Church
Military Honors or Unlikely Standout
Membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints changed me from a shy, backward farm boy to a standout. As I look back and remember some honors that I received in the military, I see no reason that I would have been chosen for those honors except that I was a practicing member of the Church.
Read MoreIt’s A Privilege
I had a bit of an epiphany yesterday as I prayed while waiting for the sacrament to reach me. I thanked the Lord for the privilege it was to be there to take the sacrament and to be forgiven of my sins. The Holy Ghost then weighed in and pointed out all the other privileges that I enjoy.
Read MoreDormancy and Goals
What a great life this has been. I am happy. I have a testimony of my Savior. My covenants are intact. I have achieved my goals.
I wanted to be five things:
1. A father: I am the father of 10, grandfather of 56.
So Close
I have a friend, a non-member friend, who attends church every Sunday with his wife. He sits there stoically and unsmilingly. I’ve never seen him smile. I don’t know if he can. I suspect that he is there because of a deal that he made with his wife. He doesn’t look happy to be there.
Read MoreThe Day Dawn Is Breaking
5:00 A.M., the 17th of November. It’s dark outside. Extremely dark. I’m sitting in my living room with five electric light bulbs burning. I’m in a pocket of light in a dark, dark world.
But the earth is spinning. Way down under the eastern horizon the sun is coming. Light is on the way; but light can’t bend, and there is nothing to reflect it toward me. I have nothing but experience to tell me that a dawn is coming.
The Restoration—Step By Step
Marjorie asked me, “Why did the Lord wait so long to bring about the Restoration?”
Good question. In theory, had the Restoration happened hundreds of years before it did, many millions more people could have received its blessings, and things would have been farther along than they are today. That would be one line of thinking, but it wouldn’t be so.
False and Vain and Foolish
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
“By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
Walls
Walls are erected as a defense. People build walls to protect themselves from the elements and from others who might harm them. Walls form enclosures which become areas of safety.
Some famous walls in history include the walls of Jericho, the walls of Jerusalem, and the walls of Babylon. All of these were erected as a defense against invaders. All were effective up to a point. That point was reached when the wickedness that the walls were enclosing became such that the people inside were beyond redemption. At that point the Lord penetrated and destroyed what wicked men considered were their impenetrable defenses.
Why Are You Good?
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were all good men living in environments not conducive to inspire one to be good. How did they do it? Why did they do it?
Abraham’s own father offered him to be killed for his goodness. Abraham didn’t subscribe to the idol worship of his father and community, so he was bound and put forth as a candidate for idol sacrifice.
Marjorie’s Testimony
The gospel of Jesus Christ gives me:
Stability
Direction
Hope
The Necessities of Life
Recently as I was praying I found myself thanking the Lord for the necessities of life. As popularly understood, the necessities of life are food, clothing, and shelter. Some people in the world lack one or more of those things. I feel badly for them, and was expressing gratitude that I have those basic things.
Read MoreHome Based Church
Marjorie and I are thoroughly enjoying our home church meetings. In my phone conversation with Eli yesterday, I mentioned that if things were normal, it should be fast Sunday, so I had started a fast. He pointed out that our meeting should be a testimony meeting then. That hadn’t occurred to me. Accordingly, after the opening hymn, prayer, sacrament hymn, and blessing of the sacrament, I bore my testimony.
Read MoreCOVID-19
The world is upside down. The COVID-19 virus made its appearance in Wuhan, China in December, and has now spread around the world. It hits the elderly particularly hard. 80% of deaths from the disease are elderly people. 75% of deaths are males. The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared it a pandemic a few days ago. It is particularly bad in Italy, Iran, and South Korea, as well as in China.
Read MoreStunners and Blockbusters
Among the basic doctrines of the Church are what Neal A. Maxwell called “stunners.” (Ensign, November 2003, pg.100). President James E. Faust called them “blockbusters.” (Ensign, November 2005, pgs. 21-22). They are monumental, astounding, life changing, and earth shaking. They totally change prevailing religious and philosophical thought. Here is my own collection:
Read MoreThe Restoration
My noble, non-member grandfather asked an astute question that he had no way of answering, but that you and I can. He asked the question because of some marvelous observations that he’d made. He wrote the following sometime in the decade before his death in 1962:
Read MoreIn the World but not of it
Sunday I went early to church to see a member of an earlier ward, and then sat in my pickup finishing the lesson preparation for my 11-year-old Primary class. With the front of my pickup nosed into the bushes that line the east fence of the parking lot, I became aware of rustlings in the dry leaves, and of the soft noises that quail make as they talk to one another.
Read MoreAre Latter-Day Saints Christian?
Editor, Baker City Herald:
Due to the presidential candidacy of a member of the LDS Church, there is currently a great deal of talk in the media about the Mormons. Much of it is misinformation. You would do a great service by publishing the following facts, as provided by Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the talk he gave in general conference October 6, 2007. A shortened version of the list follows, but I have also enclosed the full text of his talk for your use.
The Purpose of Meetings
What is the purpose of stake priesthood leadership meetings? More particularly, what is the reasoning behind stake priesthood leadership meeting on stake conference weekend? The meeting happens twice a year, right in the middle of a busy Saturday afternoon. Everyone with anything at all to do must choose between 10 other worthy projects and attendance at priesthood leadership.
Read MoreJoseph Smith’s 200th Birthday (newspaper version)
Latter-day Saints have cause to celebrate: December 23rd is the 200th birthday of their church’s founder, Joseph Smith. They’ve been celebrating all year, holding extravaganzas of dance, music, and plays.
Read MoreJoseph Smith’s 200th Birthday
Latter-day Saints the world over have cause to celebrate: December 23rd is (was) the 200th birthday of their church’s founder, Joseph Smith.
And celebrate they are. They’ve been doing it all year. From Seoul to San Diego, and from Portland to Portugal they’ve been holding extravaganzas of dance, music, plays and parties.
What Happened?
Cover of “In a Grove of Aspens”
Read MoreNot Coincidental
Yesterday (5 May 2019) Marjorie and I left early to go to stake conference in La Grande. We had been asked to arrive an hour early so that the visiting area authority
Read MoreUnited Efforts
As I sat and listened to the April 2019 general conference President Nelson was quoted several times as saying that the gathering of Israel is the greatest work taking place in the world today,
Read MoreWorshiping the Lord
What does it mean to worship the Lord?
The shepherds came seeking and to adore Him.
Salamanders
Marjorie went out to feed the cat yesterday, and immediately came back in to tell me to go look at what was in Aspen’s dish.
Read MoreA Single-engine Prop, or a Jet?
While serving our mission in Vanuatu we lived on the largest of the nation’s 83 islands. We had supervisory responsibilities for it and for several outlying islands, including Ambae.
Read MoreErratics
I have finished reading a book on geology, and have some thoughts on “erratics.” Erratics are “wandering rocks,” or rocks out of place.
Read MoreMy Ancestors and The Mormons
Teaching a Primary class about the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters, I realized that the Saints went right by Osceola, Iowa where many of my ancestors settled.
Read MoreWorld’s Most Blessed Man
I am 70 years old. At the age of 69, due to the changes I felt in my body, I became an old man. Yet I’m healthy.
Read MoreComparisons
Thoughts at Aaron’s missionary farewell. 23 May 1999. When I was 19, I knew nothing about the gospel.
Read MoreRock Creek Branch
When I was a little boy, in the entire Haines area, from North Powder to Pine Creek, there were just five Latter-day Saint families.
Read MoreDoves and Pigeons
A lesson might be taken from the passenger pigeon, the American bison, and the ring-necked dove.
Read MoreBecause They Cast Them Out
There are few places in the world where the Saints are not currently welcome or at least tolerated. It hasn’t always been so, and it won’t always be.
Read MoreCome and See
The day after John baptized Jesus, he was standing with two of his disciples as Jesus walked by. He said to them, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
Read MorePeculiarities
In the wee hours of the night I found my mind playing with a concatenation of weird and outlandish things that deserve explanations.
For instance, how weird and outlandish is it that I would sit down in general conference beside a man who had a picture of my son on the electronic device in his pocket for the reason that his eldest grandson and my youngest son were in the same MTC district in far-off Chile?
Playing Catch-up
For the past 46 years I’ve been playing catch-up. That’s how long I’ve been a member of the Church. I was baptized and became a member just 20 days before my 20th birthday. Consequently I missed out on Primary, Young Men’s, Aaronic Priesthood ordinations, scouting, seminary, and a mission.
Read MoreThe Doctrine of Christ
Every person is born into this world with a charge to find the truth and to return himself to God. On the surface that seems a daunting task given the huge number of religions and philosophies that one must sort through. By human nature most people are lazy, and pick the easiest way through their challenges and through life. Therefore, almost all men choose to either ignore the quest for truth and salvation, or to simply go with the flow and follow what their parents and their societies believe and do.
Read More