Thoughts and stories, by Pal

   I'm posting more articles today, as they are pertinent today, and all good! Take your choice! Keeping Cool During High Political Drama By  Nicholeen Peck  · November 1, 2020 The political climate is pretty hot right now! Threats, scandals, verbal attacks, social unrest, corruption, and control tactics are all part of the current political scene. People are preparing for the worst no matter what the United States election turns out like. What preparations are the most effective? Preparing your own heart to be calm and focused on truth is the best way to prepare. Having self-government during times of political drama is what principled people do to stay calm. However, to have self-government a person must plan ahead. Lessons Learned From The Last Presidential Election Following the election of President Trump, four years ago, angry rioters took to the streets destroying property and making cities unsafe. Some US cities became hotbeds of hate. When I was at the Unite...

What We Have Learned – Let Us Not Forget By  Carolyn Nicolaysen  · June 23, 2020 Pandemics are unwelcome visitors, but they can teach us much about our own goals and priorities. Hopefully, we have learned the importance and joy of real, quality time with family. Hopefully we have learned friends are important to our mental health and wellbeing, teaching us to be a better friend and neighbor. Most importantly, hopefully we have learned to trust in the Lord, to pray for His guidance and to experience the peace only He can bring. What many have learned is how really unprepared they were for a self-quarantine and all that entails. Many have discovered birthdays and graduations still happen. Some, meals don’t cook themselves. Others, stores do run out of supplies. Still others, there is a good reason to have a substantial savings account. And, the idea that things happen to other people, well, sometimes we are the other people. Over the past 12 years...

I have shared Brad McBride's blog before, and this one is especially timely!  The title of his blog is "Thus We See", and this is truly worth reading!  I agree with it totally. The Devil is a Proud Papa       by  Brad McBride   |  Posted on  Jun 5, 2020 Note: This post is about our souls, and not our politics. It apples to all of us, no matter where we a stand on issues, who we voted for, or what we feel is important. Please respect that if you choose to make comments. Sometimes I find myself writing in the strangest of circumstances. At this moment I am typing in the dark at a desk in a motel in Kanab, UT while my wife sleeps a few feet away. Yeah, I would rather be asleep too, but thoughts keep entering my head that I have to write, or they will never leave me be. We stopped in Kanab on our way to Heber City. Our only daughter and her husband are hoping to deliver their firstborn this weekend, and we wouldn’t miss it for ...

I totally agree with this article.  I have always loved people of all races, and I am very saddened when people do not show them respect and love.  But this article has such good and honest thoughts about the situation in the United States right now, and I hope you'll read it, and find wisdom in it! The Riots and the Danger of False Narratives By  Maurine Proctor  · June 2, 2020 The Book of Mormon, written specifically for our times, is a warning in so many ways, but there is a caution that we should not miss. That is the consistent and emphatic plea about the perilous and destructive power of false and manipulative narratives. When you look at the book through that lens, suddenly you see it everywhere. Again and again the people are “stirred up to anger”, even to the dissolution of their own nations, by the ideas and arguments that take hold of them with such power they cannot shake them. They hold on to them with self-destructive fero...

This is a great article I got ready over a month ago.  I haven't done a blog for awhile, as I had an operation on my right foot, and have been sitting in my recliner with my foot elevated, and relaxing!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend over Mother's Day, and remembered your own mother with joy and love.  Usually I write one about my mother, but I'll refer you to the "Labels" and Ruth Allen, as she is my dear departed mother.   But here is the link to one of my all time favorite blogs -- the poems my mother wrote:  First posted on 2/12/14 -- February 12, 2014.  I know you'll like them!  You have to copy and then paste this URL to be able to get it, but it works, and is WORTH IT!    https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4231572125755493392#editor/target=post;postID=8897490166267130753;onPublishedMenu=overviewstats;onClosedMenu=overviewstats;postNum=1226;src=postname How is this Crisis Changing You? By  Joni...

Doesn't this apply to all of us in some way? 6 Tips for Parents of Adult Children Who Don't Believe in the Church by David Ostler  | Jun. 08, 2019 Makes You Think Mormon Life If you are a believing Latter-day Saint parent, your greatest hope is that you and your children will all be together in eternity. But—with increased disaffiliation from the Church—many parents, maybe even most, have or will have adult children who no longer believe.  The phrase “No empty chairs” is a part of the Latter-day Saint lexicon and is used to describe parents’ desires to have all their children with them in the eternities. It’s powerful imagery that reflects the beautiful doctrine of eternal families found in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Like you, I love my children and I want all of them to have the blessings of eternal families. Some even apply it to having all their children together at one time with them in the temple.  I googled the history ...