Over Thanksgiving my siblings and I were reminiscing about the magical holidays we experienced as children. Having such magical holidays as a child brings about its own difficulties, because we have yet to be successful in re-creating them. So we were discussing what made those holidays so magical. I have believed for a long time that part of the magic was in the number of people that we had attend those holidays. The biggest event we had was the Christmas…
I was recently having a conversation where marriage was being discussed. The person I was talking to said that after so many years of marriage they look back and feel that there were likely better partners for each other. This comment was made after this person had explained some of the differences and difficulties in their marriage. The way that this conservation went, I don’t believe this person is on the cusp of divorce, but the message did seem to…
I tend to doubt that the ability to see the future was part of our abilities when we lived with God before. Faith and doubt were obviously part of our early existence as many did not have the faith to come to earth. Some still doubted the outcome, or maybe their personal outcome and, still unfathomably to me, chose to follow another. But not knowing the end from the beginning, not having seen it, still having to fight the doubts…
Today’s blog post came together over the course of the day today. In Elder’s Quorum we discussed the conference talk from the October 2019 general conference by L. Todd Budge entitled “Consistent and Resilient Trust”. If you recall that talk it begins with a letter Elder Budge received from his missionary son, who, despite being hospitalized, said that he felt peace and had never been so consistently and resiliently happy. I remember those days. I remember feeling happier than I’d…
“A certain man gave two people an ocarina. One put the ocarina on a shelf and it was never thought of again. The other learned what it was, its history, how it worked, and learned to play it well. He played it in private, and played it for others, and it brought joy to them and himself. Which man deserved the gift?” The word “deserved” is used with a lot of thought here. So was ocarina. I hope you don’t…
So many great things came out of the 188th semiannual general conference. I look forward to journal/blogging about them, but this particular moment at the end of conference hit me hard and it is fresh on my mind, so I wanted to write it down. At the end of conference President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to construct twelve new temples. It’s always fun to hear the reaction from the audience when temples are announced. People from all over the…
We live in a trial averse society. To a degree this makes sense – who wants to go through pain and suffering when they can avoid it. We are currently making laws, rules, regulations, and setting precedents to insulate ourselves from any form of injury or suffering – a doctors’ group is seeking to ban trampolines because injuries occur on them; DCFS was called to investigate a family who allowed their child to walk the dog unattended. Etc. Now…
What you are about to hear will change your life. At least it should, or you are likely wasting your time. I’m not necessarily saying that what you read in these posts will change your life, but what you hear from the Spirit as you read your scriptures, attend church, read or listen to other uplifting content will change your life. But only if you let it. Only if you act on the thoughts and promptings you receive can you…
Christmas when I was six-years-old was a memorable one. Not because of the gifts I received, but because of the hard lesson I learned. We spent every Christmas at my grandparents’ home in wintery Logan, Utah. I can’t recall a Christmas in my youth that wasn’t a picture Norman Rockwell wouldn’t have loved to paint. One of my grandparents’ Christmas trees was placed at one end of their front living room. Frocked, with gold ornaments and white Christmas lights,…