Thoughts and stories, by Pal

Again I'm posting some true family Christmas stories.  I hope you enjoy them! More family Christmas stories is a blog I repeat each Christmas.   It was published last year as entry # 304, and I have added more pictures this year.  More Family Christmas Stories, first published Dec. 3, 2013. This was posted last year on December 3, 2013, as blog # 24.  I hope you enjoy these family Christmas stories. The "Pull Out The Rug" story down a bit, is about our son Allen when he was about 8 years old.  The picture above is when he was a navigator in the Air Force, and his wife, Holli.  He served for almost 7 years, also in Desert Storm. There are several stories about Christmas in our family, and you may enjoy these: ----  (The photos are different from last year.) My mother, Ruth, was just 6 years old when her father passed away.   In the summer of 1914, her father, John Butler Allen, got a sliver in his eye.  Later...

I'm reposting a story that I've mentioned each year since I've done my blog! This true story about my Christmas when I was 5 years old, is truly a favorite.  Reposted from:  #  555. A Child's Christmas Prayer Answered -- first written on December 1, 2013, on blog # 21. This a true Christmas story, from my childhood. The Christmas of 1939, here in St. George, Utah, was going to be quite humble at our house. My father had been in World War I and had suffered off and on with "shell shock", which now is called Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. He had been in the Veteran's hospital in Salt Lake City during the year, and my mother, Ruth, had given birth to my sister, Mavis, on December 1st. In those days, mothers stayed down much longer with a difficult birth. My mother had been allowed to turn over in bed on the 10th day, and got up on the 17th day, so Christmas found her very weak. My grandmother, Ruth’s mother, was living with our small family, and...

Why Obsessing Over the Second Coming Can Be Problematic by Robert L. Millet, Excerpted from "Living in the Eleventh Hour"  | Nov. 30, 2019 Makes You Think Mormon Life While as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are taught to prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ, we don't have to anxiously obsess over it. In his book,  Living in the Eleventh Hour ,  Robert L. Millet explains how members can still look forward to the second coming without cataloging every event between then and now.  How should we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ feel about the fact that we do indeed live in the eleventh hour, the Saturday night of time? How does it make us feel to know that we are living through an era when more and more of the prophecies are being fulfilled? The Savior declared to Sidney Rigdon: “The poor and the meek shall have the gospel preached unto them, and they shall be looking forth for the tim...

This is one of the best articles I've read, which helps me realize all the blessings I have to be thankful for! How to rejoice in 1000+ gospel blessings within an hour By  Shalissa Lindsay  · November 25, 2019 God refers to his countless blessings using phrases like “the sands of the sea”. Today let’s play in His sandbox and enjoy a teaspoonful of gospel blessings. Can we together count 1000 grains? Easily. A few years ago at Thanksgiving, our family tried a new activity. Working from 10 broad starter categories, we swiftly shouted out and scribbled down 100 items in each category.  In this way, we were able to rapid-fire list 1000 “Reasons to Be Thankful” in less than an hour. Thinking in terms of categories made it easy to hit 1000 quickly and sometimes count much higher. Here’s what our non-religious categories looked like: 1000+ Reasons to Be Thankful (secular version) 100 foods you love (think desserts!) 100 animals or things in...

Living Up to Our Privileges: A Consecrated Life By  Meghan Decker  · November 19, 2019 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Every time I hear the quote from Brigham Young about living beneath my privileges, I experience FOMO—fear of missing out. While that can feel like an underhanded marketing trick when I’m convinced to buy something “While They Last!”, Brigham Young’s insight invites me to think about whether I am fully living the life that can be mine: There is no doubt, if a person lives according to the revelations given to God’s people, he may have the Spirit of the Lord to signify to him his will, and to guide and to direct him in the discharge of his duties, in his temporal as well as his spiritual exercises. I am satisfied, however, that in this respect, we live far beneath our privileges. ( Discourses of Brigham Young , p. 32) Those are invaluable promises: the Spirit of the Lord will help me understand God’s...

My dear husband Wayne --Sept. 18th, 1930 to Feb. 21st, 2016 -- singing !  This was taken in our living room during a family celebration for our 60th wedding anniversary, in September, 2015.  Also some pictures of him in the army in the 1950's Wayne always got along so well with kids!  This was taken in Austria.    This was taken when they went to an army retreat, and got to wear civilian clothes. An example of times when they were out on manuvers. I've always loved these pictures, most of which he sent me when we were writing letters at that time.  

I haven't written for a few days, as I've been supporting family members who have had some real problems.  Today I want to share this very important article from LDS Living. Jonathan Decker: The  Jonathan Decker: The Tragedy in Mexico, Our True Enemy, and Compassion in the Last Days by Jonathan Decker, LMFT  | Nov. 08, 2019 Author's Note: I wrote this in place of my "Ask a Latter-day Saint Therapist" article this week. It was written for those both within and outside of our faith. My normal column will return next week. For news coverage of the  Mexico Massacre on Deseret.com . I've been thinking about the tragedy in Mexico, in which a cartel brutally shot and burned alive American women and children. Having a wife and kids who mean the world to me, the reality of it hit me hard. I actually cried about it uncontrollably yesterday. And yet, I have heard some people claim that these people deserved their fa...