I Have No Greater Joy
Rescued From Hell
On Monday 23 June 2018 twelve boys on a soccer team in Thailand entered a cave with their 25-year-old coach.
Read MoreA Sledgehammer and a Gong
Two or three weeks ago David Huntsman asked me to take his son, Raul, to dialysis on this date. (Saturday, 14 July 2018).
Read MoreEnvironment
As I prayed this morning, waiting for the sunrise, I thanked my Father in heaven for the beauties with which I’m surrounded.
Read MoreFollow the Prophet
Listening to prophets and paying heed to their counsels can save us physically as well as spiritually.
Read MoreMurmuration
I have learned a new word. Murmuration is the astonishing display of aerobatics of thousands of starlings flying in perfect synchronization.
Read MoreNovel Ways of Communicating
It’s a fun and clever thing to be able to openly say and do things which are perfectly plain and understandable to those who are properly indoctrinated,
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 MoreA Few Quarter Notes
Marjorie just found a piece of music that she hasn’t been able to find for a long time. She’s thrilled. It is “Toccata” by Pietro Domenico Paradisi.
Read MorePromised Lands
Promised lands aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. Utopias don’t come ready-made. We have to create them.
Read MoreMy Articles of Faith
My missionary grandson, Caden, sent a picture of a sign on the front of a church in Texas which was a statement of their beliefs.
Read MoreThe Treasure That Is the Book of Mormon
Last April President Thomas S. Monson gave his last talk to the Church. It was a plea to the members to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day.
Read MoreDaughter’s Laughter
I’ll tell you the thing that I’m after
Is to know how to pronounce “aughter,”
Awkward Christmas Moments
Eli had work to complete with his lab partner at BYU-Idaho. The lab partner and his wife managed an apartment complex.
Read MoreMore Thoughts on Covenants
This thought came to me during prayer last night: The greatest and most important thing we can do with our lives is to make and keep covenants.
Read MoreChrist’s Birth
Joseph was there to protect;
Mary was there to nurture;
The shepherds came to behold;
Erratics
I have finished reading a book on geology, and have some thoughts on “erratics.” Erratics are “wandering rocks,” or rocks out of place.
Read MoreCovenants
Covenants: Covenants are:
Keep me safe A safety belt
Blessed by the Spirit
In the last 50 years as I’ve given blessings to the sick and set people apart in their callings, I have given hundreds, and probably a thousand or more priesthood blessings.
Read MoreIf You’re Looking, You’ll Find It
At 5:15 this morning Venus rose. Exactly an hour and a half later the sun rose. Each clear morning finds me sitting on the couch and watching.
Read MoreEverything Is Still
Everything outside on this clear October morning is still. Yet there is movement. I’m astonished at Venus’ progress up the sky.
Read MoreThank Goodness for Climate Change
The mountain man, Jim Bridger, met with Brigham Young on 28 June 1847 as the Saints were headed to the Rocky Mountains.
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 MoreThe Wonder of the Gospels
A certain man sat in his quiet house reading the gospels. He’d read them all before, but this time it was as if he was hearing the stories for the first time.
Read MoreOur Purposes on Earth
Our purposes in coming to earth were to get a body, to make and keep covenants, and to form an eternal family.
Read MoreThe Kingdom of Heaven Is…
An exercise inspired by Matthew chapter 13: The kingdom of heaven is like unto a sunrise filled with glorious colors and promise.
Read MoreWriting is a Pleasure
As a teenage boy I recall experiencing a moonlit night in our high fields that we called “the Mountain Place.”
Read MoreWhat Can I Do?
I have a terror that often enters my mind. It’s a gnawing worry that someday I will no longer be useful, and that I’ll have nothing to do.
Read MoreIs the Resurrection Reasonable?
Just before the birth of Christ the people of the Book of Mormon became very stirred up about prophecy and religion and the supposed coming of the Son of God…
Read MoreVenus and the New Day
October 9, 2017, 6:30, and the entire eastern horizon is a brilliant rainbow. Venus is bright and shining. It rises higher and higher, doing its best…
Read MoreOctober Morning
It’s 5:50 on the 6th of October. Time to put on my shoes and walk down the road to my sister’s house. Why do we do this?
Read MoreSequel to Malachi
Years ago I read a novel written by a popular author of adventure stories. The story was improbable, but very riveting and hugely exciting.
Read MoreTo Become a World-class Expert
Elder Quentin L. Cook mentioned in general conference what is called “the 10,000-hour rule.” Research experts assert “that ten thousand hours of practice is required…
Read MoreSalvation
People of other faiths spend much time and energy talking about “being saved.” They promote being saved as the object, goal, and ultimate condition to which we should seek.
Read MoreCoincidences
As an eighteen-year-old boy Don Crompton got a summer job working for the U.S. Forest Service outside Buhl, Idaho.
Read MoreRecommended Reading in the Scriptures
Old Testament = 1,184 pages = 48% of all scripture; New Testament = 403 pages = 16% of all scripture
Read MoreAstronomical Questions and Numbers
1. How many people have lived upon the earth? The Population Reference Bureau says 107 billion.
Read MorePit Bulls and Protections
Abby Farber and her missionary companion were serving in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was a dangerous area in many respects
Read MoreHow the Wiegman Family Came to Be
As I scanned the list of 250 youth who will be going on the stake handcart trek, I was surprised to notice the names of two out-of-stake youth,
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 MoreThe Law of Witnesses
The law of witnesses states: “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” (D&C 6:28).
Read MoreThe Fourth Dimension
Aaron gets excited about new ideas and new inventions that come to his mind. They’re generally on a level that my mind can’t come to grips with.
Read MoreAngels to Save Us In Our Sins
On fast Sunday an elderly sister went to the podium to bear her testimony. She felt compelled to tell about her inactive son in Montana
Read MoreAnd the Fairy Moved In
“James, I want you to make me a fairy house on your lathe,” Marjorie said.
“What does a fairy house look like?” I asked
Will a Man Rob God?
In 1974 I graduated from college, and we bought our ranch at the base of the Blue Mountains in Eastern Oregon.
Read MoreThoughts From Conference
Last Saturday (1 April 2017) found me in Salt Lake City with four of my grandsons (Samuel, Isaiah, Ammon, and Hyrum).
Read MoreTo Live Again With Thee
To be sung to the tune of “If You Could Hie to Kolob” – Oh, Thou who made us mortals, and decreed that life should be,
Read MorePsychoanalyst Wanted
I need to be psychoanalyzed. No one has dreams like mine. First you need some background concerning my recent thoughts and activities.
Read MoreBetter Than a Professional
When Marjorie was a 12-year-old girl she entered the Beehive class in Mutual. Each Beehive was encouraged to complete a number of requirements and skills
Read MoreLehi’s Seed
Last night I got into bed and began reading the Book of Mormon as I do every night. I read seven verses.
Read MoreMy Testimony
Garrin Bott is the first counselor in the bishopric of Baker Second Ward. As he conducted fast and testimony meeting today he presented a hypothetical situation,
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