I don’t know how many times over the last 60+ years that I have been called as an Elder in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to perform a blessing with another faithful Elder. Blessings are a function of the Priesthood for the purpose of blessing the sick and the afflicted, and to…
Tag: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
On Positive Affirmations
I remember hearing an instructor tell a group that I was a part of that if you tell yourself something often enough, sooner or later you will believe it whether it be true or not. In his book, The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale, described how positive thinking is a mental and emotional attitude…
On Taking The Best
Most people, most of the time, follow the rules and behave civilly, primarily because of religion or at least the precepts taught by the various religions that have pervaded most all societies historically. Religion and moral teachings are critical to the working of any society. Even if that religion is non-Christian. Most citizens follow rules…
On Are Americans Losing Faith
Ben Carson, a former presidential candidate described a very troubling new survey just released by the Pew Research Center, the report found that Americans are giving up on both God and miracles. The study identifies a massive 49-percent of those surveyed as “nones,” or those who don’t identify with a religious group, they say they…
On Leaven
I remember as a young boy watching my mother kneading dough to make bread. It looked like it was hard work as she would push the dough into the table and then squeeze it together then roll it out and turn it over and do the same thing over and over. When she finally got…
On Census Records
In verifying a person’s identity in our family line, legitimate sources are absolutely necessary. If a relative were working on our line and made a notation in the source area that said; “I believe this is the correct person?” With no other evidence, an experi- enced researcher in that family may suspect that the entry…
On The Charitable Person
On a less charitable note, Sargent Tarzy told the following story “ On a street corner in downtown Manhattan, an old woman had a cardboard booth where she sold pretzels for 25 cents each. Everyday a well-dressed young man would hurry by and toss a quarter into her cup without taking a pretzel. One day,…
On Serendipity in Family Research
A story by my wife, Joanne When I first started to do my father’s family history, I had very little information. But I did know from family stories that my grandfather, John James, was a two year old when their family emigrated from England and settled in Colorado. Because my father was born in Colorado…
On The Most Important Message
In leading up to the ‘most important event,’ I will first lay the groundwork. In laying the groundwork, we have to go back in history and become acquainted with, and understand what Moses’ final advice and warning was to the children of Israel before they crossed over the river Jordan and into the promised land….
The Path To Conversion
“Consent lies at the heart of the Christian life, consent to an offer of salvation through grace, and consent to obey God’s commandments. It is impossible to spread Christianity by the sword. To the extent men have tried, they have succeeded only in compelling false conversion and distorting what Christianity is.” (Dinesh D’Souza) What a…