Thoughts and stories, by Pal

Homecoming on 9-11: An Unexpected Missionary Miracle By  Mark Albright  · August 14, 2020 The following is a part of the Missionary Moment series curated by Mark Albright. The morning of 9/11/2001 was an exciting morning for the Rogers household. Our son Allan was coming home from his mission in Taiwan just a little after noon, and we decided that the kids should go to school and we would pick them up a little early and then head to the airport. I had just dropped off Lincoln for early morning seminary at Centennial High School, and was returning home, listening to the news. The last story, just a quick 10 second blurb was about an airplane that apparently had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers. The radio newscaster comment, “sounds like something out of a movie” has always stuck in my mind, the way he said it was almost “exciting.” I remember getting home and quickly turning on the news to see if anything was on regarding this p...

This is a thoughtful article, with links where you can read more if you want to.     Tad R. Callister on the key to avoiding Pharisaic parenting by Jannalee Sandau  | Aug. 06, 2020 Makes You Think If you have read or had a lesson on the New Testament, chances are you encountered something related to the Pharisees and their rigid adherence to 600+ rules based on the Law of Moses. We often talk about the religious leaders’ unwillingness to accept a higher law and how their litany of laws interfered with their ability to truly live the gospel. But as emeritus General Authority and former Sunday School General President Tad R. Callister points out in a recent article for  Church News , Pharisees didn’t just exist in the time of the Savior. Even today, we are at risk of becoming Pharisee-like in our lives and especially in our parenting, when we become too focused on rules instead of principles and don’t give others ...

This article really makes you think!  We need to be very cautious these days! Where Can I Turn For Truth? By  Sharlee Mullins Glenn  · August 11, 2020 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” –John 8:32 Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in a swirling sea of information? Information comes at us continuously, relentlessly, from an ever-growing number of sources: newspapers, magazines, 24-hour cable television news shows, radio, podcasts, online news sources, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and so on. And much of the information is conflicting. From one source we hear that wearing masks will dramatically reduce the spread of Covid-19; from another that the benefits of wearing masks are negligible. One TV commentator tells us that we are on the verge of anarchy as a result of the Black Lives Matter protests while another reports that the vast majority of these protests are peaceful. One podcast insists that immig...

This is a most interesting article!  It tells of how some lives are saved, and some lost, both seemingly unrelated.  I have a few stories of my own I'll put in a later post -- where my life was spared in surprising ways. Hidden Things: When John Taylor’s Life was Spared by a Pocket Watch By  Mariah Proctor  · August 5, 2020 The following is the fourth in a series of articles giving greater detail from the stories behind the hidden things in our recently released Treasures of the Restoration jigsaw puzzle. If you haven’t gotten yours yet,  BUY IT HERE . If you have, bookmark or print this page so you can hang on to the story to share with your family as you come upon John Taylor’s pocket watch when you do the puzzle. The cover art for this article can help you know what it might look like. Read the third article in the series  HERE.    Something I have always found difficult to grapple with is the fact that some ...