Thoughts and stories, by Pal

This touches my heart!  What a gift -- to be able to paint portraits like this!  JR Johansen in his studio in Hunstville, Utah. Faun Jackson As this wounded Vietnam vet answered a call to create portraits of missionaries who died during their service, he’s brought healing to grieving families—and to himself. The art studio is as unassuming as they come: it’s an undersized square cottage framed by trees outside a home in Huntsville, Utah. With its size and trappings—a broom and an upturned wheelbarrow flank the small front window—you might mistake it for a common tool shed. The artist laboring inside is JR Johansen, a man whose own exterior somehow belies an unexpectedly gentle core. Johansen’s graying flat-top haircut and tall, trim build hint at his past as a military man. But there’s no intimidation here; he’s soft spoken, with a mild manner that instantly conveys safety. This is a man on an exceptional mission: he’s creating portraits of missionaries who lost their lives du...

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...