Thoughts and stories, by Pal

I had two sweet "tender mercies" today as I attended the St. George Temple.   As I sat down in the waiting room, for only about 5 minutes, I picked up a Book of Mormon, and opened it.  The verse my eyes fell on was 3 Nephi, 15:9:  "Behold, I am the law, and the light.  Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life." ENDURING TO THE END:  I have often wondered what I needed to change, to be in that category.  Hopefully, trying to live the Gospel, go to the Temple, and other rather ordinary things will help qualify all of us.   I did receive a new insight this morning, and I want to concentrate studying more of what our Prophet and apostles teach us, particularly in the Conference Ensign Issues.  I would encourage any of you readers to do the same.   This world is steadily getting more evil, and we need anything we can find, and then ponder about, to help us know the "good from the evil&

I found this great article this morning on LDS Living, and it is from the blog: LDS Smile  (ldssmile.com)   --- I want to give them credit for it, and I have condensed it a bit, and written a comment of mine, or two --       In Lds Living it was entitled :   "How to not be offended at Church" When Writing the Story of Your Life, Don’t Let Anyone Else Hold the Pen JANUARY 29, 2014  BY:  JOHN HUNTINGHOUSE "One of the most disheartening e-mails we receive on a daily basis are ones that go along the lines of “a member has done something to me that make me angry and consequently I have stopped going to church.” All of us face our own fellowshipping/members issues. We will almost always find ourselves in various situations where we could choose to be offended by the actions of others whether intentional or not. I have found myself in plenty of these situations and sometimes I am the better man, realizing that it wasn’t intentional and move on.  Other ti

Dear friends,  Some of you are aware I enjoy oil painting.  I took oil painting in high school and college from Ralph Huntsman, a wonderful friend and artist.  Then during the time I had many children at home, I didn't open my paint box for 17 years!  When I did, I had forgotten so much, I began to take painting workshops, when we lived in Sandy, Utah.  After we moved to St. George in August of 1981, I took several classes from private people who taught in their homes, and also some from Dixie College. I don't do much now, mostly when a grandchild graduates from high school, or gets married.  I have 2 paintings to do before school lets out this year for grandsons who are graduating from high school.  ----   No weddings on the horizon!  I made a calendar in 2009 and put some of my paintings on it.  You are welcome if you want to copy or print out any of them, but not sell them!  I do love to oil paint, but I've been busy doing other things for the last several years.  I us

Dear folks out there, everywhere! I still have lots of pioneer stories, and a lot is happening in my extended family, and close friends.   I'm putting on more family pictures tonight -- and prayers to any of you who read this, and are having really difficult times.  Know that I would be there to hug you, pray with you, or simply listen, if that would help.  If any of you would like to e mail me, my new e mail is:  paralee.eckman@gmail.com                                                        Wayne and Blaine (twins) in the army in 1954  Oh, how Wayne loves baseball!  He was on the Dixie College baseball team the spring of 1956.                                 He wanted a picture taken that showed his number!    This was taken just before McKay opened up his mission call in 1982 -- the call was to Taipei, Taiwan!  Have any of you been in on a missionary opening his call?  You can see his feelings in his face!              I have this photo of our daughters Pam

.   My great grandfather, Samuel Miles Jr., (father of William Gustavus Miles, see Blog #58,) was only 7 years old when his parents joined the Church in Freedom, New York.  His father Samuel Sr.'s first wife, Sarah Simonds, had died in 1824, and in 1825, Samuel married Prudence Marks, who helped raise his 5 young children, and also had 4 more of her own children, (including Samuel).   His first wife Sarah was a sister to Patience Simonds, who was the wife of Warren Cowdery, the brother of Oliver Cowdery.   Thus, early on, the Samuel Miles Sr.'s family heard about the Church and was baptized on April 29, 1833.   I will tell several stories of Samuel Miles Jr.'s life story later.  This photo below of Samuel Miles is the only picture we have of him --- obviously he was older.                In 1847 on this day,   (January 27, 1846) the first men of the Mormon Battalion arrived in California, and the war had ended just 2 weeks before! Between Wayne and me, we had 10 dire

An "extra" today! I wanted to write an entry on "integrity" , and had found notes our son Wayne had sent to us after he had given a talk on "integrity".  When I decided to write I couldn't find them, and did blog # 76.  Then today, in cleaning my desk, I found them !  So I decided to put them in as a new entry, as I really like them.   INTEGRITY (as given in a talk by Wayne M. Eckman – son of Wayne D and Paralee Miles Eckman) Our son, Wayne Miles Eckman, State Farm Agent, and in Tabernacle Choir. "The dictionary defines integrity as “honesty, sincerity, completeness, wholeness, an unimpaired condition.”  It means that one having integrity could be trusted by his every word and his actions would be consistent with his beliefs, even when nobody is watching.  All of us desire that kind of genuine integrity, but occasionally we compromise what is our inner core we know to be true and right.  Thankfully, through the atonement of Christ, we ca

 This subject, the Church in China , is especially interesting to us.  We had a son, McKay go on a mission in the 1980's to Taipai, Taiwan, and we now have a grandson serving in the Taichung, Taiwan mission.  McKay married a lovely Chinese girl, Kim, whom he met at BYU Hawaii.  We have a loving relationship with her family. Photo of McKay's and Kim's wedding.  Her parents came from Taiwan for the wedding.  See blog # 40. Last night, Friday Jan. 24, 2014, we went to a very interesting fireside in the St. George Tabernacle, by Brother Lynn Blake.  He  was born and raised on a small farm in Northern Utah.  He went on a mission to Germany when the Berlin wall was still up, after having been an exchange student to Germany when in high school.  Brother Blake has served as a Bishop, Stake President, Mission President (Canada Halifax Mission). He worked for the Missionary Department (51 mission presidents in the three Europe Areas), Temple President (Canada Halifax Temple)

What is integrity ? That word inspires me, and I have wanted to write about it.  When writing about our pioneers, and ancestors, I feel their integrity.  Our lives are so important in the eternal scheme of things, that we need to live with integrity, so we can truly have happiness in this life, and in the life to come. On December 18, 1835, The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote, "I could pray in my heart that all my brethren were like unto my beloved brother Hyrum, who possesses the mildness of a lamb, and the integrity of a Job, and in short, the meekness and humility of Christ; I love him with that love that is stronger than death".   What a comfort such a brother was to the Prophet who had so many turn against him, both in and out of the Church.   (Italics and bold print added.)                A painting of Joseph, left, and his beloved brother Hyrum. By 1841,the saints had left Missouri because of increasing persecutions and illegal procedures against them,and the c