Thoughts and stories, by Pal

     This post is a bit longer than most.  It tells of my father, Orson Pratt Miles's time in the army, and the heart touching story just before he died.  In 1987, Mavis’ son Russell was living with Ruth Miles, his grandmother, attending Dixie College.  He was in the “middle bedroom” and in cleaning out the closet he found an old box.  It contained, among other things, a small journal which Pratt, his grandfather, apparently kept in his uniform pocket during World War I.  Pratt would have been 27 years old at the time the war entries were made. (Russell typed what his Grandfather Pratt had written.)      Some of the entries in the journal were of signals, etc., used in war training.  The following tells some of his experiences during that time.  It is interesting to notice the notes seem quite happy, but because of some experiences which undoubtedly were not recorded, he was left with “shell shock”, or what would now ...

Learn from the past, prepare for the future, live in the present. --  a quote from our Prophet Thomas S. Monson. And a poem written by my mother: Ruth Allen Miles, who was a school teacher for 40 years.  First President Monson's quote:  Very wise words : "I have chosen to provide the three pieces of your treasure map to guide you to your eternal happiness. First, learn from the past. Each of us has a heritage—whether from pioneer forebears, later converts, or others who helped to shape our lives. This heritage provides a foundation built of sacrifice and faith. Ours is the privilege and responsibility to build on such firm and stable footings. Second, prepare for the future. We live in a changing world. Technology has altered nearly every aspect of our lives. We must cope with these advances—even these cataclysmic changes—in a world of which our forebears never dreamed. Remember the promise of the Lord: "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear." Fear is a dead...