Thoughts from My Personal Journal

THOUGHT: October 9, 2019

From the beginning, Satan has taught men and women to hide their sins from God. That will not work. He already knows all about each and every one of our sins, and we must confess our sins to him if we expect to find joy in our lives.


THOUGHT: October 14, 2019

Repentance is simply improving.


THOUGHT: October 15, 2019

I have found that when I focus on Christ and family, everything else seems to take care of itself.


THOUGHT: October 16, 2019

The religiously overzealous believe that praying and studying the scriptures constitute a righteous religious life. Prayer and scripture study are but the means to an end. They in themselves are not the ultimate object of our worship. Because they are informative and motivational, they are an important part of the means by which we can live a life filled with joy, peace, and happiness. It is the active joyous life which is the end we seek. We must get off our knees and out of the books to live and experience a life of service, self-fulfillment, and joy.


THOUGHT: October 17, 2019

Repentance, change, improvement, and transformation are all interconnected and interrelated.


THOUGHT: October 18, 2019

The principle of repentance involves a daily positive course correction.


THOUGHT: October 22, 2019

You are not ready for godhood unless you are willing and able to allow your unbelieving and wayward children their full and complete agency.


THOUGHT: October 23, 2019

The Lord talks to us through his General Conferences. It is not so much exactly what the speaker says, which we soon forget. It is the feelings, individualized promptings, and customized direction we receive while listening to the speakers.


THOUGHT: October 24, 2019

The words of Christ are the bread of life. We eat the bread by living in accordance with His words.


THOUGHT: October 27, 2019

God seeks to share his power. The natural man seeks to selfishly hold on to all the power he can accumulate.


THOUGHT: October 28, 2019

The blood of Christ, representative of his sufferings, is our cleansing agent. We wash ourselves with his blood when we repent and cheerfully keep His commandments, no matter the suffering that may come our way for doing so. Truth of the matter is, I have personally suffered very little for keeping His commandments. I was blessed to be born and reared in a Christian nation that supported a Christian lifestyle, holding it up as the proper standard. There are those in other nations who have not enjoyed that luxury for which I am grateful.


THOUGHT: October 30, 2019

If there were no evil, we would never be able to choose between good and evil. If we were never able to choose between good and evil, our personal development would be totally thwarted. Mindless robots could live in a world without choices.


THOUGHT: November 4, 2019

The Lord well knows how to magnify our meager efforts to serve others, but we must give him an effort with which to work.


THOUGHT: November 5, 2019

True Christ-like service is without any idea, feeling, motive, or sense of self-service.


THOUGHT: November 20, 2019

We are not being greedy when we pray for the right kind of miracles in our lives.


THOUGHT: November 24, 2019

I’d say there are very few people who know Jesus as well as they think they know Jesus.


THOUGHT: November 25, 2019

The best inspiration for teaching my class at church comes when I am doing my own personal scripture study at home.


THOUGHT: November 26, 2019

Seeing and hearing an angel speak to us personally does not guarantee our continued faithfulness. Just take a look at Oliver, Martin, and David.


THOUGHT: November 27, 2019

Christ can help me turn a personal wrong I have committed into a personal strength.


THOUGHT: December 1, 2019

Merely being an active member of the Church does not save us. Taking advantage of the Savior’s atonement is what saves us.


THOUGHT: December 6, 2019

The importance of baptism cannot be over-estimated.


THOUGHT: December 8, 2019

I do not believe we can love our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ too much.


THOUGHT: December 11, 2019

I have my doubts that God feels a need to get in a hurry about anything. I have my doubts that he would ever panic in any situation. I suspect he leads a very peaceful life.


THOUGHT: December 12, 2019

Some people blame their bad conduct on keeping the wrong company. The best company for me to keep is the company of the Holy Ghost. With Him, I am never lonely, and He keeps me out of trouble.


THOUGHT: December 15, 2019

We need both faith and works. Saying we need only one and not the other is like saying we need offense and not defense in football (or vice-versa), or saying we need hitting and not pitching in baseball (or vice-versa).


THOUGHT: December 25, 2019

If we celebrate in the right way, we cannot over-celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.


THOUGHT: December 28, 2019

To believe the restored gospel is a great blessing. To be called to teach the restored gospel is an even greater blessing.


THOUGHT: December 29, 2019

The Church is perfectly designed to provide opportunities to serve others.


THOUGHT: December 30, 2019

Our service to others helps us to better understand Christ’s service to us.


THOUGHT: January 6, 2020

The Savior is our best comforter in the bad times and our best cheerleader in the good times.


THOUGHT: January 18, 2020

In the Church, we understand the principle of grace, but we don’t overemphasize it at the expense of accountability.


THOUGHT: January 21, 2020

Feeling a fullness of peace in our life comes from living the plan of happiness—meaning the gospel of Jesus Christ.


THOUGHT: January 26, 2020

Discover what Jesus would have you do, then make the changes required and do it.


THOUGHT: January 30, 2020

In every moment of our life, we are either preparing to meet God or not preparing to meet God.


THOUGHT: February 1, 2020

On a clear summer night, as you gaze into a spectacular star-studded sky, do you have the faith to believe that you have the potential at some future time to be a part of organizing such a scene? That is exactly what God wants for you, his child, and He will do His part to bring it to pass. If you feel that such a thought is blasphemous heresy, then God thinks more of you than you think of yourself.


THOUGHT: February 2, 2020

Danny Carpenter told me last Sunday that he was disinvited from an invitation to speak to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes down in Atmore after the organization realized he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the organization’s loss. As we continue, like Danny, to look like, sound like, and act like genuine followers of Christ, things will change for the better.


THOUGHT: February 5, 2020

As missionaries in their field of labor, young men change for the better and this empowers them to help others change themselves for the better.


THOUGHT: February 7, 2020

How we serve trumps where we serve.


THOUGHT: February 8, 2020

If we look with our spiritual eyes, we will discern the Lord’s influence in our life all the day long.


THOUGHT: February 9, 2020

All it takes is a simple sincere personal prayer to bring the comfort of God. He can put things in their proper perspective for me quicker than anyone or anything.


THOUGHT: February 10, 2020

Continual daily repentance, but not of the same sin over and over, is the key to personal improvement.


THOUGHT: February 11, 2020

God knows what I need better than I know what I need.


THOUGHT: February 16, 2020

Jesus Christ is the only person in existence whose pre-mortal life has been revealed, and whose birth, life, ministering acts of miracles, atoning sacrifice, death, and resurrection were all prophesied by many prophets both thousands and hundreds of years before He was born into mortality. That makes pure Christianity unique amongst all of the religions of the world, and that’s the least that can be said.


THOUGHT: February 17, 2020

Jesus Christ is unique, matchless, and cannot be duplicated. I stand in awe of him in every respect. He is the ultimate superhero in my book.


THOUGHT: February 18, 2020

Repentance is not punishment.


THOUGHT: February 23, 2020

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a greater responsibility than any other people to live the teachings of Christ.


THOUGHT: March 1, 2020

Your spiritual ears can screen out the worldly noises—like the bishop’s children during sacrament meeting.


THOUGHT: March 2, 2020

I look upon that which the Savior did in Gethsemane as having direct personal application to me.


THOUGHT: March 3, 2020

Pride and a rebellious nature are a major stumbling block to repentance.


THOUGHT: March 7, 2020

We hear much about radical Islam. We need to also admit that there are radicals in all religions. There are also radical Christians. They exist today, and I know they have a history as old as the Crusades.


THOUGHT: March 9, 2020

It seems to me that Joseph Smith only had a couple of things going for him in his mortal life—revelation from God and an innate desire to obey Him. He kept his priorities straight and fulfilled his eternal destiny. Each of us needs to seek God’s will for us, and when revealed, have an inherent desire to obey it. That is the simple formula for true success in this life. I wish I had followed it more often.


THOUGHT: March 11, 2020

In the world, inefficiency hardly ever translates into effectiveness or success. But in the Lord’s way of doing things, there is a different law of economics based on personal sacrifice and effort. From the standpoint of a mortal man, it was very economically inefficient for me to haul my backhoe on a small borrowed trailer 15 miles an hour all the way to and from Wiggins, MS, to clean up after Hurricane Katrina—500 miles round trip. But it was effective for me spiritually and effective for the people I served both spiritually and temporally. I am also convinced that I was blessed temporally in indiscernible ways. It is not possible for me to out-give the Lord.


THOUGHT: March 14, 2020

When Moroni appeared to Joseph, either Moroni knew how to speak English or Joseph never mentioned otherwise. It seems that all angels are multi-lingual and can speak perfectly in the language of the recipients of their messages.


THOUGHT: March 15, 2020

President Nelson and the brethren at church headquarters sure were “lucky” to have our “Come Follow Me” gospel/worship centered home program already in place when the coronavirus hit.


THOUGHT: March 18, 2020

I generally always have more questions than I have answers, but I have faith in that which I know.


THOUGHT: March 27, 2020

When it comes to the Final Judgment, I cannot help but believe that the numbers of people that we happened to have influenced, even positively, will weigh much less than the degree to which we were obedient to the commandments of God.


THOUGHT: March 30, 2020

Pondering the atonement of Jesus Christ can and should transform us.


THOUGHT: April 1, 2020

There have been other appearances of God to man, but none of them have been documented as fully as God’s appearance to Joseph Smith. We have much more detail relating to the encounter. We are able to learn much more from Joseph’s unique experience that we call the First Vision. I feel profound gratitude for my being allowed to live in this age.


THOUGHT: April 4, 2020

The First Vision, if carefully studied, gives us more answers than we have questions.


THOUGHT: April 12, 2020

If we only know the cross, conversion is incomplete. We must know Gethsemane.


THOUGHT: April 19, 2020

A full-time mission broadens a man to become a citizen of the world.


THOUGHT: April 25, 2020

One of the major reasons that I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fact that I have a strong belief in the truthfulness of the Bible.


THOUGHT: April 27, 2020

Everyone will be in their own shoes on Judgment Day.


THOUGHT: May 3, 2020

Members of the Church who mostly rely upon simply going to church services once a week as a primary means of obtaining and retaining spirituality place their testimony and salvation at peril. Thus, during this pandemic, when church services are not available, they are either going to develop some better private religious habits, like praying and studying the scriptures, or they are going to die on the vine, or rather disconnect from the vine.


THOUGHT: May 5, 2020

Today is the anniversary of my baptism into the Church. It took place on a Saturday in 1973, 47 years ago. Other than direct divine intervention, I have no explanation for my joining the Church. I owe the entire blessing to God. It was the biggest, most positive game changer I have ever experienced in my life by far. I recommend it to everyone.


THOUGHT: May 7, 2020

Israel is the name God has chosen for his covenant people. Every person of every blood lineage who enters into God’s designated covenants with Him is a part of the House of Israel.


THOUGHT: May 26, 2020

Religious freedom is absolutely essential to our personal joy in life—our hopes, dreams, aspirations, happiness, and well being. We do good when we seek to increase and preserve religious freedom for all. We do badly when we seek to diminish or limit it. We even do badly when we do nothing. We should not count on someone else to do what only we can do because there is no someone else.


THOUGHT: May 27, 2020

Had it not been for the First Vision and its aftermath, the earth would have long ago been destroyed by the Lord. That is my firm belief.


THOUGHT: June 20, 2020

I lovingly embrace hard work as a key element of my religion.


THOUGHT: June 21, 2020

Today I read the scholarly article by Jill Mulvay Derr titled “The Lion and the Lioness,” which chronicled the relationship between Brigham Young and Eliza R. Snow and their harmonious efforts to move the Church forward during difficult pioneering times. I was surprised to learn that Brigham altered Joseph’s instructions to the original Relief Society in order to make it clear that the organization was subservient to priesthood authority and not an independent organization within the Church, the latter being a situation that would have certainly caused undesirable and damaging dissention. Emma’s dissention on plural marriage was no doubt a strong element in Brigham’s decision. But it seems to me that Brigham’s revelation on the subject would have been better presented as a new revelation as opposed to deceitfully changing the wording of a prior prophet. I have no doubt that human frailties creep into the management decisions of the prophets, but they are rare and it does not change my opinion of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon or the truthfulness of the Restoration. I have so much human frailty of my own that I am not about to cast stones at others, be they prophets or not. God may work in mysterious ways, but he is still God.


THOUGHT: June 27, 2020

Enough human tears to fill buckets were shed on this date 176 years ago.


THOUGHT: July 1, 2020

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only subject matter of which I have any knowledge that makes total and complete sense to me. It is the only subject matter in which I find no flaws. I am staking my eternal destiny on its truthfulness and I have a complete peace about doing so.


THOUGHT: July 16, 2020

I’ve done some pondering of late. Can God change his mind? Yes, according to the Bible story where He kept lowering the number of righteous people required to save a city. But the bigger question is this: Did God already know he was going to change his mind from the beginning? If He already knew he was going to change his mind, did he truly ever change his mind? I tend to believe that He can actually change his mind. How boring would His existence be if He already knew all there was to know about the future? He would never enjoy the emotion of pleasant surprise. There is certainly nothing unrighteous about changing one’s mind, else women would be in serious trouble on Judgement Day!


THOUGHT: July 19, 2020

No matter how knowledgeable, skilled, or talented you are, learning and living the restored gospel of Jesus Christ will make you more knowledgeable, more skilled, more talented, and happier.


THOUGHT: July 24, 2020

I have definitely experienced disappointment in my life, but it has never caused me to get mad at God. That is a spiritual blessing for which I am grateful.


THOUGHT: July 27, 2020

Repentance is a process in which we should be engaged regularly. Off and on again, especially with the same weaknesses, will not get the job done.


THOUGHT: July 30, 2020

Praying to God is as real as talking to a friend on a cell phone, and even easier. There is no cost, no looking up the number, no dialing, and especially no dropped calls.


THOUGHT: August 21, 2020

When we revile, we become sinners like unto those against whom we revile.


THOUGHT: August 22, 2020

Faith and fanaticism are not the same thing. Fanaticism has no evidence for things hoped for.


THOUGHT: August 23, 2020

When we take up the real cross of Jesus, we find that there are no wheels on the cross to make it easier to carry.


THOUGHT: August 26, 2020

I hear people say: “God has a plan for me.” Of course, that is true, but that statement puts too much of the burden on God. God’s plan for all of us is for each of us to tap into the divine nature within us. He wants us to discover and formulate our own creative plans for ourselves. That approach, which I think is more correct, emphasizes the “me” in that commonly heard statement. I must take responsibility for my own plan. I can count on His help, but I must be the moving agent. He will always do his part, but it is usually the last part


THOUGHT: August 28, 2020

We are each our own final judge, judging the type of person we are, by the choices that we make.


THOUGHT: September 6, 2020

It is a special spiritual gift of high quality to be able to make others feel valued and respected.


THOUGHT: September 11, 2020

We are all prodigals. I desperately yearn to be a forgiven prodigal.


THOUGHT: September 12, 2020

We need to find and enjoy our religion both inside and outside of our dedicated religious spaces and edifices, and perhaps more especially on the outside because that is where we spend the overwhelming majority of our time.


THOUGHT: September 14, 2020

Once Jesus Christ had sacrificed himself unto death, there was no need to sacrifice a single other animal under the law of Moses, for the much anticipated future event—the Messianic atonement that was symbolically portrayed under the Law of Moses, had come to pass. The purpose for the animal sacrifices under the Law of Moses had been perfectly fulfilled and accomplished. Clinging to the Law of Moses thus became an outright, direct denial of the atoning sacrifice that Christ had performed for the sins of mankind.


THOUGHT: September 18, 2020

There are times when the only assistance we are in a position to provide is a sincere prayer. But a sincere prayer is no small thing. It can avail much.


THOUGHT: September 24, 2020

My son Joshua posted a photo on Facebook. The photo portrayed a beautiful, lighted evening sky hovering over a lighted soccer field. He wrote: “This is how I imagine heaven: soccer under the lights on a clear and cool fall evening…forever.” I posted a comment: “I recommend you aim higher. Love, Daddy.”


THOUGHT: October 3, 2020

Watching General Conference causes me to stretch my personal revelation muscles.


THOUGHT: October 6, 2020

It is Christ alone who connects Earth to Heaven.


THOUGHT: October 7, 2020

The Lord is always closer than we think.


THOUGHT: October 12, 2020

Revelation from God includes discoveries that come from scientific laboratories. God silently orchestrates all of the preceding events and all of the attending circumstances that allow for discoveries and inventions, in addition to inspiring the minds of the discoverers and inventors. Life makes more sense for us when we confess and acknowledge God’s hand in all things.


THOUGHT: October 14, 2020

I am guilty of the same mistake that my non-member neighbors and friends make. They listen to me only with an intent to change my mind about my religion. That’s the same way that I listen to them. Thus, neither of us ever learns from the other. On the other hand, there is something to balance against that truth. “Ye are not sent forth to be taught, but to teach.” (D&C 43:15) That quote is a revelation from God. But teaching the way God wants us to teach, with love in our hearts, will almost always involve some listening, too.


THOUGHT: October 15, 2020

I believe one can be a great Christian without being a great churchman. It is a unique blessing to be both.


THOUGHT: October 21, 2020

If you really want to know how to prioritize your life, go to the temple regularly.


THOUGHT: October 31, 2020

Miracles have a formula that we can follow. They are created by a combination of acquired skill, enduring faith, and unconditional love.


THOUGHT: November 8, 2020

If you become a celebrity, then you automatically become an expert in everything, including religion.


THOUGHT: November 10, 2020

We don’t need to get excited about secular sources that confirm our revelations any more than we need to get excited about secular sources that deny our revelations. It is an understatement to say that secular sources are inferior to divine revelation. In other words, simply put, God is smarter than man.


THOUGHT: November 14, 2020

It is quite humbling to know for a surety, as I do, that the Lord is mindful of me.


THOUGHT: November 15, 2020

If I were asked, “What is the most illogical thing you can think of that a man can do?” My response would be puny man contending with God, or trying to counsel God, or rebelling against God, or ignoring the commandments of God.


THOUGHT: November 16, 2020

Almost every time someone who was a friend of Dianne and myself dies, I think of Dianne as sweetly welcoming them into the world of spirits.


THOUGHT: November 20, 2020

I have never seen hope or faith work without work.


THOUGHT: December 1, 2020

Although the restored gospel belongs to the whole world—actually the entire universe for that matter—I am honored to be a part of the most American religion on the planet.


THOUGHT: December 16, 2020

If the importance of a person is determined by the number of people he or she influences in light of the time that such influence will be effective, then Jesus Christ is in His own top category.


THOUGHT: December 18, 2020

Our faith and testimony are never wasted by the Lord. When we prepare ourselves, commensurate opportunities to grow the kingdom will be placed in our path.


THOUGHT: December 20, 2020

Satan wants everyone to be miserable like he is, and misery does indeed love company. In an attempt to validate our own detours into apostasy, we will encourage others to join us in our misguided treks.


THOUGHT: December 26, 2020

As far as my own personal salvation is concerned, heeding the words of our living prophet is of more worth to me than any information I might consider from any other source, most especially his counsel to continuously repent.


THOUGHT: January 1, 2021

If they were mutually exclusive, I would rather be smart as to the things of God and dumb as to the things of the world, as opposed to being smart as to the things of the world and dumb as to the things of God.


THOUGHT: January 2, 2021

An untruth (lie) is the way things were not, the way things are not, and the way things will never be. That is Satan’s primary tool for every evil enticement he sends our way.


THOUGHT: January 3, 2021

God can provide a happy ending to every story.


THOUGHT: January 10, 2021

Singing aloud as a congregation is such an essential part of true worship that omitting the singing as a result of the pandemic has diminished the enjoyment of sacrament meeting significantly.


THOUGHT: January 13, 2021

Don’t wait to know absolutely everything before you will act. Just make sure you know enough to produce a fixed faith in the enterprise, whatever it may be. Follow your heart. Then move forward vigorously with the anticipation of learning more. Your conviction grows as you make progress, and there never is any back-peddling or back-tracking. That is what I have learned from both getting baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and from constructing Overlook Lodge.


THOUGHT: January 14, 2021

We each have a divinely mandated social and moral obligation to help others.


THOUGHT: January 15, 2021

We will not allow fear to hold a resting place within us so long as we firmly hope or firmly believe or firmly know that God is in control and He has our best interest at heart.


THOUGHT: January 18, 2021

Dianne and I did not fight against the enemy at Crooked River or Hawn’s Mill. We were never imprisoned at Liberty Jail or Carthage Jail. We never buried our children in frozen ground at Winter Quarters. We never marched in the Mormon Battalion or crossed the plains in a covered wagon through Indian territory or pulled a handcart through the sand dunes. We never slept in a snowbound dugout or sailed the mighty ocean in a crowded tempest tossed ship. We never chiseled granite from a quarry to build a temple. I don’t think we ever involuntarily slept in the rain or missed a single meal in our entire lives. But we did help with starting a new branch of the Church in the heart of Alabama in the 1970’s, and we did help with starting a new branch of the Church within the shadows of Ankor Wat in Cambodia in the first decade of the current millennium, for whatever that may turn out to be worth.


THOUGHT: January 19, 2021

God gives us problems to solve. Solving problems is an important part of our growth.


THOUGHT: January 25, 2021

We can personally celebrate the atonement of Jesus Christ every day.


THOUGHT: January 28, 2021

Mortality is not a time when God makes all things right. He does not make all things right in the here and now. He did not even protect or shield his only begotten Son from injustice. But the time will come when all things will be made right.


THOUGHT: January 29, 2021

My admiration for Joseph Smith is increased, not decreased, by his human frailties and weaknesses. His humanity makes him real to me. I can relate to him. I am inspired by his example of faith and determination as he confronted and overcame so much opposition and adversity in his life, mostly external but occasionally self-imposed. He was no ambitious empire builder or demanding tyrant. He was simply trying his best to achieve those things God had assigned him to achieve.


THOUGHT: February 5, 2021

When we are judged, I believe that the Lord will have virtually no concern about whether we were a bishop, stake president, apostle, or general relief society president. But He will be extremely concerned about how we treated other people.


THOUGHT: February 12, 2021

Christian “orthodoxy” is totally subjective in its various definitions espoused by competing Christian sects. If “orthodoxy” is actually conformity to the Savior’s doctrinal teachings and church organization as He himself set it up in the meridian of time, then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has more “orthodoxy” by far than any other modern Christian organization.


THOUGHT: February 14, 2021

During our honeymoon trip, Robin and I were approached by two senior male missionaries as she and I were strolling in front of the Salt Lake Temple on Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. (Their respective wives were proselytizing together elsewhere on Temple Square within sight.) The missionaries learned that Robin and I were just married, and that she was raised and grew up in Salt Lake and that I was born and raised in Alabama. They asked if we were members of the Church, and we responded that only one of us was. The missionaries immediately made an erroneous assumption about my and Robin’s church affiliations which Robin corrected. “No,” she said, “I grew up here but I am not a member of the Mormon Church. I had to go all the way to Alabama to find me a good Mormon boy.” We all had a good laugh.


THOUGHT: February 23, 2021

Do I believe I am worth someone’s dying for me in order to save my life? Fortunately, Christ does.


THOUGHT: February 25, 2021

Here is a question we should regularly ask ourselves: “What does Christ think of me?”


THOUGHT: March 10, 2021

In all of our discussions and conversations with others, we need to remember the Savior. We represent Him, and he would never unkindly belittle or cruelly disrespect another individual.


THOUGHT: March 20, 2021

From what does Christ redeem me? (1) Separation from the Father and the Son and all righteous resurrected family, friends, and associates; (2) separation of my spirit from my physical body, without which there is no fullness of joy; (3) the haunting mental anguish and pain emanating from my unforgiven bad choices, which anguish and pain are like an unquenchable fire in my mind; (4) a finite posterity.

I cannot love my Savior enough.


THOUGHT: April 4, 2021

If Alexa can answer questions from people simultaneously all over the world, God can certainly answer our prayers simultaneously received from people all over the world.


THOUGHT: April 6, 2021

191 years ago the Church held its first sacrament meeting in a log house in Fayette, NY. I hope Joseph Smith is allowed an occasional glimpse of the growth of the Church since he left mortality. I think he would be pleased to see all of the prophesies coming to pass—prophesies that made him appear to be insane at the time he uttered them. The Church has now reached almost 17 million members. I am personally encouraged by Joseph Smith’s humanity which is revealed in part in Section 3 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Who else but a true prophet would confess, acknowledge, and own up to his personal weaknesses?


THOUGHT: April 20, 2021

We don’t need to lose our religion because someone offends us.


THOUGHT: April 22, 2021

An old friend told me that one of the names by which the Holy Ghost is known is “something.” For instance, “something” told me to check my fuel gauge before departing on that trip. Or, “something” told me not to watch that movie. Or, “something” told me I would be making a mistake if I tried to drive through that big mud hole.


THOUGHT: April 24, 2021

If we are going to follow the Savior, then we will need to let go of some incorrect traditions that we inherited or acquired.


THOUGHT: April 27, 2021

There will be many additional scientific discoveries, and there will be continuing revelation through modern prophets. We believe in scientific and religious progress, not stagnation. With each new revelation, each new secular discovery, and each liberation from a previous faulty scientific assumption, our appreciation of God will increase. We will marvel at His patience and the manner in which He accomplishes His purposes despite the weaknesses of humanity.


THOUGHT: May 2, 2021

When it comes right down to it, we can only know what God allows us to know, and He will not allow knowledge to replace our need for faith and thus destroy His whole purpose behind our probationary testing. “Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge.” (Alma 32:21) With regard to answering the hard questions, there will always be multiple choices between faith and coincidental, natural, or random-looking alternatives. In that way, we are allowed to live in an environment where we can freely develop our faith through the exercise of our agency.


THOUGHT: May 3, 2121

Latter-day Saints have a healthy appreciation for science. But qualitatively speaking, our faith in science, reason, and scholarship is inferior to our faith in God. The one thing we can feel most absolutely sure about, and the one thing that makes the most sense in life, is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Scientists will never comprehend changing water to wine, controlling the weather and the seas, walking on water, moving mountains, multiplying loaves of bread and fishes, instantaneous healings, 72 continuous hours of daylight, or bringing back to life dead human bodies that have already commenced to decay, all accomplished by simple voice command, or by the “word of [His] power.” (Moses 1:35)


THOUGHT: May 4, 2021

It is obvious that God understands a more advanced science than that which we understand—a higher science which ignores our understanding of gravity and physics. Yet with God, the miracles are all natural. With God, there is no such thing as the super-natural.


THOUGHT: May 5, 2021

I was baptized on a Saturday 48 years ago today. What a pivotal turning point in my life! I cannot overstate its importance in my mortal probation.


THOUGHT: May 7, 2021

I am grateful for a testimony that God, to whom all things are spiritual (see D&C 29:34), lives. He is the literal Father of our spirits. Jesus Christ is His only begotten son, the promised Messiah who atoned for our sins and provides us with a resurrected body. The Bible is the word of God. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, is authentic ancient scripture, preserved with the intent to bless us in our day. Joseph Smith is a most genuine prophet. We are led this very moment by a modern-day prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, who holds the keys to sacred covenants that lead to eternal life in the presence of a loving Heavenly Father. This testimony is a gift from God to me. I declare this testimony to all who may read this, and do so without reservation or hesitation in the holy name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.


THOUGHT: May 8, 2021

For me, unassigned ministering is the most joyful ministering.


THOUGHT: May 18, 2021

I can use the ordinance of the sacrament each Sunday to recalibrate my heart.


THOUGHT: May 24, 2021

We study church history too little when we start down a controversial rabbit hole but then fail to follow its entire twisting and turning course, thereby ignoring all of the accurate information that contradicts the negative assertions that originally motivated us to enter the rabbit hole.


THOUGHT: May 26, 2021

When we only dabble in church history, we can be enticed to start down a negative rabbit trail. If we fail to following the rabbit trail all the way through, we will miss the positive contradictory information that would have bolstered, instead of shaken, our faith.


THOUGHT: June 1, 2021

Although the world may seek to characterize a discussion of science and religion as “science versus religion,” the actual relationship between true science and true religion is one of perfect compatibility. All fixed, immutable, and unchanging truth is contained within the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and all truth harmonizes without conflict. All truth can be circumscribed into one great whole with Jesus Christ at the center.


THOUGHT: June 8, 2021

“It is impossible for [us] to be saved in ignorance” (D&C 131:6) of the basic gospel truths which consist of faith in Jesus Christ, ongoing repentance, the receipt of authoritative ordinances, and simple consistent obedience to the commandments of God throughout our lives.


THOUGHT: June 9, 2021

I have been thinking about “thoughts.” Some in the Church take the position that the second thought or impression, following a first impression from the Holy Ghost, is usually from Satan. The second impression is the one that causes us to ignore or to procrastinate the first impression, or to rationalize a more convenient alternative course of action than heeding the first impression—one that is usually less physically taxing. I don’t think that it is Satan who originates the second impression. I think it is the natural man within us giving in to our physical body or weak “flesh.” Most of us, I think, believe that Satan cannot read our thoughts. (D&C 6:16) Only the Godhead can do that. If we are still in the intellectual stage of pondering the first impression, Satan knows neither the impression we have received from the Spirit nor our initial reaction to it. He is able to determine our thoughts only from our outward actions or conduct, including our words. However, the principle is the same. We must fight against the natural man within us the same as we would fight against Satan. The natural man within us is an enemy to God the same as Satan. (Mosiah 3:19) So I have the impression, if I can use that word, that Satan gets the blame for a few things he did not do. He has no more power over us than that which we voluntarily relinquish to him. My own worst enemy is probably me, and not Satan.


THOUGHT: June 10, 2021

Acquiring eternal life in the presence of God is what every sane man or woman should desire. It is an association with other faithful, like-minded family members and friends in the presence of our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ on a celestialized earth, that will bring the most joy to our existence. After all, “men are [or men exist] that they might have joy.” (2 Nephi 2:25) It is in our own self-interest to seek eternal personal joy, accomplished ironically by forgetting our own self-interest and serving the interest of others. (See Matthew 10:39)


THOUGHT: June 14, 2021

Gospel truths are not learned through the generally accepted scientific method. There never will be a litmus test to determine if Jesus Christ is the Son of God, or whether Christ performed the great atoning sacrifice, or whether Christ commanded Joseph Smith to reestablish Christ’s Church upon the earth for the last time in preparation for His return. Those things are learned spiritually, through a process which is absolute “foolishness” to the natural man. (See 1 Cor. 2:14)


THOUGHT: June 15, 2021

Even with regard to the study of spiritual matters, we are instructed to “arouse our faculties.” (Alma 32:37) In other words, we should turn on our brains in order to spiritually “experiment” upon His Word. Contrary to a common stereotype, we don’t have to set our brains aside in order to be good Latter-day Saints. The opposite is true: Thorough and consistent critical thinking will lead us toward God and His Kingdom, not away from them.


THOUGHT: June 19, 2021

What we learn with our brains is an essential part of our testimony. When Oliver Cowdery tried to translate the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, the Lord told him that both mental labor and the feelings of his heart or bosom were part of the process: “[B]ehold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.” (D&C 9:8) After the appropriate amount of intellectual work, it is a “feeling,” the confirming witness of the Holy Ghost, that constitutes the ultimate acquisition of knowledge. That confirmation by the Holy Ghost surpasses any conviction based on an accumulation of sterile empirical data.


THOUGHT: June 21, 2021

Because spiritual learning involves both the brain and the heart, it can be difficult and time consuming. To test a righteous principle, we fully engage our intellect with “real intent” (see 2 Nephi 31:13; Moroni 7:6; 10:4), and that means not having a fixed, unalterable, preconceived answer. “With real intent” also means a sincere desire to obey the answer that is received. The full test often includes consistently living the principle for a time in advance of the answer, all the while continuing to repent of our sins and earnestly knocking, asking, and seeking for an answer from God.


THOUGHT: June 22, 2021

The confirmation of truth from the Holy Ghost comes in the form of feelings that can vary in their nature from individual to individual. But there is a definite awareness and consciousness of a sensation centering around our heart or bosom. The sensation or feeling can come in different degrees, ranging from slightly sweet and tender to overwhelming and all-consuming, spreading from the tips of our toes to the very tops of our heads. Physically speaking, the feeling can range from warm to a burning fire within us, all the way to the quaking of the marrow of our bones. (See Jeremiah 20:9; D&C 85:6) We have no control over when it comes or how long it stays. God chooses when to talk to us and for how long, the same as he controls the comings and goings of the wind. (See John 3:8)


THOUGHT: June 23, 2021

When the Holy Ghost ministers unto us, we know it. The confirmation of truth produces within us undeniable feelings of confidence, assurance, certainty, peace, and joy. The truth sets us free (see John 8:32) from our fears, peer pressure, addiction, and Satanic influences. If we walk through life unaided by this divine source of truth, unhappiness and misery are more likely to plague us.


THOUGHT: June 24, 2021

As Latter-day Saints, we seek to know and accept all available truths. I quote our founding prophet, Joseph Smith: “One of the grand fundamental principles of [our religion] is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may.” (Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 199) The Lord has instructed us to “seek learning even by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118), and we are counseled to not only learn gospel principles, but secular theories in astronomy, history, geology, archaeology, and politics. We should study the best available books in those subjects. (See D&C 90:15; 88:118) Even though we can’t know it all, we should desire to know as much as we can. The personal “advantage” we gain by learning now continues to be an “advantage” to us in the next world. (See D&C 130:19)


THOUGHT: June 25, 2021

A desire to learn and understand truth is a basic principle of Latter-day Saint discipleship. Truth seeking individuals sincerely yearning for light and knowledge make wonderful disciples of Christ, like those willing to form their own opinion of The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ by personally reading it with real intent, as opposed to those willing to form their own strong opinion of the Book of Mormon without ever reading it. Truth seekers have the courage to elevate newly discovered truths above the false “tradition[s] of men” (Colossians 2:8) which label truth as fiction, and fiction as truth—like the fiction that God is unable to speak to his children outside of the Bible.


THOUGHT: June 26, 2021

We are never more like the Savior than when we are forgiving others.


THOUGHT: June 28, 2021

Most of our acquired knowledge we would characterize as “secular”—acquired primarily through experience. But secular truths do not come exclusively from secular sources. They are still divinely inspired, notwithstanding the original recipient may be unaware of such inspiration. At a very minimum, God prearranged all of the circumstances for the discovery of every so-called secular or scientific truth, and “against none is [God’s] wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things....” (D&C 59:21)


THOUGHT: June 29, 2021

God may not always be the most proximate cause, but He had a definite hand in every event at some earlier point in time. When we deal with the subject of causation, God is always the original moving cause, the Alpha, beginning with the organization of our intelligences (Abraham 3:21) and the introduction of Satanic “opposition in all things.” (2 Nephi 2:11) And God will be the ultimate, final, and triumphant cause—the Omega.


THOUGHT: June 30, 2021

God himself is certainly not anti-science. The gospel of Jesus Christ is an exact science. There are fixed divine laws in place which bind, restrict, confine, and define every outcome, based on the behavioral ingredients that we voluntarily place in our individual test tubes of life. In other words, the manner in which we each exercise our moral agency, as judged only by God, has precise, certain, predictable, “scientific” consequences. “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, [the greatest of which is eternal life], it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” (D&C 130:20-21) That is a scientific equation relating to our joy and happiness that is infinitely more important than E=mc2. The only input into the test tube over which we have control is the exercise of our agency. The most important elements we can add to the test tube are our obedience and ongoing repentance. Christ has already added his merciful ingredients to the test tube, and everyone’s reaction time will have been fully completed by Judgment Day. “Who am I that made man, saith the Lord, that will hold him guiltless that obeys not my commandments?” (D&C 58:30)


THOUGHT: July 2, 2021

Satan has a remarkable innate ability to criticize righteous behavior in a way that makes the behavior appear unrighteous.


THOUGHT: July 11, 2021

There is a false religious tradition that is well rooted in our culture. That incorrect teaching states that there is only a heaven and a hell. You are either going to heaven or you are going to hell. There is no in between, so to speak. Now let’s look at a practical example of how that false notion would work. Take, say, 100 people who live out their lives on earth. Each person has lived differently. There is a distinctly and uniquely different combination of good and bad in the life of each of the 100 people. Judgment day comes and God must assign each person to either heaven or hell. What is his criteria? Which ones will get the benefit of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice? Keep in mind that some of the 100 people have never even heard the words “Jesus Christ.” Others come from all types of religious persuasions—Buddhism, Hinduism, atheism, a variety of Christian churches, Judaism, Islam, etc. God might say, well, I will send the top most righteous half to heaven and the bottom most wicked half to hell. Number 1 and number 50 get the exact same reward—heaven. Number 51 and number 100 get the same exact reward—hell. Number 50 and number 51, though extremely close in their level of righteousness, get totally opposite rewards. Would that be fair? Of course not. Fortunately, it is not true. In addition to Hell, there are three kingdoms of glory, and within each of those three kingdoms, there are different degrees of glory so that each different person gets a different reward that perfectly meets the demands of justice and mercy and fairness. The experiences of the Spirit World after death will also add to the fairness and equity of the final judgment.


THOUGHT: July 12, 2021

We cannot be unvirtuous and expect the Lord to use us for His purposes.


THOUGHT: July 13, 2021

I do not get spiritually stronger by mentally entertaining temptations to prove to myself that I can successfully resist them. No, I get stronger by quickly casting out each temptation just as soon as it enters and attempts to set up shop in my mind.


THOUGHT: July 16, 2021

Prophets can be mighty inconvenient. They seem to bend about as often as the truth bends. I can only avoid or ignore them by pretending there is no such thing as “truth.”


THOUGHT: August 8, 2021

I doubt God will give revelation to someone who is not ready, willing, and prepared to act upon it. Even I am smart enough not to give car keys to my 12-year-old child.


THOUGHT: September 3, 2021

Temple learning, temple worship, and temple covenant making are essential parts of our Heavenly Father’s plan for helping his children to return home to Him. The temple centers us on family. Inside the temple is where righteous families are created. A clean and pure young man and a clean and pure young woman go into the temple, and they come out as husband and wife, committed to one another for all eternity. Then it is in the temple where additional family members are linked to one another forever. The sealings, husband to wife and wife to husband, and then parents to children and children to parents, tie us together as a family on this side of the veil, the mortal side, and also on the other side of the veil, the immortal side. Temple worship and temple ordinances inspire within us an eternal perspective, assuring us that we are a part of God’s immediate family.


THOUGHT: September 6, 2021

I believe that it makes God happy to see us happy.


THOUGHT: September 19, 2021

My first sacrament meeting talk in the Wetumpka Branch was centered on an acorn. It fit my theme: Out of small things proceedeth forth that which is great. About four years later, as a literal demonstration of the truth I spoke in October of 1974, I planted the oak tree that stands today at the southwest corner of the chapel lot, just inside of the parking area. That planting took place in August of 1978, best I recall. I was replacing a small oak tree that had died—the one that had been planted by the building contractor in the spring of that same year. The new little oak tree that I dug from the wet area behind my house one mile away was about the same height as me, perhaps a few inches taller, at the time I planted it. Today that tree is massive. It has grown incrementally over the past 43 years. The tree is nearing a half century in age. We have had to contend with the corporate church a couple of times in the past to prevent its being cut down. We will lose that battle someday, I suppose. But for now, the giant oak tree is a thing of glory, something great that has proceeded from something small. At the same time, the branch has grown into a large ward, full of members who are totally ignorant of the early history behind that which we have today.


THOUGHT: September 26, 2021

Spirituality, like manna, cannot be stored. It must be nurtured and produced on a daily basis by our own personal efforts. It cannot be lent to or borrowed from others.


THOUGHT: October 13, 2021
 
If I as a priesthood holder chasten another brother, I should not say anything that I would not say while lovingly hugging that brother. The same can be said of a father who chastens his child.
 
 
THOUGHT: October 15, 2021
 
Neither the English language nor any other earthly language contains the adjectives needed to sufficiently praise our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ.
 
 
THOUGHT: October 16, 2021
 
Always remember. No matter how bad things get, the purposes of God will not be thwarted.
 
 
THOUGHT: October 23, 2021
 
People are more alike than they are different, starting with the fact that we are all children of God.
 
 
THOUGHT: October 25, 2021
 
I bear witness of God’s love for and personal interest in each of us. I bear witness of God’s ability to heal, both physically and spiritually. I bear witness of God’s ability to comfort. I bear witness of God’s ability to enlighten us. I bear witness of God’s authority and power.
 
 
THOUGHT: November 14, 2021
 
If we are living our lives in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ, then we are doing missionary work when we do not know we are doing missionary work.
 
 
THOUGHT: November 20, 2021
 
Belief, faith, and trust are choices. Disbelief, doubt, and distrust are also choices.
 
 
THOUGHT: November 21, 2021
 
I believe that the loneliest that any man on this earth has ever felt was Christ in Gethsemane.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 16, 2021
 
We are so far behind God’s knowledge that we don’t even know what questions to ask.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 20, 2021
 
Christmas is a time to look back at the birth of Christ. But it is also a time to look forward to his Second Coming.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 22, 2021
 
I am grateful for the love of truth. It has been a most valuable spiritual gift from God to me.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 25, 2021
 
Another aspect of Christ’s incomparable humility is his willingness for his birthday to be celebrated on the wrong day each year. He makes no complaint and takes no corrective action. (See D&C 20:1)
 
 
THOUGHT: January 9, 2022
 
Tithing is not about money. It is about faith.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 13, 2022
 
No one is happier about our successes than our Heavenly Father.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 30, 2022
 
Grace and works are not at odds with one another. Any debate which is couched in the terms of “grace versus works” is a falsely premised debate at its inception. In legal parlance, “grace versus works” is an illegal argumentative question—a question which assumes a fact that has never been placed in evidence. The wrongfully assumed fact is that grace and works are mutually exclusive. Grace and works are not mutually exclusive. To the contrary, grace and works are mutually reinforcing.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 12, 2022
 
This is what I truly believe. If I put Christ at the center of my life, then I will be better at everything else that I do. In other words, for example, if I put tennis at the center of my life in order to become the best possible tennis player, I will never become as good a tennis player as I could become if I first put Christ at the center of my life. Christ and I are better at doing anything than I am at doing it alone.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 1, 2022
 
The Savior has taught me this: It is my sacred privilege and duty to love others, notwithstanding the risk of being hurt because I am not loved in return. I am to overcome the fear that such risks create. The joyous rewards that come from taking those risks will greatly outweigh the sorrows
 
 
THOUGHT: March 17, 2022
 
I don’t want the way I exercise my agency to lead myself into destruction—in other words, choosing to do things that are forbidden of God.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 21, 2022
 
Our reverence for Christ directly affects our desire to obey him.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 27, 2022
 
If we don’t know each other in our congregation, how are we going to be of one heart and one mind?
 
 
THOUGHT: April 2, 2022
 
Everyone is going to eventually acknowledge the truthfulness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint. It is just a matter of timing.
 
 
THOUGHT: April 6, 2022
 
The church was organized 192 years ago today. It has improved and become stronger with each passing year and with each new revelation relating to its organization. It has not taken a step backwards. It is the Kingdom of God on earth, right here for all people to see and hear, if they have ears to hear and eyes to see.
 
 
THOUGHT: April 15, 2022
 
Faith is not belief without evidences.
 
 
THOUGHT: May 9, 2022
 
Do you think God would grant His authority to men who deny His revelations? I do not think He would do such. Yet, there are men and women who claim God’s authority, perform His ordinances, and at the same time deny His revelations. They deny that He is a God of current revelation, either because He is unable or unwilling to reveal. How could God have called them if he is unable to reveal his will? Beware of such claimants who deny the power of God.
 
 
THOUGHT: May 12, 2022
 
Faith becomes personal and real for me when it is the only thing remaining on which I can rely for moving forward. I think it is probably at that point a mixture of faith and hope, as opposed to pure faith alone.
 
 
THOUGHT: June 1, 2022
 
True conversion is always an ongoing process, despite there having been special moments in time.
 
 
THOUGHT: June 7, 2022
 
Last year, I was saved by divine intervention when my backhoe rolled over. Isn’t it interesting when you absolutely KNOW for a surety that God has intervened in your life? You have your own undeniable personal witness that sticks with you, and it’s not transferable. The certainty of it belongs exclusively to you. It is yours alone. You just can’t take the oil from your lamp and put it in someone else’s lamp. Everyone must get his or her own. You have this feeling that you have been saved for important purposes, and you are keenly aware of it. You have a destiny. Now my job is to achieve, and to always measure my achievement by what is important to God—not by what is important to the natural man. They are never the same.
 
 
THOUGHT: June 15, 2022
 
If God answered all of my prayers the way I want them answered, I would self-destruct in less than 90 days.
 
 
THOUGHT: June 24, 2022
 
There appears to be a difference, sometimes quite stark, between self-identified Christians and actual followers of Christ.
 
 
THOUGHT: June 26, 2022
 
Perhaps one of the last obstacles to overcome in becoming more Christ-like is not simply forgiving, but also loving our enemies.
 
 
THOUGHT: July 15, 2022
 
The most important journey we will make in this life is our journey back to our heavenly home.


THOUGHT: July 16, 2022
 
I am commanded to be perfect like God is. So, if my goal in life is less than becoming like God, then I need to raise my sights.
 
 
THOUGHT: July 17, 2022
 
There is a price for disobedience to God, and justice demands that the price always gets paid in full—by someone.
 
 
THOUGHT: July 19, 2022
 
A child’s accomplishments only add to the glory of the child’s parents. Think about that from the standpoint of God and his children—us.
 
 
THOUGHT: July 20, 2022
 
When I pray to my Father in Heaven, I am not joking around. I am talking with a real parent who loves me. He sired me. He feels responsibility towards me.
 
 
THOUGHT: July 30, 2022
 
We can choose to run the race, but God can choose to set the pace.
 
 
THOUGHT: July 31, 2022
 
We will always have questions. However, questions and faith can co-exist. The questions to which we find answers increase our faith. We cannot allow the yet unanswered questions to erode or outweigh our current store of faith. We can continue to cling to our incomplete faith as it eventually grows into a perfect knowledge.
 
 
THOUGHT: August 1, 2022
 
The Lord loves and rewards our imperfect efforts to be righteous.   
 
 
THOUGHT: August 2, 2022
 
My joy increases in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my rejection, of God’s will.


THOUGHT: August 6, 2022
 
The Lord loves effort.
 
 
THOUGHT: August 14, 2022
 
If I have ever said the appropriate, positive, encouraging thing to some individual at the precise time he or she needed such, I know it was the Savior who inspired my words.


THOUGHT: August 15, 2022
 
I believe that Christ will save us from our sins, but I do not believe that Christ will save us in our sins. It is essential that genuine repentance be involved in the salvation process.
 
 
THOUGHT: August 30, 2022
 
Here are my thoughts on the controversial subject of predestination. In perfect harmony with justice and mercy, I believe every man and woman, including me, will be assigned after this life and after the final judgment to a home in a kingdom in a certain world—a particular place by whatever name it may be known. As to all who are accountable, I believe further that the rewarding of such judgment place will be determined by our own choices in this life, and perhaps some choices we made in our premortal life and some choices we will make in the next life prior to the final judgment. So, with those premises intact, this is the next issue when considering the subject of predestination: Just exactly how much does the Lord and Heavenly Father know in advance? The extent of that knowledge may not be exactly the same for both. (See Matthew 24:36) I believe they know in advance how we will exercise our agency. But I do not believe that having that knowledge is the same as forcing us to exercise that agency in a certain way, else it would not be agency at all. So, if they know in advance, why waste everyone’s time with an earth life? Why not go straight to the final judgment since the Gods know the outcome already? Because we don’t know the final outcome, and if we skipped the earth life, we would be wrongfully and eternally complaining of unfairness and injustice in the assignment of our afterlife situation and position.
 
 
THOUGHT: September 11, 2022
 
By the Savior we are cleaned and redeemed.
 
 
THOUGHT: September 20, 2022
 
When you are doing the Lord’s work, information will flow to you.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 7, 2023
 
Grace is free, but it is not cheap.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 8, 2023
 
We are at a point in our earth’s history where the only safe leadership to follow is the prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 9, 2023
 
Few scenes can match the visual majestic grandeur of a sunset. It is God’s daily signature on his earthly canvass, and He never signs the same way twice.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 5, 2023
 
We do not know where within the sacred grove God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to the boy prophet Joseph Smith. We do not know where on the Hill Cumorah were hidden the Plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. We do not know where within the “sugar bush” in Harmony, Pennsylvania, that the Aaronic priesthood was restored. We do not know where the Melchizedek priesthood was restored. But we don’t need to know these things to have the Holy Ghost bear witness to us that all of those events did, in truth, take place.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 28, 2023
 
Those persons who are professional clergy have a built-in, inherent conflict of interest. When they teach the law of tithes and offerings, they are ensuring the payment of their own salaries, bonuses, living expenses, and retirement plans. In connection with the current schism in the Methodist faith, I found it interesting that one of the requirements that must be met for a congregation to leave the national organization was the payment of a large sum of money into the ministers’ retirement and pension fund.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 11, 2023
 
I think of Joseph Smith quite often. How stupid did he look to the world when he told them in the 1840’s that temples would dot the entire earth, that saving ordinances would be performed in those temples on behalf of all the dead who had lived on the face of the earth who were not members of the Church which he, Joseph, established under the direction of God, that the Book of Mormon would be translated into all the languages of the world and flood the earth. No wonder he was called a fanatic if not a lunatic. No wonder he himself said he did not blame others for not believing him, that he would not have believed what he taught had he not personally experienced the revelations for himself. Who in the 1840’s would have believed in the advent of computers that today support FamilySearch? Automobiles, aircraft, and spaceships? Modern medicine? Plastic? Cell phones? And there is much more yet to come.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 21, 2023
 
I doubt that the Lord divides the world into two distinct groups—members and non-members, the same way that members tend to clear-line divide the world.

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