Thoughts and stories, by Pal

      To those dear readers who occasionally read my blog: I truly am sorry for not writing for the last 7 weeks!  I got a slipped disk in my back, and I was in a fair amount of pain, and I basically became quite sedentary!  Just this last Monday I was able to get into a pain specialist doctor and get a shot in my lower right back, which has taken away quite a bit of the pain.  Also during this time, I had a lot of nerve twitching, and tremors all the time in my right foot!  It was so noticable whenever I walked, that I sat most of the time!  I didn't dare drive, as that was my driving foot!     I have been to a good chiropractor, who has done traction, electrical stimulation, etc. but I stubbornly had decided to go only 2 times a month -- to save money! I'm going again today--driving myself!      I learned that my thinking was quite wrong, when I saw my sister who had so much pain in her back due to having gone ...

 I have loved how Wilford Woodruff wrote "I went on my way rejoicing!" “And He Went on His Way Rejoicing”: Mental Health and the Spirit of God  By  Roger Connors  · June 3, 2022 As a mission president, you are constantly looking for ways to help missionaries cope with the anxiety and stress of life on a mission. While it can be incredibly rewarding, missionary work isn’t easy—particularly when life provides a surprise like a worldwide pandemic that literally increases the difficulty of missionary life in an instant. Add to that the normal challenges of mental and physical health that manifest at this age and the need becomes even clearer: mental health isn’t something you can just assume, it’s something you have to develop and maintain. [1] I remember being quite amazed at the missionary life of Wilford Woodruff. He participated in the difficult march with Zion’s camp, then chose to stay in Missouri to do missionary work. He was an amazing missionary, serving several...

I always have written about the Prophet Joseph Smith on his birthday.  I truly love him, and all I can learn about him is a joy!  I have read several books about his life, and I had many ancestors who knew him personally, one, John Lowe Butler, who was a bodyguard to the Prophet.   This is a beautifully written article from Meridian Magazine about him, and his "Native, cheery, temperament."  That really interests me, and I have tried to develop a native, cheery temperament because of its importance I believe -- to be able to enjoy life and serve others, and to show Thanks to our Heavenly Fa ther! How Joseph Smith’s “Native, Cheery Temperament” Sustained Him Through Trials By  Jeffrey Marsh  · December 22, 2020 Cover image via ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Editor’s Note: We share this article in celebration of the prophet Joseph Smith’s birthday today and in recognition of the need we all have to find our own native cheery temperaments in a year that has bro...

I love the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament!  Whenever I am in the Temple or a place I have only a few minutes to read the Bible, I turn to Proverbs. One gem I found in Proverbs Chapter 24, verse 10 is:  If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. I love that! Lesson 31: “Happy Is the Man That Findeth Wisdom” By Meridian Magazine  · July 30, 2018 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Proverbs and Ecclesiastes The Wisdom Literature The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes provide an intriguing variation in our Old Testament study. Not the grand hymnal praises of the preceding Psalms, not the general prose of the Books of Moses, not the historical tomes of the Chronicles, not the highly structured poetry of Isaiah, they offer snippets of thought in the form of a collection that might almost be a Book of Famous Quotations.  “The Hebrew word rendered  proverb  is  mash...