The Hole

This is a humorous cool story

On the first day... a man walks down a street...
Suddenly the world goes dark. He thinks he is lost.
Then he realizes he is in a deep hole. He tries to find his way out, and it takes a very long time. Once he is out the day is gone ... so he walks back home.

On the second day... the man walks down the same street.
The world goes dark again. He is in the hole again.
He takes a while to recognize where he is.
Eventually he finds his way out... and so again he walks back home.

On the third day... the man again walks down the street.
He knows the hole is there and pretends not to see the hole... and closes his eyes. Once again he falls into the hole, and climbs out ... and walks back home, the day lost once again.

On the fourth day... the man walks cautiously down the street.
He sees the hole and this time walks around it. He is pleased.
But the world goes dark again. He has fallen into another hole.
He climbs out of the second hole, walks home ... and alas... falls into the first hole. He gets out of the first hole... and walks back home... to think.

On the fifth day... the man walks confidently down the street.
He sees the first hole..... and recognizes it.
He walks around it... but forgets the second hole, which he walks directly into.
He gets out immediately... and walks straight back home - to weep and hope.

On the sixth day... the man walks nervously down the street...
The hole is there and he thinks "I won't fall into the hole again"... and walks around the hole. He sees the second hole, avoids the second hole... but as he passes, he loses his balance... and falls in. Climbing out he walks back home ... taking the time to carefully avoid all the holes.

On the seventh day... the same man goes for a walk....

... and chooses to walk down a different street.


How often are we all like this man? By being a spectator of this it's funny and the guy looks like an idiot. But I know all too often I make the same mistakes over and over and over again simply because I am too proud to do things differently or to choose a path where I know that I will not be tempted to make that mistake. So just think about the path you are choosing, is it the same one you have chosen many times before and fallen in to the same holes, if so find a different road to walk on that doesn't have the holes.



(*wow that was deep....honestly*)

Palmyra Is Awesome

So today I went to Palmyra and it was one of the coolest things I have ever done. We started out the day going to the Palmyra temple and you can see the sacred grove from inside the lobby of the temple. It is the only temple that has a window that has a clear see thew window.

Then we went to the sacred grove. That was pretty cool. It was different then what I thought it was going to be though, they don't have a X marks the spot of where it all happened, its just this grove that you walk around in and ponder, and pray it was a very neat experience. Plus the temple is almost literally a stones throw away from the sacred grove. I know that what brother Joseph said he saw in that grove, really did happen, and because it happened everything else he said is true.

Then we visited the home of Joseph Smith which is really kind of cool, the house they built after the farm was finished. Is 85% original I literally have stood on the same floor as prophet would have stood on. To me that's kind of cool.

Then I went to see the place where the Book of Mormon was first printed. That was one of the coolest tours I have seen. They teach you all about how they would print and bind it, and it is a very long process. At the end of the tour they have the a little art gallery and they have the original painting of Moroni burying the plates, and of Christ coming to the Americas it was cool.

Then we went to the Hill Camorah and that was a lot of fun. it is a little hill only 100-150 feet elevation rise and it is highest thing I have seen the entire time I have been here.

Then we went to the David Whitmer farm in Fayette. And like everything else I have seen this trip was amazing. They told us how the church was reorganized here and told us how this was also the same place where the three witnesses received their vision of the gold plates. It was really cool all day I have stood where angles have stood and could feel of the sacredness of these places.

It was interesting tough when we got here we checked in to our hotel and asked the guy at the front desk what the easiest way to get to Palmyra was, (we are about 10 min. out from palmyra) and he did know. I thought how sad is this you are 10 minutes away from one of the most sacred places on earth and you don't even know about it. Something happened there that changed my life and all of eternity, and you don't know about it. It has given me a desire to serve a mission and educate the world about what I know.

God is a God of Miracles

"And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles...........Behold I say unto you.....God has not ceased to be a God of miracles"

"if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust. "

These are Mormons words. And I would like to add mine to them. The last week, week and a half God has shown unto me many mighty miracles, and one in particular that there is no other way of describing it then it was from a loving Father in Heaven who was very much aware of the righteous intentions of a small band of boy scouts. Due to the sacred nature of these miracles I won't make a post describing them, but if any would like to hear about them I have no problem sharing them with you.

I know that if we are righteous, the Lord can and will cause miracles to happen for our own good. But the miracle he gives is not necessarily the same miracle we want to have. This is where faith comes in to play, know that God will have all things work out for our good, even if its not what you think is good for you. I know that if we put our trust in the Lord he can do all things, including calming the winds and the seas.

Will We Be Saved?

We don't need to get a complex or get a feeling that you have to be perfect to be saved. You don't. There's only been one perfect person, and that's the Lord Jesus, but in order to be saved in the Kingdom of God and in order to pass the test of mortality, what you have to do is get on the straight and narrow path--thus charting a course leading to eternal life--and then, being on that path, pass out of this life in full fellowship. I'm, not saying that you don't have to keep the commandments. I'm saying you don't have to be perfect to be saved. If you did, no one would be saved. The way it operates is this: you get on the path that's named the "straight and narrow." You do it by entering the gate of repentance and baptism. The straight and narrow path leads from the gate of repentance and baptism, a very great distance, to a reward that's called eternal life. If you're on that path and pressing forward, and you die, you'll never get off the path. There is no such thing as falling off the straight and narrow path in the life to come, and the reason is that this life is the time that is given to men to prepare for eternity. Now is the time and the day of your salvation, so if you're working zealously in this life-though you haven't fully overcome the world and you haven't done all you hoped you might do--you're still going to be saved. You don't have to do what Jacob said, "Go beyond the mark." You don't have to live a life that's truer than true. You don't have to have an excessive zeal that becomes fanatical and becomes unbalancing. What you have to do is stay in the mainstream of the Church and live as upright and decent people live in the Church--keeping the commandments, paying your tithing, serving in the organizations of the Church, loving the Lord, staying on the straight and narrow path. If you're on that path when death comes-because this is the time and the day appointed, this the probationary estate--you'll never fall off from it, and, for all practical purposes, your calling and election is made sure. Now, that isn't the definition of that term, but the end result will be the same.. BRM "PROBATIONARY TEST OF MORTALITY" 1/10/82, 11

The Touch of The Masters Hand

Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.
"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who will start bidding for me?
A dollar, a dollar" --then, "Two!" "Only two?
Two dollars, and who'll make it three?
Three dollars, twice;
"Going for three --" But no,
From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings.
He played a melody pure and sweet
As sweet as a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said what am I bidden for the old violin?
And he held it up with the bow.
A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?

Two thousand! And who'll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand twice;
And going, and gone!" said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand
What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply:
"The touch of the master's hand.

And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scattered with sin,
Is auctioned off cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.
A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine;
A game -- and he travels on.
He's "going" once, and "going" twice,
He's "going" and "almost gone."
But the Master comes and the foolish crowd
Never quite understands
The worth of a soul and the change that's wrought
By the touch of the Master's hand.

Poem: " The Touch of the Master's Hand "
Authored By: Myra Brooks Welch

I Love Insitute

Hey guys,


You should all know I love Institute, I am taking a Book of Mormon class from Bro. Soderberg up at UVU and dang it is so cool. Have you ever had the experience when you walk out of seminary or church, or an EFY experience, etc. and you just walk out of there with nothing to say except wow.......wow....wow.... over and over again because you don't know what to say, think, or do. Yah that happens to me every week in this class. You all should be enrolled in institute. It is a thousand times better then seminary, so if you didn't like seminary that is still no excuse.

O Remember, Remember