Mormon Bloggers

My daughter Hannah has been taking piano lessons for about a year and a half now…. Every weekday, she comes home from school, plops herself down on the bench and tries her hardest to play each assigned song “the right way.”  Her words, not mine. I will listen to her practice as I’m getting dinner prepared, or helping Josie with a puzzle or feeding Cole…and everyday I hear a version of the same thing come out of her mouth: I can’t do this! With every encouraging phrase I can think of, I try to convince her that, “Yes, you can.” A recent day in particular was frustrating for her…not sure why, but I could tell from the sound of her voice and the pounding of the keys that something was a little off. Gently, I tried to help her…but she is just so impatient.  She wants to learn her songs in her own “timetable”…not taking into consideration that it may take a little longer. After coming down from her... Read the rest of this entry »

I love flowers, particularly roses.  I have planted roses before but until recently, I had never had the space to plant a large, climbing rose.  Finally, after decades of waiting, I finally had a home that had the perfect spot for a climbing rose!  With great anticipation, I chose a rose variety that would grow to cover an entire arch–up, across and down the other side–ordered it, assembled my trellis, painted it white and waited. At last my rose arrived in bare root form and I planted it next to my newly painted arch.  The first year, my rose–the one that was supposed to span 18 feet–grew only a few feet.  In the photo above, it is easy to measure the level of my disappointment when you compare the size of the branch against the wall to the soaring heights of the arched trellis it was meant to cover.  By the end of summer that first year, I almost dug it up in disgust.  However, remembering that many roses need time to establish themselves, I... Read the rest of this entry »

Tourist Season in DC The next stop comes. An old lady, a Hispanic, and an Indian are last getting on a packed metro car. The Indian yells at the Hispanic for not moving to the center of the car quicker. The Hispanic retorts there is an elderly lady he was letting get to a seat first. The Indian man gets angrier for being proven wrong. Everyone packed around the two are now angry at the Indian. The next stop comes. Two white guys are already on the crammed car with a muslim woman getting on. One white guy starts to ask if the lady would like the open seat (trying to fight the negativity that built from the last station’s episode). Mid-sentence the second white guy busts through the first white guy’s arms claiming he is 63 years old and completely legitimate for the right to sit in the elderly/handicapped seat next to the door. The first white guy responds patiently, which the second guy snaps at asking what had been said. The first responds politely and honestly that he thought... Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes in our repentance, in our daily efforts to become more Christ-like, we find ourselves repeatedly struggling with the same difficulties. As if we are climbing a tree-covered mountain, at times we don’t see our progress until we get closer to the top and look back from the high ridges. Don’t be discouraged. If you [...] All Content Copyright (C) 2007-2009 TJ Hirst. No content may be reproduced without the copyright owner’s express written consent. Waiting For Patience AKPC_IDS += "159136,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →

I just got back from watching Clint Eastwood’s (he directed) new movie, Invictus.  It was pretty good! I give it a B+/A-.  The title comes from a poem Nelson Mandela had while in prison for 27 years.  According to the movie Invictus gave him motivation to keep going without letting his own soul darken in feelings of revenge .  I couldn’t catch all the words in the movie (partly due to sitting on the second row!) so I looked it up and it is really good! The last two lines are especially amazing and so I share it with you. Enjoy! Invictus Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged... Read the rest of this entry »

100 Huntley Street – Scott MacIntyre – His Story Scott Douglas MacIntyre is not LDS, but I found his story to be so inspiring that I thought that I would share it here with all of you. You may remember Scott from season 8 of American Idol. Scott was born on 22 June 1985 in Scottsdale Arizona making him 24 years of age. He was born legally blind as a result of Leber’s congenital amaurosis and has only a 2 percent field of vision. His sister, Katelyn MacIntyre, has the same condition, but with a wider field of vision. He was home-schooled until age 14, when he entered Arizona State University. He released his debut CD, “Brothers for all Seasons“, in 1999. He received a Marshall scholarship to study in Britain after graduating from college at age 19. In 2005 he was diagnosed with kidney disease and his piano teacher’s wife donated her kidney to him in 2007. Scott also has a brother, Todd. His father is Douglas MacIntyre and his mother is Carole MacIntyre. Scott’s... Read the rest of this entry »

An Address to the Young Men of the Church A person who has courage is able to boldly (without outward fear) face difficulties and dangers, and by habit is able to trust in the Lord for his strength in all of the circumstances of life. I would like to take just a few minutes to address the Young Men of the Church. My remarks will be addressed to those who are not only destined to be future leaders of the Church, but great leaders of our nation as well. I wish to address those of you who will be future missionaries for the Church. Those who will one day turn this world upside down for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my humble prayer that some of what I say in these next few minutes will prove to be of some benefit and a blessing to you. If there were but one message that I could give to the Young Men of the Church, the message would simply be this – Be Bold, Be Courageous, Be Strong. Webster defines the word courage as the ability to conquer fear. The word bold is defined... Read the rest of this entry »

Talented but troubled high school rugby player Rick Penning (Sean Faris) loses his position as the star of an Arizona rugby union team when he is sentenced to a boys’ Juvenile Detention Center in Salt Lake City. Rick ends up playing for Salt Lake’s famous Highland High School rugby team, coached by Larry Gelwix (Gary Cole), in the national championships – against his old team, which is coached by his father, Richard Penning (Neal McDonough). Emily (Arielle Kebbel) is Rick’s love interest, and Marcus (Sean Astin) is his guidance counselor. Forever Strong is based on true stories about a high school rugby team, Highland Rugby, which is the inspiration for the film. Rick Penning is based on a real member of the rugby team who played in Flagstaff, Arizona who was sent to a group home in Salt Lake City. The production company Go Films decided to make a film about the legacy of the team and coach. “Forever Strong” is one of the team mottoes of the high school... Read the rest of this entry »

Where to begin… it seems that so many things are not going as well as I would like- and right as I am preparing to go to college and begin the rest of my life. It is a hard thing to learn from–failure. So much anger has entered my mind over the most trivial things, that I am ashamed. I have always disliked the phrase, “Life is not fair,” and I have come to realize that it really is true. But along with that unfortunate affirmation I have learned with even greater conviction that though life on this earth may be unfair, the Lord is not unfair, and the gospel is not unfair. In fact, the Lord isn’t “fair” either; He is merciful, and He always will be. Through disappointments and fallen wishes, when it seems like no one is there to be a comfort, I have learned that the Savior and our loving Heavenly Father are always there (along with my beautiful mother ♥). I take that for granted too often. The Lord will always, always, always do what is best for... Read the rest of this entry »

_________________________________________________________________________________ The history of this Church is a history of the expression of such faith. It began with a farm boy in the year 1820 when he read that great promise set forth in the Epistle of James: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (James 1:5-6.) It was faith, the simple faith of a fourteen-year-old boy, that took him into the woods that spring morning. It was faith that took him to his knees in pleading for understanding. The marvelous fruit of that faith was a vision glorious and beautiful, of which this great work is but the extended shadow. It was by faith that he kept himself worthy of the remarkable manifestations which followed in bringing to the earth the keys, the authority, the power to reestablish... Read the rest of this entry »