Dad's papers

40- 10-30-Hope in Christ This week I was asked by a High Councilman in our stake to be his companion speaker. He was speaking on missionary work, and asked if I would talk about the importance of the Holy Ghost in our lives in relation to the Hope we have in Christ. I thought I would share it with the family as my email this week. I am very grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost in my life, and that each of you have been blessed with this Gift from our Heavenly Father.  I love you all so much, Dad Hope in Christ.  Several weeks ago, my 14 year old son Graham and I were asked by the full time missionaries to attend a missionary lesson for a young man named Cal that they were teaching. We were happy to accept the invitation. In the weeks that have since followed that experience I have witnessed this young man’s Hope in Jesus Christ grow stronger. This Hope has led him to exercise his faith through obedience to Jesus Christ , leading him to the waters of baptism, and to receivin...

  The Gift of the Holy Ghost - Talk given at Cal Kelley’s Baptism John Chapter 3 - 1-5, 14-19 The story of Nicodemus. Jesus Christ teaching him the doctrine of Christ. Faith in the son of God, the necessity of baptism by water and the Spirit, and choosing to follow Christ through our actions Baptism by water and baptism by the Spirit or Fire, is one baptism. They are not separate. Born of water - baptism by immersion is symbolic of Repentance. Putting off the old and experiencing a new birth. Being born of the Spirit is to have the Gift of the Holy Ghost conferred upon you by the laying on of hands by one with proper authority from God. “ The Holy Ghost is the Messenger of Grace by which the blood of Christ is applied in our lives to take away our sins and to sanctify us.” (Todd D. Christofferson) We better understand the Gift of the Holy Ghost when we consider who the Giver of the gift is, and why the Gift was given.  Cal you are loved and supported by so many. But by none mo...

 39- 10-23-23  Sacrifice - deny yourself all ungodliness Hello Family, I have been thinking a lot about Miles this week as it has been one of the harder ones for him lately. He had a family that they have been teaching, with a date to be baptized on November 4th, stop progressing and meeting with them as they were taught about the Law of Tithing. As I have thought about that a lot this week, it’s led me to study more about the sacrifices we must offer to maintain our faith and progression to become more like the Savior. For this family it was tithing that is holding them back. What is it for each of us? The prophet has warned that all of us have our “favorite sin”. That one we sometimes may try to rationalize or justify in order to maintain or hold on to.  Last night the Youth around the world had a 24 hr testimony meeting of the Savior. President Nelson addressed them on a prerecorded message. What stood out to me the most from his remarks was his plea for them to be exa...

 38- 1-16-23 Progression Hello family, I will keep it short today. Thank you all for your birthday cards. They are always the highlight of a birthday for me and mama. We are so blessed to have such amazing kids. Yesterday in Come Follow Me Avery gave a really powerful heartfelt testimony of how the Savior impacts her life for the good. She asked us the question: How is the Savior changing you? And then asked us to ponder on how we are progressing to become more like Him The invitation this week is to ask yourselves this same question Avery asked. Take a few minutes to ponder the question of how you have progressed spiritually in the last year, 3 years, 5 years. Do you see a pattern of growth? Ultimately we become more like the Savior over time, slowly working on and making progress on overcoming our weaknesses, allowing Him to make them into strengths.  The small and simple things add up over a lifetime. Let us keep trying….  Love, Dad

37 10-9-23 Our Greatest Need   Here we are approaching the middle of October already. I can’t believe that I am turning 50 this week. Time really does go too fast. Psychologically 50 has been a hard one for me to swallow. It feels a little like a slippery slope lies ahead :)  This past week I was asked to speak on the Holy Ghost at a new converts baptism coming up on the 21st of this month. This young man is 18 yrs old, and is taking the discussions at his girlfriend’s parent’s house. Graham and I were invited by the missionaries a couple of weeks ago to attend one of his discussions and to help fellowship him in the ward. As I’ve thought about this upcoming assignment it has made me think about the role of the Holy Ghost in our Heavenly Father’s plan.  Sometimes we hear something repeated so frequently that we stop hearing what is being said. The following quote from the prophet is repeated over and over again, and this past conference was no different. I think at a...

 36 (10-2-23) General Conference Hello Family, It was so great to be together for Conference weekend. Miles we missed you, but we felt like we were with you knowing that you were soaking it all in at the same time we were.  What a blessing General Conference is to us. Mama and I are so grateful that you each see this time as a special time, a time to be prioritized and prepared for. Each one of us had a “favorite” talk or message that was needed. You can’t help but leave filling uplifted and directed moving forward. I hope you will always feel this way throughout your lives, making conference a priority.  Mama and I were talking on the way home how there seemed to be a general theme of self improvement or preparation, all centered around the enabling power of Jesus Christ’s atonement. How can we implement these messages into our individual lives. We use to have to wait a couple of weeks it seems to have these General Conference messages available to read. But now the...