I like it when it rains hard.  It sounds like white noise

 everywhere, which is like silence but not empty.

from: A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night

by: Mark Haddon

What I've Learned Today:

I am fortunate...at least 50 friends took the time to say something nice to me for my birthday. I am grateful for all the birthday wishes this week. I am grateful for another year!

If I had a 100 million dollars or even 2 billion dollars I should give it all away to help others. This is the way to find true happiness. (I bet you can  tell that I watched THE ULTIMATE GIFT with my mom)  Or, as C.S. Lewis said, "I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.  In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably  giving away to little. If our charities do not at all pinch  or hamper us, I should say they are too small.  There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them."
gulp

I am indeed a terrible passenger. Road trips are best when I can have command of the wheel.


Again, nothing is for sure in life ...except for change.

Living one day at a time is easier said than done.

My dad's Toyota Prius will spoil me for the rest of my life.  Gas prices suck!!

I do love hiking with Lovely people.

My dad and mom are so very generous.

My kids' joy is my joy

Pepsi is a thorn in my side.

My mom has a beautiful smile...and.. shes always smiling.

Baby girl Evelyn is a princess. Already.

Im grateful I wasnt born in 1682 in tsarists Russia. So grateful. (Reading Peter the Great by, Robert Massie)

I'd almost forgotten what rain looked like, felt like and smelled like.  Salt Lake has had rain!!

“I do believe in God. I think God has given so much power

 to people, and intelligence, and said, 'Well, you are on your

 own. Maybe I'm tired, I need a nap. You are mature.

 Why don't you look after yourselves?' 

And I think He's been sleeping too much.”

from: Strength In What Remains

by: Tracy Kidder

This is me again..being an infant on the subject of prayer.
I visit this topic frequently.

So here it goes.... again.

I doesnt matter what I want, or what it is I think I need. It seem futile to me to 'ask' for anything. For as I understand things, God knows best, and I do not. God has the big picture. I do not.
So what is prayer?
The other day..while attending Stake Conference, I heard the speaker make an analogy for prayer. He used the symbol of a racquetball. He asked us to  picture  hitting a racquetball softly against the wall of the court, and to imagine how slowly the ball would then return to us.  Then he asked us to picture us hitting that ball with all the force we could muster, and to then imagine how quickly and forceably the ball would come back at us. His comparison went on...as he asked  us to envision  us lying down at night and mumbling a prayer without heart or intent..a weak plea, a weak hit.  How would the return look?  Then he asked us to think about an ardent and forceful, humble prayer...and couldnt we then imagine a 'return' with greater force?

Im asking....Does deliverance influence God in any way?
How does one pray with force when one already knows that its served back to us on the 'opponents' terms? (I cringe at the term 'opponent' for I dont believe on any level that God is an opponent. But go with me a bit more on this) So Im thinking that prayer isnt so much like racquetball as it is like tennis.  We are in control of the velocity of the racquetball we hit...but the wall is inademate.  In the game of tennis, we are at the mercy of our opponent and how he decides to lob the ball back at us.
Personal example:
Asking with force, fervor, tears, pain to have our business grow enough to support us, has been  an on going battle of wills for 2 years now. As a matter of fact...4 'players' are sending up that plea. God is listening. I believe that He is.  And yet He serves to us what He pleases.
And can you picture the pleading and anguish that God hears every night as we plead for the cure for cancer, or for  help with struggling kids?!  I suppose the return serve comes back..but its unrecognizable most times... its out of our league, and its never usually a forceful, record setting event.
Prayer is so very, very, very, very hard for me. Im not a fan of  vain repetitions. Im not much of a conversationalist either. If God already knows the answer before I ask...why ask, I ask?  I know He knows my heart, and I feel confident that He has already decided what to do in my "game."  No amount of pleading is going to make a difference. (and what if I were to ask amiss!!!??)
I already know that Im here on this earth to learn patience, humility and more patience. I've known this for a very long time. My game seems to be learning how to be happy in each moment, even though these moments look nothing like I expected or planned on.
Again,..will my asking God to help with kids who struggle have an affect on the  kids who also have a game plan not of my understanding...who have the right and gift to choose what they want?  They have choices and God has a plan for them. My prayers wont and maybe shouldnt change their 'game'.
My best attempts at prayer are always the thankfulness prayers, the gratitude prayers. Those come easily for me, and I suppose its important to be thankful.
Its the asking thats so very difficult. Its just like asking anything of my earthly father...its difficult. ( Counseling may be order)
Life is what it is. I suppose Im a bit of a fatalist. God has set me on a course, to prove and to try me. I have to make my way through...with as much gratitude as I can muster and with some flavor of hope.
Shall I pray for hope? Maybe thats the answer.
Stop praying for change; for money or puppies, or trips ...seriously though..I dont pray for these things...just success and happiness. Instead I should pray for the feelings of hope, and for peace where Im at. I could probably hit that prayer/ball right out of the park!!!
God...please grant me hope. Hope in the future..hope for the kids, and hope for friends who struggle with insurmountable trails and battles with cancer.

H-O-P-E

I think Im going to find a ball,...and write in great big letters with a Sharpee across it....H-O-P-E, and tuck it under my pillow.

SUNDAY MUSINGS

QUESTION:
We live in a world where your genes can be mapped, where your cells can be copies, where your face can be altered.  Heck, with surgery you can go from being a man to a woman.  We have science to tell us of the
earth's creation; rocket probes explore the universe.  The sun is no longer a mystery. And the moon-- which people used to worship ?  We brought some of it home in a pouch, right?
So why, in such a place where the once-great mysteries have been solved, does anyone still believe in God or Jesus or Allah or a Supreme Being of any kind? Haven't we outgrown it? Isnt it like Pinocchio, the puppet?  When he found he could move without strings, did he still look the same way at Geppetto?

ANSWER:
Look, if you say that science will eventually prove there is no God, on that I must differ.  No matter how small they take it back, to a tadpole, to an atom, there is always something they can't explain.  Something that created it all at the end of the search.  And no matter how far they try to go the other way- to extend life, play around with genes, clone this, clone that, live to one hundred fifty- at some point, life is over.  And then what happen? When life comes to an end? When you come to the end, that's where God begins.

from: Have A Little Faith
by: Mitch Albom

1907 Anna Munthe Norstedt Swedish, 1854-1936 Still Life with Sweet Peas

Sabbath Reflections

“After All We Can Do”
Robbie Pierce

I had been in that hole for a very long time—
In the dark and the damp, in the cold and the slime.
The shaft was above me; I saw it quite clear,
But there’s no way I ever could reach it from here.
I could not remember the world way up there,
So I lost every hope and gave in to despair.

I knew nothing but darkness, the floor, and the wall.
Then from off in the distance I heard someone call:
“Get up! Get ready! There’s nothing the matter!
Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder!”
This was a thought that had not crossed my mind,
But I started to stack all the stones I could find.

When I ran out of stones, then old sticks were my goal,
For some way or another I’d climb from that hole.
I soon had a ladder that stood very tall,
And I thought, “I’ll soon leave this place once and for all!”
I climbed up my ladder, a difficult chore,
For from lifting those boulders, my shoulders were sore.

I climbed up the ladder, but soon had to stop,
For my ladder stopped short, some ten feet from the top.
I went back down my ladder and felt all around,
But there were no more boulders nor sticks to be found.
I sat down in the darkness and started to cry.
I’d done all I could do and I gave my best try.

But in spite of my work, in this hole I must die.
And all I could do was to sit and think, “Why?”
Was my ladder to short? Was my hole much too deep?
Then from way up on high came a voice: “Do not weep.”
And then faith, hope, and love entered into my chest
As the voice calmly told me that I’d done my best.

He said, “You have worked hard, and your labor’s been rough,
But the ladder you’ve built is at last tall enough.
So do not despair; there is reason to hope,
Just climb up your ladder; I’ll throw down my rope.”
I climbed up my ladder, then climbed up the cord.
When I got to the top of it, there stood the Lord.

I’ve never been happier; my struggle was done.
I blinked in the brightness that came from the Son.
I fell to the ground as His feet I did kiss.
I cried, “Lord, can I ever repay Thee for this?”
He looked all about. There were holes in the ground.
They had people inside, and were seen all around.

There were thousands of holes that were damp, dark and deep.
Then the Lord looked at me, and He said, “feed my sheep,”
And he went on his way to save other lost souls,
So I got right to work, calling down to the holes,
“Get up! Get ready! There is nothing the matter!
Take rocks, and take sticks, and build up a fine ladder!”

It now was my calling to spread the good word,
The most glorious message that man ever heard:
That there’s one who is coming to save one and all,
And we need to be ready when he gives the call.
He’ll pull us all out of the holes that we’re in
And save all our souls from cold death and from sin.

So do not lose faith; there is reason to hope:
Just climb up your ladder; he’ll throw down his rope.

Sunday Ramblings

From my Sunday School Manual:
I want to suggest two or three things to you. I hope I
will not confuse you too much. But we in this
galaxy—and the heavens which we see are the galaxy
to which we belong—we from this point where we
stand or float, can see one billion light-years* all
around us. A light-year is the distance which light,
traveling at the rate of 186,000 miles a second, will
travel in one year. The astronomers tell us that we now
can peer out into space one billion light-years, we in
the center.
Where we are moving, how we are moving, how
rapidly we go, we do not know. As you look into the
heavens you do not see the heavens as they are today.
You see them as they were the number of light-years
ago when the light therefrom began to come from
them to us. If it is a hundred million light-years away,
it was a hundred million years ago.

It is said that there are one hundred million galaxies*
within this radius that are the same as ours. (*Note:
Since President Clark wrote this article, astronomy has
greatly expanded its knowledge. The radius of the
known universe is now believed to be sixteen billion
light years across, and astronomers believe there are at
least ten billion galaxies. See, for example, Herbert
Friedman, The Amazing Universe [Washington, D.C.:
National Geographic Society, 1975], p. 32.) They say
that this galaxy in which we live, in which we float
and have our existence, is one hundred thousand lightyears in diameter.
They say that it is shaped lenticular,
as if two glass watch crystals were put together, ten
thousand light-years through the thickest part, and I
repeat, a hundred thousand light-years through.
Astronomers now yield what they did not formerly
yield, that there may have been many, and probably
were, many worlds like ours. Some say there were in
this galaxy perhaps from its beginning, one million
worlds like unto this one.
“Worlds without number have I created,” through
“mine Only Begotten Son.” I repeat, our Lord is not a
novice, he is not an amateur; he has been over this
course time and time and time again.
And if you think of this galaxy of ours having within it
from the beginning perhaps until now, one million
worlds, and multiply that by the number of millions of
galaxies, one hundred million galaxies, that surround
us, you will then get some view of who this Man we
worship is.
He was a member of the Godhead—the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost. He participated in the Great
Council of Heaven which decided that they should
build a world, a world to which we might come as
mortal beings and work out our salvation.

This is the most powerful video I've seen in a VERY long time. Its better than Conference!!!
Amazing!! God is great!!! Enjoy!!!

Sabbath Reflections

It is funny how mortals always picture

us putting things into their minds; in

reality our best work is done by keeping things out.

from: The Screwtape Letters

by: C.S. Lewis

We believe that the Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead.  He is a personage of spirit and does not have a body of flesh and bones.  He is the Comforter, who the Savior promised would teach His followers all things and bring to their remembrance all things that He had taught them.  (John 14:26)

We believe that the Holy Ghost can effect us in this manner:

* He can give feelings of love, joy peace, patience, meekness, gentleness, faith and hope.  (Romans 15: 13)
* He gives ideas in the mind, feelings in the heart.
* He occupies the mind and presses on the feelings.
* He helps Scripture have strong effect.
 * He helps give us good feelings to teach if  something is true.
* He enlightens the mind. (1 Corinthians 2: 9-11)
* He replaces  darkness with light
* He  strengthens the desire to avoid  evil and obey the commandments.
* He teaches truth and brings it to remembrance. (john 14:26)
* He gives feelings of peace and comfort. ie: The Comforter (John 14:27)
* He guides to truth and show things to come. (John 16:13)
* He reveals truth.
* He guides and protects from deception.
* He glorifies and bears record of God the Father and Jesus Christ. John 16:14)
* He guides the words of humble teachers. ( Luke 12:11-12)
* He recognizes and corrects sin. (John 16:8)
* He gives us gifts of the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12)
*He helps us  to perceive or discern the thoughts of others.
* He tells us what to pray for.
*  He tells us what to do.
* He helps the righteous  speak with power and authority.
* He testifies of the truth. (John 15:26)
* He carries truth to the heart of the listener.
* He enhances skills and abilities.  (Exodus 31: 3-5)
* He constrains (impels forward) or restrains (holds back.)
* He edifies both teacher and students.
* He gives comfort.  (John 14:26)

Neil L Anderson said this about the need of  The Comforter-

"We live in a time when transportation, communication, and access to information all tower in comparison to the past. But moral issues such as honesty, chastity, Sabbath observance, family responsibility, and even the sanctity of life—issues long held in unison by the world and by Latter-day Saints—now find themselves interpreted in every way and open to debate. 

As the developments of technology and communication ever press the modern world upon us, being in the world but not of the world requires that we make constant choices and decisions (see John 17:14). Spiritual discernment is paramount. As disciples of Christ, we must make the gift of the Holy Ghost a conscious, daily, prayerful part of our lives. President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said, “No one of us can survive in the world of today, much less in what it soon will become, without personal inspiration.”

If you'd like to learn further what we believe about the Holy Ghost, go HERE- 
you will find it very informative and uplifting!!!


artist: Gottfried Helnwein

Steve Balsamo - Gethsemane from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Jesus Christ Superstar (live in Ahoy, Holland 2004)


Goosebumps
AMAZING!!
What a voice!
Inspiring!!!

Day of Rest

The Wandering Jew by Gustave Doré.

The Wandering Jew is a figure from medieval Christian folklore whose legend began to spread in Europe in the thirteenth century. The original legend concerns a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion and was then cursed to walk the earth until the Second Coming. The exact nature of the wanderer’s indiscretion varies in different versions of the tale, as do aspects of his character; sometimes he is said to be a shoemaker or other tradesman, sometimes he is the doorman at Pontius Pilate’s estate.

One Nation Under God

The Jews would not willingly tread upon the smallest piece of paper in their way, but took it up; for possibly, said they, the name of God may be upon it. Though there was a little superstition in this, yet truly there is nothing but good religion in it, if we apply it to man. Trample not on any; there may be some work of grace there, that thou knowest not of. The name of God may be written upon that soul thou treadest on; it may be a soul that Christ thought so much of as to give his precious blood for it; therefore, despise it not.
S.T.Coleridge

Happy Thanksgiving To YOU!!!

SABBATH SCRIBBLINGS

"This temple will stand a thousand

years. But you are His forever."
from: The Stones of the Temple
by: Frederic Voros

Today is a unique and special Sabbath day!!!
No one here can remember that last time that church has been canceled. There hasnt been a snow storm to disrupt traveling to and fro. Nor earthquakes or any other natural disaster. So what has happened to cause such a rift in our weekly rituals???
Our church is dedicating another temple this glorious morning!!
And even though this temple isn't located in some far off exotic place, but can be found in our own desert state of Utah...each and every temple dedication is a special occasion. Temples dotting Utah speaks to the number of faithful members willing to attend and serve there. As our numbers grow, so will the amount of temples we build.
Temples are built with tithe money.
Temples are the "architectural manifestation of the green pastures and still waters. It is the well and the garden." -John Rosenberg
There are now130 temples around the world.


Temples are crowning jewels to any community. Real estate values go up in a neighborhood where a temple is built.
Of course thats not what temples are about for us-
They feel as if they are safe haven.
They feel like sanctuaries from the storms of life.
They feel as it says in Gen 28:12-like "the gates of heaven."


We build these temples, these Houses of God, for numerable reasons-
First- it is a commandment. ref???
Next- it gives us opportunity to lay aside the things, the worries, the concerns of this world for a time, so that we can concentrate on things of more importance. Things of an eternal nature.
We build them as an act of faith.
We love our temples because we find that while we serve in the temple we are changed, recharged, touched, and taught. Few places on earth can accomplish such lofty things.
We preform sacred ordinances there. We unite families in marriage for time and all eternity. Weddings are most sacred and venerated within these walls.
We honor those who came before us as well. Each time we enter the temple we revere and honor our ancestors. Those that came before us, many who had difficult lives, who may have died wondering if God had forgotten them. In the temple we show them that we havent forgotten them. God never forgets a single child. Maybe for the first time in many, many years their names will be spoken again, in the Lord's house, and they can then know the eternal nature of Gods love.
I think Neal L Maxwell says it best for me and why I love the temple, when he states, " Temple work is not an escape from the world but a reinforcing of our need to better the world while preparing ourselves for another and far better world...Being in the Lord's house can help us to be different from the world in order to make more difference in the world." (from: Not My Will but Thine)
So this morning we head to our meetinghouses to witness another sacred dedicatory prayer in behalf of our newest temple. I go with a sense of determination to pay heed to what is spoken, and with a goal in my heart to attend our beautiful temple right here in St George with greater frequency and devotion. And to always be striving to do my part to make this world a better place. For I do feel such gratitude for this glorious world we have been given.
(photos by Michael Provard and David C Moore)

Bill Pratts Talk..... In Memoriam

Fear not, I am with thee;
oh be not dismayed.
For I am thy God
and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee
and cause thee to stand.
Upheld by my righteous
Upheld by my righteous
Omnipotent hand.
from: How Firm a Foundation
hymn # 85

(I believe in fate...in synchronicity and all that 'stuff.' How else would I explain that while rummaging through all my vast collection of papers and talks and quotes and articles..... that were in no particular order...and to then have this talk be sitting on the top of the box in the bottom of my closet, for over a year....and to have it happen just this week!!!??? SYNCHRONICITY!!)
ENJOY
" My talk is about the Second Coming, and war, and really its about Memorial Day and what it should mean to the Latter-Day Saints.
The Second Coming figures so prominently with the Latter-Day Saints that the concept is part of our title "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints."
Maybe we should be more properly titled "The Church of honest people trying to obtain righteousness in a time of war, rumors of war, famine, pestilence, pornography, nudeness, lewdness, and general wickedness, by leaving the world behind and following the Savior, even Jesus Christ church." But "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sounds better and is shorter and more easily remembered.
Doctrine and Covenants 87:2,6
"And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations...And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn...until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations..."
So right now you're probably saying to yourself, "whoa, I didnt sign up for this war stuff..." Yeah, you really did sign up for this, and I can prove it. In the 250th song in our hymn book it starts with ...
"We are all enlisted till the conflict is o're, Happy are we! Happy are we!! Soldiers in the Army there's a bright crown in store, We shall win and wear it by and by!!"
War, wickedness, Second Coming, soldiers, Memorial Day, quite a full plate.
When would this all begin?
The Civil War was to serve as a marker of the beginning of wars and rumors of wars that would result in the death and misery of untold numbers of Heavenly Fathers children.
Over 620,000 soldiers died during the Civil War when brother fought brother, 204,000 from battle wounds, and 416,000 from disease. That's about one third of the population of this state.
War is horrible, but the Civil War was particularly so because of the increased lethality of the rifled musket, and exploding artillery shells that saw their first use on the farm lands of America. As an example, of the 7,000 men who served in the famed Iron Brigade, only 1,000 returned to New York.
Before the Civil War, 20,000 Americans gave their lives to gain and maintain our freedom. Since the first shots of the Civil War, almost 1.2 million Americans have given their lives to preserve our Nation.
Although the American Civil War was the milestone that marked the beginning of this war, the war has been going on since the foundation of this earth.
Revelations 12: 7-9, 17
"And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, and called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him...And the dragon was wroth...and went to make war with...[those] which keep the commandments of God, and have a testimony of Jesus Christ."
The war is directed towards us, those who "...keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Maybe this is why everyone in the world seems to hate Americans, because America has sheltered and nurtured the church.
Cain slew Able for the Oath's sake, and Able became the first martyr and veteran in the War that began in Heaven and was continued on the earth.
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, sought all his days to purify his people, and it is said of him that so powerful was the word which Enoch spake that "rivers turned from their courses" and "mountains fled before him" And though the 'world' sought to destroy Enoch and his people, they were kept at bay by the power of his word which the Lord gave him.
What is the cause of war and how do we stop it?
From James, Chapter 3:1-4
"From whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; you fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
In this fight, you cannot sit on the fence. For they that are not with us are against us. If it isnt righteousness, it's wickedness. There are no gray areas.
Armageddon is a word with which all Saints should be familiar. It's name comes from the contraction of "Har Meggido" meaning the mountain or ruins of Meggido, and it lies on the south side of the plains of Esdraelon at the entrance to a cut in the mountains that leads to the plateau of what is now the West Bank. It is the last defensible terrain before Jerusalem and I believe the Schverpunct or the decisive point of the battle of Armageddon and the place where the defense of Isreal will fail just prior to the Second Coming.
This is all very interesting but what does it have to do with America, veterans and Memorial Day?
War is our legacy. It is our birthright and our sacred duty. We were born on this earth because we chose sides in the first War, the War in Heaven. It continues. We are ALL enlisted.
This is a choice land, a holy land. In the Book of Mormon, we are counseled that we must serve the God of this land or be removed.
I believe Satan wants to destroy this United States and I believe it has only been because of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines that we haven't been conquered.
What about these young men and women? The average age of those who die in our wars is 19 years of age; about the same age as our missionaries.
They come from all walks of life, from all religions, from all races. At first they wore blue and gray, later they wore khaki or olive drab, now they wear forest or desert camouflage. In every age they are the same, the American Fighting Man (or woman). They all take the oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies..." Their mottos are "Duty, Honor, Country" or "Ducet Amor Patriae" "Led by LOve of Country", or "Toujour Pret" "Always Ready" or "Semper Fidelius" "Always Faithful". These are their watchwords. When they're hurt, they bleed. When they die, they almost universally whisper the name of the person who is uppermost in their mind and heart, and usually that's their mother.
They sacrifice all their tomorrows for the Cause. They dont do it for conquest or gold, nor for lands or oil.
If you ask them, some would say they did it out of duty, others might say they didnt realize what they were getting into but soon found themselves swept away by the enormity of it all and refused to turn and run. Some would say they did it for their buddies, their band of brothers. Some dont know why they enlisted, it just seemed like the thing to do at the time. None of them expect to die, not really.
Many faced the monstrosities of War and survived to grow old with their wives and children. Some never got older. And when the time came, all prayed to God to spare them, even if only to whisper a silent prayer on their lips. They made deals, promises, asked for forgiveness. Lt. Winters of Echo Company, 506th Airborne Infantry promised God that if he were ever allowed to see his home again, he would live out the rest of his days in peace. They were frightened...They werent saints, most were away from home for the first time and some wandered in forbidden fields. Some, a very few, did things in the heat of battle they ordinarily wouldnt have done. Whatever their sacrifice, whatever their failings, whatever their strengths and their weaknesses, one must stand in awe at their collective courage and the sum of their sacrifice. Viewed from this perspective, it is truly awe inspiring.
We left 117 thousand dead and suffered 204 thousand wounded in WW1 to keep France free. Great Britain and France demanded and extracted reparations from Germany. We didnt ask for anything. We conquered the German and Japanese, suffered 407 thousand dead and 671 thousand wounded and gave them back their countries better, stronger, and free. We protected the freedom of Korea with 34 thousand war dead and 103 thousand wounded and never asked for anything in return except maybe friendship. We sacrificed 59 thousand dead and 153 thousand wounded to try to bring freedom to the land of Vietnam. We've lost almost ??? in Afghanistan and Iraq and it continues.
In all these wars, we havent asked for anything in return for our sacrifice except for a little piece of earth where we could bury and honor our dead.
1.2 million honored dead.
Let me tell you about one of them.

An American Civil War Letter

In 1861, a Union officer named Sullivan Ballou, assigned to the Grand Army of the Potomac, wrote home to his wife on Smithfield, Rhode Island.

July 14, 1861,
Dear Sarah,
The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days, perhaps tomorrow and lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel compelled to write a few lines that may fall upon your eyes when I am no more.
I have no misgivings about or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged. And my courage neither halts nor falters. I know now how American civilization now leans upon the triumph of our government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. I am willing, completely willing, to lay down all my joy in this life to help maintain this government and to pay that debt.
Sarah, my love for you is deathless and seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence can break. Yet my love of country comes over me like a strong wind and bares me irresistibly with all those chains to the battlefield. The memory of all the blissful moments I have enjoyed with you come crowding over me and I feel most deeply grateful to God and you that I have enjoyed them for so long. And oh Sarah, how hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years when God willing we may still have lived and loved together and see our boys grown to honorable manhood around us. Sarah, if I do not return, never forget how much I loved you. Nor, that when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have sometimes been. But Sarah, my dear, dear Sarah, if the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they love, I shall always be with you in the brightest day and darkest night. Always. Always. And when the soft breeze fans your cheek it shall be my breath, or the cool air upon your throbbing temple, it shall by my spirit passing by.
Sarah, do not mourn me dead. Think only that I am gone and wait for me. For we shall meet again. My dearest Sarah. We shall meet again.

Captain Sulliva Bellou was killed a week later at the first battle of Bull Run.

In the movie "Saving Private Ryan," Captain Miller lies mortally wounded at the bridge. Private Ryan, the man he and eight others had died to save pulled close to him when he saw that Captain Miller was trying to say something.
His words were simple yet penetrating, and worth remembering for all of us. "Earn this."
This Memorial Day, remember them the best way you can.
1.2 million honored dead. Be a friend of God and "earn this." Do your duty to your family, to your community, to your country and to your God and "earn this." The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. "earn this." Honor your priesthood and "earn this." Stand in holy places and be not moved and "earn this."

(THANK YOU Bill Pratt!!! Though I truly cant recall where I may know you from.....please forgive me for taking the liberty of 'publishing' this most excellent talk for my blog world to read!!)

SACRED SUNDAY

“as long as there has been history, there has been
Egypt….it is a land that God has used for His
purposes throughout all earthly time.”
-Richard M. Romney

Im a hopeless romantic…but there certainly cant be anything romantic about the sojourn that Joseph and Mary HAD to take to Egypt!! But…I have had this picture in my scriptures for years, because it seems so romantic!! When Joseph was awakened in the night, and commanded by an angel to flee to Egypt, there could have been nothing romantic about leaving in the dark of night, with a sense of urgency and of secrecy! (Joseph must have been a MOST patient man…first having to deal with his betrothed wife becoming ‘mysteriously’ pregnant. Then conceding to Gods will and marrying quickly. Next, having to travel long distances to comply with the Romans and the census taking and tax collectors. All the while taking care of a wife heavy with child. Then…dealing with not being able to find a place of refuge for his laboring wife while in the bustling city. Oh Joseph…the burdens you were asked to bear!!)

After fleeing through the desert, we have no idea if this sweet pair had any idea of the death and carnage they were leaving behind in their wake??? Two year olds on down to infants were being murdered in their homes….Nothing romantic about that!!!!!!!! Horrific-in fact!!!!!!!! Im realizing that fleeing from the jealous rage of Herod could have only been accomplished because of the ‘gifts’ that the wise men brought them, in reverence to the Christ child. Joseph and Mary were far too poor to have been able to accomplish such a journey without this blessing.
Traveling 700 miles (round trip) in the desert on the back of a mule…nothing romantic here either!!
There may have been some upsides to this required banishment to a distant land though.
There is nothing in the scriptures to tell us about what life was like while they spent 2 years in Egypt .(until the death of Herod) But I like to imagine this period as a quiet, peaceful time in this threesomes lives. A time when they could enjoy each others company without much disturbance, with no worrying about what the future would hold for Jesus. A bonding time. It was a time to enjoy all the normal things that parents relish with a beautiful first born son. They were refugees!! They were strangers in a strange land. They were foreigners. They didn’t speak the language. I have heard the Egyptians are gracious people. That they are friendly and hospitable. I understand there is a common custom for the people to have pottery jars of water gracing the front of many a humble home, so that travelers may enjoy a cool drink in their hot, arid land. I have also heard that Egypt has a history of being the country which first granted asylum?? Interesting. The bible refers to Egypt as being a place of sanctuary. You may recall both Abraham and Jacob took their families to Egypt to escape great famines? Jews fled to Egypt when wicked kings stormed Jerusalem. Now Mary and Joseph were learning first hand about this safe haven. Was this Jesus’s first lesson on what it felt like to not have a home? Did He start at this very young age to have empathy for others who feel ‘misplaced‘?? Did this humble family also realize that this episode was fulfilling prophecy? Matt 2:15 “Out of Egypt have I called my son.“ Probably not…they just wanted safety for their family.
Merry Christmas season to all!! May we remember that Gods hand is in ALL things!! Even in our seemingly unimportant existence. Its true!!!!!!!!

The wonders of the internet will probably never cease to amaze me and at times humble me. Equally impressive is the talent that comes out of BYU!!! My heart felt thanks go out to my lovely sister in law, Cathy for sending this GEM my way!!! Please click HERE for a Christmas musical treat, plus a feast for the eyes and the soul.

THANK YOU CATHY!! I SORELY NEEDED THIS!!!

Lest We Forget!!!

Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public Thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness;
Now therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind care and protection of the people of this country, previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interposition's of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union and plenty, which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors, which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And ALSO that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the peoples, by constantly being a government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us) and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New York, the third day of October, 1789

THE LAMB

Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee.
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee.
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and he is mild;
He became a little child
I a child, and thou a lamb.
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!

by William Blake

SUCCESS FORMULA

1. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
2. Blessed are the peacemakers.
3. It is better to give than receive.
4. Do not hate your enemies but do good unto them.
5. Be as humble and teachable as a little child.
6. Be wise, aggressive, and alert to promote good and preserve peace.
7. Perfect yourself by overcoming personal weakness.
8. Follow the commandments of God to increase the value of your life and blot out the scars of past mistakes.
9. The greatest happiness comes through the greatest service.
10. Do good secretly and God-who seeth in secret-will reward you openly.

Bragging Rights

You've just got to take a look at this video that my multi talented daugher-in-law created in tribute to 9/11. I am in awe and wonder at her abilities. Be sure to go down to the bottom of my page and turn off my music so that you can hear what she has done. And...be sure to go HEREand leave a comment-telling her what an amazing piece she created!!!