Thoughts and stories, by Pal

This has helped me understand small ways the Spirit is part of daily life! Seeing God in Your Everyday Life By  Wallace Goddard  · May 4, 2020 Joseph was soul weary. He was tired of contention about religion and he was burdened by his own shortcomings. He was spiritually hungry. He responded to James’ invitation to seek wisdom and went into a grove to get some heavenly guidance for his life. In a stand of trees near the Smith’s humble home, Joseph got the biggest surprise in the history of this world. He did not get what he expected—a subtle impression in answer to his spiritual questions. He did not simply get comfort and assurance to keep plodding along. Nope. Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son made a personal visit and called young Joseph to be the answer to his own dilemma. He was to partner with Them in launching the most glorious of dispensations. It took years for young Joseph to make sense of that experience. It was a lot to take in....

This is how I hope to live my life -- In CRESCENDO! What We Can Learn from Church Leaders About Growing Older, "Living Life in Crescendo" by LDS Living  | Aug. 24, 2018 Makes You Think On December 19, 2008, Steven R. Covey wrote in a blog post, “I am now 76 years old and could easily retire. But I’m not retired and I don’t plan to retire. I don’t believe in retirement. Why, people ask me? Simply, I have a life motto. It is: Live life in crescendo.”  This week, my friend Randal Wright gave 11 talks at BYU Education Week 2018. I first met Wright as an EFY counselor in Illinois in 2011 and he has remained a mentor and friend, so I was intrigued to see that he would be teaching 11 classes over the course of Education Week with the same title “Living Life in Crescendo.” I wasn’t familiar with the Steven R. Covey quote beforehand, so when I sat down with Wright on Wednesday afternoon, I asked what inspired this theme. After making it c...

This is a very insightful article!  First I want to mention some wonderful things about today!  I received my 18th great grandchild, a beautiful baby boy, Avery Scott DeSantis!  And in adding the grandchildren of spouses two of my children have married, we now have 30 great grandchildren!   I also did a couple of things in my life -- First I signed up for a year's membership in a local Recreation Center, where I will do exercising in classes 3 to 4 times a week, and I also signed a burial plan for myself!  Talk about variation!  A birth, exercise to help me live longer and healthier, and also a plan to save a lot of stress with my children when I pass on!  Isn't life interesting?  ! How Can I Receive Heavenly Guidance? By Wallace Goddard  · January 22, 2018 GOur friend John wondered why there were so few crickets. They used to make a racket every summer evening. Now they were almost silent. What was the ...

I think it is so important to write our own life story, and share life stories of our parents, and ancestors.  This gives great ideas for that very thing!  A good time to start is NOW! I'm so glad my husband Wayne and I wrote this book about our lives!  It took almost 4 years, and was done soon after our 50th wedding anniversary.  We gave a copy to our children and grandchildren. It is better to get started when you are younger!  Your memory is better! A Simple Approach to Writing Your Life Story This Year By Paul Nauta  · January 2, 2018 A popular new year’s resolution is to write your personal life story or family history. There’s something about the swift passing of the previous year and the fresh dawning of the new year that makes us reflect on where the time has gone and the experiences that have led us to the present. For some of us, we feel this mooring inside of us urging us to capture the highlig...

I love this picture of Wayne.  I took it when he was writing about his life for our large life story book which was finished and given to our posterity the year after our Golden Wedding in 2015.   (The Gripsholm was the ship he rode to and from his mission to Sweden in early 1950's.  The little leprechaun Wayne got at a yard sale, and he loved to display it in March, around St. Patrick's Day.)  The picture was taken in the family room of the home in St. George, which I sold and now live in Northern Utah.  I had painted the wall mural you can see behind him.  That home had a lot of memories, but I didn't want to stay in St. George and live alone, away from the majority of my posterity.   It took us about 4 years, and was larger than we imagined when we started.  It includes some stories of some of our ancestors, and a brief history of each of our grown, married children to that point.  We both told about our lives, from childhood, to...

The Questions President Nelson's Grandfather Asked a Visitor from the Spirit World + the Surprising Answers by Katie Lambert  | Jun. 19, 2017 Makes You Think Mormon Life Comments Thanks to  The Millennial Star   for making us aware of this story.  As Latter-day Saints, we are taught that we can have eternal life even after passing through death. Though there are a few things we know about life after death, there are still many things we don't know.  While at the 2017 RootsTech conference, President Russell M. Nelson answered a few questions surrounding what life after death is like with a story from his own family history.  ► You'll also like:  President Nelson Shares the Miraculous Night When Two Girls Visited Him from Beyond the Veil This "precious gift" President Nelson shared was one his grandfather Andrew Clarence Nelson, or A.C. Nelson, shared with his family through his jour...