Thoughts and stories, by Pal

  This is such an inspiring story about KyleDory, who passed from this life on January 7, 2022.  He wanted to serve a mission, but cancer kept him from it. Cancer kept him from a mission, but his family plans to carry on Kyle’s legacy of testifying of Christ By  Emily Abel   January 26, 2022 01:54 PM MST Twitter interest Email Pri When Kirk Dory woke up on Friday, January 7, he turned on a Latter-day Saint music playlist, just as he had the day before. The music was a request from his 22-year-old son, Kyle, who lay in a large, comfortable hospice bed in the family room. Kirk and his wife, Kris, knew from their son’s labored, rattling breaths that his six-year battle with brain cancer was nearly over. As Kirk lay next to Kyle, listening to the familiar, comforting music, he turned to look out the window. As he did, he had an impression that would carry him throughout that difficult day. “I looked out and saw this absolutely gorgeous sunrise. And I thought about how Ky...

  The Privilege of Asking for Angelic Help By  Anne Hinton Pratt  · January 26, 2022 Cover image:  “Looking for something” ©Brian T. Kershisnik, 2016. Used with permission. There are times in our lives that we need more help than our natural world can offer.  At these defining moments, we can ask for angelic help, and at times receive remarkable assistance.  Angels are a critical part of the Lord’s team, which he generously employs for us in amazing ways… “I Felt the Burning of Angels” Jill Vanikiotis shared a truly remarkable experience with me, where she absolutely knew that angels helped her.  She was moving from Utah to Virginia in 2020. She was pulling a much too heavy trailer for her vehicle, which was loaded down with all her food storage and tools. She writes, “I needed a good amount of momentum built up in order to get over the three mountains in Wyoming known as the three sisters. Just as I was up to speed in my ascent over the last and bigge...

  The Parable of the Purple Pig: What Have you Stopped Noticing? By  Joni Hilton  · January 26, 2022 In many ways, life is like The Parable of the Purple Pig. In this story, a man who owns a gas station in the Midwest comes across a garage sale in a nearby state, where they’re selling a sculpture of a pig. Nearly twice the size of a real one, the man thinks it would be a hilarious prank to buy it and put it in a friend’s pig farm. He loads it into his pickup truck. But on the way home, he gets an even better idea. He’ll spray paint the whole thing purple and put it in front of his gas station. It will draw attention, maybe increase business. So, he does this. Only people find it an eyesore. Opinion letters appear in the local paper. The local radio station bemoans his poor taste. Disgruntled drivers tell him to take it down. This offends him and he stubbornly vows to keep it up as long as he’s alive, by golly. The ruckus finally dies down as people realize it’s simply goi...

  From an unstable childhood to a confident missionary: Why 1 young man is determined to share the joy he’s found with others By  Danielle Christensen   January 18, 2022 02:08 PM MST Twitter Pinterest Email Print Elder Gutierrez was baptized in June 2019 and is serving as a full-time missionary in the Texas San Antonio Mission. Courtesy of Elder Gutierrez Dominic Gutierrez remembers the first time he felt God’s love like it was yesterday. As a teenager in Safford, Arizona, childhood memories of abuse and homelessness had caught up with him, and his feelings of loneliness seemed inescapable. He didn’t think he had a purpose and didn’t believe that God existed. But then one day, he remembered something that would change his life forever. Previously, his friend had given him a copy of the Book of Mormon, which Dominic stored away in his room. But on this occasion, he decided to crack open the cover and turned to the introduction. Seven words in, he felt something he never ha...