RACIAL HARMONY NEEDED!!

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/prophet-naacp-leaders-racial-harmony-america-op-ed

Prophet Joins NAACP Leaders in Call for Racial Harmony in America

In a piece published Monday on Medium.com, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and three leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) are calling on all Americans to embrace Jesus Christ’s simple but challenging model that can lead to racial peace and harmony. The prophet is joined by Derrick Johnson (NAACP president and CEO), Leon Russell (NAACP chairman of the board) and the Rev. Amos C. Brown (NAACP chairman emeritus of religious affairs).

“Unitedly we declare that the answers to racism, prejudice, discrimination and hate will not come from government or law enforcement alone,” they write. “Solutions will come as we open our hearts to those whose lives are different than our own, as we work to build bonds of genuine friendship, and as we see each other as the brothers and sisters we are — for we are all children of a loving God. … Oneness is not sameness in America. We must all learn to value the differences.”

JANUARY 4, 2020

Since it's the beginning of a new year, I (used to) usually take time to write in my blogs and catch up on my life.

Every once in a while, I find myself thinking, "I should put this thought on my blog." But lately, I've been thinking things like "I'm going to do this when I retire."
I'm hoping 2020 is the year I retire. To be positive, 2020 IS the year I will retire. I just don't know what month. I have to give work 3 months notice.
I have an appointment this week with the Social Security office. There weren't any open appointments in December (you should go three months before you turn 66) so January was the first available I could take. Gosh, am I that old? (Yes.)

However, I might be looking at another ankle/foot surgery--removing the screw.
I just had surgery in August 2019. It's only been 4 months, almost 5, and the doctor is wary of taking it out sooner than 6 months. So am I.
It appears the sharp tip of the screw is protruding through my bone in the front of my ankle and catching on something--probably a ligament. I don't know. But the two bones which were being fused have fused together well. If the screw comes out, it will leave a hole that will knit together just like the bones that were fused. I hope.
So I don't know when I'll retire this year. My 10-year anniversary is November 22, but I really don't want to wait that long.

I'm so tired of my life being about my ankle. I really thought this last surgery would end the pain and suffering. Please, God, let the pain and suffering end.

My kids and I are planning a trip to Maine and the Hill Cumorah Pageant in July. It's the last ever pageant. (That's so sad!) We were in the pageant in 2000, so it will be 20 years since we were in it. We used to go every year. I want to say the last year we went was 2007 or 2008. After that, all the divorce drama happened, so my memory is a little sketchy.

After participating in pageant, it was the thing we compared every other good thing to for a long time. "It was nice, but not like being in the pageant."

While rehearsing for the pageant, it was as if we lived in Zion. It was definitely a Zion community. No worries about anything. Very spiritual. I'm sure heaven will be like that--where everyone loves everyone else, and works to strive to be Christ-like.

Maybe I'll retire July 1. Then I won't have to worry about being gone so long from work while I'm on vacation.

The Prophet is Dead. Long Live the Prophet.

By Susan Knight

I was recently reminded of the saying, "The King is Dead. Long Live the King."
It is said in the United Kingdom, and probably has been said in any monarchy. But it's true about our prophets, too.

President Thomas S. Monson

President Thomas S. Monson died on January 2, 2018, at the age of 90. What a perfectly precious  human being he is. I think he has best shown Christlike love of any prophet I've lived under. When I say that, I mean . . . I've always wondered what the personality of Jesus Christ was like. Did you ever wonder that? Was He reserved or outgoing? Did He have a sense of humor, or was He serious all the time?

What we do know is that service was at the top of His list of everyday living. Wherever He went, He personified service--healing the sick, the lame, the blind. He was also a very forgiving God--forgiving the woman taken in sin; forgiving the man who had palsy. He went out of His way to do service.

The Savior Laughing

Did he have a sense of humor? I think of how he told of forgiveness by comparing it to the mote in one person's eye and the beam in another's eye. Hyberbole. Yes, humor.

And He told parables that enthralled the population. Scores of people surrounded Him and followed Him.

Thus was President Thomas S. Monson.

Service was personified in "Tommy Monson," as he liked to refer to himself. He went out of his way for the widow, the lame, the elderly, the forgotten.

His sense of humor abounded in every talk he gave. You could see his tongue in his cheek.

And his stories . . . I couldn't wait to be enthralled by his stories every Conference weekend.

I think, in my humble opinion, that when I think of Jesus Christ now, I will remember President Monson. I believe their personalities were similar.

President Russell M. Nelson

I will miss President Monson, but I welcome our new Prophet Russell M. Nelson. It was formally announced yesterday. I have waited for him to be Prophet for 34 years. Yes, I already had a testimony that he would be our prophet one day. Yet, he was a newly-ordained apostle when I had that vision.

As "Elder" Nelson grew older--and older--I didn't think my vision would come to pass, yet we are here. President Nelson is 93 years old. I don't know how long he will serve, but I always knew he would serve as president of the church.

I had a vision I have only shared with a few people. Perhaps I'll write about it one day.


President Monson is dead. Long live President Nelson.

HAPPY SPRING!

Merry Christmas 2016

Remember the Reason for the Season

General Conference 2016

I love finding memes online with quotes from General Conference. Here is one of my favorites:

Other prophets have also commented on the Word of Wisdom:

Elder Richard G. Scott:
Do you scrupulously avoid the use of stimulants and substances that conflict with the intent of the Word of Wisdom, or have you made some personally rationalized exceptions? (General Conference, Priesthood Session, Oct. 2008)

Ezra Taft Benson:
We need a generation of young people who, as Daniel, eat in a more healthy manner than to fare on the “kings meat”—and whose countenances show it. – (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson , p. 476-477.

Harold B. Lee:
The Lord’s word of wisdom . . . counsels the simple diet of fruits, grains and vegetables in season, with meats used sparingly, has been given you as a revelation of God’s great law of health. . . . (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, p. 205-6)

George Albert Smith: 
(In the summer he ate no meat, and even in the winter months he ate very little.) Let me plead with you, search the Word of Wisdom prayerfully. Do not just read it, search it prayerfully. Discover what our Heavenly Father gave it for. He gave it to us with a promise of longer life and happiness, not if we fail to observe it, but if we observe it.

How Great Thou Art

 http://pin.it/nDzoj3t

https://www.tumblr.com/register/follow/iwilltrustinyou

I just want to add to this song that I know my Savior lives and loves me. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who watches over me. I am grateful that He sent His Son to walk with men/women, and that we have a Comforter in the Holy Ghost, who, at times, was my constant companion. I don't know where I would be without His Amazing Grace.

Happy New Year 2016!