Thoughts and stories, by Pal

This post may seem longer, but I included the footnotes, in case someone would want to know where Larry Barkdull gets his quotes.  Larry is a good friend of mine, and I truly  value his insight and research on this important subject.   This is in Meridian Magazine, December 9, 2014. LINE UPON LINE If your Child doesn’t come back to the Gospel in this life—Are they lost? By Larry Barkdull  · December 9, 2014 We can suffer a very long time with our wayward children. Despite our best efforts, one of our children might pass away having never abandoned his wayward ways. Is he lost? Have we failed? Not necessarily. The Lord anticipated this eventuality. To the grieving Martha, Jesus explained that the power of redemption transcends this life. The Lord’s power of redemption can reach deep within the world of spirits, offer the plan of salvation, and snatch a now-repentant, believing soul from the jaws of hell. Consider the deeper meaning of the Lord’s w...

I found this yesterday, and it is really touching.  Kayla Lemmon's father passed away around last Christmas.  To any of you dear people who have sad memories connected with Christmas, our prayers are going out to you.  My own father passed away on December 14, 1975.   New post on  all our lemmony things Why ‘God will give you more than you can handle’ changed my life: And how it fixed Christmastime by  Kayla Lemmon It's been nearly a year since I wrote  God will give you more than you can handle . A whole year. I can hardly believe it. It still surfaces as one of my most-read blogs of all time and I don't think that's a coincidence. It's because out of everything we could ever go through as human beings, that is the one thing that connects us all. The struggle--and the triumph over it. I read it again this morning, throwing myself back to the time when the Christmas lights were strung, the tree decorated, the little mang...

This was posted last year on December 3, 2013, as blog # 24.  I hope you enjoy these family Christmas stories. There are several stories about Christmas in our family, and you may enjoy these: ----  (The photos are different from last year.) My mother, Ruth, was just 6 years old when her father passed away.  In the summer of 1914, her father, John Butler Allen, got a sliver in his eye.  Later a horse switched his tail and a long hair cut through his eye again.  These accidents caused him gradually to go blind in that eye.  The infection from this brought on Bright's Disease (the old-fashioned term for kidney problems).  He suffered very much with the infection which now could be cured in a few days with antibiotics.  He grew steadily worse until on October 26th, 1914, he finally passed away.  There were 8 children in the family, the 9th child having died at just four and a half months, before Ruth was born.  His wife was left with ...

I'm reposting the entry I did on Dec. 1, 2013, just over a year ago.  It is a favorite Christmas story of mine, and a true one.  Tomorrow I'll post another Christmas entry from last year.   The Christmas of 1939, here in St. George, Utah, was going to be quite humble at our house. My father had been in World War I and had suffered off and on with "shell shock", which now is called Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. He had been in the Veteran's hospital in Salt Lake City during the year, and my mother, Ruth, had given birth to my sister, Mavis, on December 1st. In those days, mothers stayed down much longer with a difficult birth. My mother had been allowed to turn over in bed on the 10th day, and got up on the 17th day, so Christmas found her very weak. My grandmother, Ruth’s mother, was living with our small family, and helping after the new baby. She stayed with us each winter and was a Temple Ordinance worker in the St. George Temple, spending her summers in th...

I enjoyed this article about what Prophets have said about Santa Claus.  I know I've heard my mother, who was born in 1908, learned about Santa Clause at an early age.  Her family lived in almost poverty during her growing up years, because her father died when she was 6 years old.  Her mother then told the children about Santa Claus quite early, as they didn't have money to buy gifts from Santa Claus.   What Prophets Have Said About Santa Claus LDS LIVING Staff Is Santa Claus a part of your Christmas tradition? Check out what a few Church leaders have said about Old Saint Nick. Artwork by Greg Olsen and featured in  Stars Were Gleaming .  David O. McKay It is a glorious thing to have old St. Nicholas in our hearts and in our homes today, whether he enters the latter through the open door or creeps down the chimney on Christmas Eve. To bring happiness to others without seeking personal honor or praise by publishing it is a most commendabl...

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...