Dad's papers

  The Book of Mormon Happy March! Spring fever is in the air, and I am pretty sure that Spring is my favorite season as we anticipate everything coming back to life, and getting back outside in the sunshine! This week both Graham and Avery asked me for my thoughts on how they could best “fit in” their Book of Mormon study during the Come Follow Me years when we are focused on other scriptures. They both do such a great job ,and are great examples to us all, of staying right on top of their Come Follow Me readings. However, they both are feeling a pull and need to study the Book of Mormon. Prophets, including President Nelson, have emphasized the importance of daily Book of Mormon study for as long as any of us can remember. So how do we do we “fit it in”?That is for each one of us to prayerfully consider and implement personally. There isn’t a right or wrong answer as long as we do it. So that is the invitation to each one of us this week. Invitation : How can I find ways in my cur...

Faithful Obedience   The last week of February, that’s crazy! It was fun to have Sadie and Seth home for the weekend. It’s definitely the highlight of our week when any of you get to sneak away and come for a visit. A quick message this week that was meaningful to me that I thought I would share with all of you. We are in the middle of quarterly ministering interviews again as an Elders Quorum Presidency. One of my interviews was with an older brother in the ward who has been struggling in wondering about his personal worthiness. It wasn’t something he felt like he needed to talk to the bishop about, but something from his past that the adversary has been working against him with regarding his thoughts. He was asking for some counsel from his quorum president. I felt prompted to share with him D&C 6:36-37 (which happens to include the youth theme for this year). The Savior’s plea to each of us: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pi...

  Lift where we stand Good Morning Family, It was fun to talk to you all last night. Sadie and Seth, we are beyond excited about your incredible news! Our family continues to grow, and this brings us so much joy and happiness! I will keep it short this week, but I wanted to reiterate a wonderful teaching from Elder Uchtdorf that I relearned this week. My thoughts and feelings around being interviewed for the reorganization of our stake presidency this past weekend were many. But the lesson to “Lift Where You Stand” is what has put    all these emotions and feelings into perspective and has brought peace to my at times “anxious and troubled heart.“ There is a great lesson here for each one of us, and my invitation for you is to take time to study this talk by Elder Uchtdorf and apply his teaching to “lift where you stand”. Dieter F. UchtdorfLift Where You StandEvery priesthood holder stands at a unique place and has an important task that only he can perform. I am so thank...

  This past week I watched one of the leadership training videos we were asked to watch in preparation for our upcoming stake conference meetings. It was from the leadership session of the October 2023 general conference session given by Elder Bednar. The title of his training was: Ye Shall Have Joy with Me—The Connection between Worship at Home and Church I’ve often wondered about the process of how the prophets and apostles choose their conference addresses. No doubt they rely so much on the impressions of the Holy Ghost, and the counseling that occurs amongst themselves concerning the needs of the church. I would guess the Spirt works on them for months in preparation.  I love all their messages, and try my best to apply them in my life, but I’m extra conscientious when a    specific topic rests on them for a long period of time, becoming apparent in repeated addresses. It seems like that has been the case for President Nelson with the theme of Temples/Covenants/P...

  I was on a visit the other night to a lady in our ward who is a recent convert of about 18 months. She has a few heath issues and suffers from some anxiety. She is about my age, an only child, divorced with no children of her own. You could hear the loneliness in her life as she talked with us. I asked her what had resonated, or drawn her to the message of the missionaries most. She lit up as she talked about the sister missionaries that taught her. The message or teaching that resonated with here most she said, was her desire to live in the Celestial Kingdom. That is what she wants most. I thought it was so neat. No matter her loneliness and challenges here, she has hope for something so much greater. That hope she knows must be centered on Jesus Christ, who makes it all possible. Possible for her, and for each of us. We all have “stuff” we go through, and it’s unique and different for everyone. For some, like this good sister, it can be chronic loneliness or health concerns, fo...

  Daily Devotion I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the daily devotion of faithful people. The people who live their lives devoted to God, following His Gospel plan He has laid out for them. People striving for holiness in their lives. Mama and I talked just this week about both your grandpa’s growing up without a priesthood leader, or even a priesthood holder, in their homes. What drove them to stay true to their faith all these years. I think of Grandpa and Grandma Miller moving to Idaho as a young couple, with little to no support from their parents, and building a legacy of family and faith over decades of faithfulness. We were discussing this last night out at their home, and Graham said it best I think. He said “it’s a miracle.” It really is.  This last week I was able to go and do an early morning endowment session at the temple. I was there a little early as I was having a hard time sleeping that morning. It was a neat experience to watch the temple “wake up” for a ...

  In my personal study this week I have been diving deeper into Elder Christofferson’s talk from this past Conference, Burying Our Weapons of Rebellion. Below are so of my favorite parts of his talk, and thoughts of how I can apply them in my life. I don’t have to look very hard for things I need to “bury” or improve upon personally. Some of these things for me are what Elder Christofferson describes as “passive rebellion”, but nonetheless rebellion. Rebellion against what God wants for me and what the Spirit’s constant companionship requires of me. In his talk he describes it this way: “Perhaps the more insidious form of rebellion against God, however, is the passive version—ignoring His will in our lives. Many who would never consider active rebellion may still oppose the will and word of God by pursuing their own path without regard to divine direction. I am reminded of the song made famous years ago by singer Frank Sinatra with the climactic line “I did it my way.” Certainly in...