...EIGHT YEARS!

I often go back to that day in history when time stood still for America and most of the rest of the world. I am told it's foolish to remember that awful day, it only brings sadness; but I say, "That may be true, but it is more foolish to forget."

I was just a toddler when Pearl Harbor was bombed by a dispicable enemy, but my folks never forgot that day! I was a young mother of 3 on that November day in 1963 when J.F. Kennedy was shot by a cowardly gunman for no apparent reason, but I remember holding my 1 1/2 year old baby close and rocking her in our living room with my eyes glued to the TV in Salt Lake City. I was pregnant with number 4, and tears streamed down my cheeks.

And I remember the morning of September 11, 2001as if it were yesterday. It was my habit to get up at 5:30 a.m. every morning and read my scriptures while I waited for Eliot to get ready for school so I could drive him to the bus stop. We always had a few minutes in the car waiting for the bus and I had the radio on. I heard something about "a plane crashed into the World Trade Center" and thought, how awful. But that was all! When I got home, I went back to bed, but not for long. The phone rang and one of my daughters (I think it was either Heather or Kim) called to tell me to turn on the TV. What I saw was horrifying! And it is those images that will never leave me.

No, America, I will never forget and I think it would be disrespectful to all of those who gave their lives that day and in the rescue attempts that followed. For them, I will continue to remember.

We have many events in history that deserve our consideration in memory. It is for all those who have given their lives for the cause of freedom throughout history, that presses me forward in my own little fights for freedom. Some say we should end this mindless war -- well, aren't all wars mindless? But wars are the culmination of an ongoing battle between right and wrong that began long before the human family ever peopled this earth. As long as I have some fight left in me, I will continue to stand up for the right and those who would choose righteous living.

May God continue to bless that part of America that still holds tightly to the thread that holds our amazing Constitution together. We are not done yet, my friends; the war between good and evil will not be over until Christ deems it so -- and He is training a very courageous army even as we take the time to watch and pray.