Thoughts and stories, by Pal

  Dealing with the Collateral Damage of Divorce   By  Jeff Teichert  · May 31, 2022 As you may know by now, we released our long-awaited book, “Intentional Courtship: a Mid-Singles Guide to Peace, Progress, and Pairing up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” on November 5 th  2021, just over six months ago. Intentional Courtship contains a lot of counsel and information about coping with loss and recovery from pain and trauma through the power of intention. One of the most unanticipated and difficult consequences of divorce is the impact it has on our relationships with in-laws and mutual friends. Some families and friends handle this well, but most do not. In the church, we have such a dim view of divorce that we tend to subconsciously believe that giving compassion or support to someone getting divorced is condoning divorce. Often this motivates people to stay away or to try to determine who was at fault in the divorce and then take the ot...

 I have loved how Wilford Woodruff wrote "I went on my way rejoicing!" “And He Went on His Way Rejoicing”: Mental Health and the Spirit of God  By  Roger Connors  · June 3, 2022 As a mission president, you are constantly looking for ways to help missionaries cope with the anxiety and stress of life on a mission. While it can be incredibly rewarding, missionary work isn’t easy—particularly when life provides a surprise like a worldwide pandemic that literally increases the difficulty of missionary life in an instant. Add to that the normal challenges of mental and physical health that manifest at this age and the need becomes even clearer: mental health isn’t something you can just assume, it’s something you have to develop and maintain. [1] I remember being quite amazed at the missionary life of Wilford Woodruff. He participated in the difficult march with Zion’s camp, then chose to stay in Missouri to do missionary work. He was an amazing missionary, serving several...

  It’s Going to Be a Hard Summer: Prepare Now  By  Carolyn Nicolaysen  · May 31, 2022 Why will this be a long, rough summer? Reason number one, recession looming.  A few weeks ago, I published an article discussing the possibility of a recession and what that means for our financial stability. To prepare for a recession see:  Let’s Talk Recession . It’s time to review. Recessions generally come after a decline in confidence, a sense among businesses and consumers that times won’t be as good as they have been. Some leading indicators a recession has arrived are reduced hours worked, fewer new orders of capital and consumer goods, lower level of building permits, increased interest rates and for the last 50 years all recessions have been preceded by greatly increased fuel prices. According to surveys this month by news organizations and national and international organizations who monitor trends, consumer confidence is down worldwide. Much of this is due to t...

  FAITH   BOOKS One man’s unlikely spiritual journey from Black Panther to Latter-day Saint By  Trent Toone     May 24, 2022, 11:00am MDT Facebook Twitter SHARE Ed Willis is the author of “Panther to Priesthood,” an autobiography that tells his experience as a member of the Black Panther Party and his conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Deseret Book The reaction Ed Willis receives when he shares his story is generally positive, especially when he informs people his reason for joining the Black Panthers was  not  to kill whites or champion reverse racism. “The Black Panther Party is quite a mystery to many,” he said. “If you weren’t of a progressive political persuasion, you probably didn’t know that much about them.” Willis and his wife, Wanda, joined the Oakland chapter of the political organization during a time of social upheaval in the late 1960s. Ed served as security and stockpiled his own weapons, ammunition and Moloto...

  President and Sister Nelson and the Restoration of Identity  By  Patrick D. Degn  · May 23, 2022 “No natural feelings are high or low, holy or unholy, in themselves. They are all holy when God’s hand is on the rein. They all go bad when they set up on their own and make themselves into false gods.” [1] May 15 marked the anniversary of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood and two landmark addresses from our beloved Prophet and Sister Nelson. [2]  To say Sister Wendy Nelson “hit it out of the park” would be simplistic at best. However, after hearing President Nelson’s address, it seems to me Sister Nelson’s most evocative question encompasses everything President Nelson taught that evening. Indeed, what President Nelson’s discourse accomplished, gave us a vision of heaven, clarity on the unity of the Godhead, and a renewed vision of our identity. President and Sister Nelson were nothing short of prophetic. In providing such an analysis and gushing review, I...