Thoughts and stories, by Pal

This is such an inspiring article, especially for mothers--who are tired!  I've been there for sure!  It does end, but not for quite awhile! Epiphany: Stunning Paradigms of Celestial Parenting By  Anne Hinton Pratt  · August 26, 2020 Cover image by  Caitlin Connolly . Anyone who has children knows that parenting is the toughest thing we ever do! Sometimes during that difficult journey of child rearing, we have epiphanies that  stop us in our tracks,   and redirect our course .  I’d like to share the striking experiences of four people… Like a Ton of Bricks Many years ago when my children were small I became very ill, and at one time I thought I might die.  As I thought about that possibility I began to freak out, thinking about my kids and what would be best for them.  I suddenly felt panicked to tell my husband, “If I die, you need to marry again!  Make sure you find someone who will to read to th...

It will be wonderful when people are taught true laws of freedom, and obey those same laws!  The Prophet Joseph taught true principles, and the pioneers governed themselves -- at least those who followed him and his teachings. Joseph Smith on Government By  Craig R. Frogley  · August 27, 2020 Cover image: Portrait of Joseph Smith by Walter Rane. In a time when we all struggle with questions on government, it is noteworthy that Joseph Smith also struggled with it.  He visited Washington DC, many senators and congressmen, and interviewed with the president of the United States.  After Missouri, where the state government seemed to be fully invested in the problems forcing the Saints from their homes and lands contrary to the expectations and rights of U.S. citizenship, it isn’t surprising to find the prophet working with the Lord to understand government’s role as a vessel for the restoration of the global Kingdom of God on earth....

The Second Reason Socialism is The Anti-Agency By  Gary C. Lawrence  · August 23, 2020 The first reason,  as discussed last time , is excessive government control – control, if not outright ownership, of the means of production; a centrally planned economy; and wage and price controls.  By their very natures, all diminish individual choice and freedom.  The second reason, out of the seven we will discuss in coming weeks, has to do with wealth.  Socialism’s goal is a more equal distribution of wealth.  I submit such efforts stifle the incentive to work and run counter to agency as a commandment to act and do. Socialists suppose wealth to be a self-existing and finite commodity.  So for someone to have more means others have less.  What could be more fair, the thinking goes, than to make sure everyone has an equal slice of that miraculous pie and no one goes hungry? Oh, the things that go wrong. More t...

This was published on July 30, 2020, and I missed seeing it!  I'll publish this today in my blog, and tomorrow I'll post the followup article. Last week we had the Democratic convention, and this week the Republican convention, in the United States of America.  It is really on our minds today! Why Socialism is The Anti-Agency By  Gary C. Lawrence  · July 30, 2020 In my previous column, I related the story of Mikhail Gorbachev asking Margaret Thatcher who in the UK economy tells producers how much to charge.  It never occurred to him, or to socialists in general, that pricing can be left to the seller and the buyer – to supply and demand – to hammer out a mutually agreeable price.  Nope. Government has to be involved, socialist thinking goes.  If a third party such as government gets involved in what should be a two-party dance, you can be sure that one party will get a better deal than the other party.  Or tha...

What Helaman 5:12 teaches us about relationships and 3 other insights from this week’s ‘Come, Follow Me’ by Morgan Jones  | Aug. 18, 2020 I’ll never forget someone showing me the triangle graphic. You’ve likely seen it yourself. The idea was simple but for some reason it has never left me. If a married couple (both positioned in the bottom two corners of a triangle) are both focused on drawing closer to God (the top point of a triangle), they will ultimately draw closer to one another. I’ve found that the same is true of many other relationships in our lives. Whether it be a friendship, a mission companionship, or a parent-child relationship, if two people are trying to draw closer to God, their relationship with each other will also benefit. During my time as a missionary, it struck me that a similar concept is true of a scripture we all know in  Helaman 5:12 —and arguably the most well-known verse in this week’s  Come, Fo...