Thoughts and stories, by Pal

 I hope you are all feeling good, and having a wonderful Christmas season. This first beautiful Christmas video was sent to me by a friend.   Be sure and have your sound on, and then click on the link.  You'll love these! https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=vVoVRro0R2I I went to the Tabernacle Choir site, and also saw this one. They both brought tears ! https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Krj_9gOdy8k I love you all, and hope you are all well, and happy, and really feeling the Spirit of Christmas. How Joseph Smith Spent His Last Christmas by Laura F. Willes, excerpted from "Christmas with the Prophets"  | Dec. 22, 2018 Mormon Life The 1843 Christmas in Nauvoo was the last one Joseph Smith Jr. was to spend on earth. No one knew that just six months later he would be martyred in Carthage Jail. Perhaps no Christmas was more pleasant to the Prophet than this last one. Joseph and Emma had just moved into the spacious ...

I absolutely love "Gentri"  -- the Gentlemen's Trio, and their music!  This was posted last year, and I'm sure you'll enjoy watching it again this year!  Merry Christmas and a wonderful December to all! I hope you all enjoy this part of a concert that "Gentri" and others put on in a Care Center yesterday!

I first posted these stories on December 3, 2013, and then again each year.  Timeless memories of Christmas past! This isn't a Christmas photo,but we all love "Jasper"!  We put him out every St. Patrick's Day, and I have him stored in my closet!  Fun memories!  I'm reposting a few special Christmas entries, I've used in the past.  I hope you enjoy them! MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 304. More Family Christmas Stories, first published Dec. 3, 2013, last year. This was posted last year on December 3, 2013, as blog # 24.  I hope you enjoy these family Christmas stories. 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 a horse switched his tail and a long hair cut through his eye aga...

Beautiful rendition of "Mary, Did You Know" by the LDS Institute Choir in Logan, Utah. Mary, Did You Know -- by the Logan Institute Singers You need to copy and paste this link.  I tried to put it on here, but couldn't!  It is so beautiful, -- put your sound on and enjoy it!  We went up a week ago to the Christmas concert there, and they showed this beautiful video on a large screen.  Our grandson, Jake Lieske, who goes to the university there is singing in the choir background music!    Remember -- copy and paste! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CihO7vA_ps4 This will  become one of your favorite Christmas videos!  Enjoy!

This is my favorite true Christmas story, and I post it every year at Christmas!  This year (2018) my dear sister Vina is in the hospital, and has been for 18 days.  She has had 2 operations, and bad infection.  Please pray for her! This was first posted on December 1, 2013, less than a month after I started writing this blog.  In the photo below I was about 5, and my sister Vina was about 3 and a half.   I am on the left, and my sister Vina on the righ t   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.  These pictures above were taken when Mavis was a baby.  For those who know St. George, you can see ...

The picture below is about 30 years old!    Wayne, Julie, Josh, Emily and Missy Eckman!     Last night we did the Nativity scene with Wayne and Julie's grandchildren.  But in this picture it was them and their children!  Last night Spencer, their grandson, was wearing the same poncho that Julie had on 30 years ago -- he was a shepherd.  Julie said it is a poncho she brought home from her mission in Ecuador.  That is where Wayne and Julie originally met -- both on a mission in Ecuador 1975-1977. December 25, 2017 Doing Good     #Light the World SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY Matthew  5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." QUOTE OF THE DAY Lorenzo Snow "We have been sent into the world to do good to others; and in doing good to others we do good to ourselves. We should alwa...

I like the new insights this article gives!  I also saw a video recently in which it was told how Jesus "in swaddling clothes" was significant to the shepherds!  The lambs which were to be sacrificed were also put in clean white swaddling clothes!  A whole new dimension to the birth of Jesus!  So when the shepherds heard the baby would be wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger, they knew just where to go.  It was where the lambs were birthed, who were to be sacrificed! A Deeper Understanding of the Birthplace of Christ By Christopher Kirkland  · December 18, 2017, in Meridian Magazine Cover image via LDS.org.  I was able to visit Israel many years ago, and one of my favorite pictures that I have from that experience is of myself holding a baby lamb at Migdal Edar, better know as the “Tower of the Flock” or “Shepherd’s Field” in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is the royal City of David, so named because David took the f...