In a New Testament Sunday School class we were studying various scriptures that pertained to missionary work, and as I read and listened, I thought how those same scriptures pertain to family history work. In the Book of Matthew, the story is told how the Lord was moved with compassion as he taught the multitude…
Category: The Book of On – Volume 2
On The Target
When my wife was young, her family sometimes went to an amusement park. She recalls going through what was called the spinning tunnel, one half of which was spinning one way and the other half was spinning the other way. The object of which was to be able to get through the tunnel without becoming…
On Life’s Purpose
President Ezra Taft Benson said that, “When our Heavenly Father placed Adam and Eve on this earth, He did so with the purpose in mind of teaching them how to return to His presence. Our Father promised a Savior to redeem them from their fallen condition. He gave them the Plan of salvation and told…
On Habits
We all have things we do that we are not very satisfied with or proud of and that we would like to be able to change. The change process requires that we go against or cross ourselves. One of the most obvious ways to recognize how difficult it is to cross ourselves is to consider…
On Eternal Life
Eternal Life was referred to by Shakespeare as the “undiscovered country.” I like that thought because, in fact, it is an undiscovered country. We cannot go to the National Geographic or any other travel oriented or scientific journal and see pictures and/or find an article about Eternal Life, an article describing where it is and…
On The Devil
“Do you believe in the Devil?” I have heard that question many times in my life. When I was a young child, he was sometimes talked about in the same breath as Santa Claus. One of my friends said something like this, “They ain’t no Santa Claus and they ain’t no Devil neither, because my…
On Purpose
Purpose is the key to a happy and productive life. Charles H. Perkhurst said: “Purpose is what gives life meaning.” While some search for purpose some will be satisfied to believe that there is none. There is a saying that: ‘This life is a test—it is only a test. If it had been an actual…
On Predestination
Many religions and philosophies teach ‘predestination.’ To quote from the Koran, “God misleadeth whom He pleaseth and guideth whom he will aright” Those who believe this way and/or in similar doctrine, also believe that man’s life and being are directed by a controlling god. To them man is no more than a puppet. This concept…
On Honesty
As a little boy I learned many lessons the hard way, as I’m sure many young children do even today. They say we are born into the world with absolutely nothing and that we spend the rest of our lives accumulating as much of the world’s goods as we can. Sometimes we start the process…
On Remembering
Sometimes it is difficult to squeeze information out of young people, such as my grandson serving a mission in Swaziland, South Africa. When the family is successful in doing so, often what does come out is pure wisdom. Because of the few words that were written home at the very beginning of his mission, my…