Dad's papers

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!   Growing up as a boy our family moved quite often. Raising ten children made it difficult for my parents to buy a home. By the time I was 14 we had lived in 8 different houses, all within the small town of Middleton, just a short distance from here.  As I look back on those years, it’s like a journal I never kept. I can tie most memories of my childhood to a particular house, and therefore a particular time. This is true of my childhood Christmas memories. The Christmas etched most in my mind is when I was 11 years old. I think it’s because I began to understand and appreciate to a greater degree the love and kindness behind the gifts I received.  I don’t know how, but this particular Christmas, I had persuaded my mother to let me be her little Christmas wrapping helper. This entailed staying up late in the night wrapping the family presents after everyone else was sound asleep, and before Santa came later in the night.  It was that year that ...

 46 (12-18-23) Adoring the Savior Come, Let us Adore Him  While we were watching the recent First Presidency Christmas Devotional the prophet closed with this familiar Christmas lyric. “Come, Let us adore Him”Mama made the comment at the time that she liked that thought, to adore Jesus Christ. I’ve given it some more thought since then.  I liked this explanation when differentiating between loving someone vs adoring someone. “While both words mean "to honor and admire profoundly and respectfully,"  adore  implies love and stresses the notion of an individual and personal attachment.” While we love the Savior and recognize His Atoning Sacrifice, we must take that love a step further and adore Him. We do this by repenting, by creating that “personal attachment” and essential and individual attachment to Him. Following the prophet’s counsel to repent daily is showing the Savior that we indeed adore Him. So my invitation to all of us is to draw a little closer to Hi...

  Good Morning Cakes, I woke up this morning thinking about something you said last night that I really admire about you. And that is when you were feeling “complacent” you made the decision to do something about it. I know that I’ve shared this story many times over the years, but it has had a meaningful impact on me. Probably the greatest lesson I learned from my mom. Remembering seeing her in that old wooden rocking chair rocking back and forth, deep in thought, with tears running down her cheeks and the Book of Mormon open, resting in her lap. Her response to my worry that something was wrong has been an inspiration to me throughout my life. She read to me the scripture found in 2Nephi 28:24  … wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion! She was feeling what you were feeling, and we all feel at times, “complacency”, or at ease in Zion , just going through the motions. But more importantly you were both feeling that you should act. It was immobilizing, but a prompting to g...

 45 (12-4-2023) I Need Thee Every Hour Dear Family, This scripture has stayed with me over the past couple of weeks, and has helped me several times. The message has gained greater meaning for me as I try to apply it. I thought this week I would share a few examples of its application in my own life,    and invite you to consider ways to apply it in yours. 2 Nephi 9:39    Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal. President Nelson defined thinking Celestial as being spiritually minded. The prophet Jacob defined here the same way, as “life eternal”. This is our greatest hope and desire, to return to our love in Heavenly parents, and to be together as family forever. So here are just a couple of ways striving to be spiritually minded have helped me this past week: As you all know to well, because you know me better then anyone, patience manages to stay one or two steps ahead of me most times. And when I am inpatient, I ...