, Latter-day Saints could tell them a great deal about the Olmec origins, their civilization, their culture, their warfare, and their downfall.

The "experts" consider the Bible and Book of Mormon fiction, and of no worth. How wrong they are! Thirty years ago they were wondering if there could possibly be planets in the universe besides those in our Solar System. Today they know of over 5,000. Now they're asking, "Could there be life on these other planets, and what would it look like?" Latter-day Saints have been able to answer both of those questions for nearly 200 years.

Yes, there is life out there. The Father of us all has said, "Worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten." (Moses 1:33).

What was the Father's purpose in creating them? It was to make places where His children could experience mortality. What would life on those worlds look like? Like us. God's children are created in His image. We are His children. If the all-wise experts would be open to accepting God, His scriptures, and His teachings they would find "wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures" that could give a great boost to their quests. (Doctrine and Covenants 89:19).

"Fools mock, but they shall mourn," the Lord told Moroni in Ether 12:26. Those in the great and spacious building "were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit." (1 Nephi 8:27). That caused some to become ashamed and to fall away, but the steadfast paid them no heed.

That's what we need to do when we are mocked and laughed at.

Nearly every day I think about the lady dermatologist that I consulted about my rosacea. I had the rosacea under control because I daily wipe my face with vinegar. She didn't initially believe that I even had rosacea. She asked, almost indignantly, "Who told you that you had rosacea?" (It was my eye doctor. He told me to see a dermatologist and to get a prescription for doxycycline). I asked the lady dermatologist what she thought of my home remedy. Her reply was that she didn't think it would do any good, and proceeded to prescribe an antibiotic for the condition that she wasn't willing to say that I even had. "If this doesn't work," she said, "come back, and we'll try something else." (In other words, "I don't think this will work, but I want you to keep coming back.")

I didn't think the lady knew what she was talking about, so I didn't fill the prescription. The Internet says that there is no cure. I use my vinegar treatment daily. It keeps the rosacea under control. Otherwise my face would be red, pimply, and disfigured. My nose would swell in size and be bumpy and hideous-looking.

I came up with the vinegar treatment because of the rash that Marjorie got on her legs in Vanuatu. We went to an Australian doctor about it, but he had no idea what she had nor how to treat it. I could see where it might curtail our mission, and cause us to go home early. I prayed about the problem, and that night I had a dream. I saw myself bathing Marjorie's legs with vinegar. In the morning I told Marjorie to wash her legs with vinegar. The rash was immediately cured. The rash was a fungal infection.

I reasoned that if vinegar was effective against a fungus on the skin, that it should also control the skin mites or the bacteria that cause rosacea. I might have taught these doctors something that would have been of aid to them, but the lady, at least, chuckled about my silly remedy.

This spring I discovered that I was able to trace the course of the fault that goes through the field below our house by using water witching rods. As I walk west with the rods, they cross at the fault, and don't uncross again for 100 feet, sometimes more, sometimes less. My theory is that the underground streams which come down off the mountains hit that fault and are blocked. The water is forced to pool behind the fault until it finds an exit. I can detect that pool. It's recognizable from at least the North Powder River Road (north of the Anthony Lakes Highway), all the way to the mountains west of Baker. It makes a perfectly straight line for those 20 or so miles. If it keeps going north, it would be nearly under the Grand Ronde Hospital in La Grande. If it keeps going south, it would be just below Mason Dam. In the event of an earthquake, that might be catastrophic for Baker City. Someday I'll check these things out.

Meanwhile I'd like to share my discovery with our local geologists. My sister, Ellen, used to work with them. She says that they're big disbelievers in water witching. They scoff at it. I'm, therefore, hesitant to discuss my discovery with them. There is no need to now, because I believe that they've already spent many thousands of dollars to have an airplane with LIDAR capabilities trace the fault. I could have done it without cost.

"Fools mock, but they shall mourn." Let us be open to other viewpoints, be kind, and refrain from laughing at things that don't fit our preconceived notions. It might just turn out to be that we're the ones who are wrong.