Mormon Bloggers

John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird’s mouth was rude, obnoxious, and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird’s attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music, and anything else he could think of to clean up the bird’s language. Nothing seemed to work. One day, he was so fed up that he yelled at the bird. The parrot yelled back. John shook the fowl but the bird got even more rude and angry. In desperation, John grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes, the parrot squawked and screamed. Suddenly, it was totally quiet—not a peep for over a minute. Fearing he’d caused harm to the bird, John opened the freezer door to see what had happened. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John’s hand and said, “I believe I may have offended you. I’m sorry for my rude language and actions. I intend to do everything I can to correct my nasty... Read the rest of this entry »

Little Man and his classmates put on a sweet Thanksgiving program this week. He is the Indian standing on the front row on the far left. Notice his little feet…an obvious sign to his mama that he was feeling a little nervous about being in front of the crowd. I must tell you though, as soon as he walked through the doors (as the program began), my heart began to pound wildly…I was so, so nervous for him. I began to wave from the audience trying to get his attention…I desperately felt he needed to see me before the show started. He looked scared when he realized all the people that were there. He was scanning the audience for his “safe haven” …his mommy and daddy. We made eye contact with him and I could tell this eased his nervousness. As they began singing, he seemed to loosen up a bit. They sang several Thanksgiving songs for the audience. It was about now though that he made eye contact with me again and I could tell something was wrong. ... Read the rest of this entry »

In continuing on with the countdown to Thanksgiving (only three more days to go!), I had to take a moment to take about my gratitude for technology.  We have been so blessed to live in an age of advanced technology, which makes it possible for us to accomplish so much in our lives.  I am especially grateful for it because it allowed me to finish my mission.  When I came home from the Ivory Coast, I knew that I would probably have a chance to go back out somewhere in the world, if not back to Africa.  However, when I had to come home from Canada because of the same thing happening, I thought that was the end of my mission.  Thankfully, I was quite wrong in my assumption. Just about a week after I got home from Canada, my Stake President arranged for me to visit the Referral Center to work there for a week on a trial to see how it would go for me and to see if it would be something I was interested in doing until I could be reassigned somewhere else in the world. ... Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes, I am really bad at getting these blog posts done each day, but thankfully, I can still write about the ideas I had.  I hope that you will still find this post just as interesting with my talking about two things I’m grateful for instead of just one since yesterday was busy.  So for the fifth day of my countdown, I am very grateful for music.  This particular topic that I am grateful for is kind of funny because I am grateful for music every single day of my life.  Not a single day goes by without me thinking about how much more wonderful life is because we have music in it.  I can think of many experiences throughout my life where music really helped me, but I will share just a couple of them with you. Growing up, I gained a love for music since the majority of my family is quite musical.  My mom has always sung and played the piano and violin for as long as I can remember, and then my three older sisters all play musical instruments (violin,... Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means today to be considered a “Separatist” or a “revolutionary.” Who are the revolutionaries today?  Who are those who seek freedom and are willing to die for it?  Who will live their religion at all costs, counting all things but dross for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord?  I’m wondering if America in its latest attempt to redefine itself in this bi-annual renewal of national elections granted to us by our founders isn’t just a way of hearkening back to our origins a little bit. If the pushback we’ve been observing in the recent election results is any indication, maybe it’s a sign we’re reaching back to our roots for a bit of the revolutionary spirit left within us. In America we apply the term “Pilgrim” to those who first settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the 9th day of November 1620.  The Pilgrims... Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, I have to apologize for being late with this post.  We had a Zone Conference this morning, so I was working on putting a bunch of things together for that yesterday and I didn’t get a chance to get this written up.  However, I couldn’t let another day go by without talking about the importance and my gratefulness for my mission.  The experience I have had over the past year and a half has been such an incredible one that I’m not sure exactly where to start.  I wanted to talk about several aspects of my mission that have helped and blessed my life very much and how the past 18 months and the next 6 months will have a lasting impact on the rest of my life. When I started my mission in June of 2009, I really had no idea what was in store for me over the next 24 months, and I have found surprises around every corner that I take.  However, with all of this, I still have learned and grown more than I have ever done before in my life.  I honestly am... Read the rest of this entry »

Watch this great video about living in thanksgiving daily. The more often we see the things around us, the more they become invisible to us. Learn how you can live in thanksgiving daily by noticing the wonders and beauties of this world. Read President Thomas S. Monson’s full address, “The Divine Gift of Gratitude“ and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin’s full address, “Live in Thanksgiving Daily.” Find more references about gratitude on LDS.org. You can also view Mormon Messages on YouTube or download them from iTunes. Share on Facebook  Read More →

As I was studying this morning, I started thinking a little bit about the holiday season and about how we do a lot of celebrating and remembering around the month of December for Christmas.  I am very much looking forward to the warm feelings and the joyful thoughts that we hold in this time of year, but I realized that many times we don’t consider Thanksgiving very much during the month before like we do Christmas.  Thanksgiving always seems to turn out a wonderful day, but the month before seems to be filled up with thoughts of the upcoming Christmas so Thanksgiving doesn’t get much attention.  To help remind myself and perhaps a few of you about the importance of truly giving thanks as the Thanksgiving holiday is all about, I decided to do start a tradition that I hope to continue. This tradition will be counting down to Thanksgiving in a similar manner as the 12 days of Christmas, but it will be done in a slightly different manner.  I have 10 days (starting... Read the rest of this entry »

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland After President Monson’s opening remarks at today’s opening session of the 180th semi-annual General Conference, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland expressed his gratitude for all the members of the Church and their quiet and dedicated service to others. His gentle spirit this morning prompted many feelings of gratitude within me.  We are coming into that season of the year set aside for remembering and for being thankful.  We may not be able to do all things, but we can all be grateful.  In this we are all equals. My feelings of gratitude extended this morning to my family first.  When one becomes a grandfather many, many times (up to 35 and counting!), life becomes more filled with memories that push out expansive hopes or fears for the unknown future.  I have outlived all my fears now.  I don’t get too worked up about what might happen now, because I have a lifetime of experience behind to whisper... Read the rest of this entry »

I am very grateful today for all of the blessings I have. As I think about each of the privileges which I enjoy, my mind keeps coming back to the meaning of this holiday–why it was instituted and by whom. It is a national holiday, one which finds its roots in the hopes and desires of men and women willing to sacrifice all, even what very, very little they had, in order to come to a free land so that they might live out their dreams. They dreamed to be free from oppressive government, to be free to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience, and to own property so that they might have the freedom to live in peace. This is how the great United States of America started. Explorers came. Then the oppressed followed. I believe with all my heart that they were brought here by the hand of an Almighty God who loved them. That truth was brought home to me as I watched a special on the history channel yesterday about the Mayflower. They were preserved and protected. As I contemplate... Read the rest of this entry »

I’m thankful for God and Jesus Christ; for my family and friends; for freedom, safety, and good health; for work and school; and plenty. What are you thankful for? Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.–Psalm 100  Read More →

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to “recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:” Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their... Read the rest of this entry »