Thoughts and stories, by Pal

The photo above is of McKay and Kim's wedding in 1987.  Kim's parents are on the left, and traveled here from Taiwan to be at the wedding.  Her father  passed away a few years ago.  Her mother isn't well at this time, and is in the hospital. Her parents were very polite, well educated and genteel people. This picture is of Wayne's mother, Gladys Tregenna Dayton, about age 18, before she was married.  Our daughter Tacy looks a lot like her. This above is of Wayne as Santa, and Elder Sam Watts on the left and Elder Jared Beckstead on the right, when on our mission in Connecticut in 1999/2000.  At that time we worried about Y2K -- or the coming of the year 2000, and if it would cause problems with computers, etc.  It didn't !   This is Jeremy, and his darling daughter Jessica.  Jessica is now 20, and a beautiful young lady. This is Pal and Maria, a dear friend who was a member of our Portuguese branch on our mission in ...

I just found this on facebook, and watched and listened to this on youtube.  I think you'll enjoy it!  (You need to copy and paste the link below.) Hi! My name is Bryce Romney and I'm in a group from BYU called Vocal Point as part of the marketing committee. We were International Collegiate A Cappella champions in 2006 and we placed in the top 5 in season 3 of NBC's The Sing Off. We are all returned missionaries and active members of the church. We strive to do missionary work using our talents, and one of the ways we do that is by singing. This music video that we created is our way of spreading hope in Christ this Christmas season. I am writing in hopes that you will post this music video. It is a message of hope that comes through Christ even in the darkest of times. We know that the message and song are powerful and can help many people, just as creating this video has helped us. Thanks so much for your support! We hope this song can bless the lives of many people....

Today, I'm feeling a bit under the weather.  I'm sending you beautiful quotes on Latter Day Devotion.  Have a wonderful Sabbath Day!  Ten days until Christmas!  Today is a good day to reflect on how much Jesus has done for us! DAILY DEVOTION __________________________ The Birth That Counts Nauvoo, Illinois December 15, 2013 SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY: 3 Nephi 1:13-14 "Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfill all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son-of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time i...

     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 ...

I remember my mother, Ruth, a gifted school teacher, once had in her class the child of a medical doctor.  He was only 8 years old, but had been given everything any child could want, even before he realized he wanted it.  One year at Christmas he had been given a BB gun, and he wasn't even excited about it.  He never got excited about gifts given to him, because he hadn't had the gift of being allowed to "want" something, and then wait awhile to finally get it.  That is a great gift to children!  (Refer to my post on Dec. 1, 2013, "A Child's Christmas Prayer.) (I'll write another post later today, about my father, Orson Pratt Miles, who passed away 38 years ago today.)    These are ideas for helping children learn to become independent, happy adults, and not overindulging at Christmas time.  These two articles were in "The Spectrum", a local newspaper, today, Dec. 14, 2013.   Build Christmas spirit in your children this year (condens...

 I'll take a break from writing about my father, and finish tomorrow.  I have noticed that articles about my parents may not be as interesting to many people.  I do hope my own posterity read them!   Today I really liked this  article in the Meridian Magazine, Dec. 13, 2013.  At this Christmas I hope we can make peace with anyone with whom we may not have a "Godly Relationship."  What better time to forgive others, and show charity?  Jesus's life was always the example we want to follow. I have condensed the article, and put my own "italics" in some places.    Keys for Godly Relationships   By Wallace Goddard We might well ask, what has it cost Jesus to be our friend, our healer, and our Savior? We cannot comprehend the cost. He paid dearly!   We must make sacrifices in order to build, sustain, or grow a relationship . We tend to think that great relationships should be effortless. We often think they just happ...

     (By Ruth, his wife, my mother) :  "There are two memories Pratt has mentioned that occurred at the Red Hill home.  (It was just north of the Post Office on 2nd north and Main, a house or two going north on Diagonal Street.)  Both have to do with accidents, and both included a certain girl, Hortense McQuarrie, who later moved east and became a millionaire.  In memory of her time in Dixie she donated the money for the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Memorial Building Museum here in St. George, which contains many relics and pictures of the early Dixie Pioneers.      Pratt and Hortense were playing as all children loved to, up in one of the hay lofts in a barn.  Pratt fell through where some boards were broken and as a result, his arm, as well as the boards, were broken.  He remembers going home and then to the Doctor, who set it, not in a plaster of Paris cast as we do now, but in a leather cast that had to be lace...