Obedience
From Last Place to First
The Kentucky Derby in 2022 was won by a horse named Rich Strike. The top 20 horses in the country qualify to enter the derby. Rich Strike was number 21; but just before the derby began, one of the 20 other horses had to drop out, putting Rich Strike in. He was rated last, and was late getting out of the gate. He was initially one of the last three horses in the pack. He wove in and out among the horses, and passed one after another until there were only two running ahead of him. He put on a burst of speed, and passed them by a length to win the Kentucky Derby. It was a hugely exciting race.
Read MoreKeeping the Sabbath
Rocky made a very hopeful beginning, but eventually became too busy to attend church. He looked for excuses to not keep and observe other church practices. He purchased a classic Chevrolet Malibu, and gave it a beautiful black and gold paint job. He put the car up for sale, and immediately got a response. The man was coming on Sunday to see it, and would definitely buy it. Rocky said that he’d hold it for him. Many calls were received thereafter from others who were interested, but he told them all that he had already sold the car.
Read MoreCOVID Test
When Jesus appeared to the Nephites He first identified Himself and invited the multitude to come forward to feel His wounds and to verify that He was, indeed, the crucified Savior. He then called twelve disciples and gave them authority to baptize and to be His representatives in preaching and administering His doctrine. He turned His attention to the multitude and declared these words which have profound implications for our own day:
Read MoreRoping the Bear
Each Friday morning we four siblings get together to walk and visit. Today Ellen repeated a story about our father that, surprisingly, neither Tim nor Mac had ever heard.
Read MoreOld Testament Observations
Today, 27 December 2020, I completed a reading of the Old Testament. It has taken a long time. I read the Old Testament in the left-over days between scheduled readings of the Book of Mormon. On numerous occasions I have undertaken other readings of the Old Testament, have gotten halfway through, and have had to quit because my spirit wasn’t being fed. This time I stopped and started many times, but always resumed where I’d left off.
Read MoreIf You Look for It, You’ll Find It
Across the freeway from the tiny community of Perry, Oregon is a high cliff. If you’re traveling north on the freeway and scan the cliff to your left, you’ll likely see mountain goats. They like those cliffs because there is plenty of greenery for them to eat; and predators, like cougars, don’t go there. It’s perfect goat habitat.
Read MoreThe Fulness of Mine Intent
Nephi wrote that “the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto (God).” (1 Nephi 6:4).
What is the fulness of mine intent? What is yours?
Do It Now
Marjorie attended BYU’s 2008 Education Week. One lecturer told how his father-in-law called home one day and asked if his teenagers were snowmobiling. A daughter answered the phone, and told him that they were. He told her that he had an uneasy feeling about it, and asked her to go tell them to put the snow mobiles away.
Read MoreBoy Would Not Open The Gate
A story is told of an English farmer at work one day in his fields when he saw a party of huntsmen riding about his farm. Concerned that they might ride into a field where the crop could be damaged by the tramp of horses, he sent one of his workmen to shut the gate and then keep watch over it and on no account to open it. He had scarcely arrived at his post when the hunters came up and ordered that the gate be opened. He declined to do so, stating the orders he had received, and steadfastly refused to open the gate in spite of the threats and bribes as one after another of the hunters came forward.
Read MoreRescuer Refused To Go Back
God offers us counsel not just for our own safety, but for the safety of His other children, whom we should love. There are few comforts so sweet as to know that we have been an instrument in the hands of God in leading someone else to safety.
Read MoreBoy Fell Through Garage Roof
Some young people want to rebel against restraints. Some of you think it isn’t “cool” to be obedient to your parents or to follow the counsel of your bishop or quorum president. Bishop Richard C. Edgley shared an experience he had as a young boy about the consequences of being reckless and disobedient:
Read MoreThe String Holds the Kite Down?
The boy was very young. It was his first experience with kite flying. His father helped him, and after several attempts the kite was in the air. The boy ran and let out more string, and soon the kite was flying high.
Read MoreShip’s Captain Disregarded Orders
On the day the Indianapolis sailed toward Leyte, I enlisted in the United States Navy. At the Naval Training Station near San Diego, California, I endured the extreme discipline of boot camp and the intense training for combat.
Read MoreDon’t Go Near the Quicksand
On July 16, 1945, the USS Indianapolis departed the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California on a secret cargo mission to Tinian Island in the Marianas. The cargo included highly sophisticated equipment which could well bring an end to the Second World War, with all its suffering, remorse, and death.
Read MoreThe Pilot Who Failed to Prepare
When I was five years old, my mother helped me to learn about boundaries when she said to me nearly every day, “Jimmy, don’t go near the quicksand,” which was just a couple hundred feet away from our house.
Read MoreUneasy Feeling Overruled
Several years ago, I was invited to give an important lecture at a medical school in New York City. The night before the lecture, Sister Nelson and I were invited to dinner at the home of our host professor.
Read MoreJohn, Leave it Alone
Many years ago I was taught a lesson by a man I admired very much. He was as saintly a man as I have ever known. He was steady and serene, with a deep spiritual strength that many drew upon.
Read MoreWhat Good Would That Do?
Ralph Swenson was once filling potholes with asphalt when a voice asked him, “Do you have your year’s supply?”
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 MoreIllusions of Greatness
I just arose from a very disturbing dream. I was told that one of my good friends and Church members was now a general in the adversary’s army. He came riding by on a horse at the head of this army. He was way in advance of the army, so he was the only individual that I saw. But I caught a glimpse of his face. This is what was so disturbing about the dream. I initially couldn’t believe that he could have fallen so far as to lead Satan’s army, but it was him all right. I could recognize his former self and former countenance, but it had changed so much as to be almost unbelievable. The shine was gone. His strength and vitality and handsomeness were gone. He was ugly. He had aged dramatically. He couldn’t keep his head upright. It tilted badly to the side, and there was an inner trembling and shakiness evident.
Read MoreWhere Am I in this Picture?
I’d like to paint some pictures for you, and ask you a question. The first picture is actually already painted. It’s the picture of Noah standing on a pile of logs, with arms upraised, as he harangues the jeering and mocking crowd that has gathered to make fun of him for building a huge boat up on a wooded mountain. He’s plainly exasperated by their hard-headedness and hard-heartedness, and they’re plainly convinced that he is out of his mind.
Read MoreThe Dam Has Broken
I would like to tell of two events which took place in my neighborhood. Just over a century ago a tragedy occurred about five miles south of my house. On a night in June 1896 the seven members of the Clark French family retired to their beds in their home at
Read MoreFollow the Prophet
Listening to prophets and paying heed to their counsels can save us physically as well as spiritually.
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 MoreFormulas For Life
“Repentance needs to be done one step at a time. Humble prayer will facilitate each essential step.
Read MoreZoram—Essential to the Plan
As I begin another reading of the Book of Mormon my attention is drawn to Zoram and to the key role that he played in the saga.
Read MoreThe Yoke of Christ
My piano-playing wife has a new, favorite composer. Through all of our married life she has daily been at the piano playing Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Scott Joplin, and the like.
Read MoreExodus Events
As I read about the events leading up to the destructions of the Nephites and the Jaredites, I always wonder why some of the people didn’t see what was coming and run.
Read MoreThe Lord Doth Immediately Bless You
In my reading this morning, a word has arrested my attention. The word is “immediate.” The verse I read said, “And again, when they thought of the immediate goodness of God, and his power in delivering Alma and his brethren out of the hands of the Lamanites and of bondage, they did raise their voices and give thanks to God.” (Mosiah 25:10).
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