Thoughts and stories, by Pal

  I'm posting two articles today, as they are both related, and both appeared in the Meridian Magazine today.  They both quote Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, and others.   I want to go on record here in my blog, and anywhere else I speak or write, saying:  I DO support the brethren, and Church teachings, and the Prophets!  I believe all the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints teaches, and every true principle we are taught! I am grateful for my faithful pioneer ancestors, and I want to live as they did -- true to the teachings and principles of this TRUE Church! The Middle Ground is Disappearing By  Dan Ellsworth  · August 23, 2021 The following first appeared  in Public Square Magazine . We are witnessing an ever greater movement toward polarity. The middle-ground options will be removed from us as Latter-day Saints. The middle of the road will be withdrawn.  If you are treading water in the current of a river, you will go somewhere....

  I grew up in St. George in the same ward as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  He is 6 and a half years younger than I am, so I didn't know him well.  But my mother, Ruth, was his teacher -- I've never been sure if it was in her elementary 3rd grade class, or in a calling in the same ward.  But at times when I've had the blessing to talk to him he has told me how much he loved my mother!  His mother at one time was given the calling of writing to the ward missionaries.  My daughter Pam was on a mission in Austria, and she received letters from Sister Alice Holland, his mother.  They are treasured, as are times when Elder Holland talks about his early days in St. George.  I have a special place in my heart for him!        In St. George, I ran into him a time or two in a store, and even when he came to visit his mother in the ward.  The area his mother lived in has since been divided off into another ward.    He cal...

  Don't we learn the most from the adversity we go through?  It seems so after!  There are those who are suffering all over the world right now!  Let's pray for them.  Especially Afghanistan!  Could a Loving God Allow Such Suffering? By  Daniel C. Peterson  · August 19, 2021 A reader of my blog “ Sic et Non ” has raised the venerable problem of evil.    Philosophers term it the question of “theodicy,” which focuses on whether and (if so) how, given the existence of evil, a belief in God’s goodness and in divine providence can be justified.  For the faithful, this is often one of the thorniest and most difficult of challenges.  And it seems, at least temporarily, to have cost my reader his faith in a benevolent God. In a recent blog entry titled “ On a Disagreeable God ”, I had written that “the God who revealed himself through the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration” is a kind and benevolent Father who wants to give us eve...

  This article is inspired, I believe!  We need to get our own inspiration, but as for me, I will follow the prophets! 9 Things I Consider When Prophets Disagree with My Politics By  Jeffrey Thayne  · August 15, 2021 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Cover image via Church Newsroom. Editor’s Note: The following was originally posted in 2019. We decided to republish it because the themes seemed important to revisit in light of recent events. Last year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints urged members in Utah to vote against Proposition 2, a state referendum what would decriminalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. It’s a proposition that I would have otherwise supported. This month, the Church updated its policies to forbid carrying firearms on Church properties (except where required by law) — a policy that I would normally oppose, as I believe that responsible concealed carry can save lives. A few years ago, the...