Emil O. Hanson was born in Minnesota. He was converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a 20-year-old, military policeman during the Korean Conflict. After having dropped out of school during his ninth grade, he later advanced his education through the level of Ph.D. from the University of Utah. The author…
Category: The Book of On – Volume 1
On the Gift of Life
As we enter the Christmas season we should ponder upon the greatest gift that God has given to us, the gift of life! It has always fascinated me to be able to watch people and how they respond to life. It is sometimes quite obvious which of us see life as a gift and which…
On Curiosity
I have had strangers come up to me at various times in my life and ask me about what I was doing. If asked, why they wanted to know, the answer was simply, “I was just curious.” I have often started saying or writing a word and thought, ‘that is an odd looking or sounding…
On The Lost Coin
The parables in the new testament are unique in that they can evoke more questions than they answer. One must ponder them and each time you return to them you may have an altogether different set of questions. Or you may apply an altogether different set of problems to the parable. The following parable is…
On the Chosen Seed
There are many stories in the Old Testament that provide wisdom to those who have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand. There are many stories, as well, that make one wonder how the Lord Jehovah could even tolerate the children of Israel with their murmuring and complaining. Regardless of how difficult they became…
On Other Pioneers
My wife and I drove out to the Promontory Point, Utah area to the Golden Spike Memorial. We had not been out there for many years and wondered what changes had been made to the area. The experience brought to mind the very significance of that historical event of May 10, 1869. Congress had approved…
On Being Free
It has always been amazing to me how we human beings are so much alike and at the same time so different. We all fall somewhere along a continuum in terms of intelligence, looks, weight, height, spirituality, etc. In regards to spirituality, we are so very different; there are young children that are spiritually mature…
On Church Membership
I have talked with people who said that they believed in God but did not believe that a person had to become a member of an organized religion to be a Christian and/or a good person. Many who have that attitude feel a structured program, such as a church, is rigid and inflexible and tends…
On Our Challenge
Family history research, for most people, has always been difficult to begin, primarily, I believe, because a person knows that it is not a project that will take only a few minutes or even a few hours. Neither is it a ‘one time’ project but rather an ongoing and fairly time consuming effort. It takes…
On The View We Have
The view we have, or take of things, has always been a fascinating thought for me. Even as a young child, I sometimes did a double take when I heard an interesting slant on a subject. For example, back in the 1930’s, just before I was old enough to go to school, my father bought…