Thoughts and stories, by Pal

For those who have children or teens living in your home, this article from LDS Living is most helpful.    There are many links to help you keep the poison of pornography from your home, and your children. At this time we have no children or teen-agers living in our home.  For you who do, I hope this helps you!  13 Ways Pornography Leaks into Your Home (and How to Stop It) by Collin Bishop  | Jan. 01, 2018 Makes You Think A few weeks ago, my wife and I took our two young kids to a neighborhood party. When we arrived, we scouted the food, grabbed something tasty, and made our way over to a couple of neighbors we recognized from the ward. After talking for a while, somehow the conversation turned to our kids and the schools in our area. Since our son is getting ready to enter the public education system, we discussed local preschools, favorite teachers, and the general atmosphere at the elementary school. And that's ...

This morning, New Year's Day, I woke up, and read my Patriarchal Blessing. With a prayer, it gave me several thoughts of good things to either continue, or begin doing regularly. If you dear friends have had your Patriarchal Blessing, today would be a great day to read it again! This article by Elder Holland (again!  -- I absolutely love his inspiration and wisdom!)  -- is good for this New Year! Elder Holland's New Year's Advice: "The Best Is Yet to Come" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, excerpted from a BYU Speech Mormon Life The following is an excerpt from a talk given by Elder Holland at a BYU devotional in 2009 entitled " The Best Is Yet to Come. " Look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith Points to the Future As a new year begins and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterd...

More inspiring words from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland -- especially for the Sabbath, and renewing our covenants with the Sacrament. Elder Holland Shares 8 Things to Remember During the Sacrament That Will Deepen Its Impact by Jeffrey R. Holland, excerpted from "Trusting Jesus"  | Dec. 23, 2017 Makes You Think Comments The following is an excerpt from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's book  Trusting Jesus .  He offers eight things we can remember when we take the sacrament. (Headings have been added.)  In the simple and beautiful language of the sacramental prayers those young priests offer, the principal word we hear seems to be  remember.  In the first and slightly longer prayer offered over the bread, mention is made of a willingness to take upon us the name of the Son of God and to keep the commandments He has given us.  Neither of those phrases is repeated in the blessing on the water, though surely...

This is a comforting article, for those of you who are having very sad events and feelings in your lives, especially at this Christmas Holiday and New Year's time!  One Crucial Thing We Miss When Trying to Understand Why God Allows Us to Suffer so Deeply by Danielle B. Wagner  | Dec. 28, 2017 Makes You Think Mormon Life It's an age-old question every religion has attempted to answer for centuries: Why do bad things happen to good people? If God blesses and loves those who follow Him, why does He still allow immense suffering to enter their lives? Most the time when I've heard answers to this question given in church, teachers or speakers rely on a few standbys: 1) God will not inhibit the agency of ourselves or others, 2) living in mortal bodies brings pain and decay, 3) living in a fallen world brings unexpected suffering and disasters. Yes, our sins and the poor choices of others can impact us, bringing misery, stress—even genocide a...