LOV N FAM: I can't believe I did it.

Jackson, Creed, Cortez and Zack in Etna. Houseboat at Shasta Lake 2008

from the r house blog

Make up your mind to be happy-even when you don't have money, even when you don't have a clear complexion, even when you don't have the Nobel Prize. Some of the happiest people I know have none of these things the world insists are necessary for satisfaction and joy. Why are they happy? I suppose it is because they don't listen very well. Or they listen too well-to the things their hearts tell them. They glory in the beauty of the earth. They glory in the rivers and the canyons and the call of the meadowlark. They glory in the love of their families, the stumbling steps of a toddler, the wise and tender smile of the elderly. They glory in honest labor. They glory in the scriptures. They glory in the presence of the Holy Ghost. One thing I know for certain: the time we have here goes by far too quickly. Don't waste any more time sitting on the bench watching life pass you by.Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Lessons Learned in the Journey of Life." Ensign,May 2001, 35.

FROM LINDSEY'S BLOG

We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord's tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance.(see 1 Ne. 1:20).David A. Bednar, "The Tender Mercies of the Lord." Ensign, May 2005, 99.

QUOTE TO PONDER

This was quoted By Elder Neal A. Maxwell on October 10, 1978, and posted on my friend's blog. It rings so true to what is happening now, so I wanted to add it to our blog for the rest of us to ponder.

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions.
President Marion G Romney said many years ago, that he had "never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life". This is a hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. ..... Your dicipleship may see the time when such convictions are discounted. ..... This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. Resistance to obortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of rightousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel.
There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightousness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself.
Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, " summer is nigh". Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not complain of the heat."

Elder Neal A. Maxwell