Jesus
The Most Influential People
Because of my mother I decided early that I would never try alcohol nor tobacco.
Because of my mother I learned that there is a God in heaven. She set me to wondering about God
and Jesus Christ. Are they one person or two? Are they persons? I couldn’t sort it out,
but because of her I knew there was Something there, and that I had to be good.
Joy Cometh in the Morning
Psalms says that “joy cometh in the morning (Psalms 30:5). “Thou hast … girded me with gladness.” (Psalms 30:11).
I like those statements a lot. Morning is my favorite time. The world is beautiful. Everything is new. The sun comes up. Darkness is dispelled. Opportunity lies ahead. My strength and energy are renewed. I’m eager to see what the day will bring, what adventures are in store, and what I might accomplish. Yesterday’s problems have faded, and I’m ready to take on the world.
Alleluia
The guiding force for all the earth,
The light that governs each new birth,
Is centered in our Savior, alleluia.
Astonishment
This morning I finished reading the book of Luke. I am rereading the New Testament. I am astonished all over again at the wisdom in the gospels, at the acts of Jesus, at His graciousness, at His sacrifice, at His love, and at the wonderful thing which Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John did when they determined to tell Jesus’ story, and sat themselves down to record what they saw and what they knew. Their words are powerful. Their testimonies are believable. Their words are life changing to those whose hearts and minds are open to the Spirit.
Read MoreWhat Think Ye of Christ?
(Elder Michael John U. Teh in his April 2021 conference address told of an assignment given to him to write a one-page summary about the relevance and importance of the Atonement. That is a great challenge. Here is my attempt:)
Read MoreGophers
A gopher is an animal worthy of a short study. The most remarkable thing about a gopher is that it lives a mostly solitary existence in the dark. A gopher’s life is not an enviable one, yet many people seem bent on becoming gophers.
Read MoreWhat Has Jesus Done For Me?
I was asked in general conference to write a one-page summary of what the Savior has done for me.
He brought me from darkness into light. I hadn’t even known that I was in darkness. The contrast is extreme. Because of my rescue, the possibility exists that none of my posterity will ever experience that darkness. I fervently pray that may be so.
A Matter of Focus
A new, young couple in the ward spoke in sacrament meeting today (31 January 2021). Nathan and Anna Sanders did wonderful jobs. They are both returned missionaries, have only been in the ward two months, and explained that they had come from Hermiston and Stanfield.
Read MoreGratitude
I am grateful for the talents with which the Lord has blessed me, and which He has helped me to develop. I am grateful that I can study, and write, and think. I am grateful to be able to create. I am grateful to be a father, and a husband, and a disciple. I am grateful for the peace which I feel, the happiness, and the joy. I am grateful for a clear conscience, and for the ability to repent. I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and for personal revelation. I am grateful to be able to look upon everyone with feelings of love and compassion. I am grateful for health and for strength and for the ability and the desire to serve. I am grateful for the opportunities that are given to me to serve my fellow men. I am grateful to be able to live in this choicest of places in the choicest land in all the earth. I am grateful for each ancestor who preceded me and who opened the way for me to be in this particular place at this particular time under these particular circumstances. I realize that I am here to serve them, and to serve my Savior and Redeemer. I am grateful for my Priesthood, my covenants, and the eternal family which I have because of those covenants.
Read MoreThe 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 MoreChrist Is God
Several years ago Marjorie was invited by one of her piano students to attend her baptism in another church. The baptism was to be done following the pastor’s Easter sermon. Marjorie found the pastor and the sermon interesting. He was dressed in an Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts. He said that he had been reading the Bible, and had come to the conclusion that he thought that Jesus was a God.
Read MoreSpectator or Participator
Conditions are building toward the greatest event the world has ever known. The greatest and most momentous event was not a particular battle or war; nor was it the eruption of Mount Tambora, which is thought to have produced the loudest sound ever heard on earth. The greatest event was not the striking of the earth by an asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs. It was not an earthquake or a tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands. It was not even the birth of Christ. All of these things happened as precursors for the greatest event.
Read MoreAnd Then What?
This evening I received a beautiful e-card from my cousin with the Easter message, “He is risen.” I wished that I had something appropriate that I could send in return.
Read MoreOnly Forgotten Son
Last week in sacrament meeting the primary did their annual sacrament meeting program. It was the responsibility of one little girl to quote John 3:16. She stood at the podium and repeated into the microphone the words that were whispered into her ear by her prompter. She said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only forgotten son…”
Read MoreHe Is the Father and the Son
I learned something in the deacons quorum lesson that I taught today.
When I first read the Book of Mormon as a non-member, I read the whole book looking for the answer to a particular question without finding it. The question that I had was this: Is God one person or two?
The Bridge Builder—Poem
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
Elder Haight’s Near-Death
The evening of my health crisis, I knew something very serious had happened to me. Events happened so swiftly—the pain striking with such intensity, my dear Ruby phoning the doctor and our family, and I on my knees leaning over the bathtub for support and some comfort and hoped relief from the pain. I was pleading to my Heavenly Father to spare my life a while longer to give me a little more time to do His work, if it was His will.
Read MoreI See! I Understand!
A few months ago, Sister Bateman and I were touring the Japan Fukuoka Mission. The missionaries in Kumamoto introduced us to a young Japanese brother who had just joined the Church and then told us of his conversion.
Read MoreNear-Fatal Rafting Trip
Years ago when Sister Nelson and I had several teenaged daughters, we took our family on a vacation far away from telephones and boyfriends.
Read MoreDon’t Quit. Keep Playing.
[I would like to relate] the story of a young piano student. His mother, wishing to encourage him, “bought tickets for a performance of the great Polish pianist, Paderewski.
Read MoreHe Saw the Savior
(This is) the testimony my Grandfather Ballard bore to the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve on January 7, 1919, the day he was ordained an Apostle. I quote just a small portion of his testimony.
Read MoreJesus and the Resurrection
Over twenty years ago one of my favorite general authorities visited our stake. Vaughn J. Featherstone asked that someone be assigned to speak in stake conference on the Atonement. The assignment fell to me. I decided that the best preparation I could make would be to reread all four accounts of the Atonement in the Gospels in the New Testament. I got my scriptures, hiked over to our North 40, sat down under the big pine tree there in the draw, and read what Matthew, Mark, Luke and John each had to say about the last week of the Savior’s mortal life. It was a very enlightening and moving experience.
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.
The Old Headlight
I just awoke from a dream which has a good enough moral that it deserves recording. In the dream I was given a last-minute assignment to give a talk to a group of people.
Read MoreChrist’s Birth
Joseph was there to protect;
Mary was there to nurture;
The shepherds came to behold;
If 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 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 MoreAfter the Manner of Men
Nephi was not a natural man. Neither was he an unnatural man. He might more properly be called a supernatural man.
Read MoreLightning Strikes
My friend, Hal Bunderson, a sealer at the Boise Temple, told this story:
When his father was 17 he got his first job.
Take Alternate Route
In my front yard are nearly three feet of snow. My neighbor, who has faithfully measured each snowfall, tells me that we have received a total of 63 inches.
Read MoreThere Was No Other!
I have just awakened from a troubling dream. It was a dream with a message.
Read MorePlainness
Joseph Smith made the statement that “the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, …
Read MoreThe Plan of Redemption
Before we ever came to earth, and before the world was even created, a plan was put into place by which every one of God’s children could be brought back into His presence.
Read MoreHis Birth Was On This Wise
Exactly two thousand years ago in the land of Judea there lived two families. They both probably lived in the town of Nazareth.
Read MoreChristmas
Dear Matt, You asked for my Christmas ideas. Your mother is impressed with the concept pointed out by James E. Talmage…
Read MoreJoseph
One of the greatest heroes from all the scriptures was not a prophet, and left no writings for us to study.
Read MoreWhom Do I Love the Most?
As I thought about my children this week, I was startled to realize that I love them more than I love my parents.
Read MoreThere is a Way Out
One evening as we arrived home from seminary graduation we noticed a calf standing on the other side of the pond. It had obviously come from the herd above our house.
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 MoreThe Apprentice and the Master Craftsman – James’ Parables
There was once a man who apprenticed himself to a master craftsman. The master craftsman was able to work with every material, in every medium, and to create beautiful things.
Read MoreRedemption
In America you can’t open a magazine or a newspaper or a cereal box without finding coupons. A coupon is nothing more than an otherwise worthless scrap of paper that can be redeemed for something of value.
Read MoreChrist Has Come
Prophets of old foretold the coming of Jesus Christ to atone for the sins of the world. They prophesied that He would come as a baby to a virgin named Mary, and be born in a humble stable in the City of David in the land of Judea. They prophesied that a new star would arise to announce His birth. The prophets said that He would be baptized of John, and that He would go forth teaching the people, healing the sick, raising the dead, and that He would be rejected by the people. It was prophesied that the Jews and the Gentiles would both consent to His death, and that they would kill Him. It was prophesied that He would be crucified and that His body would lie in the tomb for three days.
Read MoreBislama vs. English
I have been reading the Book of Mormon in Bislama in hopes that it would teach me the language and give me some proficiency therein. I do it by having my English Book of Mormon open alongside the Bislama version so that I can refer to it to translate what I’m reading. I’ve noticed a couple of things as I’ve compared the languages.
Read MoreThey Know Not What They Do
During Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, He had very little to say. One of His few utterances was on Calvary as the Roman soldiers carried out their orders to nail Him to the cross. He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34).
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.
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