A Very Thankful Day...

Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, and our celebration was wonderful, surrounded by our Ward Family and friends.  I took Candied Yams, a combination of how my mom used to make them and how Dean's mom made them.  They were delicious and a huge hit.  I mashed the yams with butter and browbn sugar, poured them into a baking dish and covered them with brown sugsar and a nice layer of the little marshmallows.  I put them in the oven @ 350 degrees and baked only until the tops of the marshmallows were golden brown.

I also took some homemade Cranberry Sauce...always a favorite at Mickelson, Henderson and Davenport Thanksgiving meals.  The rest of the meal was supplied by other Ward members.  There was everything from Turkey, Dressing, Gravy, Yams, Green Bran Casserole, a delicious Corn dish made like Potato Au Gratin, a variety of Salads, Rolls and delicious Pies.  It was a feast of food and a feast of friendship.

It is hard to believe that another Thanksgiving has come and goner.  Last year at this time, we were enjoying the Holiday with Eliot and Tamiya in Colorado Springs and "The Lion King," Broadway style in Denver!  Next Year?  Who knows where we will celebrate.

Now, with 29 days lefdt until Christmas, we will focus on the Celebration oif a miraculous birth and LOVE!

Happy Holidays!

Thanks-giving...

How is it that we can live in "the best of times" and at the same time live in "the worst of times?"  As my daughter, Kim, reminded me recently, "our day has been prophesied."  The Prophets of old saw our day and they saw tumultuous times everywhere in the world.

But, they also gave us a key and a promise.
``````````````The key is that we follow the Prophets, spend every single day reading and pondering the scriptures, keeping the commandments and basically, living righteous lives.
`````````````The promise is that we will be blessed to be able to get through these troubled times and return home to our Heavenly Father, which is the ultimate goal of our journey through life.

I have a strong testimony of the truthfulness of these things and how grateful I am today for my parents who taught me "to question with boldness" and take my questions to the Lord, who will answer them and give me peace in my life.

I was pondering the other day remembering another tumultuous time in my life.  I was but a small child, age 2, when WWII threatened to come to our shores.  The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor!   It was December 7, 1941. As the war with Japan wore on, their reconnaissance and fighter planes flew over the entire west coast of the United States.

We lived in Santa Monica, California, and I remember black-outs and planes flying overhead and huddling in our living room with nothing but a candle for light.  The sound of the planes scared me, but I had a loving mother, just like a mother hen, who took her children under her wings, comforted us and told us to pray.  When we prayed, we received comfort.

My dad was an Air Raid Warden and when the sirens sounded, he donned his hard hat and kissed his family goodbye and went out the front door into the darkness.  I was scared for him!  He was our strength and our protector...and he was protecting us by monitoring the streets and skies and doing his job.

My parents were the salt of the earth.  They were my examples that I patterned my life after.  Families are the core unit of this country and we need to protect our families at all costs.  I would give my life for my family.  As I walk the path at the end of the road, I have a lot of time to look back and this memory was just one of many that I don't want to forget.  My stories, though personal to me, need to be passed on to my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  I love you all so very much.

Give thanks this coming Thanksgiving Day for family!

Thanks-giving...

How is it that we can live in "the best of times" and at the same time live in "the worst of times?"  As my daughter, Kim, reminded me recently, "our day has been prophesied."  The Prophets of old saw our day and they saw tumultuous times everywhere in the world.

But, they also gave us a key and a promise.
``````````````The key is that we follow the Prophets, spend every single day reading and pondering the scriptures, keeping the commandments and basically, living righteous lives.
`````````````The promise is that we will be blessed to be able to get through these troubled times and return home to our Heavenly Father, which is the ultimate goal of our journey through life.

I have a strong testimony of the truthfulness of these things and how grateful I am today for my parents who taught me "to question with boldness" and take my questions to the Lord, who will answer them and give me peace in my life.

I was pondering the other day remembering another tumultuous time in my life.  I was but a small child, age 2, when WWII threatened to come to our shores.  The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor!   It was December 7, 1941. As the war with Japan wore on, their reconnaissance and fighter planes flew over the entire west coast of the United States.

We lived in Santa Monica, California, and I remember black-outs and planes flying overhead and huddling in our living room with nothing but a candle for light.  The sound of the planes scared me, but I had a loving mother, just like a mother hen, who took her children under her wings, comforted us and told us to pray.  When we prayed, we received comfort.

My dad was an Air Raid Warden and when the sirens sounded, he donned his hard hat and kissed his family goodbye and went out the front door.  I was scared for him!  He was our strength and our protector...and he was protecting us by monitoring the streets and skies and doing his job.

My parents were the salt of the earth.  They were my examples that I patterned my life after.  Families are the core unit of this country and we need to protect our families at all costs.  I would give my life for my family.  As I walk the path at the end of the road, I have a lot of time to look back and this memory was just one of many that I don't want to forget.  My stories, though personal to me, need to be passed on to my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  I love you all so very much.

Give thanks this coming Thanksgiving day for family!

The Gospel of Love...

I am writing these words because of what is happening all across America and even the world since our election of 2016.

Acts 1:8  "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth."

Jesus Christ, the ambassador of peace, the one who preached LOVE in His Gospel, commanded His Disciples to first, "...receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you..." and second, "...ye shall be witnesses...unto the t uttermost parts of the earth."  His was truly a Gospel of Love.

The Disciples (Apostles) carried out their mission, and the world repaid them with death, and Paul was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos.  The world, for the most part, was not ready to receive this Gospel.  Today, we send emissaries (missionaries) of Christ to all the world, and still some are not ready to hear.

For more than 2,000 years, the Gospel of Love has been taught in nearly every corner of the world, and still there are those who choose hate over love.  Why?  Not because they are influenced by others (though there are those who also preach the Gopel of Hate), but by that power who made it his mission to thwart the mission of Jesus Christ.  His name was Lucifer in the Heavens, before the world was, and he has taken upon himself the name of Satan to rule in this world.

It is a battle that began in Heaven and will continue until that great and powerful Day of the Lord when Jesus Christ returns to usher in a New Millennium.  Most will cry, "At last!"  But still some will cry, "No-o-o-o!"

Though we are not officially called upon to preach to the world Christ's Gospel of Love, we can certainly be examples to others.  But be prepared for opposition, "for there must needs be opposition in all things."  Receive it graciously, with Love, and with compassion.

I belong to a Church that believes in supporting our elected officials, whether it be Local, State or Federal.  We recently held an extremely controversial election, with heated discussions coming from both sides of the aisle.  We believe in the rights of the citizens to have their opinions and beliefs, but we do not encourage Hate speech or demonstrations.

Our Twelfth Article of Faith states: "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."  In other words, we believe in accepting the peoples choices, even though we disagree.  We believe in praying before an election (my own belief, anyway) and accepting the outcome as God's will for the people.  He is the only one who is all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful.  We will learn from this election process, just as we have learned from ALL of the selected Authorities in the past.

I agree that there is corruption in the "Kingdom," from the top ,trickling all the way down to the bottom.  This is Satan's work and we must be vigilant in crying, "fight him!"  History is full of examples of wicked "Kingdoms" and the people have always managed to figure out how to rid themselves of their oppression.  From the Bible to European history to American to the history of any country on the face of the earth, the cycle has repeated itself over and over again.  But, what have we learned?  Nothing, except that there is a cycle...perhaps this time, we can handle it differently.  I don't think we will.

We can try.  Paul tried, Noah tried, Moses tried, Jesus tried, George Washington tried.  Do you know why "Jesus wept? " It wasn't for Himself, but for His people.  He knew there would be millions, perhaps billions of people who would not get His Gospel of Love.

Today's world is proof that there are those who oppose the message, but there are more who accept it.  Whose side are you on?

What If...

I have this picture on my screen and I smile every morning as I open my computer and this picture smiles back at me.  This morning, as I looked at the smile on Jesus' face, the thought came to me...what if Joseph had fled to another country when he learned of Mary's condition?  What if Mary, given her circumstances in a time when a single, pregnant woman would be stoned and banned, decided to go away somewhere dark and find someone willing to abort her child?  Where would mankind be today?  History would have been changed. forever

What if that little one you are about to abort, the "nothing but tissue" lies others have told you, was destined to be the greatest leader to ever live upon the face of the earth?  What if he or she was destined to be the next  greatest Musician, Poet, Artist, Architect, Philosopher, Teacher, bringer of Peace or Leader of the Free World, or yes, even a Prophet?  I can only imagine what our Country would be like without a George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,  Abraham Lincoln, Edison, Ford, General Eisenhower, and the list goes on and on and on.  I can only imagine!

The giver of Life made our first parents great promises and a helpful warning...that life in the world would not always be easy.  He gave them the Garden of Eden so they would "remember home."  And then he gave them their proving ground.

Please, those of you who seek to throw precious life away, seek for the "easy path," or think "your lot is hard," raise up your eyes to the Heavens and rejoice for the Angels are watching.

I woke up this morning and it was raining, but still the birds were singing.  I knew the sun was shining somewhere, because there was light in the sky.  My home was warm and full of love because we have been given so much within a world that chooses darkness.  Today, my brain still works...though there are signs that it is slowing down.  My eyes still see, though not as clearly as they used to.  My ears still hear, though dimly.  I am still able to walk across a space without stumbling into a chair or walking into a wall, though my limbs are showing signs of the effects of age.  And I am so grateful that my fingers can still find the correct letters on a keyboard...a memory track set in place when I was but a young teen.  And the thoughts in my head can be transferred through complicated brainwaves to the tips of my fingers.

God is SO good!  Please stop your disrespect of Him.  Give Him the honor and love that He gives to you each and every day.  Together, we can make a beautiful world again.

Here's Hoping "America Can Be Great Again"...

The election is over...the votes have been counted, and we have a new President Elect!  I must say, this has been the craziest 18 months I can ever remember and I can honestly say I am SO glad it is over.  This is the second Presidential Election that I "sat out" on.  I just could not wrap my head around either candidate.  I am not a Democrat, so it was "Never Hillary" for me (and for many other reasons, as well.)  But, being Democrat was not the key issue with Secretary Clinton!  I voted for JFK, way back when, and he was a Democrat.

The hardest choice for me was Mr. Trump.  He just didn't seem sincere enough for me.  But, he did step up to the Bar and looked and sounded very much like a President last night when he accepted the country's vote of confidence.  I will continue to pray for him.  I will continue to pray he will do the things he has promised to do and make Americans proud of him and make our Country great again. I pray we will be able to see the "Shining City on a Hill" return and with respect. We have far to go.

Let us make our Country a Model of Christian Charity.  Turn in your Bibles to Matt 5:14 and read what Jesus had to say about the shining city.

God bless America...we have far to go.  And President Elect Trump, many Americans will be watching you.