I am finally getting around to reading my copy of David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. It has been excellent so far. Near the end of chapter 1 there was a quote from co-author Bob Wright that was startling to me so I thought I would post on it. Wright described a letter he once received from President McKay’s personal secretary (his aunt, Clare Middlemiss) discussing how President McKay went about seeking inspiration from the Lord: (more…)
Obviously there are both good things and bad things about this time in the history of the world. When you boil them all down and compare this time in the history of the world to every other time in the history of the world, how do we fare? On average–all things considered–are we above average, is it the worst it’s ever been, is it pretty much the same as it has always been, what do you think?
Be sure to share your reasoning. I have the answer key and can help out with the right answer at the end. (more…)
Okay, actually in this case I am the one in twenty but that UB40 song called One in Ten popped into my head so went with that for a post title. What I mean is that when the instructor in priesthood asked how many of us in the room thought the story of Jonah was a parable (read: inspired fictitious literature instead of accurate historical account) I raised my hand. I looked around the room expecting 1/4 or even 1/3 of the hands to lazily raise too (in true LDS High Priest style) but instead I saw no other hands raised. Now lest you think that I was the only person awake (it was HP group after all), the instructor asked how many in the room believed the the tale of Jonah was “true” (read: an accurate historical account) and basically all of the hands went up. I refrained from using my Gob impression and shouting “Come On!” and the lesson came off without a hitch. (more…)
For the most part I am a huge fan of the Church’s counsel regarding finances, preparedness, and self-reliance. I love the counsel to stay out of debt and live within our means, and I need a steady diet of it. (From what I can tell you do too.) However, I find myself somewhat at odds with the counsel to keep a year’s supply of food. (more…)
I hated gardening when I was a kid. Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s it was really pushed by the church to have a garden so my parents took their gardening duties pretty seriously. They built this HUGE garden box in our backyard and made the family work in it every summer. We spent hours every Saturday morning plucking the bizillions of weeds that seemed to grow there every week. Oh how I cursed that garden! (more…)
I grew up thinking that I was a pretty charitable person. I frequently saw the Relief Society’s “Charity Never Faileth” slogan and I felt warm and fuzzy inside because I knew deep in my heart that I was a kind and loving person. (more…)
As the “Ward Literacy Specialist” I’ve been assigned to do sharing time this week. I was going to do a short presentation on computer safety but then I was made aware that Pioneer Day is coming up. Now I’m thinking that I should do something on the pioneers. I’m completely at a loss to figure anything out.
Does anyone have any fabulous Primary Sharing Time activities that may have to do with the pioneers?
Frankly I’d appreciate any sharing time ideas because my computer safety idea was lame too.
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In my life I’ve discovered that keeping the commandments leads directly to me prospering in the land. I like prospering – it is waaaay better than not prospering. Sure, I have been less prosperous at certain points in time than at others but overall I’ve discernibly prospered as I’ve kept my covenants. (I could give tons of examples but it would come off as bragging or something so I’ll refrain.) The Book of Mormon repeatedly promises that we all will prosper in the land if we keep the commandments of God. Do you consistently experience discernible prosperity as you keep the commandments too? Is my experience the norm or unusual?
And you thought the Feed My Sheep series here at the Thang was dead… Oh, how wrong you were. So far we have discussed the relationship between sheep and shepherds in scripture and who the scriptures define as Christ’s sheep (and who they say aren’t His sheep). In the next couple of posts I will discuss what it is we are supposed to feed these sheep; or in other words, what is the sheep food? (more…)
The Sunday School lesson I taught yesterday ended up being relatively lame, I thought. I did not connect well with the class members. The Spirit was not really teaching us most of the time. Sure, there were some high points of the lesson, but overall it was weak. I’m pretty bummed about it — mostly because it was surely due to lax spiritual preparation on my part. (more…)
In the summer of 1989 I was in the Missionary Training Center preparing to ship off to Tennessee for my mission. Before entering the MTC I had heard tales of MTC-wide meetings where members of the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve would address the missionaries. Imagine my surprise and dismay when the speaker for our large group meeting was some Mormon guy hawking his newly published book…
That author was Stephen Covey and his new book was called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. (more…)
