Thoughts and stories, by Pal

Isn't this just amazing!  And also not a surprise!  It gives me such peace to know what our wonderful Church does to help people in crisis! "I Knew the Mormons Would Come": LDS Missionaries Begin Cleanup Work in Houston after Hurricane, Floods by LDS Living Staff  | Sep. 01, 2017 Mormon Life Comments LDS missionaries in Houston are aiding in massive cleanup efforts from the destruction of Hurricane Harvey and subsequent flooding.  In a Facebook post by the Texas Houston South Mission, President Hall described these missionaries' efforts and the lasting impact they've had on those they serve.  Dear Parents, All missionaries are in safe and accounted for this evening. Today we entered the clean up phase of our relief efforts. Rest assured that we do not have missionaries go into any homes that have standing water. Remarkably, as fast as the floods came, the water has retreated just as quickly. I wanted ...

This is such an interesting article about the members in Paraguay!  I love the story of them knowing Book of Mormon stories from their legends. Tribe Knew Book of Mormon Stories Before Missionaries Arrived + 4 More Facts About the Church in Paraguay by Carly M. Springer Makes You Think Mormon Life When it rains in Paraguay, it pours. Sheets of rain turn the dirt roads of small rural towns into rivers of mud, driving everyone indoors and stopping transportation.  But around nine o’clock each Sunday morning, a small band of people trudge up flooded streets towards the local LDS chapel. Men in white shirts and ties stuff the ends of their dress pants into rain boots, bracing umbrellas against the wind. Women hold up their skirts and carry shoes in their hands and small children on their hips. Their neighbors see them pass by and think they’re crazy, and even though these Latter-day Saints arrive at the chapel drenched and shivering, they ...

I came across an entry I posted just over 2 years ago.  I really enjoyed being a piano teacher for many years, and now I have moved north to West Bountiful, I am teaching 4 more students, in my own family this time.   I hope many of you are giving your children the advantage of music lessons.  This article gives  ideas of many advantages musical study gives. MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015 492. Science Discovered Something Amazing About What Childhood Piano Lessons Did to You! Piano, and music lessons in childhood develop many abilities!  I  have read before several articles on the benefits of musical training to a person's life in many ways.  This is important reading for any parent!   Science Just Discovered Something Amazing About What Childhood Piano Lessons Did to You This is a photo of our living room years ago, which has always included a piano.  When my parents we...

Are You Getting In Your Own Way? By Joni Hilton  · August 30, 2017 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Do you ever feel stagnant, as if there’s no forward progress in your life? Sometimes it’s a relationship, life in general, elusive goals, a stale testimony— many of us hit such snags when we realize we’re just not going anywhere. We just suddenly realize we don’t enjoy our job. Or we’ve lost the motivation to work on our marriage. We feel flat when it comes to spirituality. Maybe the future looks dismal. We’re in a rut. Usually we look around for the cause—it is our upbringing? Is this someone else’s fault? Is it bad luck? Circumstances? Just the way life goes? Surprisingly, it’s often us. Though it’s hard to admit, sometimes the reason is because we’ve become our own worst enemy. Without even realizing it, we get in our own way. And it can happen without our awareness. We pray for God to intervene and create ...

This is such a fun article!  Check out if you are remotely related to your spouse, or a friend, or famous person! RelativeFinder: Are You Related to Your Spouse? By Maurine Proctor  · August 31, 2017 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE This summer, my husband Scot and I led a British Church History tour. Many of the people who came on that tour had British ancestry and clutched their family trees and pedigree charts to them with great glee, particularly if we came close to the winding byways of their ancestral homes where ancient homes still stand. We told them that being in the land of your forebears makes your genes “jump around” with mysterious excitement, and it was true. It’s the DNA dance. You just feel something when you are in the places your great, great grandparents came from. The history belongs to you and you can almost feel the passion and drama of their lives as they played in scenes across time. Some o...

5 Crucial Relationship Questions You Didn’t Realize Were Answered in Alma 32 by Zack Oates  | Aug. 30, 2017 Mormon Life Alma gives a beautiful dissertation about the seed of faith in Alma 32. But as I read this chapter recently, I realized that the advice and principles in it are just as true if you change the word “faith” to “relationship.” Here are the answers to five common relationship questions, as explained by Alma 32. 1. How do I know if I’m dating the right person? “Now we will compare the [relationship] unto a seed. Now if ye give place, that a [relationship] may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true [relationship], or a good [relationship], if ye do not cast it out by your [pickiness, laziness, busyness, fear of commitment, etc.]…it will begin to swell within your breasts…” We must try things out! We can’t close off our heart to the possibility of love! And though you might experience fireworks, you also mig...