Thoughts and stories, by Pal

How exciting is this?  !  !   I will leave early tomorrow morning to fly to Beijing, China, with a tour group from the Alan McKay and Dick Jensen Tour group!   I will be posting some pictures during the tour, and then some more detailed blogs after I get home.  How crazy is it for an 83 (84 in October) year old lady to go on a trip half way around the world?  Don't worry, I have my burial paid for, and also an insurance that will cover me if I happen to pass away anywhere in the world!  I will be sent home by Medical Air Service!   But I DON'T PLAN TO DIE ON THIS TRIP! So watch for news clips and pictures on Facebook! And to top it off, I saw an ad in the newspaper this morning, of a piano sale!  I went down to the Piano Gallery, and bought a lovely digital piano!  It fits in my bedroom, and because of the limited space, you sit on the bed to play it!  They even included a lovely book of Classical pian...

My dear father, Orson Pratt Miles, was born 127 years ago, this last Friday, September 7, 1891.  I have written about him extensively in this blog, over the years, and there are references to blogs about his life, his time in World War I, and the damage it did to his health, both physical and mental.  I hope you enjoy reading about a truly great man I am so grateful to be his daughter! I'm including here some things in blog # 85, written,several years ago about my father.   My dad, Orson Pratt Miles, loved to "dress up", notice the tie, vest, and handkerchief in the pocket.  He almost ALWAYS, even in the house, wore a tie, every day, and most often also his hat.  If anyone in the family loved to "be in style" Mother would say that was the "Miles" in them! ------------------------------- At about age 45, he had to have his tonsils out, when I (Pal) was about 2 or 3.  This had such a debilitating effect on his health, that it triggered a ...

This article is so inspired, from a book "This Life is a Test".  You may recognize that the Owner's Manual refers to the Scriptures and teachings of current day prophets.  The Teacher is our Heavenly Father, and Teacher's Aide's are those leaders, friends, or family who give us wise and inspired counsel we truly should listen to, and act accordingly. When the Lord Gives New Instructions By Ted Gibbons  · August 28, 2018 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Editor’s Note: The following comes from a series taken from Ted Gibbons’ book, “This Life is a Test.” To read the previous installment,  CLICK HERE .  “And it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban” (1 Nephi 4:6). The right of the Teacher to change the rules by which we participate in the Test is nowhere better demonstrated than in this meeting of Nephi and Laban.   Dozens of times in the Owner’s Manual the Te...

This is how I hope to live my life -- In CRESCENDO! What We Can Learn from Church Leaders About Growing Older, "Living Life in Crescendo" by LDS Living  | Aug. 24, 2018 Makes You Think On December 19, 2008, Steven R. Covey wrote in a blog post, “I am now 76 years old and could easily retire. But I’m not retired and I don’t plan to retire. I don’t believe in retirement. Why, people ask me? Simply, I have a life motto. It is: Live life in crescendo.”  This week, my friend Randal Wright gave 11 talks at BYU Education Week 2018. I first met Wright as an EFY counselor in Illinois in 2011 and he has remained a mentor and friend, so I was intrigued to see that he would be teaching 11 classes over the course of Education Week with the same title “Living Life in Crescendo.” I wasn’t familiar with the Steven R. Covey quote beforehand, so when I sat down with Wright on Wednesday afternoon, I asked what inspired this theme. After making it c...

This is a touching story about the distraught teen age son of a woman who died of cancer, and how he was comforted. TOPICS POPULAR MORMON REPORT LESSON HELPS How Meeting 8 Apostles and the Prophet in One Day Answered a Young Man's Desperate Questions by M. Russell Ballard, adapted from "When Thou Art Converted: Continuing Our Search for Happiness"  | Aug. 11, 2018 Makes You Think Mormon Life Comments Some years ago there was a rather serious tragedy in our ward. A great woman, the wife of our former bishop and a woman beloved and respected in our ward family, contracted cancer of the worst kind. This was a vivacious, effervescent woman who lifted and inspired everyone she met. As the disease became worse, I gave her blessings. Other General Authorities gave her blessings. One of the blessings I gave was in the presence of her seventeen-year-old son. Another blessing was given to her when her son was e...