September 2011
1 post
Righteous. Wicked.
A righteous person is one who is repenting; a wicked person is one who is not repenting.
A righteous man is not one who is all good. There is no such person at all. We have all this mixture. And a wicked man is not one who is all bad. We don’t have any of them either.
If you are repenting, it’s like being on the stairway. A person at the bottom of the stairs facing up is better off than the...
August 2011
3 posts
Witness a flow
As societies trivialize traditional values, we witness a flow of immense suffering. We anguish, for instance, over what happens to the unborn, who cannot vote, and to children at risk. We weep over children having children and children shooting children. Often secular remedies to these challenges are not based on spiritual principles. To borrow a metaphor—secular remedies resemble an alarmed...
Living water
For we are not, like the world, left in the dark without a rudder, to be ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. We with know with certainty where the counsel of the Lord is to be found:
1. The written word of the Lord, the scriptures. 2. The counsel of the living prophets. 3. Personal revelation to each of us for guidance within the scope of our own assignments or...
Heart
The Lord wants our hearts and our happiness. If we give him the first, he gives us the second.
July 2011
1 post
Crowning revelations
Within the temples the crowning revelations and ordinances are given to men and women who will receive Christ with their whole heart. The temple ceremonies are scripture. Be a part of them. Go to the temple.
June 2011
2 posts
Heart strings
God will wrench your very heart strings and if you cannot stand it, you will not be fit for the Kingdom of God - Joseph Smith
Uphill Battle
Just finished shooting/acting for Uphill Battle up in Utah. Uphill Battle is a story about a woman whose husband leaves her and how she raises her children and deals with her circumstances as a single mother. This was my first shot at acting. I was asked by the writer/director to be the lead male role in the film. I came to it with some nervousness but paralleled excitement. After finishing...
May 2011
2 posts
Access
True spiritual artistry is to touch heaven and access that art which exists in heaven and share it here upon the earth for the good of humanity.
Stake Conference 5.1.11
Thoughts from SD Temple President Olsen: - Whatsoever you shall ask in faith, which is right, you shall receive. - Scriptures impel me to action. - God’s work is our work. - Temple ceremonies are scripture. - Temple is a great house of learning. - Great teacher is the Holy Ghost. - Revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge —...
April 2011
4 posts
The Temple
Excellent video on the explanation of temples biblically and modern.
Immutable covenant
Elder Russell Nelson, in the most recent General Conference - Apr 2011 mentioned D&C 98:1-3 in reference to our heartfelt pleadings with the Lord. He says the Lord uses words such as; seal, sworn, decreed and immutable when saying that the Lord will grant the prayers of his people.
In this world we will have tribulation but those things which we faithfully endure not only strengthen us but...
General Conference. On Facebook.
I know this is April 1 and all but this truly is no joke! General Conference LIVE on Facebook.
Atonement and the numbers
Saw this on a recent blog post and wanted to share this. This is the number of times the word “Atonement” has been used in General Conference in these decades.
1850′s 64
1860′s 37
1870′s 59
1880′s 60
1890′s 61
1900′s 40
1910′s 71
1920′s 52
1930′s 52
1940′s 52
1950′s 114
1960′s 98
1970′s 91
1980′s 208
1990′s ...
March 2011
6 posts
Out of small things
Be not weary in well doing.
Simplify
To innovate does not necessarily mean to expand; very often it means to simplify.
- Elder Oaks
Jessica
Today is my wife’s birthday. I love you Jess :)
You will be freed
Excellent new video put out by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding addiction.
All people are prone to the appetite of the natural man. It’s my belief that many people are addicted to substance or appetite and don’t realize it. This isn’t the easiest of subjects but it is widely a part of our society, as the prophets and apostles have spoken about so often...
Selfishness
Selfishness is self-destruction in slow motion - Elder Maxwell.
The antidote is service. Service is the mode of heaven.
Jesus saw each of us
I have thought this for some time, studied it in the scriptures and finally I see a church leader say it for the first time in my life. This was said in 1995 and that, oddly enough, was probably one of the first times I wondered about this verse. It seems I’ve never had a definitive answer to the question of Mosiah 10:14 but now I do. Christ saw us and we were his key motivation in...
A higher order of kingdoms
Ponder this - D&C 130:8-10
February 2011
3 posts
A thing so precious
“All mankind desire happiness. Many also strive sincerely to make the most and best of themselves. Surprisingly few, however, realize that a sure guide to such achievement may be found in the following declaration by Jesus of Nazareth: ‘Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.’ [Matthew 16:25.] This significant passage contains a...
Your faith
Your faith in Jesus Christ unlocks the heavens and gives you power you don’t have otherwise.
January 2011
7 posts
If you haven't...
read the Book of Mormon today, do it. I’ll make it easy for you. Click here.
Not sure I have much to add
Read this.
Sanctification
Sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts to God.
Compensatory blessings
Find the compensatory blessings in your life when, in the wisdom of the Lord, He deprives you of something you very much want. You will discover compensatory blessings when you willingly accept the will of the Lord and exercise faith in Him.
Elder Richard G. Scott
Reflection
Your reflections on Christ will strengthen your faith in Him.
Added care
This article, A Gift Worthy of Added Care, popped into the brain a few hours ago and we took a moment and read it as a family. I had seen a painting in this Ensign article, of a young girl who was receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and thought of my daughter. It was also impressed upon my mind how critical the worthy and diligent use of this gift is to our life now. It’s through this...
2011
Not sure I have anything grandly significant to say but it is the first day of 2011 and I feel blessed to be alive, blessed to have the Gospel in my life and have the beautiful family that I do. I’m grateful to do the work I’ve chosen and been sustained in for the past 12 years and I hope to do more significant work this year and in the years to come, relating to sharing the Gospel...
December 2010
4 posts
He remembers
An excellent devotional given by Cecelia Peek about how Christ remembers us continually.
I was in Stake Conference a few weeks ago and in one of the talks this concept jumped out at me, how all of the Lord’s creations are continually before him. The speaker said it in a way that resonated with me. Omniscience was the concept. Not in the sense that Christ knows everything, which he does,...
His work
For years I’ve thought a lot about my career as a photographer and my testimony of Christ and how I want them to progressively blend. In short, I want the Lord to guide my life’s work. I want to inspire people and specifically to teach them about Christ. I see the Mormon.org short video segments on every day members of the church and I am both impressed and inspired. It would be a...
Fast Sunday. A delight.
This past Sunday I was able to visit the home of Elder Perry who married my mom’s cousin Barbara Dayton. He told us he was traveling to Guam this week to establish the first Stake there. Our visit was brief but Alyssa got to meet him and shake his hand. Any time I can help her solidify her faith in Jesus Christ, I’ll know I’m doing what I should do as a Father. Alyssa also bore...
Our days
The church is not something that we fit into our busy schedules. Our testimonies of Jesus Christ are at the core of our lives and are the guiding influence of our days.
November 2010
4 posts
The face
“Seek the face of the Lords always…”
Signals
- Dad’s voice - “Arise and shine forth” - Jess reading “The Last Lecture” - Jess due date wth Dane - Pictures of Dad and Mom - Pictures of Gary Condie - Conversation with Anne
Some days you feel as though heaven is unmistakably speaking to the center of your soul. Today is one of those days. “Call ye upon him while he is near.”
A pleasant life
“No matter how difficult something you or a loved one faces, it should not take over your life and be the center of all your interest. Challenges are growth experiences, temporary scenes to be played out on the background of a pleasant life. Don’t become so absorbed in a single event that you can’t think of anything else or care for yourself or for those who depend upon you....
October 2010
8 posts
Ask
…that you may know the mysteries of God and according to your faith shall it be done unto you.
The Atonement Blog
I get an RSS feed from this blog and I especially liked today’s thought by David Vandagriff.
I thirst for light
A few thoughts today in church.
- The importance of treasuring up the words of eternal life. Scripture comes to my mind constantly. It hugely effects how I think and act. I thought of those who don’t have that flow of inspiration to their mind. They’re left to their own desires and thoughts and so many circumstances and choices determine what motivates and drives a person. In...
Give
Until Christ means everything to you, you will not give Him your everything.
I believe that it is an inextricable part of the human experience that everything is taken from us at one point or another in our lives, and we see Christ as the great restorer of all things, and who infinitely loves us. We then have been given everything again and have felt his overpowering love for us. This time will...
16 minutes
You have a few minutes for this General Conference highlight. Enjoy.
General Conference review - 10.2010
Here’s the church’s site for GC review. Like the new format.
Video games, marshmallows and faith
Every once in a while I’ll play a video game or two. I know they can be a vortex and suck away lots of time and I try to be careful about that. I set my limits. I often find my mind wandering from the game to things I need or want to do. It’s a momentary diversion that ultimately brings me back to reality, if that makes any sense.
I was playing a game recently and in this game...
Continue happily
To work out one’s salvation is not to sit idly by, dreaming and yearning for God miraculously to thrust bounteous blessings into our laps. It is to perform daily, hourly, momentarily, if necessary, the immediate task or duty at hand, and to continue happily in such performance as the years come and go, leaving the fruits of such labors either to self or to others to be bestowed as a just and...
September 2010
7 posts
Price of peace
“The price of peace is righteousness. Men and nations may loudly proclaim, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there shall be no peace until individuals nurture in their souls those principles of personal purity, integrity and character which foster the development of peace. Peace cannot be imposed. It must come from the lives and hearts of men.”
Ezra Taft Benson
Bed of gold
“There is not so great a man as Joseph standing in this generation. The gentiles look upon him and he is like a bed of gold concealed from human view. They know not his principles, his spirit, his wisdom, his virtues, his philanthropy, nor his calling. His mind, like Enoch’s expands as eternity, and only God can comprehend his soul.”
Wilford Woodruff
Freshly about the familiar
Every so often you hear words put together like you haven’t heard them before. New words fashioned that cause you to think freshly about the seemingly familiar.
Below is a segment of Victor Hugo’s writings:
I feel in myself the future lie. I am like a forest once cut down; the new shoots are stronger than ever. I am rising, I know, toward the sky. The sunshine is on my head. The...
Me
Nullify the me syndrome. It’s too widely seen and it’s highly unattractive.
Cover-up
The Gospel’s insights remain relatively hidden from a society that has been consciously and cleverly persuaded by the evil one that the church of the Restoration knows least, when it fact it knows the most, about Jesus Christ’s role as our personal Savior. The adversary has known exactly what he is doing. He has been engaged in one of history’s greatest cover-ups.
Today, many...