Thoughts and stories, by Pal

Below are 5 reasons we all love Elder Jeffrey Holland.  (From LDS Living today.)  But I'll add a 6th, which is that he grew up here in my home town, St. George, Utah, in my own ward!  My mother was his Sunday School teacher.  He knows us and calls us by our first names, Wayne and Pal.  He never forgets his home town friends, and is loved by all!  He is about 6 years younger than I am. I have had the privilege of personally interacting with him a few times, and have always felt comforted.  We have written him a letter or two -- after we talked in Church after our mission to Sweden, and he was there.  After our 2nd mission to Connecticut, we wrote to him, mentioning our desire to go on another mission, but mentioning health problems we had at the time.  We received a personal letter from him -- short but very special to us.  He wrote: Dear Pal and Wayne:  You surely are devoted.  Don't take on more missions than you can hand...

This was in LDS Living, December 2, 2014.  It is really interesting!  I've seen it in all 4 of our children and some of our grandchildren who all have been on missions.  It is real, and this article gives some great ideas on how to adjust to it.  We even had it as couple missionaries! Psychologist Explains Why RM Awkwardness Is Normal DANIELLE BECKSTROM -  BYU professor Ed Gantt answers some of the most common questions pestering returning missionaries and explains why the post-mission "awkward phase" is actually quite normal. "She's still adjusting." "He's caught in that awkward, post-missionary phase." "She just needs a little more time to normalize."  We've all heard these comments about return missionaries.  Many of us have probably made them.  And many of us were probably the missionaries being talked about. There's no doubt about it, return missionaries carry with them that lingering feeling of something...

This is a touching article about a young man,a convert to the Church at age 23, who got a rare cancer, and just before he passed away, he got his dying wish of wanting to receive his Temple endowments. Community helps grant California man's dying wish to visit LDS temple By Ryan Morgenegg LDS Church News Published: Saturday, Nov. 29 2014 11:00 a.m. MST View 5 photos » Kevin Kunf surrounded by his firefighter brothers from the Redlands California Fire Department. Courtesy of Kevin Kunf, Sr Summary Kevin Kunf was born Sept. 16, 1986, in Yucaipa, California, and lived there his entire life. He was not raised in the Church but later became a convert. At age 23 he contracted a rare cancer. His dying wish was to receive his temple endowment. LDS Church News The LDS Church News is an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The publication's content supports the doctrines, principles and practices...

This was posted on Tuesday, on aggielandmormons.com, but I just read it.  It is good!   Perhaps that is why Thanksgiving is the favorite holiday of a lot of people!  (I added our photos instead of the ones in the article!) Tuesday, November 25, 2014 A precious photo taken at our Golden Wedding.  From left to right, Angela, and Tacy, our daughters, Brittani, grand daughter, Julie, daughter-in-law, and front row, Delsy, our daughter holding her grand daughter Aiyona, and Tacy's daughter, Calli. 3 Surprising Benefits of Gratitude and a Recipe for Accessing them Year-Round There is something remarkable about this time of year. Beyond the food, football, or even time with family, as we gather together and vocally express thanks for the blessings in our lives, it seems to bring a great sense of happiness, peace, and contentment. As I sat down to write this post and figure out what makes being grateful…well, so great…I was pleased (and even a little surprised)...

The title of "Confession of a Mormon Bishop" is truly about his experiences in learning to really pray, and understand answers to prayer.  It is interesting! LINE UPON LINE Confession of a Mormon Bishop By Tom Obenchain  · November 16, 2014, in Meridian Magazine I am a Mormon bishop and I have a confession to make. I think I may have only just learned to pray. I know, right? How is that possible? I’m a bishop for crying out loud. I have to know how to pray. And of course I do know how, but I’ve learned to deepen my prayers and make them more meaningful and powerful. I’ve practiced for years. But I just now think I am beginning to get it right. Learning to Pray I learned my first lessons of prayer while gathered with my family around my parents’ bed each night. In between fidgeting and a bit of daydreaming, I managed to soak in the patterns of prayer and more importantly the heartfelt desires of my family. In turn I prayed, too, “Dear Heavenly Fa...

I'm reposting the article I wrote last November 25, 2013, # 15, on ideas of how to teach children to grateful.  I hope it gives us all ideas, as so many children these days don't learn to express or even feel gratitude! AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF YOU DEAR FRIENDS, ALL OVER THE WORLD!               -------------------------------------------   I'm not sure how well we taught gratitude to our large family.  I do notice when a child or grandchild thanks me for something I do for them, (or anyone else.)  It's strange but we often will show gratitude to someone not in our family, and take our family members for granted.  It doesn't only apply to material things, but whenever a kindness has been shown, we should thank someone for it.   It is rather obvious that many children, and people of all ages today feel sort of "entitled" to things, and it is important to stop and appreciate them!  In one grandchild's Patr...

On this day before Thanksgiving, I hope we all are truly thankful for the Lord's Hands in our lives.  Each happening in our lives can "give us experience, and be for our good."  I'm grateful for so many things in my life, and some of the hard times are what I am most grateful for! This article on Meridian Magazine is by James Richie, and sent to Mark Albright.  He has been a Mission President, (and perhaps still is? )  He collects such good missionary stories.  This is very interesting! MISSIONARY What if the goats had not died? By Mark Albright  · November 23, 2014 President David Oryang of the Woodbridge Stake Presidency, teaching primary children about the Church in Africa. Dear President Albright, Joseph Oryang is the son of David Oryang (of the Woodbridge Stake Presidency) who is the son of–I don’t remember his first name. so I’ll plug in a good Uganda name -“John.” John was a young man growing up in the...