Thoughts and stories, by Pal

This is a great article!  I have known some who were a bit let down from where their missionary call was, but after they have been there, they love it! What’s the Most Exciting Mission Location? By Joni Hilton  · May 22, 2019 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Right now I’m picturing some young men and women who are awaiting their mission calls. They’ve prepared all their lives, they’ve “put in their papers,” and now they—and their families– wonder where they’ll be spending the next 18 months or two years of their lives. But they have no idea the phenomenal surprises that await them. First, let’s be honest. Even though we know the most important thing is  that  they serve, we all see the screams of delight in videos of the announcement when an exotic location and language are revealed. As a people, we still struggle to get over the  where. Let me tell you where I would pray with all my heart for my chil...

The Red Rose and the Mission Call By Daris Howard  · May 21, 2019 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Lewis had fought through World War II in the Pacific. He had seen many of his friends die, and he had himself been wounded. So when he was assigned as a guard at the war crimes trials in Japan, hatred burned in his heart for those he felt had been the cause of this destructive war. In his work at the trial, he did not associate too much with the Japanese people, and Lewis was happy about that. He wanted nothing to do with them. And as he did his guard duty day after day, he had lots of time to think about the war, and his hatred increased. But one little Japanese lady bothered him the most. Whenever she saw Americans, she would offer them a solitary red rose. She especially took notice of Lewis and would single him out for her simple offering. He would reject her gift, as did all other Americans. She seemed hurt by this, b...

This is a great talk to re-visit, and listen to again!  It will bring a smile to your face, and some wisdom also! https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/10/four-bs-for-boys?lang=eng&cid=email-shared It is by President Gordon B. Hinckley -- a delightful talk!

This article has so much wisdom in it!  It gives me a new way to think and understand the true meaning of repentance! Repentance: Emergency Brake or Steering Wheel? By Tom Obenchain  · May 19, 2019 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE I grew up thinking that repentance was an emergency brake. Now, I know it is really the steering wheel. I literally cannot move forward without carefully using it every day. For many years, a daily practice of repentance never quite made sense. It was a mystery to me. Why would I need to repent each day if repentance was for emergencies? I remember thinking that if I needed daily repentance, I should reconsider my lifestyle and that instead of repenting daily I should consider not sinning daily to an extent that required repentance. If sin is the only thing we use repentance for, this thinking might be adequate. If, for now, we define sin as one of the big seven: lust, gluttony, gre...

I read about Eric Schubert a year or two ago, and contacted him!  We haven't met personally, but I am so impressed with him, and what he is doing with his life!  He graduated this year, and is going to college this next fall! Local Teen Uncovers Family Histories—and Secrets—for Curious Clients Eric Schubert hasn’t even begun college, but his genealogy business is booming. By  Leslie Garisto Pfaff  |  | May 17, 2019 | Appears in the  May 2019  issue Medford Lakes High School senior Eric Shubert has made a business of genealogy, researching family trees for more than 1,000 clients.  Photo by Jauhien Sasnou Eric Schubert’s friends call him “the world’s oldest teenager,” and maybe they have a point. The 17-year-old senior at Shawnee High School in Medford Lakes runs a thriving business in a field that’s more likely to attract people planning for retirement than fielding college acceptances. When he isn’t studying or volun...

I saw this beautiful article in LDS Living, and thought it was so appropriate for Mother's Day! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU DEAR MOTHERS, OR WOULD BE MOTHERS! LATEST FEATURED VIDEOS PODCASTS BOOK CLUB LESSON HELPS 7 Ways to Grow Closer to Heavenly Mother and Include Her in Your Worship by Danielle B. Wagner  | May 11, 2019 Makes You Think Mormon Life For many Latter-day Saints, there’s a desire, a yearning, to learn more about our Heavenly Mother—to feel Her presence and connect with Her on a deeper level. And that’s natural. We have Her divine DNA embedded in our souls. But sometimes  myths regarding Heavenly Mother  or uncertainty can cause us to be hesitant in incorporating Her more in our worship. “For some, I think it is cultural habits are hard to break,” says Martin Pulido, co-author of the BYU Studies essay " A Mother There”   and editor of  Dove Song . “It’s still an entrenche...

It was 150 years ago that the transcontinental railroad met at Promontory Point in Utah!  Here is a bit of history of that historic occasion, from LDS Living.    Uniting East and West: Latter-day Saints and the Transcontinental Railroad by Fred E. Woods  | May 10, 2019 Makes You Think When the coast-to-coast telegraph was completed in Salt Lake City in October 1861, Brigham Young sent a clear signal to President Abraham Lincoln: “Utah has not seceded but is firm for the Constitution and laws of our once happy country.” Less than eight years later, on May 10, 1869, hundreds gathered at Promontory, Utah, to witness another coast-to-coast completion. The driving of the last spike of the transcontinental railroad reverberated continuity to a once broken nation. 1 Railroad enthusiast Asa Whitney had strongly asserted that the Union Pacific Railroad would bring the nation “all together as one family, but with one interest—the...