Thursday, July 28, 2011

Have a strong foundation.

Do you have a strong foundation of the gospel in your life?  I know that this is just a question that I put on this posting.  For me it means that you have to have a strong foundation of the gospel.  That is what will keep your faith in tact.  If you think your foundation is shaking and not quite sturdy then it needs to be worked on before it falls and shatters. 

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Two songs to celebrate this Pioneer Day.

One is Faith in Every Footstep.  Its a great song.  The other one is Come, Come Ye Saints.

Faith In Every Footstep

1. A marvelous work has begun to come forth among all the children of men.
O ye that embark in the service of God, give heart, mind and strength unto him,
For prophets have spoken and angels have come to lift the world from sin,
That Christ may reign over all the earth and bless his gathered kin.

2. Those marvelous Saints who embraced this great work and shared it in lands far and near,
Who gave all their heart, mind, and strength to the Lord with wisdom and vision so clear,
Now stand as examples of virtue and faith, of souls prepared to hear,
Of knowledge sure, born of humble heart, and love that banished fear.

3. If we now desire to assist in this work and thrust in our sickle with might,
If we will embark in the service of God and harvest in fields that are white,
Our souls may receive the salvation of God—the fulness of his light,
That we may stand, free of sin and blame, God’s glory in our sight.

Chorus:

With faith in ev’ry footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord,
And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord.

Text and music: K. Newell Dayley, born 1939
© 1996 LDS. All rights reserved. This music may be copied for incidental noncommercial church or home use. This notice must be included on each copy made.

     Come, Come Ye Saints

Come, come, ye saints, no toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell -
All is well! All is well!

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
'Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we'll have this tale to tell-
All is well! All is well!

We'll find the place which God for us prepared,
Far away, in the West ,
Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;
There the saints, will be blessed.
We'll make the air, with music ring,
Shout praises to our God and King;
Above the rest these words we'll tell -
All is well! All is well!

And should we die before our journey's through,
Happy day! All is well!
We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;
With the just we shall dwell!
But if our lives are spared again
To see the Saints their rest obtain,
Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell-
All is well! All is well!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Pioneer Day Remembrance

     This coming Sunday is Pioneer Day, a state holiday celebrated here in Utah, which usually falls on the 24 of each year but, because of a holiday being on a Sunday we get to have a Monday off also.  YEAH!!! 

     Anyway what is a pioneer?  A pioneer is a person who is one of the first to explore a new region or subject as a noun; be the first to explore, use, or develop as a verb.  This is from the Oxford dictionary.

     So with that definition does that mean there are no more pioneers? No, that doesn't.  Yes, we think about those mostly of those who traveled long time ago in covered wagons and went through a lot of trials and hardships to get here to a new land which was later called Utah. 

     Not only are there pioneers from way back then in that time period but, also now we have pioneers today.  It may be a family member that you know of that has decided to take the step of being a pioneer.  They should get the same respect as the pioneers from way back then.  Some have risked their lives, been shunned from their families, friends, neighbors, etc.  just because they wanted to take a change in their life and be a pioneer.  Congratulations to those who have taken that step in a new way of their life.

     Take the time to thank those who have ventured out to be a pioneer if you know of anyone.   I'm sure we will have pioneers in the future as well.    

Happy Pioneer Day!!!

     If you haven't seen "17 Miracles" I would encourage you to do so.  Its a true story about a trek of pioneers along the trail to Utah and of how miracles were to shown to them along the way.  It made me cry when it was showing all the ways that several of them died.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

The deal on Families. THE FAMILY PROCLAMATION.

I know I have talked about families a lot over these several postings.  The families is what keeps us nation together.  You mess up the families and everything else will fall apart.  That is what is happening to our country.  Its sad that our nation is different then what it was I was a teenager and it will get tougher for those who haven't been born yet down the road.  This document is a powerful document and is needed today then ever.  It was read by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints back in 1995 but, its true to everyone who lives on this earth regardless what religion you are. 
                                                            ______________
                                                       THE FAMILY  

                                                            ______________

                                        A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD

The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

     WE, THE FIRST PRESIDENCY and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

     ALL HUMAN BEINGS—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

     IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

     THE FIRST COMMANDMENT that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

     WE DECLARE the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

     HUSBAND AND WIFE have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

     THE FAMILY is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

     WE WARN that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

     WE CALL UPON responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.


     This proclamation was read by President Gordon B. Hinckley as part of his message at the General Relief Society Meeting held September 23, 1995, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The games we played as children.

I remember the games that we used to play when we were growing up.
  • Kick the can
  • Red Rover
  • Mother, May I?
  • Red light, green light
  • Heads up 7up
  • Freeze tag
  • Capture the flag
Now that I'm grown up as an adult I don't play those games as much anymore.  Though children now are more into playing computers, cell phones, watching tv, etc. than playing these type of games.  I even played some of them when I was in elementary school in my class or with my cousins or with my friends out at the park.  These games will help them to get the exercise they need and to have fun outside while they are young.  They are easy to play and not hard to understand how to play.  I'm not saying that the electronics are bad but, it would be nice to see the young children playing these games so that these games don't get lost in the shuffle of life and that they can teach their kids these games when us adults are gone.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

A bloody war and spiritual war.

A war that started when Abraham Lincoln was president of the USA.  It was fought over slavery rights and freedoms.  The North was free of slaves and the South was where slaves was legal to have.  This caused a war to start and has become the bloodiest war on the America soil to this day.  Brothers fighting against brothers, sons against sons, etc. just because they thought they were thinking there viewpoint was the right choice.   It was also the case that some of the smaller states wanted to leave the rest of the bigger states and form their own union.  Which also didn't make many people happy with. 

If you were to go back in time to the era just before the Civil War started and knew what the result was going to be, would you still have fought in the war, even if your brother, son, father, uncle, etc. was on the opposing side?

There was another type of war that started way long time ago way before any of us came here to Earth.  This was a war that started up in heaven.  There was a plan on who would come down to Earth and live the life they needed to and be able to help us return to heaven.  There were two people that chose to accept the plan.  One was the Lord and the other was Lucifer.  After they gave their reasons on why they should be the one chosen to follow the plan, the Lord was chosen to do so.  Lucifer was angry that he wasn't chosen and he was not alone for their some other of our brothers and sisters that felt the same way as he did and followed Lucifer as their commander.  As a result of this decision there was a war that erupted.  This was was not fought with weapons of guns, knives, tanks, etc. that is used in modern war.  This type of war was fought with words, thoughts and ideas.  The side that won was the Lords side and we cheered for we won and as a result 1/3 of the hosts of heaven went with Lucifer.

To the present day we are on here on Earth living our day to day trying to do what is right.  The side that went with Lucifer has not gone away for there are here on Earth along with us and they are trying so hard to make us not be happy, joyful, but, miserable, awful, sad and despair.   For this type of war is going to be on going and will never leave us.  What we need to do to fight this type of war is to do what is right.  We must be diligent in obey the word of the Lord and following his commandments.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

A patriotic song for the 4th of July.

This song I've watched on the tv while I was in Japan and have grown to love the song since then.  We all have our differences of what songs we like and that some may not like this one but, I like it so I'm going to share it.

God Bless The USA
by Lee Greenwood

If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I'd worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I'd thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can't take that away.

And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand up and say.

That I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Celebrating Independence Day!

     This coming up Monday is July 4th, Independence Day for us here in the United States of America! I'm so proud for the patriots who fought for their Independence from Great Britain in 1776.  They didn't know what was going to be in store for them.  They knew they were taking a big risk of fighting against the mother country, Great Britain, and knew they wanted to be free.  To live in a place that they could live the religion they wanted to follow and not the Church of England, to talk about what was on their mind about the king without having to worry about being thrown into prison or being executed.  They prayed about where to go and they went to a place, now known as America, that was unknown to many countries and knew that those who wanted to be free people and serve the Lord in their own way.
After the war ended and George Washington was up for President of the United States of America, the people wanted him to be a king.  George Washington was telling them that they lost many lives to live in this land and fought a great battle to get away from having a king be their ruler.  If they did have a king then everything they just fought for would have been in vain.  Though George Washington was willing to take the reign of being a ruler but instead of being a king, a president.

What I am grateful for as we celebrate this Independence Day:
  • Free to live where I want to live.
  • Free to raise my future children in a good place.
  • Free to do this blog.
  • Free to have friends who are willing to give their opinion on this blog.
  • Free to have a cell phone to talk to friends and family.
  • Free to praise those who are defending this country and willing to die to protect this country.
Lots of countries are willing to be like us here in America to have the freedoms we have.  For over in their country they are lead by a dictator who will not allow such freedoms to take place.  I would not be able to have any of the above things listed given to me if I lived in that type of country.  If a king were to take a place instead of what we have now as a president, we would lose our freedoms fast and would be in bondage and be treated like slaves.  We would cry and morn everyday because we took our freedoms so lightly.  I hope that day will never come.  For I would rather live in a free country, then in a place ruled by a king or a dictator. 

               GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!